1896 in New Zealand explained

The following lists events that happened during 1896 in New Zealand.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

Head of State – Queen Victoria
Governor – David Boyle, 7th Earl of Glasgow

Government and law

The Liberal Party is re-elected and begins the 13th New Zealand Parliament.

Speaker of the House – Sir Maurice O'Rorke
Prime Minister – Richard Seddon
Minister of Finance – Joseph Ward resigns on 16 June and is replaced by Richard Seddon
Chief Justice – Hon Sir James Prendergast
The Female Law Practitioners Act was passed in 1896, and Ethel Benjamin who had graduated in law from the University of Otago in 1896 was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand in 1897.

Parliamentary opposition

Leader of the Opposition – William Russell.^[1]

Main centre leaders

Mayor of Auckland – James Holland followed by Abraham Boardman
Mayor of Christchurch – Walter Cooper followed by Harry Joseph Beswick
Mayor of Dunedin – Nathaniel Wales followed by Hugh Gourley
Mayor of Wellington – George Fisher

Events

26 March: Brunner Mine disaster; 65 miners killed in explosion^[2]
13 April: National Council of Women of New Zealand is founded, with Kate Sheppard as its first president.^[3]
30 September: The government increases the New Zealand head tax to £100 per head from £10, and tightens the other restriction to only one Chinese immigrant for every 200 tons of cargo from 100 tons.
13 October: First public screening of a motion picture in New Zealand, in Auckland.^[4]
4 December: 1896 New Zealand general election.

Undated

Census measures national population as 743,214.

Arts and literature

Music

Media

The Waikato Argus starts publication. The newspaper runs until 1915.^[5]
The Gisborne Times is founded.^[6] It became a daily in 1901, and continued to publish until being bought out by The Poverty Bay Herald in 1938.^[7]
July: The Waikato Times and Waikato Advocate merge, and the former moves to daily publication.^[8]

Sport

Athletics

National Champions, Men^[9]

100 yards – E. Robinson (Canterbury)
250 yards – W. Kingston (Otago)
440 yards – W. Low (Otago)
880 yards – W. Low (Otago)
1 mile – W. Bennett (Otago)
3 miles – W. Bennett (Otago)
120 yards hurdles – W. Martin (Auckland)
440 yards hurdles – J. Thomas Roberts (Auckland)
Long jump – Leonard Cuff (Canterbury)
High jump – P. Brown (Canterbury)
Pole vault – tie R. Hunter (Hawkes Bay) and H. Kingsley (Wanganui)
Shot put – W. Rhodes (Wellington)
Hammer throw – P. Brown (Canterbury)

Chess

National Champion: W. Meldrum of Rangitikei.^[10]

Golf

Men's national amateur champion – M.S. Todd (Otago)^[11]
Women's national amateur champion – L. Wilford (Hutt)

Horse racing

Harness racing

Auckland Trotting Cup (over 3 miles) is won by Fibre^[12]

Thoroughbred racing

New Zealand Cup – Lady Zetland
New Zealand Derby – Uniform
Auckland Cup – Nestor
Wellington Cup – Brooklet

Season leaders (1895/96)

Top New Zealand stakes earner – Euroclydon
Leading flat jockey – C. Jenkins

Lawn Bowls

National Champions^[13] There are no national championships this year.

Polo

Savile Cup winners – Manawatu

Rowing

National Champions (Men)

Single sculls – C. Chapman (Wairewa)
Double sculls – Wairewa, Little River
Coxless pairs – Canterbury
Coxed fours – Queen's Dr, Port Chalmers

Shooting

Ballinger Belt – Sergeant Wakelyn (Honorary Reserve Corps, Christchurch)

Soccer

Provincial league champions:^[14]

Auckland: Auckland United
Otago: Roslyn Dunedin
Wellington: Wellington Swifts

Swimming

Not held

Tennis

National Championships

Men's singles – H. Parker
Women's singles – Kathleen Nunneley
Men's doubles – Richard Harman and D. Collins
Women's doubles – Kathleen Nunneley and T. Trimmell

Births

15 June (in England): Archie Fisher, painter. (died 1959)
7 July: Harold Beamish, World War I flying ace. (died 1986)^[15]

Deaths

18 May: Daniel Pollen, politician (born 1813)
2 August: James FitzGerald, politician (born 1818).
28 August:James Hume, medical doctor (born 1823).

References

General

Romanos, J. (2001) New Zealand Sporting Records and Lists. Auckland: Hodder Moa Beckett.

Specific

Notes and References

Web site: Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition. 6 April 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081017200326/http://www1.elections.org.nz/democracy/leaders-opposition.html. 17 October 2008. dead.
http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Kids/NZDisasters/Brunner.asp Brunner mine disaster
Web site: NCWNZ History . 29 October 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081014015711/http://ncwnz.co.nz/framemenus/fhistory.htm . 14 October 2008 . dead .
http://mic.org.nz/resources/publications/the-big-picture/issue-9/history/film-pioneers-of-new-zealand/ MIC - Film pioneers
News: Waikato Times. National Library of New Zealand.
News: Poverty Bay Herald. National Library of New Zealand. 21 September 2008.
Web site: Historic Poverty Bay and the East Coast, N.I., N.Z.: Earliest Journals and Their Founders. Mackay. Joseph Angus. 1949.
Web site: Mayor's chair bonds present with past. Waikato Museum. 21 June 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081015090539/http://www.waikatomuseum.co.nz/page/pageid/2145833060. 15 October 2008. dead.
Web site: New Zealand Championships - Senior Men . MS Word . 8 October 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081018150249/http://www.athletics.org.nz/Resource.aspx?ID=973 . 18 October 2008.
http://www.poisonpawn.co.nz/nzcftitles.htm List of New Zealand Chess Champions
Web site: Men's Golf – National Champions. An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. McLintock. A. H.. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 1966. 13 February 2009.
http://www.hrnz.co.nz/data/major_races/major_race2.htm Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz
As the New Zealand Bowling Association at this time consists entirely of South Island clubs, the first truly "national" championships are not deemed to have begun until 1914.
Web site: New Zealand: List of champions. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.
https://navymuseum.co.nz/uncategorised/flight-lieutenant-harold-beamish/ Flight Lieutenant Harold Beamish