1924 in New Zealand explained

The following lists events that happened during 1924 in New Zealand.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – George V
• Governor-General – John Jellicoe, Viscount Jellicoe until 26 November, then Sir Charles Fergusson from 13 December^[1]

Government

The 21st New Zealand Parliament continues. The Reform Party governs as a minority with the support of independents.

• Speaker of the House – Charles Statham
• Prime Minister – William Massey
• Minister of Finance – William Massey
• Minister of External Affairs – Francis Bell

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Thomas Wilford (Liberal Party)^[2]

Judiciary

• Chief Justice – Sir Robert Stout

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – James Gunson
• Mayor of Wellington – Robert Wright
• Mayor of Christchurch – James Flesher
• Mayor of Dunedin – Harold Tapley

Events

• 29 September – The first trolleybus route in Wellington is inaugurated^[3]
• 4 July – The name for Four Square is established^[4]
• 17 November – HMS Torch hits a rock in the Chatham Islands, and is subsequently beached and abandoned^[5]
• Undated – Actinidia deliciosa 'Hayward', later to become the main commercial cultivar of kiwifruit, is first grown

Arts and literature

Music

See: 1924 in music

Broadcasting

See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

• Venus of the South Seas

See: 1924 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand,

Sport

Chess

• The 33rd National Chess Championship is held in Wellington, and is won by S. Crakanthorp of Sydney.^[6]

Football

• The 2nd Chatham Cup is won by Harbour Board (Auckland)
• A Chinese Universities football team tours New Zealand, including four matches against the national team:^[7]
  • 16 August, at Auckland: New Zealand win 2–1
  • 23 August, at Wellington: draw 2–2
  • 6 September, at Dunedin: New Zealand win 5–3
  • 13 September, at Christchurch: New Zealand win 4–2
• Provincial league champions:^[8]
  • Auckland – Harbour Board
  • Canterbury – Sunnyside
  • Hawke's Bay – Whakatu
  • Nelson – Athletic
  • Otago – Seacliff
  • South Canterbury – Albion Rovers
  • Southland – Corinthians
  • Taranaki – Kaponga
  • Wanganui – YMCA
  • Wellington – YMCA

Golf

• The 11th New Zealand Open championship is won by Ernie Moss, with an aggregate of 301.^[9]
• The 28th National Amateur Championships are held in Auckland (men) and Hamilton (women)^{[10] [11]}
  • Men – L. Quin (Eltham)
  • Women – Mrs Peake (Cambridge)

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Sheik^[12]
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Locanda Mac^[13]

Thoroughbred racing

• New Zealand Cup – Sunart^[14]
• Auckland Cup – Te Kara^[14]
• Wellington Cup – Loughrea^[14]
• New Zealand Derby – Count Cavour^[14]
• ARC Great Northern Derby – Ballymena

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Christchurch.^[15]

• Men's singles champion – W. Carswell (Taieri Bowling Club)
• Men's pair champions – James Angus, J. A. Redpath (skip) (Canterbury Bowling Club)
• Men's fours champions – W. Ure, H. S. Hill, C. G. Maher, Bill Bremner (skip) (West End Bowling Club, Auckland)

Olympic games

See main article: New Zealand at the 1924 Summer Olympics.

• New Zealand sends a team of four competitors across three sports
• Arthur Porritt wins the bronze medal in the men's 100 metres

Rugby league

• New Zealand host the touring Great Britain team, winning the test series 2–1
  • 1st test, at Dunedin, lose 18–31
  • 2nd test, at Wellington, win 13–11
  • 3rd test, at Auckland, win 16–8

Rugby union

• The All Blacks tour the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Canada between September 1924 and February 1925, winning all 32 games, and earning the nickname The Invincibles
• The Ranfurly Shield is held and defended by Hawkes Bay all season

Wrestling

• Ike Robin is recognised as New Zealand's first wrestling champion

Births

January

• 5 January – Ivan Wyatt, cricketer (d. 2009)
• 11 January – Rex Cunningham, rugby league player (d. 2015)
• 13 January – Brian Barratt-Boyes, heart surgeon (d. 2006)
• 15 January
  • Barbara Angus, diplomat, historian (d. 2005)
  • George Lowe, mountaineer and explorer (d. 2013)
• 21 January
  • Bill Andersen, trade unionist (d. 2005)
  • Ronald Sinclair, actor, film editor (d. 1992)
• 22 January – Ortvin Sarapu, chess player (d. 1999)
• 27 January
  • Lyn Philp, boxer (d. 1981)
  • Hector Wilson, rugby union player (d. 2004)
• 28 January – Wharetutu Stirling, Ngāi Tahu leader, conservationist (d. 1993)

February

• 14 February
  • Bos Murphy, boxer (d. 2000)
  • Reg Singer, association footballer (d. 2001)
• 24 February – Jack Forrest, rugby league player (d. 2016)
• 27 February – John Shanahan, swimmer (d. 1987)
• 29 February – David Beattie, jurist, sports administrator, 14th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 2001)

March

• 5 March – Nau Cherrington, rugby union player (d. 1979)
• 6 March – Percy Murphy, politician, first Māori mayor (d. 2009)
• 7 March
  • J.G.A. Pocock, historian (d. 2023)
  • Brownie Pūriri, public servant (d. 1979)
• 9 March – Warren Sinclair, radiation science and medicine expert (d. 2014)
• 10 March – Peter Stichbury, potter (d. 2015)
• 22 March – Grace Gooder, cricketer (d. 1983)
• 24 March – Norm Holland, jockey (d. 2014)
• 26 March
  • Jack McNab, rugby union player, coach and administrator (d. 2009)
  • Josie Yelas, netball player (d. 1996)
• 29 March – Haydn Sherley, broadcaster (d. 2007)
• 31 March – Joan de Hamel, children's writer (d. 2011)

April

• 2 April – Lauris Edmond, poet and writer (d. 2000)
• 5 April – Barbara Hale, librarian (d. 2013)
• 3 April – Errol Brathwaite, writer (d. 2005)
• 18 April – Tiny White, equestrian (d. 2020)
• 30 April
  • Richard Giese, flautist (d. 2010)
  • Mervyn Probine, physicist, public servant (d. 2010)

May

• 1 May – Ted Johnson, rower (d. 1985)
• 5 May – Frank Creagh, boxer (d. 1998)
• 12 May – Malcolm Templeton, diplomat (d. 2017)
• 22 May – Stella Casey, social campaigner (d. 2000)

June

• 2 June – Pat Evison, actor (d. 2010)
• 3 June – Ken Armstrong, association footballer (d. 1984)
• 7 June – Bob Tizard, politician (d. 2016)
• 8 June – Ian Colquhoun, cricketer (d. 2005)
• 9 June – John Scott, architect (d. 1992)
• 14 June
  • David Ballantyne, journalist, writer (d. 1986)
  • Miriam Dell, women's advocate (d. 2022)

July

• 7 July – D. P. O'Connell, barrister, legal academic (d. 1979)
• 15 July
  • Bub Bridger, poet and short story writer (d. 2009)
  • Brian Sutton-Smith, writer and play theorist (d. 2015)
• 23 July – Betty Bourke, politician, health administrator (d. 2015)
• 25 July
  • Jim Beard, architect (d. 2017)
  • Peter Mann, Anglican bishop (d. 1999)
• 26 July – Ces Renwick, cricketer (d. 2014)
• 28 July
  • Eric Fisher, cricketer (d. 1996)
  • William Fraser, politician (d. 2001)

August

• 1 August – Peter Smith, rugby union player (d. 1954)
• 2 August – Ainsley Iggo, neurophysiologist (d. 2012)
• 7 August – Alan Wilkinson, association footballer (d. 2015)
• 12 August – Gordon Hobson, amateur wrestler (d. 1985)
• 13 August – John Rymer, Anglican cleric (d. 2003)
• 22 August – Pat O'Connor, professional wrestler (d. 1990)
• 23 August
  • Bahri Kavaja, association footballer (d. 1987)
  • Doug Mudgway, amateur wrestler (d. 1988)
• 28 August
  • Tony MacGibbon, cricketer (d. 2010)
  • Janet Frame, writer (d. 2004)
• 31 August – Don Beaven, medical researcher (d. 2009)

September

• 3 September – John Ingram, mechanical engineer, businessman (d. 2015)
• 4 September – Lory Blanchard, rugby league player and coach (d. 2013)
• 5 September – Nick Carter, cyclist (d. 2003)
• 6 September – Hugh Poole, sailor (d. 2012)
• 7 September – Wanda Cowley, children's writer (d. 2017)
• 8 September – Frank Holmes, economist (d. 2011)
• 15 September – Rex Challies, cricketer (d. 2003)
• 17 September – Les Watt, cricketer (d. 1996)
• 23 September – Peggy Hay, designer (d. 2016)
• 24 September – Sammy Guillen, cricketer (d. 2013)
• 27 September – Louis Johnson, poet (d. 1988)
• 30 September – Trevor Hatherton, geophysicist (d. 1992)

October

• 5 October – Victor Brooker, cricketer
• 11 October – Arthur Hughes, rugby union player, businessman, horse racing administrator (d. 2005)
• 19 October – Keith Gudsell, rugby union player (d. 2007)
• 30 October – Roy McLennan, politician (d. 2013)

November

• 5 November – Geoff Smale, sailor (d. 2011)
• 23 November
  • Doug Coombes, mineralogist and petrologist (d. 2016)
  • Doug Dillon, jurist (d. 1999)
• 28 November – Colin McLachlan, politician (d. 1985)

December

• 2 December
  • Gerald O'Brien, politician (d. 2017)
  • Brian Poananga, sportsman, military leader, diplomat (d. 1995)
• 5 December – Gavin Downie, politician (d. 1998)
• 7 December – Jimmy Haig, rugby union and rugby league player (d. 1996)
• 12 December
  • Neill Austin, politician (d. 2008)
  • Brown Turei, Anglican archbishop (d. 2017)
• 23 December – Len Castle, potter (d. 2011)
• 26 December – Leonard Kent, cricketer (d. 2014)
• 28 December – Loo-Chi Hu, marine equipment designer, t'ai chi teacher (d. 2013)
• 29 December
  • Eve Poole, 41st Mayor of Invercargill (d. 1992)
  • Bob Vance, cricket player and administrator (d. 1994)
  • Ivan Walsh, association footballer, cricketer (d. 2005)
• 30 December – Joe Phillips, rugby league player (d. 1969)

Deaths

January–March

• 5 January – Mary Player, midwife, feminist, social reformer (born 1857)
• 6 January – Henry Hill, cricketer (born 1845)
• 19 January – Frances Parker, suffragette (born 1875)
• 24 January – Acton Adams, politician (born 1843)
• 27 January – William Gardiner, cricketer (born 1864)
• 2 February
  • Daniel Claffey, cricketer (born 1869)
  • John Duncan, politician (born 1848)
• 11 February – Arthur Lomas, cricketer (born 1895)
• 17 February – James Tibbs, schoolteacher (born 1855)
• 22 February – Mary Dawson, farmer, environmentalist (born 1833)
• 24 February – Joseph Borton, cricketer (born 1832)
• 1 March – Elizabeth Parsons, singer (born 1846)
• 4 March – Gilbert Carson, politician (born 1842)
• 6 March – Grace Joel, artist (born 1865)
• 10 March – George Bourne, photographer (born 1875)
• 17 March – Martin Chapman, cricketer, barrister, politician (born 1846)

April–June

• 3 April – Alfred Newman, politician (born 1849)
• 19 April – Charles Louisson, politician (born 1842)
• 7 May – Alfred Luttrell, architect and building contractor (born 1865)
• 9 May – James Mason, doctor, bacteriologist, public health administrator (born 1864)
• 19 May – Joseph Pabst, cricketer (born 1870)

July–September

• 17 July – William Davidson, pioneer of refrigerated shipping (born 1846)
• 19 July – Sir Walter Buchanan. politician (born 1838)
• 25 July – Lawrence Birks, electrical engineer (born 1874)
• 10 August – Edward Wakefield, politician (born 1845)
• 19 August – Alfred Baldey, politician (born 1836)
• 17 September – Richard Vincent, cricketer (born 1846)
• 19 September – Sir John Salmond, legal academic, public servant, jurist (born 1862)
• 27 September – Thomson Leys, journalist, newspaper editor and proprietor, philanthropist (born 1850)

October–December

• 18 October – Walter Mason, cricketer (born 1847)
• 23 October – Eparaima Te Mutu Kapa, politician (born 1842)
• 13 November – Charles Boxshall, cricketer (born 1862)
• 27 November – Joseph Grimmond, politician (born 1843)
• 15 December – Paratene Ngata, Ngāti Porou leader, politician (born 1849)
• 19 December – William Maslin, politician (born 1850)

See also

• History of New Zealand
• List of years in New Zealand
• Military history of New Zealand
• Timeline of New Zealand history
• Timeline of New Zealand's links with Antarctica
• Timeline of the New Zealand environment

Notes and References

1. Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
2. 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.
3. Blee, Ian (November 1978). "Under Two Wires in New Zealand, Part 3 – Wellington". Trolleybus Magazine No. 103, p. 137. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .
4. Web site: History . 2023-11-18 . www.foursquare.co.nz . en.
5. Ingram, C. W. N., and Wheatley, P. O., (1936) Shipwrecks: New Zealand disasters 1795–1936. Dunedin, NZ: Dunedin Book Publishing Association. p. 465.
6. http://www.poisonpawn.co.nz/nzcftitles.htm List of New Zealand Chess Champions
7. http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id164.htm List of New Zealand national soccer matches
8. Web site: New Zealand: List of champions. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.
9. Web site: PGA European – Holden New Zealand Open. The Sports Network. 2005. 25 March 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20110525235454/http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=golf-e%2Fscores%2Farchive_05%2Fholden-preview.htm. 25 May 2011. dead.
10. Web site: Golf, men's – New Zealand amateur champions . An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . McLintock . A. H. . Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand . 1966 . 15 November 2020.
11. News: The golf final: victory for Mrs Peake . 26 September 1924 . Waikato Times . 2 . 15 November 2020.
12. Web site: List of NZ Trotting cup winners . 7 May 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120222233106/http://www.hrnz.co.nz/data/major_races/nz_trotting_cup.htm . 22 February 2012 . dead .
13. http://www.hrnz.co.nz/data/major_races/major_race2.htm Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz
14. Book: The Air New Zealand Almanac . Max . Lambert . Ron . Palenski . Moa Almanac Press . 1982 . 0-908570-55-4 . 448–454.
15. Book: McLintock . A.H. . Alexander Hare McLintock . Bowls, men's outdoor—tournament winners . An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . 6 June 2018 . 1966 . Ministry for Culture and Heritage.