1925 in New Zealand explained

The following lists events that happened during 1925 in New Zealand.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – George V
• Governor-General – Sir Charles Fergusson^[1]

Government

The 21st New Zealand Parliament concludes, with its final year marked by the death of premier William Massey. The Reform Party governs as a minority with the support of independents. Following the general election in November, the Reform Party holds a much stronger position with 55 of the 80 seats.

• Speaker of the House – Charles Statham
• Prime Minister – William Massey until 10 May, then Francis Bell from 14 to 30 May, then Gordon Coates
• Minister of Finance – William Massey until 10 May, then William Nosworthy from 14 May
• Minister of External Affairs – Francis Bell

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Thomas Wilford (Liberal Party) until 13 August, then George Forbes (Liberal) until 4 November, then vacant (until June 1926)^[2]

Judiciary

• Chief Justice – Sir Robert Stout

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – James Gunson, succeeded by George Baildon
• Mayor of Wellington – Robert Wright, succeeded by Charles Norwood
• Mayor of Christchurch – James Flesher, succeeded by John Archer
• Mayor of Dunedin – Harold Tapley

Events

• 1 January
  • National scheme for vehicle registration plates comes into force^[3]
  • Ernest Rutherford is appointed to the Order of Merit
• 1 April – The Foodstuffs cooperative is registered^[4]
• 21 April – Alfred Averill succeeds Churchill Julius as Archbishop of New Zealand^[5]
• 10 May – Prime Minister William Massey dies in office
• 31 May – Tahupotiki Wiremu Rātana announces his intention to form the Rātana Church^[6]
• 17 June – The Franklin by-election, caused by the death of William Massey, is won by Ewen McLennan (Reform)^[7]
• August – The U.S. Navy's Pacific battlefleet of 57 vessels including 12 battleships visits New Zealand during a goodwill tour of the South Pacific after manoeuvres off Hawaii.^[8]
• September – A leopard escapes Auckland Zoo and remains loose for several weeks.^[9]
• 3–4 November – The 1925 general election is held, with the Reform Party winning 55 of the 80 seats in the House of Representatives
• 4 November – An Order in Council provides for the transfer of Tokelau from the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony to New Zealand (formally gazetted 11 February 1926)^[10]
• 17 November – The New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition opens at Logan Park, Dunedin^[11]
• Undated – Lloyd Mandeno develops the single-wire earth return electrical distribution system

Arts and literature

See: 1925 in art, 1925 in literature,

• Allen Adair published by Jane Mander

Music

See: 1925 in music

Radio

See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

• The Radio Broadcasting Company (RBC) began broadcasts throughout New Zealand

Film

See: 1925 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand,

• Rewi's Last Stand by Rudall Hayward
• The Adventures of Algy
• The Romance of Hinemoa

Sport

Chess

• The 34th National Chess Championship is held in Nelson, and is won by C. J. S. Purdy of Sydney^[12]

Football

• The Chatham Cup is won by YMCA (Wellington)
• Provincial league champions:^[13]
  • Auckland – Thistle
  • Canterbury – Sunnyside
  • Hawke's Bay – Whakatu
  • Nelson – Thistle
  • Otago – Northern
  • South Canterbury – Rangers
  • Southland – Central
  • Taranaki – Manaia
  • Wanganui – Eastown Workshops
  • Wellington – YMCA

Golf

• The 15th New Zealand Open championship is won by Ewen MacFarlane, an amateur, with an aggregate of 308^[14]
• The 29th National Amateur Championships are held at Christchurch (men) and Miramar (women)^{[15] [16]}
  • Men – Tom Horton (Masterton)
  • Women – Phyllis Dodgshun (Dunedin)

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Ahuriri^[17]
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Nelson Derby^[18]

Thoroughbred racing

• New Zealand Cup – The Banker^[19]
• Avondale Gold Cup – Star Ranger^[19]
• Auckland Cup – Rapine^[19]
• Wellington Cup – Surveyor^[19]
• New Zealand Derby – Runnymede^[19]

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Wellington.^[20]

• Men's singles champion – J. D. Best (Dunedin Bowling Club)
• Men's pair champions – C. W. Davis, J. W. Sexton (skip) (Newtown Bowling Club)
• Men's fours champions – H. J. Wernham, F. T. Wilson, A. C. McIntyre, R. N. Pilkington (skip) (Hamilton Bowling Club)

Rugby union

• The All Blacks tour New South Wales
• The Auckland Rugby Union makes Eden Park its headquarters
• defends he Ranfurly Shield for the third consecutive full season, defeating Wairarapa (22–3), (24–18), (31–12), (28–3), (20–11) and (34–14)^[21]

Births

January

• 4 January – Roger Drayton, politician
• 12 January – Allan Burnett, anarchist activist
• 13 January – Elwyn Welch, ornithologist
• 22 January – Harata Solomon, Māori leader, entertainer
• 25 January – Eric Dempster, cricketer
• 26 January – Barbara Heslop, immunologist

February

• 1 February – Assid Corban, politician
• 2 February – Mirek Smíšek, potter
• 3 February – Tay Wilson, sports administrator
• 7 February
  • Ron Broom, cricketer
  • John Oakley, cricketer
• 19 February – Trevor Martin, cricket umpire
• 22 February – Alexander Grant, ballet dancer and teacher, dance company director
• 23 February
  • Fraser Colman, politician
  • Ted McCoy, architect
• 25 February – Campbell Smith, playwright, poet, engraver
• 27 February – Joan Hastings, swimmer

March

• 8 March – Leonard Mitchell, artist
• 9 March
  • Johnny Borland, high jumper, athletics administrator
  • Aubrey Ritchie, cricketer
• 13 March
  • John McCraw, pedologist, local historian
  • Rahera Windsor, Māori leader in the United Kingdom
• 21 March – John Heslop, surgeon, cricket administrator
• 25 March – O. E. Middleton, writer

April

• 4 April – Harvey Kreyl, rugby league player
• 5 April – Milan Mrkusich, artist
• 17 April – Vern Clare, musician, cabaret owner
• 19 April
  • Eva Rickard, Māori leader and activist
  • Maurie Robertson, rugby league player and coach
• 23 April – Al Hobman, professional wrestler, trainer and promoter
• 24 April – Dorothy Butler, children's author and bookseller, memoirist, reading advocate
• 25 April – Neville Black, rugby union and rugby league player
• 28 April – David Brokenshire, architect, potter

May

• 2 May – Frances Porter, writer, historian
• 14 May
  • Gordon Gostelow, actor
  • W. H. Oliver, poet, historian
• 16 May – John Ziman, physicist, humanist
• 20 May
  • Maurice Crow, weightlifter, rowing coxswain
  • Bert Potter, commune leader
• 27 May – Arthur Campbell, chemist

June

• 3 June – Trevor Barber, cricketer
• 11 June – Tiny White, rugby union player and administrator, politician
• 25 June – Alistair Campbell, poet, playwright, novelist
• 27 June – Ben Couch, rugby union player, politician
• 29 June – Doody Townley, harness-racing driver

July

• 2 July – Philip Liner, radio broadcaster
• 8 July – Elwyn Richardson, educationalist
• 9 July – Rex Bergstrom, econometrician
• 10 July – Dixie Cockerton, netball player and coach, cricketer, school principal
• 15 July – Stuart Jones, golfer
• 16 July – J. B. Trapp, historian
• 18 July – Allan Elsom, rugby union player
• 20 July – Eric Watson, cricketer
• 26 July – Alister Atkinson, rugby league player
• 31 July
  • John O'Brien, politician
  • Helen Ryburn, school principal, local-body politician^[22]

August

• 3 August – John Robertson, public servant
• 5 August – Bob Duff, rugby union player, local-body politician
• 13 August – Peter Beaven, architect
• 15 August – James Brown, public servant
• 23 August – John Armitt, amateur wrestler
• 28 August – Trevor Young, politician
• 30 August – Joan Hart, athlete

September

• 1 September – Te Aue Davis, tohunga raranga
• 4 September
  • Phil Amos, politician
  • Bruce Stewart, television scriptwriter
• 19 September – Lyn Forster, arachnologist

October

• 7 October
  • Bryan Drake, opera singer
  • Bill Wolfgramm, musician
• 9 October – Bill Schaefer, field hockey player
• 19 October – David Gould, rower, businessman
• 21 October – Ian Ballinger, sports shooter
• 22 October – George Grindley, geologist
• 23 October – Brian Nordgren, rugby league player
• 25 October – Donald Brian, cricketer
• 30 October
  • Audrey Eagle, botanical illustrator
  • Colin Kay, athlete, politician
• 31 October – Ngaire Lane, swimmer

November

• 6 November – Ian Cross, novelist, journalist, broadcasting and arts administrator
• 12 November – Bill Toomath, architect
• 20 November – Bill Subritzky, property developer, evangelist
• 23 November – Tui Flower, food writer
• 26 November – Ross Taylor, geochemist, planetary scientist
• 27 November – Reginald Johansson, field hockey player
• 29 November – Peter Jacobson, poet

December

• 1 December
  • Noeline Gourley, field hockey player, athlete, woodturner
  • Thomas Thorp, jurist
• 5 December – Jack Tynan, field hockey player, cricketer
• 10 December – Betty Maker, cricketer
• 23 December – Ellis Child, cricketer
• 31 December – Ray Bell, rugby union player

Exact date unknown

• Nightmarch, Thoroughbred racehorse

Deaths

January–March

• 3 January – John Endean, gold miner, hotel proprietor (born 1844)
• 11 January – Oliver Samuel, politician (born 1849)
• 13 February – Margaret McKenzie, pioneer (born 1839)

April–June

• 14 April – Don Hamilton, rugby union player, cricketer (born 1883)
• 27 April – George Williams, rugby union player (born 1856)
• 10 May – William Massey, politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1912–1925) (born 1856)
• 15 May – Stephen Boreham, trade unionist (born 1857)
• 18 May – Sir Theophilus Cooper, jurist (born 1850)
• 19 May
  • Andrew Cameron, Presbyterian minister, educationalist, community leader (born 1855)
  • Frances Wimperis, artist (born 1840)
• 21 May – Samuel Kirkpatrick, businessman (born 1854)
• 3 June – Frank Surman, rugby union player, athlete (born 1866)

July–September

• 18 July – John Sinclair, carpenter, builder, harbourmaster (born 1843)
• 19 July – James Cox, diarist (born 1846)
• 22 July – William McCullough, politician (born 1843)
• 5 August – Emily Harris, painter (born 1837)
• 9 August – Catherine Adamson, diarist (born 1868)
• 19 August – Harriet Morison, trade unionist, suffragist, public servant (born 1862)
• 1 September – Donald Petrie, botanist (born 1846)
• 7 September Thomas Ronayne, NZR General Manager (retired) (born 1849)
• 15 September – Charles Melvill, military leader (born 1878)
• 18 September – Charles Hayward Izard, politician (born 1862)
• 19 September – Henry Reynolds, butter manufacturer and exporter (born 1849)
• 27 September – Thomas MacGibbon, politician (born 1839)

October–December

• 2 October – Thomas Hislop, politician (born 1850)
• 20 November – Charles Mackesy, military leader (born 1861)
• 28 November – William Joseph Napier, politician (born 1857)
• 10 December – John Liddell Kelly, journalist, poet (born 1850)
• 13 December - Isa Outhwaite, watercolour artist, poet, social activist and philanthropist (born 1842)
• 29 December – John Crewes, Bible Christian minister, social worker, journalist (born 1847)

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. News: New motor regulations . 2 January 1925 . . 4 . 16 November 2020.
4. Web site: History . 2023-11-18 . www.foursquare.co.nz . en.
5. News: The new archbishop . 20 April 1925 . . 9 . 16 November 2020.
6. Web site: Rātana Church – Te Haahi Rātana - founding the Rātana Church . 4 April 2018 . Keith . New Zealand . Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand . 16 November 2020.
7. News: Reform defeats Labour . . 9 . 18 June 1925 . 16 November 2020.
8. Book: McGibbon, Ian C. . Blue-water Rationale: The naval defence of New Zealand, 1914–1942 . 1981 . Government Printer . Wellington . 0-477-01072-5 . 160–162.
9. News: Johnston . Martin . 28 January 2018 . The H Files: The leopard on the loose in Auckland - city on edge for almost a month . 11 June 2024 . The New Zealand Herald.
10. Book: Huntsman, Judith . Tokelau: A Historical Ethnography . 463–464 . 1996 . Auckland University Press . 9781869406646 . 16 November 2020.
11. Web site: New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition opens – 17 November 1925 . 17 September 2020 . Ministry for Culture and Heritage . New Zealand History . 16 November 2020.
12. http://www.poisonpawn.co.nz/nzcftitles.htm List of New Zealand Chess Champions
13. Web site: New Zealand: List of champions. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.
14. 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.
15. Encyclopedia: Golf, men's – New Zealand amateur champions . An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . McLintock . A. H. . Alexander Hare McLintock . Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand . 1966 . 15 November 2020.
16. News: Women's notes . 23 October 1925 . Manawatu Standard . 11 . 16 November 2020.
17. Web site: List of NZ Trotting cup winners . 5 May 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120222233106/http://www.hrnz.co.nz/data/major_races/nz_trotting_cup.htm . 22 February 2012 . dead .
18. http://www.hrnz.co.nz/data/major_races/major_race2.htm Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz
19. Book: Lambert . Max . Palenski . Ron . The New Zealand Almanac . 1982 . Moa Almanac Press . 0-908570-55-4 . 448–454.
20. 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.
21. Palenski, R. and Lambert, M. The New Zealand Almanac, 1982. Moa Almanac Press.
22. Book: Traue . J. E. . Jim Traue . Who's Who in New Zealand . 11th . 1978 . Reed . Wellington . 0-589-01113-8 . 239.