1901 in New Zealand

Decades:	1880s; 1890s; 1900s; 1910s; 1920s;
See also:	History of New Zealand; List of years in New Zealand; Timeline of New Zealand history;

The following lists events that happened during 1901 in New Zealand.

Population

A New Zealand census was held in March 1901. The population was given as 815,862, consisting of 43,112 Māori, 31 Moriori, and 772,719 others.^[1] – an increase in the non-Māori population of 9.86% over the previous census in 1896.^[2]

The figures for the 1901 census revealed that the North Island's population had exceeded the South Island's for the first time since the Otago gold rush of 1861 – the two islands (plus their associated minor offshore islands) had populations of 390,579 and 382,140 respectively. Only 40% of the country's population was based in urban centres, and only two of these centres, Auckland and Dunedin, had populations of over 25,000.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

Head of State – Victoria (until 22 January), succeeded by Edward VII
Governor – The Earl of Ranfurly GCMG^[3]

Government

The 14th New Zealand Parliament continued. In government was the Liberal Party.

Speaker of the House – Maurice O'Rorke (Liberal)
Premier / Prime Minister – Richard Seddon
Minister of Finance – Richard Seddon

Parliamentary opposition

Leader of the Opposition – William Russell, (Independent) until 3 July, then vacant.^[4]

Main centre leaders

Mayor of Auckland – Logan Campbell
Mayor of Wellington – John Aitken
Mayor of Christchurch – William Reece then Arthur Rhodes
Mayor of Dunedin – Robert Chisholm then George Denniston

Events

9 January — A Northern Maori by-election is held.

28 January — Captain William James Hardham became the first New Zealand-born winner of the Victoria Cross as a result of action in the South African War (Boer War).^[5]
2 February — a day of mourning acknowledging the death of Queen Victoria brings the nation to a standstill.
24 April
- A mayoral election is held in Auckland City.
- A mayoral election is held in Invercargill.
25 April — A mayoral election is held in Wellington City.
19 June — The 1901 New Zealand Royal Visit Honours are announced.
18 July
- A City of Christchurch by-election is held.
- A by-election is held in Patea.
12 September — The Nurses Registration Act 1901 is passed.
16 November — A 6.9 magnitude earthquake occurs in Cheviot
19 December — A Caversham by-election is held.
Union of the Synod of Otago and Southland with the Northern Presbyterian Church to form the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand.
A second visit to New Zealand by members of the Royal Family: the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall (later to become George V and Queen Mary).
The New Zealand red ensign became the official flag for merchant vessels.^[6]
Founding of the New Zealand Socialist Party.
New Zealand rejects the proposal to become a state in the Commonwealth of Australia
Richard Seddon adopts the term Prime Minister rather than Premier.

Arts and literature

See 1901 in art, 1901 in literature

Music

See: 1901 in music

Sport

Chess

National Champion: D. Forsyth of Dunedin.^[7]

Golf

The 9th National Amateur Championships were held in Auckland^[8]

Men: Arthur Duncan (Wellington) – 3rd title
Women: E.S. Gillies

Horse racing

Harness racing

Auckland Trotting Cup: Thorndean^[9]

Rugby

The Earl of Ranfurly announced his intention to present a cup to the NZRFU, without stipulating what form of competition it should be awarded for.
A New Zealand representative team won both test matches against a touring team from New South Wales.

Soccer

Provincial league champions:^[10]

Auckland: Grafton AFC (Auckland)
Otago: Roslyn Dunedin
Wellington: Wellington Swifts

Births

7 February: Arnold Nordmeyer, politician.
26 February: Leslie Munro, diplomat.
25 March: Raymond Firth, ethnologist.
10 April: Robert Aitken, physician and university administrator.
17 May: Robert Macfarlane, politician.
19 May: William Stevenson, industrialist and philanthropist.
13 June: John Cawte Beaglehole, historian and biographer.
15 June: Dove-Myer Robinson, long-serving mayor of Auckland.
5 July: Len Lye, sculptor, filmmaker, writer.
24 December: Nola Luxford, silent film actress.^[11]

Deaths

14 February: Edward Stafford. politician and 3rd Premier of New Zealand.
17 April Loughlin O'Brien, politician.
15 July: Frederic Carrington, surveyor and politician.^[12]
6 August (in Scotland): John McKenzie, politician
2 September:
- Charles Brown, politician
- Benjamin Crisp, carrier and temperance reformer^[13]
27 September: Matthew Holmes, politician
5 December Francis Rich, politician and farmer.

References

^ "Results of a Census of the Colony of New Zealand, Taken for the Night of the 31st March, 1901". 1 October 1902. Table 1.
^ The non-Māori population was 703,360 in the 1896 census."Census of New Zealand, April, 1896". Table 1.
^ Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
^ "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
^ NZhistory.net
^ New Zealand Ensigns
^ List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ McLintock, A. H., ed. (1966). "Men's Golf – National Champions". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
^ Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.
^ IMDB
^ F.A. Carrington at DNZB
^ Smith, Dawn M. "Benjamin Crisp". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.

External links

Media related to 1901 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons

[1] "Results of a Census of the Colony of New Zealand, Taken for the Night of the 31st March, 1901". 1 October 1902. Table 1.

[2] The non-Māori population was 703,360 in the 1896 census."Census of New Zealand, April, 1896". Table 1.

[3] Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52

[4] "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.

[5] NZhistory.net

[6] New Zealand Ensigns

[7] List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine

[8] McLintock, A. H., ed. (1966). "Men's Golf – National Champions". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 13 February 2009.

[9] Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine

[10] "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.

[11] IMDB

[12] F.A. Carrington at DNZB

[DNZB_Crisp-13] Smith, Dawn M. "Benjamin Crisp". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.

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