1959 in New Zealand

1959 in New Zealand

Other years in New Zealand

1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 (1959) • 1960 • 1961 • 1962

Population

• Estimated Population as of 31 December: 2,359,700^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1958: 43,700 (1.89%)
• Males per 100 Females: 101.0

Incumbents

Regal and Vice Regal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – The Viscount Cobham GCMG TD.^[2]

Government

The 32nd New Zealand Parliament continued. In power was the Labour government led by Walter Nash.

• Speaker of the House – Robert Macfarlane^[3]
• Prime Minister – Walter Nash
• Deputy Prime Minister – Clarence Skinner.^[3]
• Minister of Finance – Arnold Nordmeyer.^[3]
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Walter Nash.^[3]
• Attorney-General – Rex Mason.^[3]

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Keith Holyoake (National).^[4]

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – Keith Buttle then Dove-Myer Robinson
• Mayor of Hamilton – Roderick Alastair MacDonald Braithwaite then Dennis Rogers
• Mayor of Wellington – Frank Kitts
• Mayor of Christchurch – George Manning
• Mayor of Dunedin – Leonard Morton Wright then Thomas Kay Stuart Sidey

Events

• 30 May: The Auckland Harbour Bridge, 1020 meters (3,348 feet) in length, was opened.^[5]
• 24 November: The coastal trader MV Holmglen sinks near Timaru with the loss of 15 lives.^[6]

Arts and literature

• Ian Cross wins the first Robert Burns Fellowship.

See 1959 in art, 1959 in literature, Category:1959 books

Music

See: 1959 in music

Radio

See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

See: Category:1959 film awards, 1959 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1959 films

Appointments and awards

See: New Zealand Order of Merit, Order of New Zealand

• Archbishop of New Zealand
• Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, see appointments to Diocese

Sport

Athletics

Raymond Puckett wins his second national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:27:28.2 on 7 March in Palmerston North.

Chess

• The 66th National Chess Championship was held in Hamilton. The title was shared between F.A. Foulds and B.C. Menzies, both of Auckland.^[7]

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: False Step – 2nd win^[8]
• Auckland Trotting Cup: Scottish Command^[9]

Thoroughbred racing

Rugby union

• The British Lions team toured New Zealand, losing the Test series 3-1. They also lost two of their 21 provincial games, to Canterbury and Otago.^[10]
  • 18 July, Carisbrook, Dunedin: New Zealand 18 – 17 British Isles
  • 15 August, Athletic Park, Wellington: New Zealand 11 – 8 British Isles
  • 29 August, Lancaster Park, Christchurch: New Zealand 22 – 8 British Isles
  • 19 September, Eden Park, Auckland: New Zealand 6 – 9 British Isles

Soccer

• The national men's team played one match against a visiting Costa Rican club side:^[11]
  • 6 June, Auckland: NZ 3 – 2 Deportivo Saprissa
• The Chatham Cup was won by Dunedin team Northern who beat North Shore United 3-2 in the final.^[12]
• Provincial league champions:^[13]
  • Auckland: North Shore United
  • Bay of Plenty: Kahukura
  • Buller: Denniston Hotspurs
  • Canterbury: Western
  • Hawke's Bay: Napier Athletic
  • Manawatu: Kiwi United
  • Marlborough: Woodbourne
  • Nelson: Rangers
  • Northland: Otangarei United
  • Otago: Northern AFC
  • Poverty Bay: Eastern Union
  • South Canterbury: West End
  • Southland: Rovers
  • Taranaki: Moturoa
  • Waikato: Hamilton Technical OB
  • Wairarapa: Douglas Villa
  • Wanganui: New Settlers
  • Wellington: Northern

Births

• 13 April: Justin Boyle , cricketer.
• 8 May: Ingrid Jagersma, cricketer.
• 9 May: Andrew Jones , cricketer.
• 16 May: Greg Johnston, rower.
• 26 May: Brett Austin , breaststroke swimmer.
• 28 May: Eric Verdonk, rower.
• 4 September: Robbie Deans , rugby player and coach.
• 14 September: Brendon Bracewell , cricketer.
• 27 September: Mark Inglis , mountaineer.
• 3 November: Vaughan Brown , cricketer.
• 12 December: George Keys, rower.

• Jules Mikus , convicted murderer.
• Bianca van Rangelrooy , artist.
• Harry Sinclair , actor, filmmaker and musician.

Category:1959 births

Deaths

• 8 April: Sir William Joseph Jordan, politician and diplomat.
• 7 November: Archie Fisher, painter.^[14]
• 6 December (in Scotland): Edward Hunter a.k.a. Billy Banjo, trade unionist, politician and writer.

Category:1959 deaths

See also

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

References

External links

Media related to 1959 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons