1909 in New Zealand

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Edward VII
• Governor – The Lord Plunket GCMG KCVO

Government

The 11th New Zealand Parliament commenced.

• Speaker of the House – Sir Arthur Guinness
• Prime Minister – Joseph Ward
• Minister of Finance – Joseph Ward
• Attorney-General – John Findlay
• Chief Justice – Sir Robert Stout

Parliamentary opposition

Leader of the Opposition – William Massey (independent until February and thereafter as leader of the Reform Party)

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – Arthur Myers then Charles Grey
• Mayor of Wellington – Alfred Newman
• Mayor of Christchurch – Charles Allison
• Mayor of Dunedin – John McDonald then James Walker

Events

• 1 January: The Quackery Prevention Act 1908 becomes law, preventing false advertising in relation to ingredients, composition, structure, nature or operation of a medicine.
• 12 February: Inter-island steamer SS Penguin is wrecked at Cape Terawhiti in Cook Strait with the loss of 75 lives.
• 14 February: The first North Island Main Trunk passenger express train leaves Auckland for Wellington, an overnight trip scheduled to take 19 hours 15 minutes, with a sleeping car, day cars with reclining seats, postal/parcels vans, and a dining car for part of the way.

Undated

• The Canterbury (NZ) Aero Club, the first in New Zealand, is formed by George Bolt.

Arts and literature

See 1909 in art, 1909 in literature

Music

See: 1909 in music

Film

See: 1909 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, :Category:1909 films

Sport

Boxing

National amateur champions

• Heavyweight – M. Ryan (Invercargill)
• Middleweight – S. Monaghan (Ohakune)
• Welterweight – G. Watchorn (Palmerston North)
• Lightweight – J. Finnerty (Invercargill)
• Featherweight – J. Hagerty (Timaru)
• Bantamweight – C. Stewart (Timaru)

Cricket

Chess

• The 22nd National Chess Championship was held in Dunedin, and was won by F.K. Kelling of Wellington.

Golf

• The third New Zealand Open championship was won by J.A. Clements (his second consecutive win).
• The 17th National Amateur Championships were held in Auckland
  • Men: Arthur Duncan (Wellington) – 6th title
  • Women: Mrs ? Bevan.

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: Wildwood Junior
• Auckland Trotting Cup: Havoc

Rugby league

New Zealand national rugby league team

Rugby union

• Auckland defend the Ranfurly Shield only once, beating Taranaki 18-5

Soccer

Provincial league champions:

• Auckland: Auckland Corinthians
• Canterbury: Burnham Industrial School
• Otago: Dunedin City
• Southland: Murihiku
• Taranaki: Kaponga
• Wellington: Wellington Swifts

Tennis

• Anthony Wilding and Australian Norman Brookes, as the Australasian team, successfully defend the Davis Cup, beating the United States 5–0. The final is held in Sydney.
• Anthony Wilding wins the men's singles at the Australian Open.

Births

• 15 April: Jack Watts, politician. (d. 1970)
• 18 April: Tom Skinner, politician, Federation of Labour president. (d. 1991)
• 20 May: Bill Pratney, cyclist. (d. 2001)
• 13 June: Ralph Hanan, politician. (d. 1969)
• 14 July: Brian Shorland, organic chemist. (d. 1999)
• 27 July: Charles Brasch, poet and literary editor. (d. 1973)
• 20 August: Alby Roberts, cricketer. (d. 1978)
• 15 September: Jean Batten, aviator. (d. 1982)
• 16 September: Rod MacKenzie, rugby union player (d. 2000)
• 31 October: Frank Bateson, astronomer. (d. 2007)
• 23 December: Don Cleverley, cricketer. (d. 2004)

Deaths

• 14 February: Elsie Dohrmann, scholar, teacher and temperance campaigner
• 28 April: John Wilson (businessman), businessman and judge
• 7 August: Arthur Remington, politician
• 14 August: Samuel Brown, Mayor of Wellington.
• Maria Sophia Pope, shopkeeper and businesswoman.

References

References

1. Statistics New Zealand: ''New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990''. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
2. "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition".
3. [http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Kids/NZDisasters/SSPenguin.asp Christchurch City Libraries]
4. Rendel, David (1975) ''Civil Aviation in New Zealand: An Illustrated History''. Wellington. A.H. & A.W.Reed. {{ISBN. 0-589-00905-2
5. [http://www.poisonpawn.co.nz/nzcftitles.htm List of New Zealand Chess Champions] {{webarchive. link. (14 October 2008)
6. [http://tvnz.co.nz/view/sport_minisite_story_skin/463413?format=html History of NZ open: TVNZ]
7. (1966). "Men's Golf – National Champions". Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
8. "List of NZ Trotting cup winners".
9. [http://www.hrnz.co.nz/data/major_races/major_race2.htm Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz] {{webarchive. link. (17 June 2009)
10. (1999). "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
11. "Dohrmann, Elsie".
12. Smith, Jo-Anne. "Maria Sophia Pope".