1909 in New Zealand

← 1908 1907 1906 1909 in New Zealand → 1910 1911 1912
Decades:	1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s
See also:	Other events of 1909 Timeline of New Zealand history

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State - Edward VII
• Governor - The Lord Plunket GCMG KCVO ^[1]

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

Parliamentary opposition

Leader of the Opposition - William Massey (independent until February and thereafter as leader of the Reform Party) ^[2]

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.^[3]
• 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.^[4]

Arts and literature

See 1909 in art, 1909 in literature, Category:1909 books

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)

Chess

• The 22nd National Chess Championship was held in Dunedin, and was won by F.K. Kelling of Wellington.^[5]

Golf

• The third New Zealand Open championship was won by J.A. Clements (his second consecutive win).^[6]
• The 17th National Amateur Championships were held in Auckland ^[7]
  • Men: Arthur Duncan (Wellington) - 6th title
  • Women: Mrs ? Bevan.

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: Wildwood Junior ^[8]
• Auckland Trotting Cup: Havoc ^[9]

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:^[10]

• 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.
• 18 April: Tom Skinner, politician, Federation of Labour president.
• 20 May: Bill Pratney, cyclist.
• 13 June: Ralph Hanan, politician.
• 27 July: Charles Brasch, poet and literary editor.
• 20 August: Alby Roberts, cricketer.
• 15 September: Jean Batten, aviator.
• 31 October: Frank Bateson, astronomer.
• 23 December: Don Cleverley, cricketer.

Category:1909 births

Deaths

• 28 April: John Wilson (businessman), businessman and judge
• 7 August: Arthur Remington, politician
• 14 August: Samuel Brown, Mayor of Wellington.

Category:1909 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 1909 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons