1931 in New Zealand

← 1930 1929 1928 1931 in New Zealand → 1932 1933 1934
Decades:	1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s
See also:	Other events of 1931 Timeline of New Zealand history

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 1,522,800 ^[1]
• Increase since previous 31/12/1930: 16,000 (1.06%)
• Males per 100 females: 103.8

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of state - George V
• Governor-General - The Lord Bledisloe GCMG KBE PC ^[2]

Government

Crowd on intersection of Willis and Mercer Streets, Wellington, outside the offices of the Evening Post, awaiting the results of the 1931 general election.

The 23rd New Zealand Parliament continued with the coalition of the United Party and the Labour Party with the Reform Party in opposition. During the year the agreement between United and Labour collapsed due to differing opinions on how to counter the Great Depression. The Reform Party, fearing that the Depression would give Labour a substantial boost, reluctantly agreed to form a coalition with United to avert elections. By forming a coalition, United and Reform were able to blunt Labour's advantage, ending the possibility of the anti-Labour vote being split and the general election in December saw the United/Reform coalition winning a majority.

• Speaker of the House - Charles Statham (Independent)
• Prime Minister - George Forbes
• Minister of Finance - George Forbes (United) until 22 September, then William Downie Stewart (Reform)
• Minister of Foreign Affairs - George Forbes
• Attor - Thomas Sidey until 22 September, then William Downie Stewart

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition - Gordon Coates (Reform) until 22 September, then Harry Holland (Labour).^[3]

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland - George Baildon, succeeded by George Hutchison
• Mayor of Hamilton, New Zealand - John Robert Fow, succeeded by Frances Dewsbury Pinford
• Mayor of Wellington - George Troup, succeeded by Thomas Hislop
• Mayor of Christchurch - John Archer, succeeded by Dan Sullivan
• Mayor of Dunedin - Robert Black

Events

Damage to the Hastings Post Office inflicted by the Hawke's Bay earthquake

• 7 January: Australian aviator Guy Menzies makes the first solo flight across the Tasman sea, starting from Sydney and ending 11 hours 45 minutes later with a crash landing in a swamp near Harihari on the West Coast ^[4]
• 3 February: The Hawkes Bay earthquake, New Zealand's worst, kills 256 people, mainly in Napier and Hastings
• 8 February: A Desoutter aircraft of Dominion Airline crashed near Wairoa, killing all three people aboard. This is the first fatality on a scheduled air service in New Zealand.^[5]

Arts and literature

See 1931 in art, 1931 in literature, Category:1931 books

Music

See: 1931 in music

Radio

See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

See: Category:1931 film awards, 1931 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1931 films

Sport

Chess

• The 40th National Chess Championship was held in Rotorua, and was won by A.W. Gyles of Wellington.^[6]

Golf

• The 21st New Zealand Open championship was won by Andrew Shaw, his 4th win.^[7]
• The 35th National Amateur Championships were held in Christchurch ^[8]
  • Men: Rana Wagg (Hutt)
  • Women: Miss B. Gaisford

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: Harold Logan ^[9]
• Auckland Trotting Cup: Royal Silk ^[10]

Rugby league

New Zealand national rugby league team

Rugby Union

Category:Rugby union in New Zealand, Category:All Blacks

• Ranfurly Shield

Soccer

• 1931 Chatham Cup won by Tramurewa (Auckland)
• Provincial league champions: ^[11]
  • Auckland: Thistle
  • Canterbury: Rangers, Nomads (shared)
  • Hawke's Bay: National Tobacco
  • Nelson: Hospital
  • Otago: HSOB
  • Southland: Rangers
  • Taranaki: Hawera, Albion (shared)
  • Waikato: Rotowaro
  • Wanganui: KP's
  • Wellington: Petone

Births

• 19 January: Thomas de Vere (Pat) Hunt, politician.
• 2 July, Robin Gray, politician and Speaker of the House of Representatives
• 23 July, Princess Piki Mahuta, later Dame Te Atairangikaahu, 6th Māori monarch
• 9 August: Mike Hinge, artist and illustrator
• 11 August: Ralph Hotere, artist
• 22 August: Maurice Gee, novelist and screenwriter
• 5 September: William Bell, cricketer
• 15 September: Lincoln Hurring, swimmer
• 11 December: Bryce Harland, diplomat
• 18 December: Noel McGregor, cricketer

Category:1931 births

Deaths

• 12 January: Peter Cheal, surveyor.
• 9 September: Elsdon Best, ethnographer
• 28 October: Edward Robert Tregear, surveyor, public servant, linguist
• 7 December: Sir John Luke, politician, Mayor of Wellington.
• Owen Merton, painter.

Category:1931 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 1931 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons