1900 in New Zealand

← 1899 1898 1897 1900 in New Zealand → 1901 1902 1903
Decades:	1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s
See also:	Other events of 1900 Timeline of New Zealand history

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State — Queen Victoria
• Governor — The Earl of Ranfurly GCMG ^[1]

Government and law

The 14th New Zealand Parliament continued. Government was

• Speaker of the House — Sir Maurice O'Rorke
• Prime Minister — Richard Seddon
• Minister of Finance — Richard Seddon
• Chief Justice — Sir Robert Stout

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition — William Russell, (Independent).^[2]

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland — David Goldie
• Mayor of Wellington — John Aitken
• Mayor of Christchurch — Charles Louisson, William Reece
• Mayor of Dunedin — Robert Chisholm

Events

• 15 January: The New Zealand Mounted Rifles rout a Boer assault at Slingersfontein, South Africa.
• 9 February: Opening of the Wanganui Opera House by premier Richard Seddon.^[3]
• 15 February: New Zealand troops are part of the relief of Kimberley, South Africa.
• 3 May: Holy Cross College, Mosgiel (Roman Catholic seminary) established.
• May: Phosphate discovered on Nauru — mining begins later in the year.
• May–June: Tour of Pacific islands by Prime Minister Richard Seddon. Tonga, Niue, Fiji and the Cook Islands are visited.
• 28 September: The New Zealand Government votes to incorporate the Cook Islands into New Zealand.
• October: The number of European electorates in the New Zealand Parliament is increased to 76.
• 23 October: The country's first electric tram service begins, between Roslyn and Maori Hill in Dunedin.

Unknown date

• Māori Lands Administration Act passed.
• George Hemmings brings the first motor car into the South Island.
• The General Assembly Library (part of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings) is built.
• 18 people die in a boating tragedy on the Motu River.

Arts and literature

See 1900 in art, 1900 in literature, Category:1900 books

Music

See: 1900 in music

Film

• Alfred Whitehouse's The Departure of the Second Contingent for the Boer War — the oldest surviving New Zealand film — premieres.

Sport

Athletics

National champions (Men):

• 100 yards — G. Smith (Auckland)
• 250 yards — G. Smith (Auckland)
• 440 yards — W Strickland (Hawke's Bay)
• 880 yards — J Lynskey (Canterbury)
• 1 mile — W Simpson (Canterbury)
• 3 miles — W Simpson (Canterbury)
• 120 yards hurdles — G. Smith (Auckland)
• 440 yards hurdles — G. Smith (Auckland)
• Long jump — Te Rangi Hīroa (Otago)
• High jump — C Laurie (Auckland)
• Pole vault — C Laurie (Auckland)
• Shot put — W Madill (Auckland)
• Hammer throw — W Madill (Auckland)

Badminton

The first club is formed, in Auckland, but soon goes into recess.^[4] (see also 1927)

Chess

National Champion: W.E. Mason of Wellington.^[5]

Cricket

• See 1900–01 New Zealand cricket season
• A tour of New Zealand by Australia's Melbourne Cricket Club included seven matches, of which the visitors won six with one match drawn.
• Six provincial matches were played during the 1899–1900 domestic season, all of them over two or three days, with wins by Otago over Hawke's Bay and Canterbury, by Wellington and Auckland over Otago, and by Canterbury and Auckland over Wellington.
• Scores were uniformly low by modern standards, mostly below 200, with only two centuries scored and only one team total of over 300 runs: the highest team total was 464 by Wellington against Otago, with centuries by F A Midlane (149) and C A Richardson (113), and the best bowling figures were A D Downes' 7–43 for Otago against Canterbury.

Golf

The 8th National Amateur Championships were held in Otago ^[6]

• Men: Arthur Duncan (Wellington) — 2nd title
• Women: K Rattray (Otago) — 3rd title

Horse racing

Harness racing

• Auckland Trotting Cup: Cob ^[7]

Thoroughbred racing

• New Zealand Cup winner: Fulmen Ideal
• New Zealand Derby winner: Renown
• Auckland Cup winner: Blue Jacket
• Wellington Cup winner: Djin Djin
• Top New Zealand stakes earner: Advance
• Leading flat jockey: C Jenkins (50 wins)

Polo

• Savile Cup winners: Oroua (A Strang, J Strang, W Strang, O Robinson)

Rowing

• Men's national champions (coxed fours): Picton
• Men's national champions (coxless pairs): Wellington
• Men's national champions (double sculls): Canterbury
• Men's national champions (single sculls): T Spencer (Wellington)

Rugby union

Provincial club rugby champions include: City (Auckland); Westport (Buller); Christchurch (Canterbury); Pirates (Hawke's Bay); Levin (Horowhenua); Awarua (Marlborough); Alhambra (Otago); Gisborne (Poverty Bay); Hawera (Taranaki); Kaierau (Wanganui); Melrose (Wellington); winners of Bush, Nelson, and Wairarapa club competitions unknown.

see also Category:Rugby union in New Zealand

Shooting

• Ballinger Belt – no competition^[8]

Soccer

Provincial league champions:^[9]

• Auckland: Grafton AFC (Auckland)
• Otago: Roslyn Dunedin
• Wellington: Diamond Wellington

Swimming

National champions (men):

• 100 yards frestyle — G.A. Tyler^[10]
• 220 yards frestyle — G.A. Tyler^[10]
• 440 yards frestyle — G.A. Tyler^[11]

Tennis

New Zealand championships:

• Men's singles: J Hooper
• Women's singles: K Nunneley
• Men's doubles: C Cox/J Collins
• Women's doubles: K Nunneley/E Harman

References: Romanos, J. (2001) New Zealand Sporting Records and Lists. Auckland: Hodder Moa Beckett.

Births

• 4 January: Lance Richdale, ornithologist
• 19 January: Clarence Skinner, politician, deputy Prime Minister (in Australia)
• 4 February: Kazimierz Wodzicki
• 13 March: Quentin Donald
• 25 March: Lewis Harris
• 4 May: Archibald McIndoe, plastic surgeon
• 8 May: Lancelot William McCaskill
• 17 May: Robert Macfarlane
• 3 June: James Anderson McPherson
• 9 June: Norman Hargrave Taylor
• 4 July: Rudall Hayward, filmmaker
• 27 July (as Nina Betts): Nina Byron, silent film actress, dancer.
• 10 August: Arthur Porritt
• 11 August: Alexander Astor
• 1 September: Frederick Henry McDowall
• 7 September: Nora Sipos
• 17 September: Hedwig Weitzel
• 22 September: Henry Ah Kew
• 23 September: Alwyn Warren
• 14 October: Eddie McLeod, cricketer
• 19 October: Edwin Coubray
• 21 October: Quentin Pope
• 3 November (in Durham, England): Roger Blunt, cricketer
• 5 November: Esther James
• 12 November: Stanley Graham
• 23 November: Keith Buttle, mayor of Auckland
• 27 November: Gordon Wilson

Deaths

• date unknown: Te Rangitahau
• 3 February: Elizabeth Pulman
• 3 March: Arthur Halcombe
• 12 March: James McDonald, politician
• 22 March: Carl Gustav Schmitt
• May: Hirawanu Tapu
• 26 May: George Henry Frederick Ulrich
• 27 May: Ebenezer Hamlin, politician
• 28 September: Topi Patuki
• 4 October: William Skey
• 8 November: Charles Gordon O'Neill
• 20 or 29 December (approximately, in Rome): Thomas Broham

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

For world events and topics in 1900 not specifically related to New Zealand see: 1900

References

1. Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
2. "Elections NZ — Leaders of the Opposition". Retrieved 2008-04-06.
3. nzhistory.net.nz
4. Todd, S. (1976) Sporting Records of New Zealand. Auckland: Moa Publications. ISBN 0-908570-00-7
5. List of New Zealand Chess Champions
6. edited by A. H. McLintock (1966). "Men's Golf — National Champions". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Te Ara — The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
7. Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz
8. "New Zealand champion shot / Ballinger Belt winners". National Rifle Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
9. "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.
10. "Swimming championships". Auckland Star. 5 March 1900. p. 6. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
11. "Swimming championships". New Zealand Herald. 8 March 1900. p. 3. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

External links

Media related to 1900 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons