1959 in New Zealand

← 1958 1957 1956 1959 in New Zealand → 1960 1961 1962
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	Other events of 1959 Timeline of New Zealand history

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 viceregal

• 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 Braithwaite then Denis 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

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]

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.
• Bianca van Rangelrooy , artist.
• Harry Sinclair , actor, filmmaker and musician.

Category:1959 births

Deaths

• 23 February: Gordon Wilson, Government architect.
• 8 April: Sir William Joseph Jordan, politician and diplomat.
• 7 November: Archie Fisher, painter.^[14]
• 8 November: Walter William Massey, MP and politician
• 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

1. Statistics New Zealand:Historical Population Estimates
2. Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
3. Lambert & Palenski: The New Zealand Almanac, 1982. ISBN 0-908570-55-4
4. "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Retrieved 6 April 2008.
5. Peter Hinze, New Zealand (Hunter Publishing, Inc, 1998), p34
6. "Diver lost off South Canterbury coast". The Timaru Herald. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
7. List of New Zealand Chess Champions
8. List of NZ Trotting cup winners
9. Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz
10. Pick and Go rugby results database
11. List of New Zealand national soccer matches
12. Chatham Cup: nzsoccer.com
13. "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.
14. Blackley, Roger. "Fisher, Archibald Joseph Charles 1896–1959". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 5 April 2011.

External links

Media related to 1959 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons