1870 in New Zealand

The following lists events that happened during 1870 in New Zealand.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Queen Victoria
• Governor – Sir George Ferguson Bowen

Government and law

The 4th New Zealand Parliament continues.

• Speaker of the House – Sir David Monro stands down at the end of the year. He will be replaced after the 1871 election by Sir Francis Dillon Bell
• Premier – William Fox
• Minister of Finance – Julius Vogel
• Chief Justice – Hon Sir George Arney

Voting in New Zealand elections is changed to a secret ballot.

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Christchurch – John Anderson followed by Andrew Duncan
• Mayor of Dunedin – Thomas Birch followed by Henry Fish
• Mayor of Wellington – Joseph Dransfield

Events

• 27 August – 3 September: Second visit by Prince Alfred, returning briefly to Wellington before departing for Sydney.
• Torrens system of registered land titles adopted.

Sport

Archery

• The first club meets at One Tree Hill, Auckland.

Golf

• New Zealand's first golf course was opened in Dunedin.

Horse racing

There are 2 races for both the New Zealand Cup and New Zealand Derby (presumably at the beginning and end of the calendar year).^{(Confirmation required)}

Major race winners

• New Zealand Cup: Knottingley
• New Zealand Cup: Knottingley
• New Zealand Derby: Malabar
• New Zealand Derby: Envy

Rugby union

Charles Monro, son of the Speaker of the House, Sir David Monro, introduces rugby to the Nelson Football club.

• 14 May – First rugby club match, Nelson College versus Nelson Football Club "The Town" at the Botanical reserve. This was the first interclub game of rugby union played in New Zealand.
• 12 September – A Nelson team, the "Lunatics", defeats Wellington at Petone.
• – The first "international" between Wellington and a team from HMS Rosario.

Shooting

Ballinger Belt: Lieutenant Goldie (Otago)

Births

• February (no date): Arthur Withy, journalist and politician.
• 14 April: James Cowan, writer.
• 20 October: C. F. Goldie, painter.

Deaths

• 5 July: Henry Powning Stark, politician and sharebroker.
• 16 July: Betty Guard, of pioneering whaling family.
• 27 November (in England): James Stuart-Wortley, politician
• 30 November: Francis Jollie, politician

See also

• History of New Zealand
• List of years in New Zealand
• Military history of New Zealand
• Timeline of New Zealand history
• Timeline of New Zealand's links with Antarctica
• Timeline of the New Zealand environment

References

General

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

Specific

External links