1859 in New Zealand

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State — Queen Victoria
• Governor — Colonel Thomas Gore Browne

Government and law

• Speaker of the House — Sir Charles Clifford
• Premier — Edward Stafford.
• Minister of Finance — William Richmond is briefly replaced by Henry Sewell between 25 February and 26 April.
• Chief Justice — Hon George Arney

Events

• 10 January – Pencarrow Head Lighthouse becomes the first permanent lighthouse in New Zealand. Its first keeper is Mary Bennett, the only woman to hold the position.
• 13 April – The New Zealand Advertiser starts publishing in Wellington. In 1867 it is incorporated into the New Zealand Times, but it is restored for six months in 1868.
• 3 October – The Auckland Independent begins publishing. It barely survives into the following year.
• 7 November – 18 December – four supplementary elections are held in new general electorates, increasing the number of members of parliament from 37 to 41.

Undated

Births

• 1 January : John Dumbell, rugby union player.
• 18 November : James Nairn, painter

Unknown date

• Thomas Field, politician.
• Charles E. Major, politician.

Deaths

• 7 April – John Gray, soldier, politician
• 20 April – James Kelly, Australian explorer who was involved in a feud on Otago Peninsula
• 30 April – Henry Despard, soldier
• 20 July – Alexander Shepherd, public servant and second Colonial Treasurer