1881 in New Zealand

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Queen Victoria
• Governor – The Hon. Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon

Government and law

• Speaker of the House – Maurice O'Rorke.
• Premier – John Hall (New Zealand)
• Minister of Finance – Harry Atkinson
• Chief Justice – Hon Sir James Prendergast

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – James Clark
• Mayor of Christchurch – Charles Thomas Ick followed by James Gapes
• Mayor of Dunedin – Archibald Hilson Ross followed by James Gore
• Mayor of Wellington – William Hutchison

Events

• The government passes the Chinese Immigration Act 1881. This imposes a £10 tax per Chinese person entering New Zealand, and permits only one Chinese immigrant for every 10 tons of cargo.
• 1 October - The first telephone exchange in New Zealand is opened in Christchurch.
• 24 October - A telephone exchange is opened in Auckland.
• 5 November - The invasion of Parihaka by a colonial militia aiming to clear the non-violent resistance movement and enable the subdivision of land for European settlement
• 5 December - a magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Castle Hill, widely felt in the South Island and causing damage in Christchurch

Sport

Cricket

• The Auckland Association is formed.
• An Australian team tours the country playing twelve matches against provincial teams. None of the games have first-class status, with the home teams fielding between 12 and 22 players. Australia suffered one loss, but 10 wickets to the Wanganui XXII.

Horse racing

• New Zealand Cup winner: Grip
• New Zealand Derby winner: The Dauphin
• Auckland Cup winner: King Quail
• Wellington Cup winner: Natator

Rugby union

Shooting

Births

• 16 January: Hercules Wright, rugby union player.
• 14 February : George Skellerup, industrialist
• 6 April: Walter Broadfoot, politician.

Deaths

• 15 September William Sefton Moorhouse, politician.

Unknown date