1919 in New Zealand

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – George V
• Governor-General – Arthur Foljambe, 2nd Earl of Liverpool

Government

• Speaker of the House – Frederic Lang
• Prime Minister – William Massey
• Minister of Finance – Joseph Ward until 21 August, then James Allen

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Joseph Ward.

Judiciary

• Chief Justice – Sir Robert Stout

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – James Gunson
• Mayor of Wellington – John Luke
• Mayor of Christchurch – Henry Holland then Henry Thacker
• Mayor of Dunedin – James Clark then William Begg

Events

• January – George Bolt ascends to a record height of.
• 1 February – Cecil McKenzie Hill, chief instructor for the Canterbury Aviation Company, is killed in an air accident while flying over Riccarton Racecourse. This is the first aircraft fatality in New Zealand.
• 4 February – New Zealand Rifle Brigade (Earl of Liverpool's Own) disbanded.
• 31 May – George Bolt flies from Auckland to Russell in a Boeing and Westervelt floatplane. The distance of is a record for a flight in New Zealand.
• 16 December – George Bolt makes the first experimental airmail flight in New Zealand. He flies from Auckland to Dargaville and back again on the same day, a total distance of approximately.
• 16–17 December – The 1919 general election is held.
• December – The Ministry of External Affairs is established, with James Allen as the first minister.

Arts and literature

Music

Film

Sport

• See: 1919 in sports, :Category:1919 in sports

Chess

• The National Chess championship was not held.

Cricket

• Plunket Shield: 25–29 December, Hagley Oval, Christchurch: Canterbury defeated Wellington by 7 wickets. See 1920 in New Zealand#Cricket for remaining matches in this Plunket Shield competition.

Football

• Provincial league champions:
• * Auckland – North Shore
• * Canterbury – Linwood, Excelsior
• * Hawke's Bay – Waipukurau
• * Otago – Northern
• * Southland – No competition
• * Wanganui – Eastbrooke
• * Wellington – YMCA

Golf

• The ninth New Zealand Open championship is won by Ted Douglas after a playoff against Sloan Morpeth.
• The 23rd National Amateur Championships are held in Napier
• * Men – H. E. Crosse
• * Women – Noeline Wright

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Trix Pointer
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Creina

Thoroughbred racing

• New Zealand Cup – Vagabond
• Auckland Cup – Karo
• Wellington Cup – Red Ribbon / Rewi Poto
• New Zealand Derby – Rossini

Lawn bowls

• Men's singles champion – M. Walker
• Men's pair champions – J.B. Rosmon, W.J. Hueston
• Men's fours champions – A.J. Andrew, W. Given, O. Gallagher, Ernie Jury

Rugby union

• Wellington defend the Ranfurly Shield against six challengers;,, Canterbury,, and .

Rugby league

• New Zealand national rugby league team

Births

January–February

• 4 January – Joseph Collins, boxer
• 21 January – Eddie Robertson, geophysicist and scientific administrator
• 23 January – Dorothy Winstone, educationalist and academic
• 26 January
• * Les Gandar, politician
• * Hepi Te Heuheu, Ngāti Tūwharetoa leader
• 4 February – Sam Cusack, community character
• 5 February – William R. Newland, potter
• 10 February – Dorothy Freed, author, composer, music historian
• 12 February – Bob Miller, surveyor, Antarctic explorer, conservationist
• 25 February – Jack Tizard, psychologist

March–April

• 3 March – Henry Lang, public servant, economist
• 6 March – Jim Knox, trade union leader
• 7 March – John Wyatt, cricketer
• 29 March – Lorrie Pickering, politician
• 30 March – Robin Williams, mathematical physicist, university administrator, public servant
• 5 April – Les Munro, World War II bomber pilot
• 14 April – Lester Harvey, rugby union player
• 16 April – Jan Nigro, artist
• 29 April – Jack Ridley, civil engineer, politician

May–June

• 10 May – Eric Godley, botanist, academic biographer
• 16 May – Frank Callaway, music academic and administrator
• 19 May – Peter Hooper, writer, conservationist
• 28 May – Alex Lindsay, violinist, orchestral conductor and leader
• 1 June – Michael Miles, television presenter
• 2 June – Bert Walker, politician
• 4 June – Alister McLellan, mathematician, physicist
• 8 June – Guy Overton, cricketer
• 13 June – Phyl Blackler, cricketer
• 14 June – James Ward, World War II bomber pilot, Victoria Cross recipient
• 15 June – Doug Harris, athlete
• 16 June – Ces Mountford, rugby league player and coach
• 28 June – Charles Willocks, rugby union player

July–August

• 6 July – Ray Dowker, cricketer, association footballer
• 14 July – Ray Dalton, rugby union player
• 17 July – Alex Moir, cricketer
• 20 July – Edmund Hillary, mountaineer, explorer, philanthropist
• 22 July – Angus Tait, electronics innovator and businessman
• 1 August – Colin McCahon, artist
• 3 August – David Aubrey Scott, diplomat
• 8 August – Hōri Mahue Ngata, lexicographer
• 10 August – Murray Beresford Roberts, confidence trickster
• 22 August – Dick Brittenden, sports journalist
• 24 August – Colin Aikman, public servant, lawyer, diplomat, academic

September–October

• 5 September – John Rangihau, academic, Māori leader
• 24 September – Gordon Walters, artist, graphic designer
• 25 September – Tony George, weightlifter
• 29 September – Ruth Dallas, poet, children's author
• 30 September – John Stacpoole, architect, historian
• 7 October – James Boyer Brown, endocrinologist
• 8 October – Mac Anderson, cricketer, air force officer
• 11 October – John Warham, photographer, ornithologist
• 20 October – John Karlsen, actor
• 25 October
• * George Burns, rower
• * George Cawkwell, classical scholar

November–December

• 6 November – Allen Lissette, cricketer
• 7 November – Levi Borgstrom, carver
• 9 November – Janet Paul, publisher, painter, art historian
• 11 November – Lance Adams-Schneider, politician, diplomat
• 25 November – Keith Lawrence, World War II pilot
• 6 December – Cedric Hassall, chemist, academic
• 10 December – Walter Robinson, Anglican bishop
• 11 December – Lady Anne Berry, horticulturalist
• 12 December – Ida Gaskin, school teacher, quiz show contestant, politician
• 17 December – Rei Hamon, artist
• 20 December – Bubbles Mihinui, tourist guide, community leader
• 21 December – Jack Williams, politician
• 28 December – Jack Clarke, athlete
• 29 December – Thomas Horton, air force pilot

Deaths

January–March

• 21 January – Thomas Thompson, politician
• 22 January – Carrick Paul, World War I flying ace
• 2 February – Charles Begg, surgeon, army health administrator
• 7 February – Donald Reid, farmer, landowner, businessman, politician
• 13 February – William Temple, soldier, Victoria Cross recipient
• 18 February – Searby Buxton, politician
• 19 February – William Tucker, soldier, farmer, politician, mayor of Gisborne
• 24 February – Alfred Fraser, politician
• 18 March – Isabella Siteman, farmer, philanthropist
• 25 March – Harry Burnand, engineer, sawmiller

April–June

• 3 April
• * Charlie Frith, cricket player and umpire
• * Mary Hames, farmer, dressmaker
• 23 April – Archie McMinn, rugby union player
• 24 April – William Speight, politician
• 6 May – Catherine Fulton, diarist, philanthropist, social reformer, suffragette
• 28 May – Edward Bartley, architect
• 1 June – Thomas William Adams, farmer, forester, educationalist
• 4 June – John Sharp, politician, mayor of Nelson
• 25 June – Hamilton Gilmer, politician
• 29 June – James McKerrow, astronomer, surveyor, public servant

July–September

• 22 July – Sir John Denniston, lawyer, jurist
• 3 August – Stuart Newall, military leader
• 6 August – James Dawe, cricketer
• 13 August – Jackson Palmer, politician
• 24 August – Thomas Broun, entomologist
• 26 August – Richard Molesworth Taylor, politician
• 4 September – Joseph Ivess, politician

October–December

• 13 October – James Stack, missionary, writer, interpreter
• 21 October – Alexander McMinn, teacher, journalist, newspaper proprietor
• 29 October – James Colvin, politician
• 3 November – Ellen Dougherty, nurse
• 15 November – Maria Marchant, school principal
• 24 November – George Randall Johnson, cricketer, politician
• 11 December – Takaanui Hōhaia Tarakawa, Tapuika, Ngāti Rangiwewehi and Ngāi Te Rangi tohunga, historian and genealogist
• 15 December – Louisa Snelson, civic leader
• 18 December – Frederick Strouts, architect
• 29 December – Wiremu Hoani Taua, Ngāti Kahu leader, school principal