1931 in New Zealand

The following lists events that happened during 1931 in New Zealand.

Population

Estimated population as of 31 December: 1,522,800.
Increase since previous 31 December 1930: 16,000.
Males per 100 females: 103.8.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

Head of state - George V
Governor-General - The Lord Bledisloe GCMG KBE PC

Government

The 23rd New Zealand Parliament continued with the coalition of the United Party and the [New Zealand New Zealand Labour Party|Labour Party|Labour Party] with the Reform Party in opposition. During the year the agreement between United and Labour collapsed due to differing opinions on how to counter the Great Depression. The Reform Party, fearing that the Depression would give Labour a substantial boost, reluctantly agreed to form a coalition with United to avert elections. By forming a coalition, United and Reform were able to blunt Labour's advantage, ending the possibility of the anti-Labour vote being split and the general election in December saw the United–Reform Coalition winning a majority.

Speaker of the House - Charles Statham
Prime Minister - George Forbes
Minister of Finance - George Forbes until 22 September, then William Downie Stewart
Minister of Foreign Affairs - George Forbes
Attor - Thomas Sidey until 22 September, then William Downie Stewart
Chief Justice — Sir Michael Myers

Parliamentary opposition

Leader of the Opposition - Gordon Coates until 22 September, then Harry Holland.

Main centre leaders

Mayor of Auckland - George Baildon, succeeded by George Hutchison
Mayor of Wellington - George Troup, succeeded by Thomas Hislop
Mayor of Christchurch - John Archer, succeeded by Dan Sullivan
Mayor of Dunedin - '''Robert Black'''

Events

7 January – Australian aviator Guy Menzies makes the first solo flight across the Tasman sea, starting from Sydney and ending 11 hours 45 minutes later with a crash landing in a swamp near Harihari on the West Coast
3 February – The Hawkes Bay earthquake, New Zealand's worst, kills 256 people, mainly in Napier and Hastings
8 February – A Desoutter aircraft of Dominion Airline crashed near Wairoa, killing all three people aboard. This is the first fatality on a scheduled air service in New Zealand.
27 February – Oscar Garden lands his Gipsy Moth aircraft at Horseshoe Bay on Stewart Island / Rakiura, the first aircraft to land on the island.

Arts and literature

See 1931 in art, 1931 in literature, :Category:1931 books

Sport

Chess

The 40th National Chess Championship was held in Rotorua, and was won by A.W. Gyles of Wellington.

Golf

The 21st New Zealand Open championship was won by Andrew Shaw, his 4th win.
The 35th National Amateur Championships were held in Christchurch
* Men: Rana Wagg
* Women: Miss B. Gaisford

Horse racing

Harness racing

New Zealand Trotting Cup – Harold Logan
Auckland Trotting Cup – Royal Silk

Thoroughbred racing

New Zealand Cup – Spearful
Avondale Gold Cup – Little Doubt
Auckland Cup – Admiral Drake
Wellington Cup – Stanchion
New Zealand Derby – Bronze Eagle

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Auckland.

Men's singles champion – N.C. Bell
Men's pair champions – H.G. Loveridge, R.N. Pilkington
Men's fours champions – J.D. Best, A.J.H. Gregory, H. Gardiner, G.A. Deare

Rugby league

New Zealand national rugby league team

Rugby Union

:Category:Rugby union in New Zealand, :Category:All Blacks

Ranfurly Shield

Soccer

1931 Chatham Cup won by Tramurewa Provincial league champions:
* Auckland: Thistle
* Canterbury: Rangers, Nomads
* Hawke's Bay: National Tobacco
* Nelson: Hospital
* Otago: HSOB
* Southland: Rangers
* Taranaki: Hawera, Albion
* Waikato: Rotowaro
* Wanganui: KP's
* Wellington: Petone

Births

January

1 January – Inez Kingi, health advocate
2 January – Ritchie Johnston, cyclist
12 January – Bert Ormond, association footballer
14 January – Norm Wilson, cricketer
19 January – Pat Hunt, politician
20 January – Allan Tong, rower
23 January – Gordon McLauchlan, author
30 January – Doug Wilson, rugby union player

February

1 February – Nicholas Tarling, historian
10 February – Keith Bagley, rugby union player
14 February – Peter Wardle, botanist
15 February – Lloyd Ashby, rugby union player
21 February
* Warren Dibble, poet, playwright
* Te Paekiomeka Joy Ruha, Māori leader
22 February – Bryce Postles, cricketer

March

4 March – Don Jowett, athlete, rugby union player
5 March
* Ian Clarke, rugby union player
* Brian Fitzpatrick, rugby union player
9 March – Jack Lasenby, children's author
10 March – Colin Loader, rugby union player
11 March – Colin Jillings, Thoroughbred racehorse trainer
19 March – Cliff Skeggs, businessman, politician, mayor of Dunedin
31 March
* Shirley Murray, hymn lyricist
* Bruce Papas, fashion designer

April

3 April – Elspeth Kennedy, sharebroker, community leader
4 April
* Eric Anderson, rugby union player and coach
* Catherine Tizard, politician, mayor of Auckland, 16th governor-general
6 April – Ian Grey, rugby league player
7 April – John McDonald, cricketer
9 April
* Ruth Castle, weaver
* Patrick Murray, priest, editor, ecumenicist
10 April – Neil Waters, chemist, university administrator
13 April – Doug Armstrong, cricketer, sports broadcaster, politician
14 April – Bruce Pairaudeau, cricketer
20 April – Bill Tolhurst, politician
23 April – John Williams, cricketer

May

3 May – Malcolm Hahn, javelin thrower
12 May – Murray Ashby, rower
17 May – Thomas Eichelbaum, jurist
20 May – Barry Brown, boxer
22 May – Buddy Lucas, swimmer, surf lifesaver
23 May – Rex Austin, politician

June

2 June – Joyce Waters, inorganic chemist
18 June – Jane Soons, geomorphologist
19 June – Heather Nicholson geologist, writer
26 June
* George Martin, rugby league player, field athlete
* John Scott, medical researcher

July

2 July – Robin Gray, politician
6 July – John Spencer, boat designer
18 July – Peter Goddard, educationalist
21 July – Roy Meehan, wrestler
23 July – Te Atairangikaahu, 6th Māori monarch
24 July – Ray Laurent, rower
25 July – Murray Day, squash administrator
26 July – Jean Puketapu, Māori language activist, kōhanga reo pioneer
27 July – David Goldsmith, field hockey player
28 July – Peter Shirtcliffe, businessman

August

3 August
* Rod Bieleski, plant physiologist
* Lee Grant, actress, singer
9 August
* Mike Hinge, artist and illustrator
* Ernie Leonard, television presenter, wrestling commentator, actor
10 August
* Richard Atkins, diplomat
* Bruce Slane, public servant, lawyer
11 August – Ralph Hotere, artist
13 August – Norman Read, racewalker
22 August – Maurice Gee, novelist, screenwriter

September

4 September – Bill Skelton, jockey
5 September
* Bill Bell, cricketer
* Stew Nairn, sports shooter
12 September – John Ogilvie, cricketer
15 September
* Brian Henderson, radio and television personality
* Lincoln Hurring, swimmer and swimming coach
* Harold Marshall, acoustician
28 September – Noel Pope, local-body politician
30 September – Geoffrey Chisholm, urologist

October

6 October – Michael Hardie Boys, jurist, 17th governor-general
9 October – Mark Otway, tennis player
14 October – Colin Dickinson, cyclist
16 October
* Peter Bush, sports photographer
* Kristin Jacobi, swimmer
* Ian Quigley, politician
17 October – Mazhar Krasniqi, Muslim community leader, human rights activist
23 October – James McNeish, novelist, playwright, biographer
25 October – Beverley Holloway, entomologist
29 October – Murray Loudon, field hockey player, dentist
30 October – Alma Johnson, television personality

November

2 November – Steve Kuzmicich, statistician
9 November – Eion Scarrow, gardening personality, broadcaster and author
12 November – Jeanne Macaskill, artist
21 November – Bruce Townshend, politician
27 November – Keith Allen, politician
30 November – Vivian Lynn, artist

December

8 December – David Crooks, air force officer
10 December – John Bond, rugby league player
11 December – Bryce Harland, diplomat
17 December – Frank Devine, journalist, newspaper editor
18 December – Noel McGregor, cricketer

Exact date unknown

Nola Barron, potter
Con Cambie, natural products chemist
Beverley Randell, children's author

Deaths

January–March

12 January – Peter Cheal, surveyor
18 January
* Daldy MacWilliams, goldminer, businessman, sportsman
* Owen Merton, painter
20 January – Shailer Weston, politician
31 January – Job Osborne, farm contractor, well-sinker
21 February – Rhona Haszard, artist
27 February – Edith Searle Grossmann, novelist, journalist, feminist
15 March – William Beattie, photographer

April–June

13 April – Joseph Firth, cricketer, sports administrator, educator
18 April – Arthur Hall, politician
3 May – Hannah Dudley, Methodist mission sister
10 May – Anna Stout, social reformer
22 May – Bernard Chambers, viticulturist, winemaker
26 May – Richard Barton, pastoralist, author
6 June – William Baucke, linguist, ethnologist, journalist
10 June – May Moore, photographer

July–September

5 July – Henry Winkelmann, photographer
12 July – Noel Brodrick, surveyor
1 August – Dick Stewart, rugby union player
12 August – Lizzie Rattray, journalist, suffragist
28 August – Tene Waitere, carver
9 September – Elsdon Best, ethnographer
10 September – Pratt Kempthorne, Anglican clergyman

October–December

6 October – Robert Yates, cricketer
24 October
* Alfred Eckhold, rugby union player, cricketer
* John Potter, stonemason, builder
28 October – Edward Tregear, surveyor, public servant, linguist
30 October – Joseph Witheford, politician
31 October – Charles Gleeson, cricketer
5 November - Jane Stowe, New Zealand artist
28 November
* John Stalker, rugby union player
* Heathcote Williams, cricket player and administrator
7 December – Sir John Luke, politician, mayor of Wellington
23 December – Jack Stanaway, rugby league player
29 December – William Earnshaw, politician