1831 in New Zealand

← 1830 1829 1828 1831 in New Zealand → 1832 1833 1834
Decades:	1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s
See also:	History of New Zealand List of years in New Zealand Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 1831 in New Zealand.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – King William IV
• Governor of New South Wales – Major-General Sir Richard Bourke succeeds General Ralph Darling on 22 October

Events

• 14 January – Traders led by Joe Rowe are the first non-Māori to visit the Wanganui area. The party includes Rowe, Andrew Powers, a man named Tom, and an African or African-American sailor. ^{[1] [2]}
• 16 April – Trade in preserved Māori heads as curios is outlawed by the Governor of New South Wales. ^[3]
• 1 October ^[4] – John and Betty Guard's son, John Guard, is born at his father's whaling station at Te Awaiti in Tory Channel. He is the first European child born in the South Island. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}
• 11 October – The first marriage between two Europeans in New Zealand is performed at Waimate North. William Gilbert Puckey ^[9] marries Mathilda Davis. ^{[10] [11]}
• November
  • – The Weller brothers return (see below) in the Lucy Ann and establish a whaling station at Otakou.
• 25 December – John Guard Junior baptised in Sydney. ^[4] (see above)

Undated

• Joseph Brooks Weller commissions a vessel from shipbuilders on Stewart Island. ^[12]
• Joseph Brooks Weller arrives in Otago Harbour on the Sir George Murray and makes an agreement with local Māori claiming territory for King William IV before returning to Sydney.
• Ngāti Toa under chief and war leader Te Rauparaha besiege Ngāi Tahu stronghold of Kaiapoi pā.

Births

• 8 January (in England): William Garden Cowie , first Anglican bishop of Auckland. ^[13]
• 19 September (in England): William Rolleston , politician. ^[14]
• 1 November (in England): Henry Albert (Harry) Atkinson , 10th premier of New Zealand. ^[15]
• 24 November (in Dublin): Rose Whitty , convent founder. ^[16]

See also

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

References

1. Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p. 494.
2. Te Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its inhabitants, 1855, Chapter XXIII, p.370. https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-TayTeik-t1-body-d1-d23.html#name-400008-mention
3. McLauchlan, Gordon; King, Michael; Keith, Hamish; Walker, Ranginui; Barber, Laurie, eds. (1986). The New Zealand Book of Events. Reed Methuen.
4. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography: Elizabeth Guard
5. New Zealand Encyclopaedia 1966: Guard Biography
6. New Zealand History online: The Harriet Affair 1834
7. Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p. 427.
8. Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p. 10.
9. The Wises entry erroneously has William GEORGE Puckey who was in fact William and Mathilda's first child.
10. Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p. 474.
11. "The Family Research of Monique Jones". Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
12. This vessel may have been the Joseph Weller mentioned in Wises New Zealand Guide 7th Edition, 1979. p.405. as having been the first ship built on the island some time after 1826.
13. Davidson, Allan K. (1993). "Cowie, William Garden 1831 - 1902". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.
14. Gardner, W. J. (1990). "Rolleston, William 1831 - 1903'". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.
15. Armstrong, W.R. (1966). "ATKINSON, Sir Harry Albert, K.C.M.G." An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
16. Catholic Encyclopedia