1868 in New Zealand

← 1867 1866 1865 1868 in New Zealand → 1869 1870 1871
Decades:	1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s
See also:	Other events of 1868 Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 1868 in New Zealand.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State — Queen Victoria
• Governor — Sir George Grey is recalled by the British government and is replaced on 5 February by Sir George Ferguson Bowen.

Government and law

The 4th Parliament continues. The first four Māori MPs are elected in 1868.

• Speaker of the House — Sir David Monro
• Premier — Edward Stafford
• Minister of Finance — William Fitzherbert
• Chief Justice — Hon Sir George Arney

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Christchurch — William Wilson
• Mayor of Dunedin — John Hyde Harris followed by Thomas Birch

Events

• 1–6 February: The Great storm of 1868 sweeps across the country causing major damage and loss of life. ^[1]
• 1 June: The New Zealand Advertiser, which had been absorbed into the New Zealand Times in 1867, is revived. It ceases publication for good in December. ^[2]
• 13 August: A tsunami caused by the 1868 Arica earthquake in South America causes the only fatalities recorded from tsunamis in New Zealand, with about twenty people swept away in the Chatham Islands.
• 24 August: Wanganui Horticultural Society established. ^[3]
• Nelson Football Club founded. ^[4]
• 2 November: New Zealand Mean Time adopted throughout the colony; New Zealand may be the first country to have adopted a standard time throughout the country.
• Coromandel Gold Rush (1867–68)

Sport

Cricket

The Basin Reserve is first used for cricket. ^[5]

Horse racing

Major race winners

• New Zealand Cup: Flying Jib
• New Zealand Derby: Flying Jib

Shooting

Ballinger Belt: Sergeant Taylor (Otago)

Births

• 23 February Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell , soldier.
• 19 March: Alfred Ransom , politician and cabinet minister.

Full date unknown

• Asajiro Noda, seaman, cashier, gum-digger and farmer (d. 1942) ^[6]

Deaths

• 9 October: George Macfarlan , politician

See also

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

References

General

• Romanos, J. (2001) New Zealand Sporting Records and Lists. Auckland: Hodder Moa Beckett. ISBN   1-86958-879-7

Specific

1. "February 1868 New Zealand Storm – HWE". NIWA Historic Weather Events Catalog. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
2. "Chapter 2: Early Statistical Sources – 19th Century" (PDF). Statistical publications 1840–2000. Statistics New Zealand. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2007.
3. "Horticultural Society". Wanganui Herald. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
4. "RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL". from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
5. Todd, S. (1976) Sporting Records of New Zealand. Auckland: Moa Publications. ISBN   0-908570-00-7
6. Oliver, Steven. "Noda Asajiro". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture and Heritage . Retrieved 23 April 2017.

External links

Media related to 1868 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons