1878 in New Zealand

← 1877 1876 1875 1878 in New Zealand → 1879 1880 1881
Decades:	1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s
See also:	History of New Zealand List of years in New Zealand Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 1878 in New Zealand.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Queen Victoria
• Governor – The Marquess of Normanby

Government and law

The 6th New Zealand Parliament continues.

• Speaker of the House – Sir William Fitzherbet
• Premier – Sir George Grey
• Minister of Finance – William Larnach resigns on 5 March. He is succeeded by John Ballance on 12 July.
• Chief Justice – Hon Sir James Prendergast

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – Henry Brett followed by Thomas Peacock
• Mayor of Christchurch – James Gapes followed by Henry Thomson
• Mayor of Dunedin – Richard Henry Leary followed by Henry John Walter
• Mayor of Wellington – Joseph Dransfield

Events

• 2 February: Alois Lubecki makes the first telephone call in the country, between Dunedin and Milton. Later in the year the first public demonstration of the telephone is made with a call between Blenheim and Nelson. ^[1]
• 30 September: Great Flood of 1878, caused by the rapid melting of heavy winter snows in Central Otago, kills at least three people and destroys several bridges in Clutha and Southland. ^[2]

Undated

• Ashburton is made a borough. ^[3]

Sport

Cricket

An Australian team tours New Zealand in January and February, playing seven provincial teams. ^[4] None of the matches have first-class status as the home sides fielded between 15 and 22 players. A win by the Canterbury XV is the first ever win by a New Zealand side over an international touring team.

• See Australian cricket team in New Zealand in 1877–78

Horse racing

• New Zealand Cup winner: Maritana
• New Zealand Derby winner: Natator
• Auckland Cup winner: Ariel
• Wellington Cup winner: Lara

See also: Category:Horse races in New Zealand

Rugby union

New clubs were formed in Featherston and Carterton, both in the south Wairarapa. Existing football clubs in Gisborne, Palmerston North and Feilding adopted rugby rules. ^[5]

Shooting

Ballinger Belt: No competition

Births

• 10 September: Fanny Irvine-Smith , teacher and writer
• 9 May: Jessie Buckland , photographer ^[6]

Deaths

• 9 February: William Williams, first Bishop of Waiapu. ^[7]
• 11 February: William Barnard Rhodes , businessman and politician.
• 6 December: Sir John Richardson, politician.
• 25 December Thomas Bartley, politician.

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

References

General

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

Specific

1. A. C. Wilson. 'Telecommunications - Telephones, 1877–1914', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 4-Jul-12
2. "Great Flood hits South Island".
3. Encyclopedia of New Zealand 1966: Ashburton
4. Itinerary
5. McLintock, A. H., ed. (1966). "RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
6. Main, William. "Jessie Lillian Buckland". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture and Heritage . Retrieved 23 April 2017.
7. 'Williams, William', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 18-Sep-2007

External links

Media related to 1878 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons