1953 in New Zealand

← 1952 1951 1950 1953 in New Zealand → 1954 1955 1956
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	History of New Zealand List of years in New Zealand Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 1953 in New Zealand.

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,074,700. ^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1952: 50,100 (2.47%). ^[1]
• Males per 100 females: 101.1. ^[1]

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II , Queen of New Zealand, from 6 February 1952
• Governor-General – Lieutenant-General The Lord Norrie GCMG GCVO CB DSO MC , from 1952-1957 ^[2]

Government

The 30th New Zealand Parliament continued. The National Party was in its second term in office under Sidney Holland.

• Speaker of the House – Matthew Oram from 1950 to 1957
• Prime Minister – Sidney Holland from 13 December 1949 to 20 September 1957.
• Deputy Prime Minister – Keith Holyoake from 13 December 1949 to 20 September 1957.
• Minister of Finance – Sidney Holland
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Clifton Webb from 19 September 1951 to 26 November 1954
• Chief Justice — Sir Humphrey O'Leary (until 16 October), Sir Harold Barrowclough (from 17 November)

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Walter Nash (Labour). ^[3]

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – John Luxford from 1953–1956
• Mayor of Hamilton – Harold David Caro (from 1938 until his defeat in November) then Roderick Braithwaite (until 1959)
• Mayor of Wellington – Robert Macalister from 1950–1956
• Mayor of Christchurch – Robert M. Macfarlane from 1938–1941 and again from 1950–1958
• Mayor of Dunedin – Leonard Morton Wright from 1950–1959

Events

• 6 January: Godfrey Bowen sets a world sheep shearing record, shearing 456 sheep in nine hours. ^[4]
• 10 January: The Social Credit Political League is formed from the earlier Social Credit Association. ^[5]
• 29 May – Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the summit of Mount Everest, the first known time this has been done. Hillary is knighted the following day.
• 2 June – Elizabeth II crowned as Queen of New Zealand at Westminster Abbey in London
• 23 December – The newly crowned Elizabeth II arrives in New Zealand for a royal tour scheduled to last until 30 January 1954. It is estimated that three in four New Zealanders would make an effort to see her during the tour. ^[6]
• 24 December – Tangiwai disaster: A railway bridge collapses at Tangiwai in the central North Island, sending a fully loaded passenger train into the Whangaehu River, killing 151 passengers on board. The disaster remains New Zealand's worst rail accident.
• Police horses are retired from New Zealand. ^[7]

Arts and literature

See 1953 in art, 1953 in literature, Category:1953 books

Radio

See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

See: Category:1953 film awards, 1953 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1953 films

Sport

Athletics

• Arthur Lydiard wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:41:29.8 in Dunedin.

Chess

• The 60th National Chess Championship was held in Timaru, and was won by Ortvin Sarapu of Auckland (his second title). ^[8]

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Adorian ^[9]
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Thelma Globe ^[10]

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Auckland. ^[11]

• Men's singles champion – R. McMaster (Stanley Bowling Club)
• Men's pair champions – J.F. Benson, Richard Pilkington (skip) (Balmoral Bowling Club)
• Men's fours champions – W.G. Thornally, C.B. Shine, N.A. Fletcher, N. Orange (skip) (Balmoral Bowling Club)

Shooting

• Ballinger Belt – Maurie Gordon (Okawa) ^[12]

Soccer

• The Chatham Cup is won by Eastern Suburbs (of Auckland) who beat Northern (of Dunedin) 4–3 in the final. ^[13]
• Provincial league champions: ^[14]
  • Auckland: Eastern Suburbs AFC
  • Bay of Plenty: Mangakino Utd
  • Canterbury: Western
  • Hawke's Bay: Hastings Wanderers
  • Manawatu: Palmerston North United
  • Nelson: Woodbourne
  • Northland: Otangarei United
  • Otago: Northern AFC
  • Poverty Bay: Eastern Union
  • South Canterbury: Northern Hearts
  • Southland: Brigadiers, Thistle (shared)
  • Taranaki: City
  • Waikato: Huntly Thistle
  • Wairarapa: Carterton
  • Wanganui: New Settlers
  • Wellington: Wellington Marist

Births

• 3 February: Steve Maharey , politician.
• 5 February: Deborah Coddington , journalist and politician.
• 17 February: Steve Millen , motor racing driver.
• 23 March: Denis Aberhart , cricket player and coach.
• 25 March: Paul Ballinger , long-distance runner
• 25 May: John Z. Robinson , artist, printmaker and jewelmaker.
• 14 June: Janet Mackey , politician.
• 22 June: Phil Goff , politician.
• 5 September: Murray Mexted , rugby player and commentator.
• 7 September: Marc Hunter , musician.
• 9 September: Edmond ("Sonny") Schmidt , bodybuilder.
• 12 September: Ramesh Patel , field hockey player.
• 6 November: Brian McKechnie , rugby player and cricketer.
• 19 December: Paul McEwan , cricketer.
• Jonathan Dennis , film historian.
• Bill Ralston , journalist

Deaths

• 20 January: Benjamin Robbins MLC; Mayor of Hawera, Tauranga (born 1857)
• 29 July: Richard Pearse airplane pioneer (born 1877).
• 16 October: Humphrey O'Leary , 7th Chief Justice of New Zealand.

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. "Historical population estimates tables". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017.
2. Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
3. "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
4. Today in History | NZHistory
5. Crusade: Social Credit's drive for power by Spiro Zavos (1981, INL Print, Lower Hutt) ISBN   0-86464-025-0
6. "Royal Visit of 1953-54". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
7. Lines-MacKenzie, Jo (23 July 2017). "Mounted Benneydale police officer". Stuff . Retrieved 13 February 2024.
8. List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
9. "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
10. Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
11. McLintock, A.H., ed. (1966). "Bowls, men's outdoor—tournament winners". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
12. "Ballinger Belt". National Rifle Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
13. Chatham Cup records - nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
14. "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.

External links

Media related to 1953 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons