1956 in New Zealand

← 1955 1954 1953 1956 in New Zealand → 1957 1958 1959
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 1956 in New Zealand.

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,209,200. ^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1955: 44,400 (2.05%). ^[1]
• Males per 100 females: 101.2. ^[1]

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Lieutenant-General The Lord Norrie GCMG GCVO CB DSO MC . ^[2]

Government

The 31st New Zealand Parliament continued. In power was the National government under Sidney Holland.

• Speaker of the House – Mathew Oram ^[3]
• Prime Minister – Sidney Holland .
• Deputy Prime Minister – Keith Holyoake . ^[3]
• Minister of Finance – Jack Watts . ^[3]
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Tom Macdonald . ^[3]
• Attorney-General – Jack Marshall . ^[3]
• Chief Justice — Sir Harold Barrowclough

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Walter Nash (Labour). ^[4]

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – John Luxford, followed by Thomas Ashby
• Mayor of Hamilton – Roderick Braithwaite
• Mayor of Wellington – Robert Macalister, followed by Frank Kitts
• Mayor of Christchurch – Robert M. Macfarlane
• Mayor of Dunedin – Leonard Morton Wright

Events

• 8 March: Opo the friendly Dolphin dies in the Hokianga.
• 13 March – After 26 years playing international cricket the New Zealand wins its first ever test victory against the West Indies at Eden Park.
• New Zealand troops are sent to Malaya.
• Roxburgh Dam is opened.
• Temperzone manufacturing is founded.

Arts and literature

See 1956 in art, 1956 in literature

Music

See: 1956 in music

Radio

See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

• 1 October – Radio station 4ZA launches in Invercargill on 820 kHz, supplementing station 4YZ. ^[5]

Film

See: Category:1956 film awards, 1956 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1956 films

Sport

Athletics

• Albert Richards wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:31:46 in Christchurch.

Chess

• The 63rd National Chess Championship was held in Dunedin, and was won by F.A. Foulds of Auckland. ^[6]

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Thunder ^[7]
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Unite ^[8]

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Dunedin. ^[9]

• Men's singles champion – G.G. Littlejohn (Hutt Bowling Club)
• Men's pair champions – L.J. Hughes, E.H. Ravenwood (skip) (North-East Valley Bowling Club)
• Men's fours champions – P.C.F. Barrat, C.E. Tomlinson, L.J. Buckingham, Robbie Robson (skip) (Mangakino Bowling Club)

Olympic Games

Summer Olympics

Main article: New Zealand at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
2	0	0	2

Winter Olympics

• New Zealand did not participate in the 1956 Winter Olympics.

Soccer

• The Chatham Cup is won by Stop Out (Lower Hutt) who beat Shamrock (soccer) of Christchurch 4–1 in the final. ^[10]
• Provincial league champions: ^[11]
  • Auckland: Onehunga
  • Bay of Plenty: Rangers
  • Buller: Millerton Thistle
  • Canterbury: Western
  • Hawke's Bay: Napier Athletic
  • Manawatu: Kiwi United
  • Marlborough: Blenheim B
  • Nelson: Settlers
  • Northland: Kamo Swifts
  • Otago: Northern AFC
  • Poverty Bay: Eastern Union
  • South Canterbury: West End
  • Southland: Brigadiers
  • Taranaki: Moturoa
  • Waikato: Huntly Thistle
  • Wairarapa: No competition
  • Wanganui: Technical College Old Boys
  • Wellington: Stop Out

Births

• 3 January: Judith Tizard , politician
• 6 January: Stephen Cox , cyclist
• 16 January: Mark Burton , politician
• 4 February: Gerry Brownlee , politician
• 16 February: Vincent Ward , film director
• 1 March: Mark Todd , equestrian eventer
• 3 March: John F. Reid , cricketer
• 13 April: Peter 'Possum' Bourne , rally driver
• 17 April: Jaynie Parkhouse , freestyle swimmer
• 26 April: Tinks Pottinger , equestrian eventer
• 8 May: Richard Wilson , soccer player
• 10 May: Chris Kuggeleijn , cricket player and coach
• 23 May: Mark Shaw , rugby union footballer and selector ^[12]
• 18 August: Andrew Bennie , equestrian eventer
• 29 September: Jenny Morris , singer
• 8 November: Richard Curtis , screenwriter
• 23 November: Bruce Edgar , cricketer
• 12 December: Barry Pickering , soccer player
• 16 December: Rodney Hide , politician
• Chris Finlayson , politician
• James Belich , historian
• (in Paris, France) Christopher Marshall , composer
• Douglas Wright , dancer and choreographer

Deaths

• 17 April: Sir Alexander Young , politician.
• 22 May: John Christopher Rolleston , politician.
• 29 May: Charlie Seeling , rugby footballer.
• 17 June: Charles Boswell , politician.
• 19 June: Bernard Martin , politician.
• 12 September: George Gillett , rugby player.
• 21 November: Jim Thorn , labour leader and politician. ^[13]

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. Lambert & Palenski: The New Zealand Almanac, 1982. ISBN   0-908570-55-4
4. "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
5. "Radio Keeps Pace with Southland Progress". New Zealand Listener . 21 September 1956. p. 16.
6. List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
7. "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
8. Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
9. 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.
10. Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
11. "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.
12. Mark Shaw at the All Blacks (archived)
13. Te Ara

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