1961 in New Zealand

← 1960 1959 1958 1961 in New Zealand → 1962 1963 1964
Decades:	1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
See also:	Other events of 1961 Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 1961 in New Zealand.

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,461,300. ^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1960: 57,700 (2.40%). ^[1]
• Males per 100 females: 101.2. ^[1]

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – The Viscount Cobham GCMG TD . ^[2]

Government

• Speaker of the House – Ronald Algie . ^[3]
• Prime Minister – Keith Holyoake
• Deputy Prime Minister – Jack Marshall . ^[3]
• Minister of Finance – Harry Lake . ^[3]
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Keith Holyoake . ^[3]
• Attorney-General – Ralph Hanan . ^[3]
• Chief Justice — Sir Harold Barrowclough

Parliamentary opposition

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

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – Dove-Myer Robinson
• Mayor of Hamilton – Denis Rogers
• Mayor of Wellington – Frank Kitts
• Mayor of Christchurch – George Manning
• Mayor of Dunedin – Stuart Sidey

Events

January

• The Ohakuri hydroelectric power plant starts operation.

October

• 12 October Ten National MPs voted with the Opposition to remove capital punishment for murder from the Crimes Bill that the Second National Government had introduced, by a vote of 41 to 30.

Arts and literature

• John Caselburg wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.

See 1961 in art, 1961 in literature

Music

See: 1961 in music

Radio and television

• Auckland television is extended to seven nights a week, two and a half hours a night. On 4 April, Auckland television went commercial. Archived 15 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• Television transmission began in Christchurch (a year later than Auckland) on 1 June. Wellington followed four weeks later, on 1 July.

See: 1961 in New Zealand television, 1961 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, Public broadcasting in New Zealand & Category:Television in New Zealand.

Film

See: Category:1961 film awards, 1961 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1961 films

Sport

Athletics

• Barry Magee wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:18:54.2 on 4 March in Christchurch.

Chess

• The 68th National Chess Championship was held in Auckland, and was won by Ortvin Sarapu of Auckland (his 6th title). ^[5]

Cricket

• New Zealand tours South Africa (spanning December 1961 – February 1962) and drew the 5-Test series 2-2: ^[6]
  • 8–12 December 1961, Durban: 1st Test. SA won by 30 runs (SA 292 + 149, NZ 245 and 166)
  • 26–29 December 1961, Johannesburg: 2nd Test Drawn (SA 322 + 178/6 decl, NZ 223 + 165/4)
  • 1–4 January 1962, Cape Town: 3rd Test. NZ won by 72 runs (NZ 385 + 212/9 decl., SA 190 + 335)
  • 2–5 February 1962, Johannesburg: 4th test. SA won by innings & 51 runs (NZ 164 + 249, SA 464)
  • 16–20 February 1962, Port Elizabeth: 5th Test: NZ won by 40 runs (NZ 275 + 228, SA 190 + 273)

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Invicta ^[7]
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Cardigan Bay ^[8]

Lawn bowls

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

• Men's singles champion – J.H. Rabone (Auckland Bowling Club)
• Men's pair champions – N. Posa, M. Vulinovich (skip) (Oratia Bowling Club)
• Men's fours champions – J. Hammersley, L.N. Harris, R.S. Eves, M.J. Squire (skip) (West End Bowling Club, New Plymouth)

Rugby union

• France tour New Zealand, losing all three Test matches: ^[10]
  • 22 July, Eden Park, Auckland: New Zealand 13 – 6 France
  • 5 August, Athletic Park, Wellington: New Zealand 5 – 3 France
  • 19 August, lancaster Park, Christchurch: New Zealand 32 – 3 France

Soccer

• An English FA XI tours New Zealand, handing out two heavy defeats to the national men's team. ^[11]
  • 5 June, Wellington: NZ 0 – 8 English FA XI
  • 10 June, Auckland: NZ 1 – 6 English FA XI
• The Chatham Cup was won by Dunedin team Northern who beat North Shore United 2 – 0 in the final. ^[12]
• Provincial league champions: ^[13]
  • Auckland: North Shore United
  • Bay of Plenty: Kawerau Town
  • Buller: Waimangaroa United
  • Canterbury: Technical OB
  • Franklin: Manurewa AFC
  • Hawke's Bay: Napier Rovers
  • Manawatu: Ohakea
  • Marlborough: Spartans
  • Nelson: Rangers
  • Northland: Kamo Swifts
  • Otago: Northern AFC
  • Poverty Bay: Eastern Union
  • South Canterbury: Thistle
  • Southland: Invercargill Thistle
  • Taranaki: Moturoa
  • Waikato: Hamilton Technical OB
  • Wairarapa: YMCA
  • Wanganui: New Settlers
  • Wellington: Northern
  • West Coast: Grey United

Births

• 10 May: Blyth Tait , equestrian.
• 26 June: David White , cricketer.
• 9 August: John Key , politician, 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand (2008–2016)
• 12 August: Mark Priest , cricketer.
• 5 October: David Kirk , rugby player and business executive.
• 5 October: Derek Stirling , cricketer.
• 10 October: Gary Hurring , swimmer.
• 31 October: Peter Jackson , filmmaker.
• 15 November: Hugh McGahan , rugby league footballer.
• 28 November: Bruce Derlin , tennis player.
• 9 December: Ian Wright , rower.
• 30 December: Bill English , politician, 39th Prime Minister of New Zealand (2016–2017)
• Michael Hight , painter.
• Willie Jackson , politician and broadcaster.
• Grant Lingard , artist.
• Anthony McCarten , playwright and novelist.

Category:1961 births

Deaths

• 25 June: Jack Lamason , cricketer.
• 19 July: Mary Dreaver , politician.
• 5 August: Sidney Holland , 25th Prime Minister of New Zealand.
• 8 November: Frederick Vincent Ellis , artist.
• 14 December: William Duncan , rugby union player.

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. List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
6. Cricinfo Archive
7. "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 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. Pick and Go rugby results database
11. List of New Zealand national soccer matches
12. Chatham Cup: nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
13. "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.

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