1931 in New Zealand.html

1931 in New Zealand:
Other years in New Zealand
1928 • 1929 • 1930 • 1931 • 1932 • 1933 • 1934

Population

Estimated Population as of 31 December: 1,522,800 ^[1]
Increase since previous 31/12/1930: 16,000 (1.06%)
Males per 100 Females: 103.8

Incumbents

Regal and Vice Regal

Head of State - George V
Governor-General - The Lord Bledisloe GCMG KBE PC ^[2]

Government

The 23rd New Zealand Parliament continued with the coalition of the United Party and the Labour Party with the Reform Party in opposition. During the year the agreement between United and Labour collapsed due to differing opinions on how to counter the Great Depression. The Reform Party, fearing that the Depression would give Labour a substantial boost, reluctantly agreed to form a coalition with United to avert elections. By forming a coalition, United and Reform were able to blunt Labour's advantage, ending the possibility of the anti-Labour vote being split and the general election in December saw the United/Reform coalition winning a majority.

Speaker of the House - Charles Statham (Independent)
Prime Minister - George William Forbes
Minister of Finance - George William Forbes (United) until 22nd September, then William Downie Stewart (Reform)
Minister of Foreign Affairs - George William Forbes
Attor - Thomas Sidey until 22nd September, then William Downie Stewart

Parliamentary opposition

Leader of the Opposition - Gordon Coates (Reform) until September 22nd, then Harry Holland (Labour). ^[3]

Main centre leaders

Mayor of Auckland - George Baildon, succeeded by George Hutchison
Mayor of Hamilton, New Zealand - John Robert Fow, succeeded by Frances Dewsbury Pinford
Mayor of Wellington - George Troup, succeeded by Thomas Hislop
Mayor of Christchurch - J. K. Archer, succeeded by Daniel Giles Sullivan
Mayor of Dunedin - Robert Sheriff Black

Events

7 January: Australian aviator Guy Menzies makes the first solo flight across the Tasman sea, starting from Sydney and ending 11 hours 45 minutes later with a crash landing in a swamp near Harihari on the West Coast ^[4]
3 February: The Hawkes Bay earthquake, New Zealand's worst, kills 256 people, mainly in Napier and Hastings
8 February: A Desoutter aircraft of Dominion Airline crashed near Wairoa, killing all three people aboard. This is the first fatality on a scheduled air service in New Zealand. ^[5]

Arts and literature

See 1931 in art, 1931 in literature, Category:1931 books

Appointments and awards

See: New Zealand Order of Merit , Order of New Zealand

Archbishop of New Zealand
Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia , see appointments to Diocese

Sport

See: 1931 in sports , Category:1931 in sports

Cricket

Horse racing

See Category:New Zealand horse races

Rugby

Category:Rugby union in New Zealand, Category:All Blacks

Ranfurly Shield

Rugby league

New Zealand national rugby league team

Soccer

Chatham Cup won by Tramurewa (Auckland)

Births

2 July, Robin Gray, politician and Speaker of the House of Representitives
23 July, Princess Piki Mahuta, later Dame Te Atairangikaahu, 6th Māori monarch
22 August: Maurice Gee, novellist and screenwriter
5 September: William Bell, cricketer
September 15: Lincoln Hurring, swimmer
18 December: Noel McGregor, cricketer

Bryce Harland, diplomat
Mike Hinge, artist and illustrator
Ralph Hotere, artist
Thomas de Vere (Pat) Hunt, politician.

Category:1931 births

Deaths

9 September: Elsdon Best, ethnographer
28 October: Edward Robert Tregear, surveyor, public servant, linguist

Peter Cheal, surveyor.
Sir John Luke, politician, Mayor of Wellington.
Owen Merton, painter.

Category:1931 deaths

References

^ http://www.stats.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/24107FC8-E7B5-4CF2-B17C-15E31CCA7D05/0/HistoricalPop.xls
^ Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
^ "Elections NZ - Leaders of the Opposition". Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
^ Today in History | NZHistory
^ nzhistory.net.nz