# 1925 in New Zealand

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive
The following lists events that happened during 1925 in New Zealand.

## Incumbents
### Regal and viceregal

* Head of State – George V
* Governor-General – Sir Charles Fergusson
* George V
* Sir Charles Fergusson

### Government

The 21st New Zealand Parliament concludes, with its final year marked by the death of premier William Massey. The Reform Party governs as a minority with the support of independents. Following the general election in November, the Reform Party holds a much stronger position with 55 of the 80 seats.
* Speaker of the House – Charles Statham
* Prime Minister – William Massey until 10 May, then Francis Bell from 14 to 30 May, then Gordon Coates
* Minister of Finance – William Massey until 10 May, then William Nosworthy from 14 May
* Minister of External Affairs – Francis Bell
* Charles Statham
* William Massey
* Francis Bell
* Gordon Coates
* William Nosworthy

### Parliamentary opposition

* Leader of the Opposition – Thomas Wilford (Liberal Party) until 13 August, then George Forbes (Liberal) until 4 November, then vacant (until June 1926)
* Thomas Wilford
* George Forbes

### Judiciary

* Chief Justice – Sir Robert Stout
* Robert Stout

### Main centre leaders

* Mayor of Auckland – James Gunson, succeeded by George Baildon
* Mayor of Wellington – Robert Wright, succeeded by Charles Norwood
* Mayor of Christchurch – James Flesher, succeeded by John Archer
* Mayor of Dunedin – Harold Tapley
* James Gunson
* George Baildon
* Robert Wright
* Charles Norwood
* James Flesher
* John Archer
* Harold Tapley

## Events

* 1 January
** National scheme for vehicle registration plates comes into force
** Ernest Rutherford is appointed to the Order of Merit
* 1 April – The Foodstuffs cooperative is registered
* 21 April – Alfred Averill succeeds Churchill Julius as Archbishop of New Zealand
* 10 May – Prime Minister William Massey dies in office
* 31 May – Tahupotiki Wiremu Rātana announces his intention to form the Rātana Church
* 17 June – The Franklin by-election, caused by the death of William Massey, is won by Ewen McLennan (Reform)
* August – The U.S. Navy's Pacific battlefleet of 57 vessels including 12 battleships visits New Zealand during a goodwill tour of the South Pacific after manoeuvres off Hawaii.
* September – A leopard escapes Auckland Zoo and remains loose for several weeks.
* 3–4 November – The 1925 general election is held, with the Reform Party winning 55 of the 80 seats in the House of Representatives
* 4 November – An Order in Council provides for the transfer of Tokelau from the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony to New Zealand (formally gazetted 11 February 1926)
* 17 November – The New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition opens at Logan Park, Dunedin
* Undated – Lloyd Mandeno develops the single-wire earth return electrical distribution system

## Arts and literature

    See: 1925 in art, 1925 in literature, Category:1925 books
* Allen Adair published by Jane Mander

### Music

    See: 1925 in music

### Radio

    See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand
* The Radio Broadcasting Company (RBC) began broadcasts throughout New Zealand

### Film

    See: 1925 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1925 films
* Rewi's Last Stand by Rudall Hayward
* The Adventures of Algy
* The Romance of Hinemoa

## Sport
### Chess

* The 34th National Chess Championship is held in Nelson, and is won by C. J. S. Purdy of Sydney

### Football

* The Chatham Cup is won by YMCA (Wellington)
* Provincial league champions:
** Auckland – Thistle
** Canterbury – Sunnyside
** Hawke's Bay – Whakatu
** Nelson – Thistle
** Otago – Northern
** South Canterbury – Rangers
** Southland – Central
** Taranaki – Manaia
** Wanganui – Eastown Workshops
** Wellington – YMCA

### Golf

* The 15th New Zealand Open championship is won by Ewen MacFarlane, an amateur, with an aggregate of 308
* The 29th National Amateur Championships are held at Christchurch (men) and Miramar (women)
** Men – Tom Horton (Masterton)
** Women – Phyllis Dodgshun (Dunedin)

### Horse racing
#### Harness racing

* New Zealand Trotting Cup – Ahuriri
* Auckland Trotting Cup – Nelson Derby

#### Thoroughbred racing

* New Zealand Cup – The Banker
* Avondale Gold Cup – Star Ranger
* Auckland Cup – Rapine
* Wellington Cup – Surveyor
* New Zealand Derby – Runnymede

### Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Wellington.
* Men's singles champion – J. D. Best (Dunedin Bowling Club)
* Men's pair champions – C. W. Davis, J. W. Sexton (skip) (Newtown Bowling Club)
* Men's fours champions – H. J. Wernham, F. T. Wilson, A. C. McIntyre, R. N. Pilkington (skip) (Hamilton Bowling Club)

### Rugby union

* The All Blacks tour New South Wales
* The Auckland Rugby Union makes Eden Park its headquarters
* Hawke's Bay defends he Ranfurly Shield for the third consecutive full season, defeating Wairarapa (22–3), Canterbury (24–18), Southland (31–12), Taranaki (28–3), Wellington (20–11) and Otago (34–14)

## Births
### January

* 4 January – Roger Drayton, politician
* 12 January – Allan Burnett, anarchist activist
* 13 January – Elwyn Welch, ornithologist
* 22 January – Harata Solomon, Māori leader, entertainer
* 25 January – Eric Dempster, cricketer
* 26 January – Barbara Heslop, immunologist

### February

* 1 February – Assid Corban, politician
* 2 February – Mirek Smíšek, potter
* 3 February – Tay Wilson, sports administrator
* 7 February
** Ron Broom, cricketer
** John Oakley, cricketer
* 19 February – Trevor Martin, cricket umpire
* 22 February – Alexander Grant, ballet dancer and teacher, dance company director
* 23 February
** Fraser Colman, politician
** Ted McCoy, architect
* 25 February – Campbell Smith, playwright, poet, engraver
* 27 February – Joan Hastings, swimmer

### March

* 8 March – Leonard Mitchell, artist
* 9 March
** Johnny Borland, high jumper, athletics administrator
** Aubrey Ritchie, cricketer
* 13 March
** John McCraw, pedologist, local historian
** Rahera Windsor, Māori leader in the United Kingdom
* 21 March – John Heslop, surgeon, cricket administrator
* 25 March – O. E. Middleton, writer

### April

* 4 April – Harvey Kreyl, rugby league player
* 5 April – Milan Mrkusich, artist
* 17 April – Vern Clare, musician, cabaret owner
* 19 April
** Eva Rickard, Māori leader and activist
** Maurie Robertson, rugby league player and coach
* 23 April – Al Hobman, professional wrestler, trainer and promoter
* 24 April – Dorothy Butler, children's author and bookseller, memoirist, reading advocate
* 25 April – Neville Black, rugby union and rugby league player
* 28 April – David Brokenshire, architect, potter

### May

* 2 May – Frances Porter, writer, historian
* 14 May
** Gordon Gostelow, actor
** W. H. Oliver, poet, historian
* 16 May – John Ziman, physicist, humanist
* 20 May
** Maurice Crow, weightlifter, rowing coxswain
** Bert Potter, commune leader
* 27 May – Arthur Campbell, chemist

### June

* 3 June – Trevor Barber, cricketer
* 11 June – Tiny White, rugby union player and administrator, politician
* 25 June – Alistair Campbell, poet, playwright, novelist
* 27 June – Ben Couch, rugby union player, politician
* 29 June – Doody Townley, harness-racing driver

### July

* 2 July – Philip Liner, radio broadcaster
* 8 July – Elwyn Richardson, educationalist
* 9 July – Rex Bergstrom, econometrician
* 10 July – Dixie Cockerton, netball player and coach, cricketer, school principal
* 15 July – Stuart Jones, golfer
* 16 July – J. B. Trapp, historian
* 18 July – Allan Elsom, rugby union player
* 20 July – Eric Watson, cricketer
* 26 July – Alister Atkinson, rugby league player
* 31 July
** John O'Brien, politician
** Helen Ryburn, school principal, local-body politician

### August

* 3 August – John Robertson, public servant
* 5 August – Bob Duff, rugby union player, local-body politician
* 13 August – Peter Beaven, architect
* 15 August – James Brown, public servant
* 23 August – John Armitt, amateur wrestler
* 28 August – Trevor Young, politician
* 30 August – Joan Hart, athlete

### September

* 1 September – Te Aue Davis, tohunga raranga
* 4 September
** Phil Amos, politician
** Bruce Stewart, television scriptwriter
* 19 September – Lyn Forster, arachnologist

### October

* 7 October
** Bryan Drake, opera singer
** Bill Wolfgramm, musician
* 9 October – Bill Schaefer, field hockey player
* 19 October – David Gould, rower, businessman
* 21 October – Ian Ballinger, sports shooter
* 22 October – George Grindley, geologist
* 23 October – Brian Nordgren, rugby league player
* 25 October – Donald Brian, cricketer
* 30 October
** Audrey Eagle, botanical illustrator
** Colin Kay, athlete, politician
* 31 October – Ngaire Lane, swimmer

### November

* 6 November – Ian Cross, novelist, journalist, broadcasting and arts administrator
* 12 November – Bill Toomath, architect
* 20 November – Bill Subritzky, property developer, evangelist
* 23 November – Tui Flower, food writer
* 26 November – Ross Taylor, geochemist, planetary scientist
* 27 November – Reginald Johansson, field hockey player
* 29 November – Peter Jacobson, poet

### December

* 1 December
** Noeline Gourley, field hockey player, athlete, woodturner
** Thomas Thorp, jurist
* 5 December – Jack Tynan, field hockey player, cricketer
* 10 December – Betty Maker, cricketer
* 23 December – Ellis Child, cricketer
* 31 December – Ray Bell, rugby union player

### Exact date unknown

* Nightmarch, Thoroughbred racehorse

## Deaths
### January–March

* 3 January – John Endean, gold miner, hotel proprietor (born 1844)
* 11 January – Oliver Samuel, politician (born 1849)
* 13 February – Margaret McKenzie, pioneer (born c.1839)

### April–June

* 14 April – Don Hamilton, rugby union player, cricketer (born 1883)
* 27 April – George Williams, rugby union player (born 1856)
* 10 May – William Massey, politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1912–1925) (born 1856)
* 15 May – Stephen Boreham, trade unionist (born 1857)
* 18 May – Sir Theophilus Cooper, jurist (born 1850)
* 19 May
** Andrew Cameron, Presbyterian minister, educationalist, community leader (born 1855)
** Frances Wimperis, artist (born 1840)
* 21 May – Samuel Kirkpatrick, businessman (born c.1854)
* 3 June – Frank Surman, rugby union player, athlete (born c.1866)

### July–September

* 18 July – John Sinclair, carpenter, builder, harbourmaster (born 1843)
* 19 July – James Cox, diarist (born 1846)
* 22 July – William McCullough, politician (born 1843)
* 5 August – Emily Harris, painter (born c.1837)
* 9 August – Catherine Adamson, diarist (born 1868)
* 19 August – Harriet Morison, trade unionist, suffragist, public servant (born 1862)
* 1 September – Donald Petrie, botanist (born 1846)
* 7 September Thomas Ronayne, NZR General Manager (retired) (born 1849)
* 15 September – Charles Melvill, military leader (born 1878)
* 18 September – Charles Hayward Izard, politician (born 1862)
* 19 September – Henry Reynolds, butter manufacturer and exporter (born 1849)
* 27 September – Thomas MacGibbon, politician (born 1839)

### October–December

* 2 October – Thomas Hislop, politician (born 1850)
* 20 November – Charles Mackesy, military leader (born 1861)
* 28 November – William Joseph Napier, politician (born 1857)
* 10 December – John Liddell Kelly, journalist, poet (born 1850)
* 13 December - Isa Outhwaite, watercolour artist, poet, social activist and philanthropist (born 1842)
* 29 December – John Crewes, Bible Christian minister, social worker, journalist (born 1847)