1868 in New Zealand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following lists events that happened during 1868 in New Zealand.
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Incumbents
Regal and viceregal
- Head of State â Queen Victoria
- Governor â Sir George Grey is recalled by the British government and is replaced on 5 February by Sir George Ferguson Bowen.
Government and law
The 4th Parliament continues. The first four MÄori MPs are elected in 1868.
Main centre leaders
- Mayor of Christchurch â William Wilson
- Mayor of Dunedin â John Hyde Harris followed by Thomas Birch
Events
- 1â6 February: The Great storm of 1868 sweeps across the country causing major damage and loss of life.[1]
- 1 June: The New Zealand Advertiser, which had been absorbed into the New Zealand Times in 1867, is revived. It ceases publication for good in December.[2]
- 13 August: A tsunami caused by the 1868 Arica earthquake in South America causes the only fatalities recorded from tsunamis in New Zealand, with about twenty people swept away in the Chatham Islands.
- 24 August: Wanganui Horticultural Society established.[3]
- Nelson Football Club founded.[4]
- 2 November: New Zealand Mean Time adopted throughout the colony; New Zealand may be the first country to have adopted a standard time throughout the country.
- Coromandel Gold Rush (1867â68)
Sport
Cricket
The Basin Reserve is first used for cricket.[5]
Horse racing
Major race winners
- New Zealand Cup: Flying Jib
- New Zealand Derby: Flying Jib
Shooting
Ballinger Belt: Sergeant Taylor (Otago)
Births
- 23 February Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell, soldier.
- 19 March: Alfred Ransom, politician and cabinet minister.
Full date unknown
- Asajiro Noda, seaman, cashier, gum-digger and farmer (d. 1942)[6]
Deaths
- 9 October: George Macfarlan, politician
