1953 in New Zealand

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 1953 in New Zealand

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Decades:
  • 1930s
  • 1940s
  • 1950s
  • 1960s
  • 1970s
See also:
  • Other events of 1953
  • Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 1953 in New Zealand.

Population[]

  • Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,074,700[1]
  • Increase since 31 December 1952: 50,100 (2.47%)
  • Males per 100 females: 101.1

Incumbents[]

Regal and viceregal[]

  • Head of State – Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, from 6 February 1952
  • Governor-General – Lieutenant-General The Lord Norrie GCMG GCVO CB DSO MC, from 1952-1957[2]

Government[]

The 30th New Zealand Parliament continued. The National Party was in its second term in office under Sidney Holland.

Parliamentary opposition[]

  • Leader of the Opposition – Walter Nash (Labour).[3]

Main centre leaders[]

Events[]

  • 6 January: Godfrey Bowen sets a world sheep shearing record, shearing 456 sheep in nine hours.[4]
  • 10 January: The Social Credit Political League is formed from the earlier Social Credit Association.[5]
  • 29 May – Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the summit of Mount Everest, the first known time this has been done. Hillary is knighted the following day.
  • 2 June – Elizabeth II crowned at Westminster Abbey in London
  • 23 December – The newly crowned Elizabeth II arrives in New Zealand for a royal tour scheduled to last until 30 January 1954. It is estimated that three in four New Zealanders would make an effort to see her during the tour.[6]
  • 24 December – a major rail disaster occurs at Tangiwai in the central North Island when a steam locomotive plunges into the Whangaehu River, killing 151 passengers on board.

Arts and literature[]

See 1953 in art, 1953 in literature, Category:1953 books

Radio[]

See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film[]

See: Category:1953 film awards, 1953 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1953 films

Sport[]

Athletics[]

  • Arthur Lydiard wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:41:29.8 in Dunedin.

Chess[]

  • The 60th National Chess Championship was held in Timaru, and was won by Ortvin Sarapu of Auckland (his second title).[7]

Horse racing[]

Harness racing[]

  • New Zealand Trotting Cup – Adorian[8]
  • Auckland Trotting Cup – Thelma Globe[9]

Lawn bowls[]

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Auckland.[10]

  • Men's singles champion – R. McMaster (Stanley Bowling Club)
  • Men's pair champions – J.F. Benson, Richard Pilkington (skip) (Balmoral Bowling Club)
  • Men's fours champions – W.G. Thornally, C.B. Shine, N.A. Fletcher, N. Orange (skip) (Balmoral Bowling Club)

Soccer[]

  • The Chatham Cup is won by Eastern Suburbs (of Auckland) who beat Northern (of Dunedin) 4–3 in the final.[11]
  • Provincial league champions:[12]
    • Auckland: Eastern Suburbs AFC
    • Bay of Plenty: Mangakino Utd
    • Canterbury: Western
    • Hawke's Bay: Hastings Wanderers
    • Manawatu: Palmerston North United
    • Nelson: Woodbourne
    • Northland: Otangarei United
    • Otago: Northern AFC
    • Poverty Bay: Eastern Union
    • South Canterbury: Northern Hearts
    • Southland: Brigadiers, Thistle (shared)
    • Taranaki: City
    • Waikato: Huntly Thistle
    • Wairarapa: Carterton
    • Wanganui: New Settlers
    • Wellington: Wellington Marist

Births[]

  • 3 February: Steve Maharey, politician.
  • 5 February: Deborah Coddington, journalist and politician.
  • 17 February: Steve Millen, motor racing driver.
  • 23 March: Denis Aberhart, cricket player and coach.
  • 25 March: Paul Ballinger, long-distance runner
  • 25 May: John Z. Robinson, artist, printmaker and jewelmaker.
  • 14 June: Janet Mackey, politician.
  • 22 June: Phil Goff, politician.
  • 5 September: Murray Mexted, rugby player and commentator.
  • 7 September: Marc Hunter, musician.
  • 9 September: Edmond ("Sonny") Schmidt, bodybuilder.
  • 12 September: Ramesh Patel, field hockey player.
  • 6 November: Brian McKechnie, rugby player and cricketer.
  • 19 December: Paul McEwan, cricketer.
  • Jonathan Dennis, film historian.
  • Bill Ralston, journalist

Deaths[]

  • 20 January: Benjamin Robbins MLC; Mayor of Hawera, Tauranga (born 1857)
  • 29 July: Richard Pearse airplane pioneer (born 1877).
  • 16 October: Humphrey O'Leary, 7th Chief Justice of New Zealand.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Historical population estimates tables". Statistics New Zealand.
  2. ^ Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
  3. ^ "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  4. ^ Today in History | NZHistory
  5. ^ Crusade: Social Credit's drive for power by Spiro Zavos (1981, INL Print, Lower Hutt) ISBN 0-86464-025-0
  6. ^ http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/society/royal-visit-of-1953-54/the-royal-visit-1953-54[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  9. ^ Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Chatham Cup records - nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.

External links[]

Media related to 1953 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons

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