1875 in New Zealand
# 1875 in New Zealand

The following lists events that happened during 1875 in New Zealand.

## Incumbents

### Regal and viceregal

* Head of State — Queen Victoria
* Governor — The Marquess of Normanby

### Government and law

The 1875 general election begins on 29 December but does not finish until 4 January the following year. The election marks the end of the 5th New Zealand Parliament.

* Speaker of the House — The sitting Speaker, Sir Francis Dillon Bell, does not stand in the 1875 election at the end of the year. He will be replaced by Sir William Fitzherbet in 1876.
* Premier — Daniel Pollen becomes Premier on 6 July replacing Julius Vogel.
* Minister of Finance — Harry Atkinson takes over from Julius Vogel on 6 July.
* Chief Justice — Hon Sir George Arney retires and is replaced on 1 April by Hon Sir James Prendergast

### Main centre leaders

* Mayor of Auckland — Frederick Prime followed by Benjamin Tonks
* Mayor of Christchurch — Fred Hobbs
* Mayor of Dunedin — Andrew Mercer followed by Keith Ramsay
* Mayor of Wellington — William Sefton Moorhouse

## Events

* Contract let for construction of the Rimutaka Incline railway using the Fell system.

## Sport

### Athletics

The first club in the country, the Wellington Amateur Athletic Club, holds its first meeting.

### Cricket

The Wellington Cricket Association is formed.

### Horse racing

* New Zealand Cup winner: Nectar
* New Zealand Derby winner: Daniel O’Rourke
* Auckland Cup winner: Kingfisher
* Wellington Cup winner: Tambourini

    see also Category:Horse races in New Zealand.

### Rugby union

* Rugby union begins in Timaru, Temuka, Blenheim, Picton, Greymouth (with the formation of new clubs) and Napier where the club formed in 1874 adopted rugby rules.
* A combined Auckland clubs team toured Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson and New Plymouth. They lost all matches, despite some of their opposition having only learned rugby rules for a few weeks in preparation for the tour – the Christchurch and Dunedin clubs had primarily been playing football (soccer).

### Shooting

Ballinger Belt: Lieutenant Skinner (Auckland)

## Births

* 19 January: Ethel Benjamin, first female lawyer in NZ.
* 23 March: Alexander Young, politician.
* 6 June: William Polson, politician.
* 16 June: Richard Lawson, teacher, university professor and educationalist.
* 25 July: Elsie Dohrmann, scholar, teacher and temperance campaigner
* 7 November: Frank Milner, headmaster and educationalist.

### Unknown date

* John Robertson, politician.

## Deaths

* 15 March: William Turnbull Swan, politician (born 1828)
* 29 May: James Mackay, politician (born 1804).
* 31 July: Thomas Beckham, politician (born 1810)
* 8 August: William Tolmie, politician (born 1833).
* 12 August: John Parkin Taylor, politician (born 1812).
* 17 October: Archibald Clark, politician (born 1805).
* 23 December: Felix Wakefield, colonist (born 1807)
