1956 in New Zealand

Decades:	1930s; 1940s; 1950s; 1960s; 1970s;
See also:	History of New Zealand; List of years in New Zealand; Timeline of New Zealand history;

The following lists events that happened during 1956 in New Zealand.

Population

Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,209,200.^[1]
Increase since 31 December 1955: 44,400 (2.05%).^[1]
Males per 100 females: 101.2.^[1]

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

Head of State – Elizabeth II
Governor-General – Lieutenant-General The Lord Norrie GCMG GCVO CB DSO MC.^[2]

Government

The 31st New Zealand Parliament continued. In power was the National government under Sidney Holland.

Speaker of the House – Mathew Oram^[3]
Prime Minister – Sidney Holland.
Deputy Prime Minister – Keith Holyoake.^[3]
Minister of Finance – Jack Watts.^[3]
Minister of Foreign Affairs – Tom Macdonald.^[3]
Attorney-General – Jack Marshall.^[3]
Chief Justice — Sir Harold Barrowclough

Parliamentary opposition

Leader of the Opposition – Walter Nash (Labour).^[4]

Main centre leaders

Mayor of Auckland – John Luxford, followed by Thomas Ashby
Mayor of Hamilton – Roderick Braithwaite
Mayor of Wellington – Robert Macalister, followed by Frank Kitts
Mayor of Christchurch – Robert M. Macfarlane
Mayor of Dunedin – Leonard Morton Wright

Events

8 March: Opo the friendly Dolphin dies in the Hokianga.
13 March – After 26 years playing international cricket the New Zealand wins its first ever test victory against the West Indies at Eden Park.
New Zealand troops are sent to Malaya.
Roxburgh Dam is opened.
Temperzone manufacturing is founded.

Arts and literature

See 1956 in art, 1956 in literature

Sport

Athletics

Albert Richards wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:31:46 in Christchurch.

Chess

The 63rd National Chess Championship was held in Dunedin, and was won by F.A. Foulds of Auckland.^[5]

Horse racing

Harness racing

New Zealand Trotting Cup – Thunder^[6]
Auckland Trotting Cup – Unite^[7]

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Dunedin.^[8]

Men's singles champion – G.G. Littlejohn (Hutt Bowling Club)
Men's pair champions – L.J. Hughes, E.H. Ravenwood (skip) (North-East Valley Bowling Club)
Men's fours champions – P.C.F. Barrat, C.E. Tomlinson, L.J. Buckingham, Robbie Robson (skip) (Mangakino Bowling Club)

Olympic Games

Summer Olympics

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
2	0	0	2

Winter Olympics

New Zealand did not participate in the 1956 Winter Olympics.

Soccer

The Chatham Cup is won by Stop Out (Lower Hutt) who beat Shamrock (soccer) of Christchurch 4–1 in the final.^[9]
Provincial league champions:^[10]
- Auckland: Onehunga
- Bay of Plenty: Rangers
- Buller: Millerton Thistle
- Canterbury: Western
- Hawke's Bay: Napier Athletic
- Manawatu: Kiwi United
- Marlborough: Blenheim B
- Nelson: Settlers
- Northland: Kamo Swifts
- Otago: Northern AFC
- Poverty Bay: Eastern Union
- South Canterbury: West End
- Southland: Brigadiers
- Taranaki: Moturoa
- Waikato: Huntly Thistle
- Wairarapa: No competition
- Wanganui: Technical College Old Boys
- Wellington: Stop Out

Births

3 January: Judith Tizard, politician
6 January: Stephen Cox, cyclist
16 January: Mark Burton, politician
4 February: Gerry Brownlee, politician
16 February: Vincent Ward, film director
1 March: Mark Todd, equestrian eventer
3 March: John F. Reid, cricketer
13 April: Peter 'Possum' Bourne, rally driver
17 April: Jaynie Parkhouse, freestyle swimmer
26 April: Tinks Pottinger, equestrian eventer
8 May: Richard Wilson, soccer player
10 May: Chris Kuggeleijn, cricket player and coach
23 May: Mark Shaw, rugby union footballer and selector^[11]
18 August: Andrew Bennie, equestrian eventer
29 September: Jenny Morris, singer
8 November: Richard Curtis, screenwriter
23 November: Bruce Edgar, cricketer
12 December: Barry Pickering, soccer player
16 December: Rodney Hide, politician
Chris Finlayson, politician
James Belich, historian
(in Paris, France) Christopher Marshall, composer
Douglas Wright, dancer and choreographer

Deaths

17 April: Sir Alexander Young, politician.
22 May: John Christopher Rolleston, politician.
29 May: Charlie Seeling, rugby footballer.
17 June: Charles Boswell, politician.
19 June: Bernard Martin, politician.
12 September: George Gillett, rugby player.
21 November: Jim Thorn, labour leader and politician.^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Historical population estimates tables". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017.
^ Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Lambert & Palenski: The New Zealand Almanac, 1982. ISBN 0-908570-55-4
^ "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
^ List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
^ Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ 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.
^ Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.
^ Mark Shaw at AllBlacks.com
^ Te Ara