The following lists events that happened during 1938 in New Zealand.

Population

* Estimated population as of 31 December: 1,618,500 * Increase since 31 December 1937: 16,500 (1.03%) * Males per 100 females: 103.2

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

* Head of State – George VI *

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

– The Viscount Galway GCMG DSO

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

Government

The 25th New Zealand Parliament continues with the Labour Party in government. The

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

in October results in the Labour government being returned for the

26th New Zealand Parliament The 26th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1938 general election in October of that year. 1938 general election The 1938 general election was held on Friday, 14 October in the Māori electo ...

. *

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

– Bill Barnard ( Labour Party) * Prime Minister – Michael Joseph Savage * Minister of Finance – Walter Nash * Minister of Foreign Affairs – Michael Joseph Savage * Attorney-General – Rex Mason * Chief Justice – Sir Michael Myers

Parliamentary opposition

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

– Adam Hamilton ( National Party).

Main centre leaders

* Mayor of Auckland –

Ernest Davis Ernest Davis may refer to: * Ernie Davis (1939–1963), American football running back * Sir Ernest Davis (brewer) (1872–1962), New Zealand brewer and mayor of Auckland * Ernest Davis (professor), Professor of Computer Science at New York Univer ...

* Mayor of Wellington – Thomas Hislop * Mayor of Christchurch – John Beanland then Robert M. Macfarlane * Mayor of Dunedin –

Edwin Thomas Cox Edwin Thoms (or Thomas) Cox (9 January 1881 – 18 December 1967) was a New Zealand politician and Mayor of Dunedin. He was Dunedin's first Labour mayor. He had been a Methodist minister. Biography He was born in Marton, and was educated at Pri ...

then

Andrew Henson Allen Andrew Henson Allen (23 December 1876 – 6 August 1963) was a New Zealand businessman and politician. He served as mayor of Dunedin from 1938 to 1944, and was briefly a member of the Legislative Council. Biography Born in the Dunedin suburb ...

Events

* 19 February: 21 people working on the Wairoa-Gisborne railway are drowned when a

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

hits a works camp at Kopuawhara near Mahia. *''The Times'', formerly ''The Gisborne Times'', is purchased by its opposition, ''The Poverty Bay Herald'', which the following year becomes ''

The Gisborne Herald ''The Gisborne Herald'' is the daily evening newspaper for Gisborne and environs. It is one of only four independently owned daily newspapers in New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacifi ...

''.

Arts and literature

See

1938 in art Events from the year 1938 in art. Events * January 2 – sinks off St Ives, Cornwall; the wreck is painted by local ex-fisherman naïve artist Alfred Wallis in several versionsone of whichwill subsequently be displayed in Tate St Ives, metre ...

1938 in literature This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1938. Events *January **The John Dos Passos trilogy ''U.S.A.'' is published, containing his novels '' The 42nd Parallel'' (1930), ''1919'' (1932), and ''The Big Mo ...

, :1938 books

Music

See:

1938 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1938. Specific locations * 1938 in British music * 1938 in Norwegian music Specific genres * 1938 in country music * 1938 in jazz Events *January 16 **Benny Goodman plays ...

Radio

See:

Public broadcasting in New Zealand Public broadcasting in New Zealand is funded through New Zealand Government body New Zealand On Air, and consists of a number of television channels, radio stations, and websites. In addition to funding solely public media outlets, New Zealand On ...

Film

*New Zealand Review no.5, Mountain Holiday

See: :1938 film awards,

1938 in film The year 1938 in film involved some significant events. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1938 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events *January – MGM announces that Judy Garland will be cast in the ro ...

List of New Zealand feature films This is a list of feature films and pre 1910 short films produced or filmed in New Zealand, ordered by year of release. Key * * = Funded in part by the New Zealand Film Commission. * † = Year given is date of principal photography rather th ...

, Cinema of New Zealand, :1938 films

Sport

Basketball

An interprovincial championship is held even though there is no national association at this time.Todd, S. (1976) ''Sporting Records of New Zealand.'' Auckland: Moa Publications. *Interpovincial Champions – Men: Otago

British Empire Games

Chess

* The 47th National Chess Championship was held in Dunedin, and was won by S. Hindin of Christchurch.

Golf

* The 28th

New Zealand Open The New Zealand Open is the premier men's golf tournament in New Zealand. It has been a regular fixture on the PGA Tour of Australasia tournament schedule since the 1970s. The 2019 event was the 100th edition of the tournament. Since 2014 it has ...

championship was won by A.D. Locke. * The 42nd National Amateur Championships were held in Otago ** Men: JP.G.F. Smith (Akarana) ** Women – matchplay: Miss S. Collins ** Women – strokeplay: Mrs R. Fullerton-Smith

Horse racing

Harness racing

* New Zealand Trotting Cup – Morello *

Auckland Trotting Cup The Auckland Pacing Cup which is sometimes referred to as the Auckland Trotting Cup or merely the Auckland Cup is a race held at Alexandra Park in Auckland, New Zealand for Standardbred horses. It is one of the two major harness races, along with ...

–Navy Blue

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Dunedin. * Men's singles champion – W.D. Bennett (Hastings Bowling Club) * Men's pair champions – R.B. Clarke, C.E. Tyrrell (skip) (Roslyn Bowling Club) * Men's fours champions – Stanley Snedden, F. Redpath, P. Munn, H. Wilson (skip) (Linwood Bowling Club)

Rugby

:Rugby union in New Zealand, :All Blacks * Ranfurly Shield

Rugby league

New Zealand national rugby league team

Soccer

* The Chatham Cup is won by Waterside who beat Mosgiel 4–0 in the final. * Provincial league champions: ** Auckland: North Shore United ** Canterbury:

Nomads United Nomads United is an association football club based in Casebrook, Christchurch, New Zealand. The club competes in the Southern League, the second tier of New Zealand football. Club history Nomads were a prominent team in early New Zealand footb ...

** Hawke's Bay: Napier United ** Nelson: YMCA ** Otago: Mosgiel ** South Canterbury: Northern ** Southland: Invercargill Thistle ** Taranaki: Waitara ** Waikato: Hamilton Wanderers ** Wanganui: Marist ** Wellington:

Waterside Karori Waterside Karori AFC is an association football club in Karori, a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. They currently play in the Capital Football (New Zealand), Capital Football Central League (New Zealand), Central League. History Waterside Ka ...

Births

* 21 January: Jim Anderton, politician. (died 2018). * 11 February:

Bevan Congdon Bevan Ernest Congdon (11 February 1938 – 10 February 2018) was a New Zealand cricket all-rounder who played 61 Test matches and 11 One Day Internationals from 1965 to 1978, which included a spell as captain. Captaincy He was captain of the ...

, cricketer. (died 2018). * 24 February:

Murray Hudson Murray Ken Hudson, (24 February 1938 – 13 February 1974) was a Sergeant with the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment who lost his life when trying to protect soldiers under his command at Waiouru Military Camp in New Zealand. He was awar ...

, soldier, winner of the George Cross. (died 1974). * 26 May:

Pauline Parker Pauline may refer to: Religion *An adjective referring to St Paul the Apostle or a follower of his doctrines *An adjective referring to St Paul of Thebes, also called St Paul the First Hermit *An adjective referring to the Paulines, various relig ...

, convicted murderer. * 11 July:

Ron Sang Ronald Fong Sang (11 July 1938 – 11 June 2021) was a New Zealand architect, art collector, art exhibitor and publisher of New Zealand art books. Early life Sang was born in Fiji in 1938 to parents who had migrated from southern China. He rece ...

, architect and art collector. (died 2021). * 12 July:

Stanley Meads Stanley Thomas Meads (born 12 July 1938) is a New Zealand former rugby union player and brother of Colin Meads. He played as a lock, number eight and flanker, and scored four tries for New Zealand in 30 games (15 tests). He played for King Coun ...

, rugby player. * 24 July:

John Sparling John Trevor Sparling (born 24 July 1938) is a former New Zealand cricketer who played in 11 Test matches between 1958 and 1964. Domestic career A stocky, fair-haired, off-spinning all-rounder, Sparling was educated at Auckland Grammar School. ...

, cricketer. * 29 July:

Millie Khan Millie Cecilia Khan (29 July 1938 – 24 November 2003) was a lawn bowls competitor for New Zealand. Personal life Khan is of Māori descent through her mother, while her father was a Yugoslav emigrant. She married her husband Ron Khan, ...

, lawn bowler. (died 2003). * 28 August:

Aroha Reriti-Crofts Dame Aroha Hōhipera Reriti-Crofts (née Crofts; 28 August 1938 – 20 May 2022) was a New Zealand community worker who was national president of the Māori Women’s Welfare League. Biography Reriti-Crofts was born Aroha Hōhipera Crofts at T ...

, politician and community activist. (died 2022). * 10 September:

Colin Beyer Colin Andrew Nielsen Beyer (10 September 1938 – 21 August 2015) was a New Zealand lawyer. He was a partner and then consultant with Simpson Grierson in Wellington. Also prominent businessman with many governance positions, Beyer was a securiti ...

, lawyer and businessman. (died 2015). * 11 October: William Taylor, children's writer and politician. (died 2015). * 12 October: Geoff Murphy,

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

(died 2018). * 28 October (in England): Anne Perry, convicted murderer. * 29 October:

Douglas Myers Sir Arthur Douglas Myers (29 October 1938 – 8 April 2017) was a New Zealand businessman and one of the country's richest men (#35 on the Forbes New Zealand and Australian Rich list, 2006, with net worth estimated at AU$350 million, and assesse ...

, businessman. (died 2017). * 15 November: Peter Sinclair, radio and television host. (died 2001). * 24 November: Wynne Bradburn, cricketer. (died 2008). * 1 December:

Bill Playle William Rodger Playle (1 December 1938 – 27 February 2019) was a New Zealand cricketer who played eight Tests for the national team between 1958 and 1963, making 151 runs as a specialist batsman. Cricket career In New Zealand Bill Playle's ...

, cricketer. (died 2019). * 2 December,

Jonathan Hunt Jonathan Hunt may refer to: * Jonathan Hunt (New Zealand politician) (born 1938), politician from New Zealand * Jonathan Hunt (Vermont congressman) (1787–1832), U.S. Representative from Vermont * Jonathan Hunt (Vermont lieutenant governor) (1738� ...

, politician and diplomat. * 17 December:

Peter Snell Sir Peter George Snell (17 December 1938 – 12 December 2019) was a New Zealand middle-distance runner. He won three Olympic gold medals, and is the only man since 1920 to have won the 800 and 1500 metres at the same Olympics, in 1964. Snell ...

, athlete. (died 2019). * 18 December: Syd Jackson, political activist. (died 2007).

Deaths

* 10 February: Sir Frederic Truby King, director of child welfare. (b. 1858) * 22 February:

Lindsay Buick Thomas Lindsay Buick (13 May 1865 – 22 February 1938) was a Liberal Member of Parliament for Wairau, New Zealand, a journalist and a historian. He published under the name T. Lindsay Buick. Early life Born in Oamaru on 13 May 1865, Buick wa ...

, historian, journalist, politician. (b. 1865) * 1 April:

William Blomfield William Blomfield (1 April 1866 – 2 March 1938) was a New Zealand cartoonist and local politician. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand on 1 April 1866. Between 1914 and 1921 he was the second Mayor of Takapuna. He produced cartoons for va ...

, cartoonist. (b. 1866) * 12 July:

Isabella Foster Rogers Kells Isabella Foster Rogers Kells (15 April 1861 – 12 July 1938) was a New Zealand teacher, postmistress and community leader. She was born in East Tāmaki, Auckland, New Zealand, on 15 April 1861. Biography Isabella Foster Rogers Kells was the fi ...

, teacher, postmistress and community leader (b. 1861) * 30 July: Alfred Brandon, Mayor of Wellington. (b. 1854) * 15 December:

James Whyte Kelly James Whyte Kelly (1855 – 15 December 1938) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician, initially of the Liberal Party but later an Independent Liberal. Biography Kelly was born in 1855 at Carluke, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. He became a ...

, politician. (b. 1855)

Full date unknown

* Eria Tutara-Kauika Raukura, tribal tohunga. (b. 1834)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:1938 in New Zealand Years of the 20th century in New Zealand