The following lists events that happened during 1944 in New Zealand.

Population

* Estimated population as of 31 December: 1,676,300. * Increase since 31 December 1943: 34,300 (2.09%). * Males per 100 females: 94.3.

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 ...

– Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Cyril Newall GCB OM GCMG CBE AM

Government

The

27th New Zealand Parliament The 27th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1943 general election in September of that year. 1943 general election The 1943 general election was held on Friday, 24 September in the Māori el ...

commenced, with the Labour Party in government. *

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 Schramm Frederick William Schramm (28 March 1886 – 28 October 1962) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was the eleventh Speaker of the House of Representatives, from 1944 to 1946. Biography Early life Schramm was born in Hokitika ...

(Labour) * Prime Minister – Peter Fraser * Minister of Finance – Walter Nash * Minister of Foreign Affairs – Peter Fraser * 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 ...

–

Sidney Holland Sir Sidney George Holland (18 October 1893 – 5 August 1961) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 25th prime minister of New Zealand from 13 December 1949 to 20 September 1957. He was instrumental in the creation and consolidation o ...

( National Party).

Main centre leaders

* Mayor of Auckland – John Allum * Mayor of Hamilton – Harold Caro * Mayor of Wellington – Thomas Hislop then

Will Appleton Sir William Appleton (3 September 1889 – 22 October 1958) was a New Zealand local body politician, advertising agent and leading company director. He was Mayor of Wellington for two terms from 1944 to 1950 after serving as a city councillor fr ...

* Mayor of Christchurch – Ernest Andrews * Mayor of Dunedin – Andrew Allen then

Donald Cameron Donald Cameron may refer to: Scottish Clan Cameron * Donald Cameron of Lochiel (c. 1695 or 1700–1748), 19th Chief, and his descendants: ** Donald Cameron, 22nd Lochiel (1769–1832), 22nd Chief ** Donald Cameron of Lochiel (1835–1905), Scott ...

Events

* 21 January – New Zealand and Australia sign the

Canberra Pact The Canberra Pact, formally the Australian-New Zealand Agreement, also known as the ANZAC Pact, was a treaty of mutual co-operation between the governments of Australia and New Zealand, signed on 21 January 1944, following a conference that beg ...

in which they agree to cooperate on international affairs. * 15 March – New Zealand General

Freyberg Freyberg may refer to: *Barbara Freyberg, Baroness Freyberg (died 1973), British peeress *Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg (1889–1963), New Zealand's most famous soldier and military commander *Paul Freyberg, 2nd Baron Freyberg, Paul Richard ...

orders the destruction of the monastery at

Cassino Cassino () is a ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Southern Italy, at the southern end of the region of Lazio, the last city of the Latin Valley. Cassino is located at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Gari and Liri rive ...

using 775 aircraft, 1250 tons of bombs, and 200,000 shells. At the end of the battle, New Zealand has lost 1050 men, one of the worst days in its history. * March – Meat rationing is introduced, with an allowance of 1/9 to 2/- per person per week. * October US Navy closes

US Naval Base New Zealand The United States Navy maintained a number of military installations, naval installations in New Zealand during the Pacific War of World War II. Many were built by the US Navy Seabees, Naval Construction Battalions, during as part of the Paci ...

* 31 October –

Refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

from Eastern Poland, 800 including 734 orphaned children, arrive in New Zealand via Siberia and Iran. * The

New Zealand head tax New Zealand imposed a poll tax on Chinese immigrants during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The poll tax was effectively lifted in the 1930s following the invasion of China by Japan, and was finally repealed in 1944. On 12 February 2002, Prime ...

on Chinese immigrants from 1881 (63 years) is repealed.

Arts and literature

See

1944 in art Events from the year 1944 in art. Events * June 6 – Normandy landings: Robert Capa takes "'' The Magnificent Eleven''" photographs. * July – Dulwich Picture Gallery in London is substantially damaged by a V-1 flying bomb; half a dozen pain ...

1944 in literature This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1944. Events *February 6 – The première of Jean Anouilh's tragedy ''Antigone'' takes place at the Théâtre de l'Atelier in Nazi-occupied Paris. *March 19 – ...

Music

See:

1944 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1944. Specific locations * 1944 in British music * 1944 in Norwegian music Specific genres *1944 in country music * 1944 in jazz Events *January 18 – The Metropolitan Op ...

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

See: :1944 film awards,

1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning ''Going My Way'' plus popular murder mysteries such as ''Double Indemnity'', ''Gaslight'' and '' Laura''. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1944 ...

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, :1944 films

Sport

Archery

National Champions (Postal Shoot) *Open: W. Burton ( Gisborne) *Women: R. Mitchell ( Dunedin)

Chess

* The 51st National Chess Championship was held in Wellington, and was won by R.G. Wade of Wellington.

Cricket

Horse racing

Harness racing

* New Zealand Trotting Cup – Bronze Eagle *

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 ...

– Betty Boop

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Dunedin. * Men's singles champion – M.J. Squire (Hawera Bowling Club) * Men's pair champions – P.H. Edwards, E.W. Travers (skip) (St Kilda Bowling Club) * Men's fours champions – W. Chapman, A.E. Seymour, J.A. Whyte, C.G. Spearman (skip) (Christchurch RSA Bowling Club)

Rugby union

* Ranfurly Shield: Held by Southland (uncontested due to World War II)

Rugby league

New Zealand national rugby league team

Soccer

* Chatham Cup competition not held * Provincial league champions: ** Auckland: Metro College ** Canterbury: Thistle ** Hawke's Bay: Napier HSOB ** Nelson: No competition ** Otago: Mosgiel ** South Canterbury: No competition ** Southland: No competition ** Taranaki: Old Boys ** Waikato: Rotowaro ** Wanganui: No competition ** Wellington: Waterside

Births

* 4 January: Alan Sutherland, rugby player (died 2020) * 7 February:

Witi Ihimaera Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler (; born 7 February 1944) is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of Waituhi, he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that Māori people were ignored or mischaracterised in literat ...

, author * 4 March: Brian Turner, sportsman and writer * 6 March:

Kiri Te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa , (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a retired New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Te ...

, opera singer * 8 April: Tariana Turia, politician * 12 May: Barry Barclay, filmmaker (died 2008) * 16 June:

Robin Morrison Robin Morrison (16 June 1944 – 12 March 1993) was a New Zealand documentary photographer, best known for his unpretentious portrayal of New Zealand countryside, everyday life and quirky architecture. His photos can be described as unearthing me ...

, photographer (died 1993) * 17 July: Mark Burgess, cricketer * 22 July: Anand Satyanand, Judge, Ombudsman and 19th Governor-General of New Zealand * 29 July: Terrence Jarvis, cricketer * 17 August:

Philip Woollaston Philip Tosswill Edmond Woollaston (born 17 August 1944) is a former New Zealand Labour Party politician. He was Member of Parliament for Nelson from 1981 to 1990 and Mayor of Nelson from 1992 to 1998. Early life and family Woollaston was born ...

, politician * 26 August:

Neroli Fairhall Neroli Susan Fairhall (26 August 1944 – 11 June 2006) was a New Zealand athlete, who was the first paraplegic competitor in the Olympic Games. Biography Born in Christchurch in 1944, Fairhall took up archery following a motorbike accident ...

, archer (died 2006) * 30 August: Alex Wyllie, rugby union player and coach * 7 October:

Jack Body John Stanley Body (7 October 1944 – 10 May 2015) was a New Zealand composer, ethnomusicologist, photographer, teacher, and arts producer. As a composer, his work comprised concert music, music theatre, electronic music, music for film and da ...

, composer (died 2015) * 10 November:

Andy Leslie Andrew Roy Leslie (born 10 November 1944) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A number eight, he represented Wellington domestically and captained the All Black at international level. He was captain during the controversial 1976 New Z ...

, rugby union player and administrator * 18 November: David O'Sullivan, cricketer * Noel Anderson, Judge (died 2021) *

Philip Culbertson Philip Leroy Culbertson (born 1944, died 2022) was a scholar in practical theology. He was a lecturer at the University of Auckland School of Theology and was Director of Pastoral Studies at St John's Theological College until his retirement in 20 ...

, theologian *

Keith Locke Keith James Locke (born 1944) is a former New Zealand member of parliament who represented the Green Party, being first elected to parliament in 1999 and retiring from parliament at the 2011 election. He was the Green Party spokesperson on Fo ...

, environmentalist and politician * John Wood, diplomat *

J. S. Parker John Shotton Parker (1944 – 14 August 2017), known professionally as J. S. Parker, was a New Zealand painter. Parker was born in Auckland, but spent most of his life living in Blenheim. He studied art at Christchurch's Ilam School of Fine ...

, painter (died 2017)

Deaths

* 18 June

Arthur Bignell Arthur Gorbell Bignell (1861 – 18 June 1944) was Mayor of Wanganui from 1904 to 1906, and a Construction worker, builder in Oamaru, the West Coast Region, West Coast, Whanganui, Wanganui and the Rangitikei District, Rangitikei district. Biogra ...

, businessman, mayor. * 21 July:

John Andrew MacPherson John Andrew MacPherson (1856 – 21 July 1944) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party and the United Party. Political career He unsuccessfully contested the electorate in the against the incumbent, Thomas Young Duncan. I ...

, politician. * 12 August: James Hargest, National MP, killed while serving with NZ Army as observer with British forces in Normandy. * 30 August:

Thomas William Rhodes Thomas William Rhodes (25 April 1860 – 30 August 1944) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party, then the Reform Party. He changed his affiliation to the Reform Party in 1915. Early life Rhodes was born in Parnell. In 1887, he foun ...

, politician. * 30 October:

Haami Tokouru Ratana Haami Tokouru Ratana (21 July 1894 – 30 October 1944) was a New Zealand politician and president of the Rātana Church. He joined Eruera Tirikatene in parliament as the second Rātana Independent Member of Parliament (MP), elected for the Wes ...

, politician and Ratana church leader. * 2 December:

Frank Milner Frank Milner (7 November 1875 – 2 December 1944) was a notable New Zealand school principal and educationalist. He was born in Nelson, New Zealand on 7 November 1875. Milner was educated at Nelson College from 1889 to 1892,''Nelson Colle ...

, headmaster and educationalist. * 29 December: John Cobbe, politician. * 29 December: Henry Holland, mayor of Christchurch.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:1944 in New Zealand Years of the 20th century in New Zealand