The 1979 New Year Honours in New Zealand were appointments by
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
on the advice of the New Zealand government to
various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders. The awards celebrated the passing of 1978 and the beginning of 1979, and were announced on 30 December 1978.
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour.
Knight Bachelor
*
Joseph Holmes Miller
Sir Joseph Holmes Miller (12 February 1919 – 6 February 1986) was a notable New Zealand surveyor, Antarctic explorer and conservationist. He was born in Waimate, New Zealand, on 12 February 1919.
In May 1958, Miller was awarded the Polar Me ...
– of
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
. For services to the
Ross Dependency
The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a circular sector, sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160th meridian east, 160° east to 150th meridian west, 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60th para ...
, conservation and surveying.
*
Robertson Huntly Stewart – of
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
. For services to manufacturing and community.
File:Holmes Miller (cropped).jpg, Sir Holmes Miller
Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
Companion (CMG)
*
Donald William Bain – of Christchurch. For services to education.
* The Honourable John Raymond Mills – of
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
. For services as a
Crown solicitor
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
.
* The Most Reverend
John Hubert Macey Rodgers – of
Papatoetoe
Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau Central, and 18 kilometres southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe has the unofficial title of Auckland ...
. For services as Roman Catholic Bishop in Tonga and Cook Islands.
File:Donald William Bain (cropped).jpg, Donald Bain
Order of the Bath
Companion (CB)
;Military division
* Air Vice Marshal
Cyril Laurence Siegert –
Royal New Zealand Air Force.
File:Cyril Laurence Siegert.jpg, Larry Siegert
Order of the British Empire
Knight Commander (KBE)
;Civil division
* Mr Justice
Gaven John Donne –
Chief Justice of the High Court of the Cook Islands and Chief Justice of Niue.
*
Hepi Hoani Te Heu Heu – of
Taumarunui
Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of T ...
. For services to the
Māori people
The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several c ...
and community.
File:Sir Gaven Donne KBE.jpeg, Sir Gaven Donne
Commander (CBE)
;Civil division
*
James Luke Hazlett – of
Winton. For public services.
*
Ernest Mervyn Hall Kemp – of Wellington. For services to local government.
* Sidney Lewis Moses – of Wellington. For services to commerce and the community.
*
James McLaren Ritchie – of
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
. For services to business, educational, charitable and Anglican Church affairs.
*
Peter Jensen Reid Skellerup. For services to the City of Christchurch.
*
Laurence Houghton Stevens – of Auckland. For services to the textile industry.
Officer (OBE)
;Civil division
* Hardy Seymour Benton – of
Kaponga. For services to the dairy industry.
* Alan Francis Brieseman – of
Mosgiel
Mosgiel (Māori: ''Te Konika o te Matamata'') is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedin ...
. For services to the National Band of New Zealand.
* Henry Harford Buswell – chief executive, Auckland Hospital Board.
*
Graeme Augustine Dallow – deputy assistant commissioner,
New Zealand Police.
* Thomas Searle Ellingham – of
Havelock North
Havelock North ( mi, Te Hemo-a-Te Atonga) is a town in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, situated less than 2 km south-east of the city of Hastings. It was a borough for many years until the 1989 reorganisation of loca ...
. For services to the farming industry.
* John Norman Stuart Flett – of Auckland. For services to
bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...
.
* Peter Townshend Gifford – of
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
. For services to Birthright and the community.
* Dr Thomas Edwin Hall – of Christchurch; lately medical superintendent,
Sunnyside Hospital.
* Dr Paul Peter Heller – of Auckland. For services to air and space law.
* Dr Dennis Douglas McCarthy – of Auckland. For services to medicine and the community.
* James Henry McKenzie – of
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
. For services to opera and the community.
* Robert Alexander Milne – of Christchurch. For services to
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
.
*
John Edward Rowles – of
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
, Hawaii. For services to entertainment and New Zealand interests in the United States.
* Archibald James Scott – of Christchurch. For services to the community.
* Leonard Alfred Sisam – of
Whakatāne
Whakatāne ( , ) is the seat of the Bay of Plenty region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. Whakatāne District is the encompassing territorial authority, ...
. For services to farming, commerce and the community.
* Alan David Talbot – of
South Canterbury
South Canterbury is the area of the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the Waitaki River (the border with the Otago Region) to the south. The Pacific Ocean and ridge of the Southe ...
. For services to local government.
* Sidney Ivan Wheatley – of Hamilton. For services to trade union and community affairs.
* William Sealy Wood – of Auckland. For services to medicine and the community.
;Military division
* Commander Tom Alexander Riddell –
Royal New Zealand Navy
The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...
.
* Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Owen – Royal New Zealand Army Education Corps.
* Group Captain Bernard Joseph O'Connor – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
File:John Rowles KNZM (cropped).jpg, John Rowles
Member (MBE)
;Civil division
* George Kent Armstrong – of
Queenstown. For services to the engineering profession.
* Eric Samuel Ayers – of
Ashburton. For services to education.
* Russell William Bond – of
Waikanae
Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kapiti Coast, 60 kilometres north of the Wellington CBD. The name is a Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the grey mullet".
The town lies between Paraparaumu, eight kilometres to the southwest, and Ōt ...
. For services to journalism and the arts.
* Cleland James Graham Brass – of
Invercargill
Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...
. For services to local-body and community affairs.
* John Reginald Burford – of
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...
. For services to exporting.
* Thelma Patricia Burton – of
Lower Hutt. For services to nursing.
* Robert Tertius Douglas – of
Wanganui
Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whang ...
; lately chief chemical inspector,
Department of Health
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...
.
* James Geoffrey Furness – of
Blenheim. For services to the community.
*
Gwladys Louise Gardner – of Auckland; lately headmistress,
Auckland Girls' Grammar School
"Through trials to triumph"
, colours = gold, navy blue
, type = State single-sex girls' secondary school (Years 9–13)
, established = 1878
, address = Howe Street, Newton, Auckland
, coordinates =
, principal = Ngaire Ashmore ...
.
* Sholto Hamilton Georgeson – of Christchurch. For services to aeronautics.
* Grahame Frederick Glaister – of Auckland. For services to exporting.
* Ritchie Donald Massed – of
Raumati Beach
Raumati Beach is a beach community on the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand's North Island; located 60km north-west of Wellington, and about 10 km north of Raumati South. It is immediately to the south-west of the larger town of Paraparaumu. The Ma ...
. For services to quarrying.
* Harold Ashworth Holmes – of
Rotorua. For services to the community.
* Harry Tilson Kershaw – of
Martinborough
Martinborough ( mi, Wharekaka) is a town in the South Wairarapa District, in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It is 65 kilometres east of Wellington and 35 kilometres south-west of Masterton. The town has a resident population of
The town ...
. For services to local-body and community affairs.
* Robert Hugh Wither Kirton – of
Warkworth. For services to the dairy industry.
* John Harold Lucas – of Wellington. For services to scouting.
* James Edward Milner – of Christchurch. For services to paraplegics.
* Stanley Guy Russell – of
Raglan. For services to the community.
* Maurice Barrington Smythe – of Waikanae. For services to racing.
* Lincoln Francis Warren – of Auckland. For services to rugby.
* Charles Edward Catlow Webb – of
Levin. For services to the farming industry and the community.
* Max Phillip Whatman – of Christchurch. For services to journalism and the community.
*
Elsie Hamer Wilkie – of
Matamata
Matamata () is a town in Waikato, New Zealand. It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits. It is part of the Matamata-Piako District, which tak ...
. For services to bowling.
* Harold Robert Williams – of
New Plymouth. For services to oil and gas exploration and development in New Zealand.
;Military division
* Warrant Officer Seaman Bertram Kairo McLean – Royal New Zealand Navy.
* Lieutenant Commander Albert Francis Prendergast – Royal New Zealand Navy.
* Major Andrew Anderson –
Royal New Zealand Engineers
The Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers is the administrative corps of the New Zealand Army responsible for military engineering. The role of the Engineers is to assist in maintaining friendly forces' mobility, deny freedom of movement to the ...
.
* Temporary Major James Taia –
Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment is the parent administrative regiment and corps of regular and reserve infantry battalions in the New Zealand Army. It was originally formed in 1947 with a singular Regular regiment and multiple reserve r ...
(Territorial Force).
* Warrant Officer Class 1 Lawrence Melville Taylor – Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
* Warrant Officer Francis Derek Bailey – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
* Squadron Leader Henry Cecil Richardson – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
British Empire Medal (BEM)
;Military division
* Chief Petty Officer Seaman Anthony David Long – Royal New Zealand Navy.
* Temporary Chief Petty Officer Seaman Eric Nicholson Vickers – Royal New Zealand Navy.
* Staff Sergeant William Joseph Donoghue – Royal New Zealand Army Service Corps.
* Temporary Sergeant Alan David Gundersen – Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
* Staff Sergeant Ronald Hughes – Royal New Zealand Engineers.
* Temporary Warrant Officer Class 2 Brian Leslie Tolson –
Royal New Zealand Signals.
* Flight Sergeant William Keith Abbott – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
* Sergeant Raymond Durroch Allan – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
* Flight Sergeant Roger Langley – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Companion of the Queen's Service Order (QSO)
For community service
* Joyce Doreen Flynn – of Wanganui.
*
Eric Harold Grocott – of Long Bay,
Coromandel
Coromandel may refer to:
Places India
*Coromandel Coast, India
**Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements
** Dutch Coromandel
*Coromandel, KGF, Karnataka, India
New Zealand
*Coromandel, New Zealand, a town on the Coromandel Peninsula
*Coro ...
.
* James Earl Hunt – of Palmerston North.
* Tumokai Katipa – of
Ngāruawāhia
Ngāruawāhia () is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located north-west of Hamilton at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipā Rivers, adjacent to the Hakarimata Range. Ngāruawāhia is in the Hamilton U ...
.
* Olive Margaret McLeod Manning – of Auckland.
For public services
* Neville Robert Ainsworth – of Wellington; general manager,
State Insurance Office.
*
John Mokonuiarangi Bennett – of Havelock North; chairman, Māori Education Foundation.
* Edward George Buckton – of Lower Hutt; lately principal private secretary to the Prime Minister.
* Dr David Gordon Edgar – of Hamilton; lately director,
Ruakura
Ruakura is a semi-rural suburb of Hamilton City, in the Waikato region of New Zealand. The University of Waikato is nearby.
The area lies to the east of urban Hamilton and to the west of State Highway 1B (a variant of State Highway 1 which av ...
Animal Research Station,
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
*
Trevor Freeman Horne – of
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
.
*
Rex Thomas Morpeth –
mayor of Whakatāne
The mayor of Whakatāne is the head of the municipal government in Whakatāne District, New Zealand. The mayor presides over the Whakatane District Council, which was first formed in 1976 following an amalgamation, with further changes taking pla ...
.
*
Patrick George Sheehan – mayor of
Devonport.
* Joseph Leslie Terry – of
Pahiatua
, image_skyline = Market day pahiatua 1st dec 2007 1.JPG
, imagesize =
, image_caption =
, image_flag =
, flag_size =
, image_seal =
, seal_size =
, image_shi ...
.
Queen's Service Medal (QSM)
For community service
* Thomas Willie Abbott – of Papatoetoe.
*
Margaret Brenda Dillon Bell – of
Palmerston Palmerston may refer to:
People
* Christie Palmerston (c. 1851–1897), Australian explorer
* Several prominent people have borne the title of Viscount Palmerston
** Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c. 1673–1757), Irish nobleman an ...
.
* The Reverend David Howard Vereker-Bindon (Brother David John ) – of Auckland.
* Joyce Winifred Brown – of Wellington.
* Stella Adelaide Brown – of Auckland.
* Sydney Charles Burton – of Auckland.
* Rachel Chisholm – of Blenheim.
*
Maurice Walter Church – of
Porirua East
Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide swee ...
.
* Beatrice Mary Clifford – of Hamilton.
* Beatrice May Cousins – of
Waitahuna
Waitahuna is a small rural hamlet in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It is from Lawrence.
In the 19th century, the town thrived after the discovery of gold. The Waitahuna Gully Miner's Monument commemorates this discovery and ...
.
* Mereana Kingi Davis – of
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...
.
* Louis Rodgers Fox – of
Tītahi Bay
Tītahi Bay (previously known as Titahi Bay), a suburb of Porirua in the North Island of New Zealand, lies at the foot of a short peninsula on the west coast of the Porirua Harbour, to the north of Porirua city centre. History
The legendary Po ...
.
* Cecil Henry Hilton – of Rotorua.
* Clifford Holdsworth – of Christchurch.
* Winifred Edith Georgina Knight – of
Hāwera
Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was established ...
.
* William Morland Limpus – of Auckland.
* Joan Anita Little – of
Tokoroa
Tokoroa ( mi, Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere) is the fifth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua, close to the foot of the ...
.
* Maisie McNair – of Christchurch.
* Clarice Mary May – of Winton.
* Nancy Elizabeth Money – of Auckland.
* Marjory Catherine Ogg – of Wanganui.
* John Edward Ord – of Taumarunui.
* Florence Gertrude Roberts – of Christchurch.
*
Rosa Olga Sansom – of
Gore
Gore may refer to:
Places Australia
* Gore, Queensland
* Gore Creek (New South Wales)
* Gore Island (Queensland)
Canada
* Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community
* Gore, Quebec, a township municipality
* Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...
.
* Elizabeth Mary Wheeler Shaw – of Ashburton.
* Ann Gladys Smith – of Dunedin.
* Jean Warren – of Christchurch.
* Evelyn Grace Williams – of
Kaitaia
Kaitaia ( mi, Kaitāia) is a town in the Far North District of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupouri Peninsula, about 160 km northwest of Whangārei. It is the last major settlement on State Highway 1. Ahipara Bay, the southern end of ...
.
* Margaret Mary Young – of Invercargill.
For public services
* Mary Armstrong – of
Waimangaroa
Waimangaroa is a small town located on the West Coast of New Zealand.
The township lies on the south-west bank of the Waimangaroa River, at the western foot of the Denniston Plateau. It is to the north east of Westport and 13 km south-eas ...
; postmistress,
New Zealand Post Office
The New Zealand Post Office (NZPO) was a government department of New Zealand until 1987. It was previously (from 1881 to 1959) named the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department (NZ P&T).
As a government department, the New Zealand Post Office ...
.
* Herbert William Beasley – of Auckland.
* Stewart Dudley Belcher – senior sergeant, New Zealand Police.
* Lettice Marion Corsbie – of
Northland.
* Cecil Charles Day – of Wanganui.
* Ronald Daniel Eastwood – of
Te Aroha
Te Aroha ( mi, Te Aroha-a-uta) is a rural town in the Waikato region of New Zealand with a population of 3,906 people in the 2013 census, an increase of 138 people since 2006. It is northeast of Hamilton and south of Thames. It sits at the f ...
.
* Phoebe Mildred Frost – of Wellington.
* Charles Anthony Gallagher – of South Canterbury.
* James Benjamin Graham – of Christchurch.
* Henry Charles Hollander – constable, New Zealand Police.
* Eric William King – of Nelson.
* Lillia Mabel Langridge – of Ashburton.
* Leonard Joseph Lanigan – of Auckland.
* Allister Park McDonald – of Whakatāne.
* John William McIntosh – of
Waiheke Island
Waiheke Island (; Māori: ) is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland.
It is the most po ...
.
* Sheilagh Rosalee Maxwell – of
Gisborne.
*
Tui Alfreda Mayo – of
Feilding
Feilding ( mi, Aorangi) is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council.
Feilding has ...
.
* Kathleen Patricia Redmond – of
Whangārei
Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. It is part of the Whangārei District, a local body created in 1989 from the former Whangārei City, Whangārei County and Hikurangi Town coun ...
; chief nursing officer, Northland Hospital Board.
* Ole Ellegaard Sorenson – of Lower Hutt; lately assistant director (field operations), Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
* Florence Alice Vincent – of Wellington.
* Fred John Williams – of Gisborne.
* Kira Williams – of Northland.
* Harold Alfred Lewis Wright – of
Marton; lately head nurse, Maximum Security Unit,
Lake Alice Hospital
Lake Alice Hospital was a rural psychiatric facility in Lake Alice, Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand. It was opened in August 1950, and had a maximum security unit. Like many New Zealand psychiatric hospitals, Lake Alice was largely self-suffici ...
.
Queen's Fire Service Medal (QFSM)
* William Clarkson – fire force commander,
New Zealand Fire Service
The New Zealand Fire Service ( mi, Whakaratonga Iwi, "Service to the People"; also known as the NZFS) was New Zealand's main firefighting body from 1 April 1976 until 1 July 2017 – at which point it was dissolved and incorporated into the new ...
.
* William John Harrison – senior station officer, Invercargill Fire Brigade (Volunteer).
* Arthur William James Plummer – lately district officer,
Sumner Volunteer Fire Brigade.
* Desmond Maurice Robertson – chief fire officer,
Waihi
Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town.
The town is at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, close to the western end of the Bay of Plenty. The nearby re ...
Volunteer Fire Brigade.
* Peter Kenneth Burton-Wood – chief fire officer, director of Fire Safety Division, National Headquarters, New Zealand Fire Service.
Queen's Police Medal (QPM)
* William Edward Hollinshead – chief superintendent,
New Zealand Police.
*
Robert Josiah Walton –
Commissioner of Police, New Zealand Police.
Air Force Cross (AFC)
* Squadron Leader Graeme James Wharton Goldsmith – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Year Honours 1979 (New Zealand)
New Year Honours
1979 awards
1979 in New Zealand
New Zealand awards