1924 in New Zealand

The following lists events that happened during 1924 in New Zealand.

Regal and viceregal

 * Head of State – George V
 * Governor-General – John Jellicoe, Viscount Jellicoe until 26 November, then Sir Charles Fergusson from 13 December

Government
The 21st New Zealand Parliament continues. The Reform Party governs as a minority with the support of independents.


 * Speaker of the House – Charles Statham
 * Prime Minister – William Massey
 * Minister of Finance – William Massey
 * Minister of External Affairs – Francis Bell

Parliamentary opposition

 * Leader of the Opposition – Thomas Wilford (Liberal Party)

Judiciary

 * Chief Justice – Sir Robert Stout

Main centre leaders

 * Mayor of Auckland – James Gunson
 * Mayor of Wellington – Robert Wright
 * Mayor of Christchurch – James Flesher
 * Mayor of Dunedin – Harold Tapley

Events

 * 29 September – The first trolleybus route in Wellington is inaugurated
 * 4 July – The name for Four Square is established
 * 17 November – HMS Torch hits a rock in the Chatham Islands, and is subsequently beached and abandoned
 * Undated – Actinidia deliciosa 'Hayward', later to become the main commercial cultivar of kiwifruit, is first grown

Arts and literature
See 1924 in art, 1924 in literature Category:1924 books

Music
See: 1924 in music

Broadcasting
See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film
See: 1924 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1924 films
 * Venus of the South Seas

Chess

 * The 33rd National Chess Championship is held in Wellington, and is won by S. Crakanthorp of Sydney.

Football

 * The 2nd Chatham Cup is won by Harbour Board (Auckland)
 * A Chinese Universities football team tours New Zealand, including four matches against the national team:
 * 16 August, at Auckland: New Zealand win 2–1
 * 23 August, at Wellington: draw 2–2
 * 6 September,	at Dunedin: New Zealand win 5–3
 * 13 September, at Christchurch: New Zealand win 4–2
 * Provincial league champions:
 * Auckland – Harbour Board
 * Canterbury – Sunnyside
 * Hawke's Bay – Whakatu
 * Nelson – Athletic
 * Otago – Seacliff
 * South Canterbury – Albion Rovers
 * Southland – Corinthians
 * Taranaki – Kaponga
 * Wanganui – YMCA
 * Wellington – YMCA

Golf

 * The 11th New Zealand Open championship is won by Ernie Moss, with an aggregate of 301.
 * The 28th National Amateur Championships are held in Auckland (men) and Hamilton (women)
 * Men – L. Quin (Eltham)
 * Women – Mrs Peake (Cambridge)

Harness racing

 * New Zealand Trotting Cup – Sheik
 * Auckland Trotting Cup – Locanda Mac

Thoroughbred racing

 * New Zealand Cup – Sunart
 * Auckland Cup – Te Kara
 * Wellington Cup – Loughrea
 * New Zealand Derby – Count Cavour
 * ARC Great Northern Derby – Ballymena

Lawn bowls
The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Christchurch.
 * Men's singles champion – W. Carswell (Taieri Bowling Club)
 * Men's pair champions – James Angus, J. A. Redpath (skip) (Canterbury Bowling Club)
 * Men's fours champions – W. Ure, H. S. Hill, C. G. Maher, Bill Bremner (skip) (West End Bowling Club, Auckland)

Olympic games

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 * New Zealand sends a team of four competitors across three sports
 * Arthur Porritt wins the bronze medal in the men's 100 metres

Rugby league

 * New Zealand host the touring Great Britain team, winning the test series 2–1
 * 1st test, at Dunedin, lose 18–31
 * 2nd test, at Wellington, win 13–11
 * 3rd test, at Auckland, win 16–8

Rugby union

 * The All Blacks tour the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Canada between September 1924 and February 1925, winning all 32 games, and earning the nickname The Invincibles
 * The Ranfurly Shield is held and defended by Hawkes Bay all season

Wrestling

 * Ike Robin is recognised as New Zealand's first wrestling champion

January

 * 5 January – Ivan Wyatt, cricketer (d. 2009)
 * 11 January – Rex Cunningham, rugby league player (d. 2015)
 * 13 January – Brian Barratt-Boyes, heart surgeon (d. 2006)
 * 15 January
 * Barbara Angus, diplomat, historian (d. 2005)
 * George Lowe, mountaineer and explorer (d. 2013)
 * 21 January
 * Bill Andersen, trade unionist (d. 2005)
 * Ronald Sinclair, actor, film editor (d. 1992)
 * 22 January – Ortvin Sarapu, chess player (d. 1999)
 * 27 January
 * Lyn Philp, boxer (d. 1981)
 * Hector Wilson, rugby union player (d. 2004)
 * 28 January – Wharetutu Stirling, Ngāi Tahu leader, conservationist (d. 1993)

February

 * 14 February
 * Bos Murphy, boxer (d. 2000)
 * Reg Singer, association footballer (d. 2001)
 * 24 February – Jack Forrest, rugby league player (d. 2016)
 * 27 February – John Shanahan, swimmer (d. 1987)
 * 29 February – David Beattie, jurist, sports administrator, 14th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 2001)

March

 * 5 March – Nau Cherrington, rugby union player (d. 1979)
 * 6 March – Percy Murphy, politician, first Māori mayor (d. 2009)
 * 7 March
 * J.G.A. Pocock, historian (d. 2023)
 * Brownie Pūriri, public servant (d. 1979)
 * 9 March – Warren Sinclair, radiation science and medicine expert (d. 2014)
 * 10 March – Peter Stichbury, potter (d. 2015)
 * 22 March – Grace Gooder, cricketer (d. 1983)
 * 24 March – Norm Holland, jockey (d. 2014)
 * 26 March
 * Jack McNab, rugby union player, coach and administrator (d. 2009)
 * Josie Yelas, netball player (d. 1996)
 * 29 March – Haydn Sherley, broadcaster (d. 2007)
 * 31 March – Joan de Hamel, children's writer (d. 2011)

April

 * 2 April – Lauris Edmond, poet and writer (d. 2000)
 * 5 April – Barbara Hale, librarian (d. 2013)
 * 3 April – Errol Brathwaite, writer (d. 2005)
 * 18 April – Tiny White, equestrian (d. 2020)
 * 30 April
 * Richard Giese, flautist (d. 2010)
 * Mervyn Probine, physicist, public servant (d. 2010)

May

 * 1 May – Ted Johnson, rower (d. 1985)
 * 5 May – Frank Creagh, boxer (d. 1998)
 * 12 May – Malcolm Templeton, diplomat (d. 2017)
 * 22 May – Stella Casey, social campaigner (d. 2000)

June

 * 2 June – Pat Evison, actor (d. 2010)
 * 3 June – Ken Armstrong, association footballer (d. 1984)
 * 7 June – Bob Tizard, politician (d. 2016)
 * 8 June – Ian Colquhoun, cricketer (d. 2005)
 * 9 June – John Scott, architect (d. 1992)
 * 14 June
 * David Ballantyne, journalist, writer (d. 1986)
 * Miriam Dell, women's advocate (d. 2022)

July

 * 7 July – D. P. O'Connell, barrister, legal academic (d. 1979)
 * 15 July
 * Bub Bridger, poet and short story writer (d. 2009)
 * Brian Sutton-Smith, writer and play theorist (d. 2015)
 * 23 July – Betty Bourke, politician, health administrator (d. 2015)
 * 25 July
 * Jim Beard, architect (d. 2017)
 * Peter Mann, Anglican bishop (d. 1999)
 * 26 July – Ces Renwick, cricketer (d. 2014)
 * 28 July
 * Eric Fisher, cricketer (d. 1996)
 * William Fraser, politician (d. 2001)

August

 * 1 August – Peter Smith, rugby union player (d. 1954)
 * 2 August – Ainsley Iggo, neurophysiologist (d. 2012)
 * 7 August – Alan Wilkinson, association footballer (d. 2015)
 * 12 August – Gordon Hobson, amateur wrestler (d. 1985)
 * 13 August – John Rymer, Anglican cleric (d. 2003)
 * 22 August – Pat O'Connor, professional wrestler (d. 1990)
 * 23 August
 * Bahri Kavaja, association footballer (d. 1987)
 * Doug Mudgway, amateur wrestler (d. 1988)
 * 28 August
 * Tony MacGibbon, cricketer (d. 2010)
 * Janet Frame, writer (d. 2004)
 * 31 August – Don Beaven, medical researcher (d. 2009)

September

 * 3 September – John Ingram, mechanical engineer, businessman (d. 2015)
 * 4 September – Lory Blanchard, rugby league player and coach (d. 2013)
 * 5 September – Nick Carter, cyclist (d. 2003)
 * 6 September – Hugh Poole, sailor (d. 2012)
 * 7 September – Wanda Cowley, children's writer (d. 2017)
 * 8 September – Frank Holmes, economist (d. 2011)
 * 15 September – Rex Challies, cricketer (d. 2003)
 * 17 September – Les Watt, cricketer (d. 1996)
 * 23 September – Peggy Hay, designer (d. 2016)
 * 24 September – Sammy Guillen, cricketer (d. 2013)
 * 27 September – Louis Johnson, poet (d. 1988)
 * 30 September – Trevor Hatherton, geophysicist (d. 1992)

October

 * 5 October – Victor Brooker, cricketer
 * 11 October – Arthur Hughes, rugby union player, businessman, horse racing administrator (d. 2005)
 * 19 October – Keith Gudsell, rugby union player (d. 2007)
 * 30 October – Roy McLennan, politician (d. 2013)

November

 * 5 November – Geoff Smale, sailor (d. 2011)
 * 23 November
 * Doug Coombes, mineralogist and petrologist (d. 2016)
 * Doug Dillon, jurist (d. 1999)
 * 28 November – Colin McLachlan, politician (d. 1985)

December

 * 2 December
 * Gerald O'Brien, politician (d. 2017)
 * Brian Poananga, sportsman, military leader, diplomat (d. 1995)
 * 5 December – Gavin Downie, politician (d. 1998)
 * 7 December – Jimmy Haig, rugby union and rugby league player (d. 1996)
 * 12 December
 * Neill Austin, politician (d. 2008)
 * Brown Turei, Anglican archbishop (d. 2017)
 * 23 December – Len Castle, potter (d. 2011)
 * 26 December – Leonard Kent, cricketer (d. 2014)
 * 28 December – Loo-Chi Hu, marine equipment designer, t'ai chi teacher (d. 2013)
 * 29 December
 * Eve Poole, 41st Mayor of Invercargill (d. 1992)
 * Bob Vance, cricket player and administrator (d. 1994)
 * Ivan Walsh, association footballer, cricketer (d. 2005)
 * 30 December – Joe Phillips, rugby league player (d. 1969)

January–March

 * 5 January – Mary Player, midwife, feminist, social reformer (born c. 1857)
 * 6 January – Henry Hill, cricketer (born 1845)
 * 19 January – Frances Parker, suffragette (born 1875)
 * 24 January – Acton Adams, politician (born 1843)
 * 27 January – William Gardiner, cricketer (born 1864)
 * 2 February
 * Daniel Claffey, cricketer (born 1869)
 * John Duncan, politician (born 1848)
 * 11 February – Arthur Lomas, cricketer (born 1895)
 * 17 February – James Tibbs, schoolteacher (born 1855)
 * 22 February – Mary Dawson, farmer, environmentalist (born 1833)
 * 24 February – Joseph Borton, cricketer (born 1832)
 * 1 March – Elizabeth Parsons, singer (born 1846)
 * 4 March – Gilbert Carson, politician (born 1842)
 * 6 March – Grace Joel, artist (born 1865)
 * 10 March – George Bourne, photographer (born 1875)
 * 17 March – Martin Chapman, cricketer, barrister, politician (born 1846)

April–June

 * 3 April – Alfred Newman, politician (born 1849)
 * 19 April – Charles Louisson, politician (born 1842)
 * 7 May – Alfred Luttrell, architect and building contractor (born 1865)
 * 9 May – James Mason, doctor, bacteriologist, public health administrator (born 1864)
 * 19 May – Joseph Pabst, cricketer (born 1870)

July–September

 * 17 July – William Davidson, pioneer of refrigerated shipping (born 1846)
 * 19 July – Sir Walter Buchanan. politician (born 1838)
 * 25 July – Lawrence Birks, electrical engineer (born 1874)
 * 10 August – Edward Wakefield, politician (born 1845)
 * 19 August – Alfred Baldey, politician (born 1836)
 * 17 September – Richard Vincent, cricketer (born 1846)
 * 19 September – Sir John Salmond, legal academic, public servant, jurist (born 1862)
 * 27 September – Thomson Leys, journalist, newspaper editor and proprietor, philanthropist (born 1850)

October–December

 * 18 October – Walter Mason, cricketer (born 1847)
 * 23 October – Eparaima Te Mutu Kapa, politician (born c. 1842)
 * 13 November – Charles Boxshall, cricketer (born 1862)
 * 27 November – Joseph Grimmond, politician (born 1843)
 * 15 December – Paratene Ngata, Ngāti Porou leader, politician (born c. 1849)
 * 19 December – William Maslin, politician (born 1850)