1939 in New Zealand

Decades:	1910s; 1920s; 1930s; 1940s; 1950s;
See also:	History of New Zealand; List of years in New Zealand; Timeline of New Zealand history;

The following lists events that happened during 1939 in New Zealand.

Population

Estimated population as of 31 December: 1,641,600 ^[1]
Increase since 31/12/1938: 23,300 (1.44%)
Males per 100 females: 103.0

Incumbents

Events

29 January: (Sunday) Opening of St Peter's College, Auckland by Bishop J M Liston.
3 September (backdated to 9.30 pm): New Zealand declares war on Germany at the same time as Britain (though delayed until confirmation by the Admiralty message to the fleet).^[4]
31 October: The Strongman coal mine in Nine Mile Valley near Greymouth is officially opened by Minister of Mines, Paddy Webb.^[5]
13 December: New Zealand warship HMS Achilles fought in the Battle of the River Plate against German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee.
17 December: The Graf Spee is scuttled off Montevideo harbour.
The Poverty Bay Herald changes its name to The Gisborne Herald,^[6] which continues to publish today^[update].

Arts and literature

See 1939 in art, 1939 in literature, Category:1939 books

Music

See: 1939 in music

Radio

See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

See: Category:1939 film awards, 1939 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1939 films

Sport

Athletics

Clarrie Gibbons wins the national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:44:56.2 on 11 March 1939 in Napier.

Basketball

A second interprovincial championship is held even though there is still no national association.^[7] (see 1938 and 1946)

Interpovincial Champions: Men - Wellington

Chess

The 48th National Chess Championship was held in Wanganui, and was won by J.B. Dunlop of Dunedin (his 5th title).^[8]

Cricket

Horse racing

Harness racing

New Zealand Trotting Cup – Lucky Jack (2nd win)^[9]
Auckland Trotting Cup – Marlene^[10]

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Auckland.^[11]

Men's singles champion – W.C. Franks (Balmoral Bowling Club)
Men's pair champions – J. Anchor, W.J. Robinson (skip) (Hamilton Bowling Club)
Men's fours champions – C.F. Robertson, H. Franks, J.F. Benson, W.C. Franks (skip) (Balmoral Bowling Club)

Rugby union

Category:Rugby union in New Zealand, Category:All Blacks

Ranfurly Shield

Rugby league

New Zealand national rugby league team

Soccer

The Chatham Cup is won by Waterside of Wellington who beat Western of Christchurch 4—2 in the final.^[12]
Provincial league champions: ^[13]
- Auckland: Ponsonby AFC
- Canterbury: Western
- Hawke's Bay: Napier Utd
- Nelson: YMCA
- Otago: Mosgiel
- South Canterbury: Old Boys
- Southland: Mataura
- Waikato: Rotowaro
- Wanganui: Wanganui Athletic
- Wellington: Petone Football Club

Births

20 January: Ken Comber, politician.
27 February: Don McKinnon, deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand and Commonwealth Secretary-General.
10 April (in England): Michael Cox, politician.
24 April: Fergie McCormick, rugby union player.
16 September: Tony Davies, rugby union player.
23 September: Hugh Williams, High Court judge.
4 October: Ivan Mauger, motorcycle speedway champion.
29 October: Michael Smither, painter.
18 October: Peter Brown, politician.
29 October: Douglas Myers, businessman.
24 November: Bob Jones, businessman.
Raymond Ching, painter.
Syd Jackson, political activist.
(in England): Dylan Taite, music journalist.
Philip Temple, writer.
David Walter, mayor of Stratford.

Category:1939 births

Deaths

16 March: George Mitchell, soldier and politician
26 April: Ted Howard, politician.
26 July: Thomas William "Torpedo Billy" Murphy, boxer.^[14]
27 July: Malcolm Champion, swimmer.
23 August: Robin Hyde, writer.
18 September: T. W. Ratana, prophet.
3 November: David McLaren, politician.

Category:1939 deaths

References

^ Statistics New Zealand:Historical Population Estimates^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
^ "Elections NZ - Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ Hensley, Gerald (2009). Beyond the Battlefield: New Zealand and its Allies 1939-45. Auckland: Penguin/Viking. p. 20. ISBN 9780670074044.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Poverty Bay Herald". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
^ Todd, S. (1976) Sporting Records of New Zealand. Auckland: Moa Publications. ISBN 0-908570-00-7
^ 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 6 May 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ 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. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |editorlink= ignored (|editor-link= suggested) (help)
^ Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.
^ Torpedo Billy Murphy - Boxrec Boxing Encyclopaedia

External links

Media related to 1939 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons

[1] Statistics New Zealand:Historical Population Estimates^{[permanent dead link]}

[2] Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52

[3] "Elections NZ - Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[4] Hensley, Gerald (2009). Beyond the Battlefield: New Zealand and its Allies 1939-45. Auckland: Penguin/Viking. p. 20. ISBN 9780670074044.

[5] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[6] "Poverty Bay Herald". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 21 September 2008.

[Moa-7] Todd, S. (1976) Sporting Records of New Zealand. Auckland: Moa Publications. ISBN 0-908570-00-7

[8] List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine

[9] "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[10] Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine

[11] 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. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |editorlink= ignored (|editor-link= suggested) (help)

[12] Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine

[13] "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.

[14] Torpedo Billy Murphy - Boxrec Boxing Encyclopaedia

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v t e 1939 in Oceania
Sovereign states	Australia Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu
Associated states of New Zealand	Cook Islands Niue