1873 in New Zealand

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State — Queen Victoria
• Governor — Sir George Ferguson Bowen is transferred, on 19 March, to Australia to become Governor of Victoria. His replacement, The Rt. Hon Sir James Fergusson, takes up his appointment on 14 June.

  Government and law

• Speaker of the House — Sir Francis Dillon Bell
• Premier — William Fox, "caretaker" Premier since the sudden resignation of George Waterhouse on 3 March, steps down in favour of Julius Vogel on the latter's return to New Zealand on 8 April.
• Minister of Finance — Julius Vogel
• Chief Justice — Hon Sir George Arney

  Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland — Philip Philips
• Mayor of Christchurch — Henry Sawtell followed by Edward B. Bishop
• Mayor of Dunedin — Henry Fish
• Mayor of Wellington — Joseph Dransfield

  Events

• 17 February: The Daily Southern Cross Newspaper prints a hoax report of a Russian invasion of Auckland.
• 3 May: The New Zealand Tablet begins publication in Dunedin. The newspaper was published weekly by the Catholic Church until 1996.
• Late August: A cyclone hits the South Island east coast, wrecking several ships.
• December: The Onehunga Branch railway line from Auckland to Onehunga is opened.

  Sport

Horse racing

Major race winners

• New Zealand Cup: Kakapo
• New Zealand Derby: Rapapa

  Rugby union

• The Auckland and Thames football clubs adopt rugby union, having previously played association football.
• North Shore rugby club founded.

  Shooting

Births

• 17 February: Emily Hancock Siedeberg, New Zealand's first female medical graduate.
• 21 October : Bob Semple, politician and unionist.
• 9 December : James McCombs, politician
• 18 December : Edith Joan Lyttleton, writer.

  Unknown date

• : Lionel Terry, white supremacist, murderer.

  Deaths

• 6 or 7 August: Phillip Tapsell mariner, whaler and trader