1914 in New Zealand

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State - George V
• Governor - Arthur Foljambe, 2nd Earl of Liverpool

  Government

• Speaker of the House - Frederic Lang
• Prime Minister — William Massey
• Minister of Finance - James Allen
• Chief Justice — Sir Robert Stout

  Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition — Joseph Ward.

  Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland - James Parr
• Mayor of Wellington - John Luke
• Mayor of Christchurch - Henry Holland
• Mayor of Dunedin - John Bradley Shacklock then James John Clark

  Events

• 17 January: Joseph Hammond is the first person to fly over Auckland city. He flies a Blériot monoplane which has been donated to the New Zealand Government by the Imperial Air Fleet Committee, from Potter's Park.
• 20 February: James William Humphrys Scotland makes the first substantial cross-country flight in New Zealand. He flies from Invercargill to Gore, a distance of, in 40 minutes in a Caudron biplane. He continues on to Dunedin, Timaru and Christchurch where he arrives on 6 March.
• 18 April: Auckland Exhibition closes,
• 4 August: New Zealand declares war on Germany.
• 29 August: 1374 New Zealand troops land in Samoa and are offered no resistance by German colonial forces. This is the second German territory to be captured by the Allies.
• 25 September: The first attempt by the New Zealand Expeditionary Force to depart New Zealand for Europe is aborted due to concerns about the presence of German raiders.
• 16 October: The main body of the NZEF, some 8000 troops, finally departs New Zealand for Australia where they will join with the First AIF.
• 1 November: The 38 ships carrying the NZEF and the AIF leave Perth, Western Australia. Although expecting to sail to England they will receive orders to land in Egypt while crossing the Indian Ocean.
• Early December: The NZEF and AIF land in Egypt.
• 10 December: General Election.

  Arts and literature

Music

Film

• Hinemoa, the first feature film made in New Zealand, premieres at the Lyric Theatre, Auckland.

  Sport

Chess

• The 27th National Chess Championship was held in Auckland, and was won by W.E. Mason of Wellington, his 5th title.

  Golf

• The eighth New Zealand Open championship was won by Ted Douglas.
• The 22nd National Amateur Championships were held in Auckland
• * Men: Arthur Duncan - 8th title
• * Women: Mrs G. Williams - 2nd title

  Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Win Soon
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Steel Bell

  Lawn bowls

• Men's singles champion – J.S. Kilgour
• Men's pair champions – J. Johnson, E. Harraway
• Men's fours champions – W. Grenfell, A.E. Erksine, W.J. Thompson, J. Porteous

  Rugby league

• During the 1914 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand, the Kiwis lose to Great Britain 16 - 13 in Auckland

  Rugby union

• Taranaki defend the Ranfurly Shield against Wanganui, Manawatu, Horowhenua, Wairarapa, Canterbury and Southland before losing to Wellington

  Soccer

• Auckland: Auckland Thistle
• Canterbury: Sydenham
• Hawke's Bay: Waipukurau
• Otago: Northern
• Southland: Rangers
• Wanganui: Eastbrooke
• Wellington: Wellington Corinthians

  Tennis

• Anthony Wilding, partnered with Norman Brookes wins the men's doubles at the Wimbledon Championship.
• The Davis Cup final is held in New York City. New Zealander Anthony Wilding and Australian Norman Brookes beat the United States 3–2.

  Births

January–March

• 12 January –
• * Sir Roy Jack, politician
• * Everard Jackson, rugby union player
• 22 January – Ron McLean, environmental campaigner
• 30 January – Bill Phillips, rugby union player
• 1 February – James Gould, rower
• 3 February – Felix Kelly, graphic designer, painter, illustrator
• 14 February – Jack Rankin, rugby union player
• 19 February – Thelma Kench, athlete
• 22 February – Theo Allen, athlete
• 7 March – Dame Doreen Blumhardt, potter, arts educator
• 11 March – Dan Riddiford, politician
• 16 March – H. W. Gretton, poet, lyricist, diarist
• 19 March – Jack Best, rugby union player
• 24 March
• * Nancy Borlase, painter and art critic
• * Enid McElwee, fencer
• 27 March – Ces Burke, cricketer
• 31 March – David Seath, politician

  April–June

• 2 April – Walter Whittlestone, dairy scientist, peace activist
• 30 April – Zena Daysh, human ecologist
• 5 May – Lloyd Trigg, World War II pilot, Victoria Cross recipient
• 8 May –
• * Gaven Donne, jurist
• * Dean Eyre, politician, diplomat
• 27 May – Graham Turbott, ornithologist, zoologist, museum director
• 30 May – Frank Sharpley, athlete
• 2 June – Joe Genet, wrestler
• 3 June –
• * Tommy Farnan, association football player
• * Reg Grant, World War II pilot
• 13 June – Gordon Patrick, cyclist
• 16 June – Theo de Lange, air force officer
• 20 June – Pearl Savin, cricketer
• 23 June – Sir Clifford Richmond, jurist

  July–September

• 4 July – Ray Speed, association football player
• 5 July – Jim Watt, rugby union player and paediatrician
• 9 July – M. K. Joseph, poet and novelist
• 28 July –
• * Wiremu Te Āwhitu, first Māori Roman Catholic priest
• * Joey Sadler, rugby union player
• 7 August – Alice Bush, doctor, family planning activist
• 11 August – Donald Cobden, rugby union player, Battle of Britain pilot
• 21 August – Billie Fulford, cricketer
• 23 August – Jack Hemi, rugby union and rugby league player
• 27 August –
• * Gordon Christie, politician
• * Vernon Thomas, wrestler
• 2 September – Ron Barclay, politician

  October–December

• 13 October – Cecil Matthews, athlete
• 17 October – Leo Schultz, politician
• 22 October – Pat Boot, athlete
• 23 October – Donald Stott, soldier, military intelligence agent
• 30 October – Pat Mackie, miner and trade unionist
• 7 November – Doug Freeman, cricketer
• 8 November – Guthrie Wilson, novelist and teacher
• 9 November – Colin Gray, World War II fighter ace
• 15 November – Jack Holloway, alpine explorer, forest ecologist
• 18 November – Bill Phillips, economist
• 4 December – Arthur Prior, logician and philosopher
• 10 December – Reginald Delargey, Roman Catholic bishop
• 21 December – Lankford Smith, association football player and cricketer
• 22 December – Adrian Hayter, soldier, sailor, Antarctic leader, author
• 25 December –
• * Sir James Fletcher, industrialist
• * Don McRae, cricketer and association football player
• * Bob White, politician
• 27 December – Hilda Buck, cricketer
• 28 December – Norman King, politician
• 30 December – Ian Lythgoe, public servant

  Deaths

January–June

• 10 January – Samuel Hodgkinson, politician
• 2 February – Alfred Burton, photographer
• 8 February – Irving Sayles, vaudeville entertainer
• 25 February – John Scott, medical academic, artist
• 28 February – Ann Boyce, herbalist
• 2 March – Mohi Tūrei, Ngāti Porou leader, Anglican minister, carver, haka composer
• 18 March – Edwin Blake, politician
• 20 March – Henry Goulstone, banker, magistrate
• 10 June – Carbine, Thoroughbred racehorse

  July–December

• 6 July – Charles Carter, Baptist missionary
• 21 July – John Blair Whyte, politician
• 30 July – Helen Gibb, farmer, accommodation-house keeper
• 16 August – Caroline Freeman, school teacher
• 18 August – Thomas Young Duncan, politician
• 25 August –
• * William McLean, politician, New Zealand's first motor car owner
• * Patrick O'Reilly, Roman Catholic priest, educationalist
• 2 September – John Carruthers, civil engineer, economic theorist
• 29 September – Thomas Fergus, politician
• * Maria Atkinson, community leader
• * Matthew Green, politician
• 1 October – Richard Barcham Shalders, Baptist preacher, founder of YMCA in New Zealand
• 14 October – Walter Symes, politician
• 17 October – Kennedy Macdonald, politician
• 25 November – John Blair, businessman, politician, educational administrator
• 30 November – John Shand, university professor
• 21 December – William Montgomery, politician
• 25 December – James Gow Black, chemist, mineralogist