The following lists events that happened during 1962 in New Zealand.
Population Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,515,800. Increase since 31 December 1961: 54,500 (2.21%). Males per 100 females: 101.0.
Incumbents
Regal and viceregal Head of State – Elizabeth II Governor-General – The Viscount Cobham GCMG TD, followed by Brigadier Sir Bernard Fergusson GCMG GCVO DSO OBE.Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
Government Speaker of the House – Ronald Algie.Lambert & Palenski: The New Zealand Almanac, 1982. Prime Minister – Keith Holyoake Deputy Prime Minister – Jack Marshall. Minister of Finance – Harry Lake. Minister of Foreign Affairs – Keith Holyoake. Attorney-General – Ralph Hanan. Chief Justice — Sir Harold Barrowclough
Parliamentary opposition Leader of the Opposition – Walter Nash (Labour)
Main centre leaders Mayor of Auckland – Dove-Myer Robinson Mayor of Hamilton – Denis Rogers Mayor of Wellington – Frank Kitts Mayor of Christchurch – George Manning Mayor of Dunedin – Stuart Sidey
Events The Office of the Ombudsman was established
January 1 January: Samoa (then called Western Samoa) attains full independence, becoming the first independent Polynesian territory.
February 5 February: Dunedin lawyer James Patrick Ward was killed by a letter bomb sent to his office in what police described as "one of the most callous murders in the history of New Zealand crime".
March
April
June
July
August 11 August: New Zealand Railways's Cook Strait ferry service began, using the .
September
October
November
12 December: The Flag of Wellington is adopted.
December
Arts and literature R.A.K. Mason wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.
See 1962 in art, 1962 in literature, :Category:1962 books
Music
See: 1962 in music
Radio and television New Zealand Broadcasting Service (NZBS) is restructured on 1 April to form New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation. An outside broadcast van is in use in Auckland, and similar vans are ordered for Wellington and Christchurch. Dunedin gets television service with the launch of DNTV2 on 31 July. There are 23,343 licensed television sets in New Zealand.
See: 1962 in New Zealand television, 1962 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, :Category:Television in New Zealand, Public broadcasting in New Zealand
Film
See: :Category:1962 film awards, 1962 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, :Category:1962 films
Sport
Athletics 27 January: Peter Snell sets a new world record for the mile of 3m 54.4s, running at Cook's Gardens, Wanganui.NZhistory.net Barry Magee wins his second national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:24:55.4 in Auckland.
British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Total 10 12 10 32
Chess The 69th National Chess Championship was held in Auckland, and was won by G.G. Haase of Dunedin.List of New Zealand Chess Champions
Horse racing
Harness racing New Zealand Trotting Cup – Lordship defeats Cardigan Bay in a rain-affected race Auckland Trotting Cup – Dandy BriarAuckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz
Lawn bowls The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Christchurch. Men's singles champion – Jeff Barron (Miramar Bowling Club) Men's pair champions – Frank Livingstone, Bob McDonald (skip) (Onehunga Bowling Club) Men's fours champions – W. Humphreys, S. Barlow, H.W. Todd, R. Brown (skip) (Marlborough Bowling Club)
Soccer The Chatham Cup is won by Hamilton Technical Old Boys who beat Northern of Dunedin 4–1 in the final.Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com Provincial league champions: Auckland: Eastern Suburbs AFC Bay of Plenty: Rangers Buller: Waimangaroa Utd Canterbury: Western Franklin: Manurewa AFC Hawke's Bay: Napier Rovers Manawatu: Thistle Marlborough: Woodbourne Nelson: Rangers Northland: Otangarei United Otago: Northern Poverty Bay: Eastern Union South Canterbury: Thistle Southland: Invercargill Thistle Taranaki: Moturoa Waikato: Hamilton Technical OB Wairarapa: Lansdowne United Wanganui: Wanganui Athletic Wellington: Northern West Coast: Runanga The inaugural Rothmans Cup was played between the champion clubs from Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago as a de facto national championship. The final was won by Northern AFC of Dunedin 3-2 on aggregate.Rothmans Cup
Births 12 January (in England): Terry Wiles, thalidomide survivor. 4 February: Frank Bunce, rugby union player. 17 February: Tony Blain, cricketer. 1 March: Russell Coutts, yachtsman. 4 March: John Young, composer. 15 March: Trevor Franklin, cricketer. 6 June: Grant Fox, rugby player. 8 June: John Cutler, yachtsman. 16 June Jonathan Temm, lawyer. 22 July: Rena Owen, actress. 5 August: Richard de Groen, cricketer. 13 September: Brian Fowler, cyclist. 21 September: Kelly Evernden, tennis player. 22 September: Martin Crowe, cricketer. 27 September: Gavin Larsen, cricketer. 9 October: Paul Radisich, racing driver. 12 October: Mark S. Olsen, painter. 7 November: Debbie Hockley, cricketer. 29 December: Wynton Rufer, soccer player. Tim Chadwick, artist and writer. Jon Stevens, singer. :Category:1962 births
Deaths 26 April: Jerry Skinner, Labour politician. 20 June John Houston, historian and writer. 14 July: Janet Mackenzie, New Zealand teacher 18 July: G. H. Cunningham, mycologist and plant pathologist. 18 September: Clyde Carr, Labour politician. 8 October: Donald Charles Cameron, Mayor of Dunedin 20 October: Cora Louisa Burrell, politician (MLC). 28 October: Bill Schramm, Labour politician and 11th Speaker of the House of Representatives.
See also List of years in New Zealand Timeline of New Zealand history History of New Zealand Military history of New Zealand Timeline of the New Zealand environment Timeline of New Zealand's links with Antarctica
References