← 1902 1901 1900 1903 in New Zealand → 1904 1905 1906
Decades:	1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s
See also:	History of New Zealand List of years in New Zealand Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 1903 in New Zealand .

Incumbents [ edit ]

Regal and viceregal [ edit ]

• Head of State ? Edward VII
• Governor ? The Earl of Ranfurly GCMG ^[1]

Government [ edit ]

The 15th New Zealand Parliament continued. In government was the Liberal Party .

• Speaker of the House ? Arthur Guinness (Liberal)
• Prime Minister ? Richard Seddon
• Minister of Finance ? Richard Seddon
• Chief Justice ? Sir Robert Stout

Parliamentary opposition [ edit ]

• Leader of the Opposition ? Vacant until 11 September, then William Massey , (Independent). ^[2]

Main centre leaders [ edit ]

• Mayor of Auckland ? Alfred Kidd then Edwin Mitchelson
• Mayor of Wellington ? John Aitken
• Mayor of Christchurch ? Henry Wigram
• Mayor of Dunedin ? James Park then Thomas Scott

Events [ edit ]

January [ edit ]

February [ edit ]

March [ edit ]

April [ edit ]

June [ edit ]

July [ edit ]

August [ edit ]

September [ edit ]

26 September ? New Zealand is the first country in the world to pass a Wireless Telegraphy Act. ^[3]

October [ edit ]

November [ edit ]

December [ edit ]

Arts and literature [ edit ]

See 1903 in art , 1903 in literature

Music [ edit ]

See: 1903 in music

Film [ edit ]

• A Message from Mars

Sport [ edit ]

Boxing [ edit ]

The Bantamweight division is included in the national championships for the first time.

National amateur champions

• Heavyweight ? H. Taylor (Greymouth)
• Middleweight ? J. Griffin (Invercargill)
• Lightweight ? A. Farquharson (Dunedin)
• Featherweight ? A. Parker (Christchurch)
• Bantamweight ? J. Pearce (Christchurch)

Chess [ edit ]

National Champion: J.C. Grierson of Auckland. ^[4]

Golf [ edit ]

The 11th National Amateur Championships were held in Napier ^[5]

• Men: Kurepo Tareha (Napier)
• Women: A. E Pearce

Horse racing [ edit ]

Harness racing [ edit ]

• Auckland Trotting Cup : Plain G ^[6]

Rugby union [ edit ]

• 1903 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia

Soccer [ edit ]

Provincial league champions: ^[7]

• Auckland: YMCA Auckland
• Otago: Northern
• Wellington: Wellington St. John's

Births [ edit ]

• 30 January: Colin Scrimgeour , minister and broadcaster. ^[8]
• 6 February: Jack Dunning , cricketer
• 21 February: P. H. Matthews , politician
• 11 March: George Dickinson , cricketer
• 11 March: Ronald Syme , historian
• 21 March: Frank Sargeson , writer
• 28 March: Merton Hodge , west-end playwright
• 23 April: John Stewart , politician.
• 10 June: Count Geoffrey Potocki de Montalk , poet.
• 6 July: Edward Musgrave Blaiklock , academic.
• 4 August: Charles Bateson , historian and writer
• 2 November: Anna Lois White , painter
• 15 November: Stewie Dempster , cricketer

Deaths [ edit ]

• 7 March: John Studholme , politician and farmer (born 1829).
• 23 April: William Travers , politician (born 1819).
• 11 June: Thomas Mason , horticulturist and politician.
• 7 July: Agnes Harrold , hotel manager, foster parent, nurse and midwife ^[9]
• 30 August: Joe Warbrick , rugby player (born 1862).

See also [ edit ]

• History of New Zealand
• List of years in New Zealand
• Military history of New Zealand
• Timeline of New Zealand history
• Timeline of New Zealand's links with Antarctica
• Timeline of the New Zealand environment

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

Media related to 1903 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons