1865 in New Zealand

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State — Queen Victoria
• Governor — Sir George Grey

  Government and law

• Speaker of the House — David Monro
• Premier — Edward Stafford becomes Premier on 16 October when Frederick Weld retires due to ill-health and stress.
• Minister of Finance — Edward Stafford takes up the post on 31 October after William Fitzherbert loses the post when the Weld government ends on 16 October.
• Chief Justice — Hon Sir George Arney

  Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Dunedin — William Mason

  Events

• The New Zealand Exhibition in Dunedin runs from 12 January until 6 May 1865.
• The Capital of New Zealand is moved from Auckland to Wellington.
• The Marlborough Times ceases publication. It was founded in 1864.
• February – The start of the West Coast Gold Rush with rumours of gold being found.
• 18 February: The Press in Christchurch starts publishing a magazine, The Weekly Press. The magazine ran until 1928.
• May — The West Coast Times is founded. It began as a weekly newspaper and became a daily in January 1866. It ceased publishing in 1917.
• 26 July: Parliament officially sits in Wellington for the first time, in the former Provincial Council chambers.
• 30 August: The New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian publishes its last issue. It began in 1844.
• November: The Grey River Argus begins publication in Greymouth. It published three times a week until becoming daily in 1871. The paper folded in 1966.

  Sport

Horse racing

Major race winners

• New Zealand Cup: Rob Roy
• New Zealand Derby: Egremont

  Rowing

Shooting

Births

• 10 July: James Randall Corrigan, member of NZ Parliament

  Deaths

January–June

• 28 January: John Perry Robinson, Superintendent of Nelson Province
• 25 February: Hoani Wiremu Hipango, tribal leader, teacher and assessor
• 12 April: Thomas Halbert, whaler, trader and founding father
• 30 April : Robert FitzRoy, second Governor of New Zealand
• 5 May : Samuel Brees, artist, surveyor and engineer
• 11 May: Thomas Antill, Australian cricketer and New Zealand bank manager
• 8 June: John Morgan, missionary

  July–December

• 14 July: Nathaniel Burslem, recipient of the Victoria Cross
• 21 July: Frederick Merriman, politician
• 22 July: James Francis Fulloon, interpreter and public servant
• 9 November: George Kissling, Archdeacon of Waitemata