1921 in New Zealand

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – George V
• Governor-General – The Viscount Jellicoe GCB OM GCVO

  Government

• Speaker of the House – TBD
• Prime Minister – TBD
• Deputy Prime Minister – TBD
• Minister of Finance – TBD
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – TBD
• Chief Justice – Sir Robert Stout

  Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Thomas Wilford

  Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – James Gunson
• Mayor of Wellington – John Luke then Robert Wright
• Mayor of Christchurch – Henry Thacker
• Mayor of Dunedin – William Begg then James Sandilands Douglas

  Events

• 31 January – The first scheduled air mail service in New Zealand commences, linking Christchurch with Ashburton and Timaru.
• 17 November – The first radio broadcast in New Zealand is made by Professor Robert Jack from the physics department of the University of Otago.

  Arts and literature

Music

Radio

• 17 November: Professor Robert Jack assembles a small transmitter at the University of Otago in Dunedin and broadcasts the first ever radio programme heard on New Zealand airwaves. The only known fact about the programme's content is that it included the then popular song "Hello My Dearie".

Film

• Beyond
• The Betrayer

Sport

Chess

• National champion: J.B. Dunlop, of Dunedin.

  Cricket

• Plunket Shield

  Golf

• The 11th New Zealand Open championship was won by Ted Douglas.
• The 25th National Amateur Championships were held in Christchurch
• * Men: A.G. Sime
• * Women: Mrs. G. Williams

  Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Reta Peter
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Man O' War

  Lawn bowls

• Men's singles champion – J.M. Brackenridge
• Men's pair champions – W.A. Grenfell, S. Potter
• Men's fours champions – B. Hilton, A. Bell, O. Gallagher, Ernie Jury

  Rugby union

• 1921 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia and New Zealand
• Southland defended the Ranfurly Shield once against Otago before losing it to Wellington. Wellington then defended it against Auckland and Otago.

  Soccer

• Auckland: Northcote
• Canterbury: Corinthians
• Hawke's Bay: Waipukurau
• Nelson: Athletic
• Otago: HSOB
• Southland: Corinthians
• Wanganui: Eastown Workshops
• Wellington: Hospital

  Births

January

• 9 January – Fraser Barron, World War II bomber pilot
• 17 January – Jack Bergin, neurologist, anti-abortion campaigner
• 30 January – Joan Faulkner-Blake, broadcaster

  February

• 5 February – Juan Schwanner, association football player and coach
• 6 February – Bob Scott, rugby league and rugby union player
• 7 February – Guy Natusch, architect
• 13 February – Howard Hutchinson, association footballer
• 14 February – Harry Whale, physicist
• 20 February – Tom McGuigan, politician
• 25 February – Keith Thiele, World War II and commercial pilot

  March

• 4 March – Charlie Dempsey, association football administrator
• 12 March – Les Harmer, cricket umpire
• 13 March – Raymond Brown Hesselyn, World War II fighter pilot
• 16 March – Chip Bailey, trade unionist

  April

• 10 April – Robert Wade, chess player
• 12 April – Peter Brown, artist
• 27 April – Helen Wily, mathematician
• 30 April – Wally Williams, water polo player

  May

• 2 May – Ron Smith, public servant, peace activist
• 6 May – Tangaroa Tangaroa, Cook Islands politician
• 12 May – Peter Munz, philosopher, historian
• 15 May – Anne Delamere, public servant
• 23 May – Richard Harrison, politician
• 26 May
• * Frank Mooney, cricketer
• * Agnes Wood, artist, writer
• 29 May – Wally Argus, rugby union player
• 31 May – Aston Greathead, artist

  June

• 6 June – Shirley Tonkin, sudden infant death syndrome researcher
• 7 June – Brian Talboys, politician
• 13 June – Roy Blair, cricketer
• 17 June – Monita Delamere, rugby union player, Ringatū leader, community leader
• 23 June
• * Cecil Holmes, film director and writer
• * Leonard Willmott, soldier, security intelligence officer
• 25 June – Willow Macky, songwriter
• 28 June – Eric Holland, politician

  July

• 8 July – John Money, psychologist, sexologist, author
• 11 July – Pat Perrin, potter
• 12 July – Doug Dye, microbiologist
• 13 July – Lester Castle, lawyer, public servant
• 18 July – Ian Payne, cricketer
• 21 July – Graham Speight, jurist
• 23 July – Peter Gordon, politician
• 26 July – June Westbury, politician
• 30 July – Eric Grinstead, sinologist, Tangutologist

  August

• 5 August – Colin McLeod, civil engineer
• 7 August – Miraka Szászy, Māori leader
• 14 August
• * Donald Burns, cricket umpire
• * Ken Ruby, wrestler
• 21 August – Doreen Lumley, athlete
• 26 August – Bob Owens, businessman, politician, mayor of Tauranga

  September

• 2 September – Diana Isaac, conservationist, businesswoman, philanthropist
• 4 September – Bruce Biggs, Māori studies academic
• 14 September – Colin Johnstone, rower
• 19 September – Michael Noonan, novelist, radio and television scriptwriter
• 25 September – Robert Muldoon, politician
• 28 September
• * Morrie Goddard, rugby union player
• * Bruce Mason, playwright
• 29 September – John Ritchie, composer, orchestral founder and conductor, music academic
• 30 September – Jim Macdonald, naval officer, civil engineer, inventor

  October

• 3 October – Eldred Stebbing, record label founder and owner
• 7 October – Desmond O'Donnell, rugby union player
• 9 October – Tom Marshall, Christian writer
• 10 October – Harvey Sweetman, World War II pilot
• 13 October – Earle Riddiford, lawyer and mountaineer
• 18 October – Kingi Ihaka, Anglican priest, broadcaster, Māori leader
• 23 October – Colin Allan, colonial administrator, diplomat
• 29 October – Jack Warcup, mycologist

  November

• 4 November – William Tyree, electrical engineer, businessman, philanthropist
• 6 November – Geoff Rabone, cricketer
• 11 November – Buddy Corlett, softball and basketball player
• 17 November – Bruce Irwin, botanist
• 20 November
• * Arthur Faulkner, politician
• * Dick Matthews, plant virologist

  December

• 3 December – Cyril Belshaw, anthropologist
• 8 December
• * Dot McNab, military administrator, political organizer
• * Bob Walton, police officer
• 11 December – David Baldwin, lawn bowls player
• 24 December – Vincent Bevan, rugby union player
• 29 December – Ngoi Pēwhairangi, songwriter, Māori language teacher and advocate

  Deaths

January–March

• 19 January – Frank Lawry, politician
• 7 February – Bella Button, horse driver and trainer, equestrian
• 23 February – J. T. Marryat Hornsby, politician, newspaper editor and proprietor
• 27 February – Sir James Prendergast, lawyer, politician, jurist
• 9 March – Walter Powdrell, politician
• 10 March – Henry Brown, saw miller, politician
• 21 March – Samuel Moreton, artist, explorer

  April–June

• 4 April – Mary Jane Milne, milliner, businesswoman
• 19 April – Cathcart Wason, politician
• 23 April – William Maxwell, politician
• 1 June – Tureiti Te Heuheu, Ngāti Tūwharetoa leader, politician
• 24 June – William Dickie, politician
• 25 June – Haimona Patete, Ngāti Koata and Ngāti Kuia leader, religious founder

  July–September

• 19 July – Lily Atkinson, temperance campaigner, suffragist, feminist
• 31 July – Alice Jacob, botanical illustrator, lace designer, design teacher
• 13 August – Otene Pitau, Rongowhakaata leader
• 5 August – Robert Kirkpatrick Simpson, politician
• 17 August – John Aitken, politician, mayor of Wellington
• 9 September – Joseph Henry Cock, shipping company manager, patron of the arts
• 17 September – John Verrall, photographer, politician
• 20 September – Thomas Kelly, politician

  October–December

• 29 October – Samuel Nevill, Anglican bishop
• 31 October – James Little, shepherd, sheep breeder
• 1 November
• * Sir Richard Gaudin-Martin, 1st Baronet, diplomat, colonial administrator
• * Jeremiah Twomey, journalist, politician
• 29 November – Hopere Uru, rugby union player, cricketer, politician
• 2 December – Patrick Nerheny, politician