← 1873 1872 1871 1874 in New Zealand → 1875 1876 1877
Decades:	1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s
See also:	History of New Zealand List of years in New Zealand Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 1874 in New Zealand.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State — Queen Victoria
• Governor — The Rt. Hon Sir James Fergusson resigns and is replaced by The Marquess of Normanby

Government and law

The 5th New Zealand Parliament continues.

• Speaker of the House — Sir Francis Dillon Bell
• Premier — Julius Vogel.
• Minister of Finance — Julius Vogel
• Chief Justice — Hon Sir George Arney

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland — Philip Philips followed by Henry Isaacs followed by Frederick Prime
• Mayor of Christchurch — Michael Brennan Hart followed by Fred Hobbs
• Mayor of Dunedin — Henry Fish followed by Andrew Mercer
• Mayor of Wellington — Charles Borlase

Events

• 1 January: Wreck of the Surat, carrying 271 passengers and 37 crew, on the Catlins coast. All survived.^[1]
• 5 January: The Poverty Bay Herald begins publishing in Gisborne. It is initially bi-weekly. The paper changed its name to The Gisborne Herald in 1939, and continues to publish as a daily today^[update].^[2]
• 15 January: The Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, first published in 1842, produces its last issue.^[3]
• 30 June: The Wellington Independent publishes its final issue, and is replaced by The New Zealand Times. The newspaper started in 1845.^[4]
• 18 November: Fire and sinking of the Cospatrick carrying emigrants to New Zealand near the Cape of Good Hope; one of New Zealand's worst disasters as only three of the 472 on board survived.^[5]
• The Marlborough Times begins publication bi-weekly, and absorbs The Marlborough News. It became a daily in 1882. The Marlborough Express bought it in 1895 and closed it in 1905.^[6]
• The Marine Department employs Capt. B.A. Edwin to provide weather maps and forecasts to ships, establishing New Zealand's first weather service.^[7]

Sport

Horse racing

• 25 May — Recorded by some sources as the date of first race meeting at Ellerslie.(see also 1857)
• The Auckland Cup is established at Ellerslie Racecourse.
• The Wellington Cup becomes an annual race. The first winner of which evidence survives is recorded.

Major race winners

• New Zealand Cup: Tambourini
• New Zealand Derby: Tadmor
• Auckland Cup: Templeton
• Wellington Cup: Castaway

Rugby union

• Rugby union spreads quickly, with many new clubs being formed: Ngāruawāhia, Hamilton, Cambridge, New Plymouth (Taranaki club) Hawera (Egmont club), Parnell, Grafton, Ponsonby, and Mount Hobson. Rugby was also taken up at Auckland College and Auckland Grammar School.^[8]

Shooting

Ballinger Belt: Captain Skinner (Waiuku Rifles)

Births

• 8 February: Edmund Anscombe, architect.^[9]
• 20 September: George Smith, athlete and rugby player.

Deaths

• 22 April: Thomas Brunner, surveyor and explorer.