Regal and viceregal
Head of State — Queen Victoria
Governor — Colonel Thomas Gore Browne
Government and law
The 2nd Parliament continues.
Speaker of the House — Sir Charles Clifford
Premier — Edward Stafford.
Minister of Finance — William Richmond is briefly replaced by Henry Sewell between 25 February and 26 April.
Chief Justice — Hon George Arney
10 January: Pencarrow Head Lighthouse becomes the first permanent lighthouse in New Zealand. Its first keeper is Mary Jane Bennett, the only woman to hold the position.
13 April: The New Zealand Advertiser starts publishing in Wellington. In 1867 it is incorporated into the New Zealand Times, but it is restored for six months in 1868.
3 October: The Auckland Independent begins publishing. It barely survives into the following year.
The first wharf is built at Onehunga.
1 January (in England): John Dumbell, rugby union player.
Thomas Field, politician.
7 April – John Gray, soldier, politician (born 1801)
20 April – James Kelly, Australian explorer who was involved in a feud on Otago Peninsula (born 1791)
30 April – Henry Despard, soldier (born c.1784)
20 July – Alexander Shepherd, public servant and second Colonial Treasurer (born c.1797)
