Regal and viceregal
Head of State — Queen Victoria
Governor — The Earl of Ranfurly GCMG
Government and law
The 14th New Zealand Parliament continued. Government was
Speaker of the House — Sir Maurice O'Rorke
Prime Minister — Richard Seddon
Minister of Finance — Richard Seddon
Chief Justice — Sir Robert Stout
Leader of the Opposition — William Russell, (Independent).
Main centre leaders
Mayor of Auckland — David Goldie
Mayor of Wellington — John Aitken
Mayor of Christchurch — Charles Louisson, William Reece
Mayor of Dunedin — Robert Chisholm
15 January: The New Zealand Mounted Rifles rout a Boer assault at Slingersfontein, South Africa.
9 February: Opening of the Wanganui Opera House by premier Richard Seddon.
15 February: New Zealand troops are part of the relief of Kimberley, South Africa.
3 May: Holy Cross College, Mosgiel (Roman Catholic seminary) established.
May: Phosphate discovered on Nauru — mining begins later in the year.
May–June: Tour of Pacific islands by Prime Minister Richard Seddon. Tonga, Niue, Fiji and the Cook Islands are visited.
28 September: The New Zealand Government votes to incorporate the Cook Islands into New Zealand.
October: The number of European electorates in the New Zealand Parliament is increased to 76.
23 October: The country's first electric tram service begins, between Roslyn and Maori Hill in Dunedin.
Unknown date
Māori Lands Administration Act passed.
George Hemmings brings the first motor car into the South Island.
The General Assembly Library (part of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings) is built.
18 people die in a boating tragedy on the Motu River.
Arts and literature
See 1900 in art, 1900 in literature, Category:1900 books
See: 1900 in music
Alfred Whitehouse's The Departure of the Second Contingent for the Boer War — the oldest surviving New Zealand film — premieres.
National champions (Men):
100 yards — G. Smith (Auckland)
250 yards — G. Smith (Auckland)
440 yards — W Strickland (Hawke's Bay)
880 yards — J Lynskey (Canterbury)
1 mile — W Simpson (Canterbury)
3 miles — W Simpson (Canterbury)
120 yards hurdles — G. Smith (Auckland)
440 yards hurdles — G. Smith (Auckland)
Long jump — Te Rangi Hīroa (Otago)
High jump — C Laurie (Auckland)
Pole vault — C Laurie (Auckland)
Shot put — W Madill (Auckland)
Hammer throw — W Madill (Auckland)
The first club is formed, in Auckland, but soon goes into recess. (see also 1927)
National Champion: W.E. Mason of Wellington.
See 1900–01 New Zealand cricket season
A tour of New Zealand by Australia's Melbourne Cricket Club included seven matches, of which the visitors won six with one match drawn.
Six provincial matches were played during the 1899–1900 domestic season, all of them over two or three days, with wins by Otago over Hawke's Bay and Canterbury, by Wellington and Auckland over Otago, and by Canterbury and Auckland over Wellington.
Scores were uniformly low by modern standards, mostly below 200, with only two centuries scored and only one team total of over 300 runs: the highest team total was 464 by Wellington against Otago, with centuries by F A Midlane (149) and C A Richardson (113), and the best bowling figures were A D Downes' 7–43 for Otago against Canterbury.
The 8th National Amateur Championships were held in Otago
Men: Arthur Duncan (Wellington) — 2nd title
Women: K Rattray (Otago) — 3rd title
Auckland Trotting Cup: Cob
New Zealand Cup winner: Fulmen Ideal
New Zealand Derby winner: Renown
Auckland Cup winner: Blue Jacket
Wellington Cup winner: Djin Djin
Top New Zealand stakes earner: Advance
Leading flat jockey: C Jenkins (50 wins)
Savile Cup winners: Oroua (A Strang, J Strang, W Strang, O Robinson)
Men's national champions (coxed fours): Picton
Men's national champions (coxless pairs): Wellington
Men's national champions (double sculls): Canterbury
Men's national champions (single sculls): T Spencer (Wellington)
Provincial club rugby champions include: City (Auckland); Westport (Buller); Christchurch (Canterbury); Pirates (Hawke's Bay); Levin (Horowhenua); Awarua (Marlborough); Alhambra (Otago); Gisborne (Poverty Bay); Hawera (Taranaki); Kaierau (Wanganui); Melrose (Wellington); winners of Bush, Nelson, and Wairarapa club competitions unknown.
see also Category:Rugby union in New Zealand
Ballinger Belt – no competition
Provincial league champions:
Auckland: Grafton AFC (Auckland)
Otago: Roslyn Dunedin
Wellington: Diamond Wellington
National champions (men):
100 yards frestyle — G.A. Tyler
220 yards frestyle — G.A. Tyler
440 yards frestyle — G.A. Tyler
New Zealand championships:
Men's singles: J Hooper
Women's singles: K Nunneley
Men's doubles: C Cox/J Collins
Women's doubles: K Nunneley/E Harman
References: Romanos, J. (2001) New Zealand Sporting Records and Lists. Auckland: Hodder Moa Beckett.
4 January: Lance Richdale, ornithologist
19 January: Clarence Skinner, politician, deputy Prime Minister (in Australia)
4 February: Kazimierz Wodzicki
13 March: Quentin Donald
25 March: Lewis Harris
4 May: Archibald McIndoe, plastic surgeon
8 May: Lancelot William McCaskill
17 May: Robert Macfarlane
3 June: James Anderson McPherson
9 June: Norman Hargrave Taylor
4 July: Rudall Hayward, filmmaker
27 July (as Nina Betts): Nina Byron, silent film actress, dancer.
10 August: Arthur Porritt
11 August: Alexander Astor
1 September: Frederick Henry McDowall
7 September: Nora Sipos
17 September: Hedwig Weitzel
22 September: Henry Ah Kew
23 September: Alwyn Warren
14 October: Eddie McLeod, cricketer
19 October: Edwin Coubray
21 October: Quentin Pope
3 November (in Durham, England): Roger Blunt, cricketer
5 November: Esther James
12 November: Stanley Graham
23 November: Keith Buttle, mayor of Auckland
27 November: Gordon Wilson
date unknown: Te Rangitahau
3 February: Elizabeth Pulman
3 March: Arthur Halcombe
12 March: James McDonald, politician
22 March: Carl Gustav Schmitt
May: Hirawanu Tapu
26 May: George Henry Frederick Ulrich
27 May: Ebenezer Hamlin, politician
28 September: Topi Patuki
4 October: William Skey
8 November: Charles Gordon O'Neill
20 or 29 December (approximately, in Rome): Thomas Broham