The following lists events that happened during 1904 in New Zealand. Incumbents Regal and viceregal Head of State – Edward VII Governor – The Earl of Ranfurly GCMG, succeeded the same year by The Lord Plunket GCMG KCVO Government The 15th New Zealand Parliament continued. In government was the Liberal Party. Speaker of the House – Arthur Guinness (Liberal) Prime Minister – Richard Seddon Minister of Finance – Richard Seddon Chief Justice – Sir Robert Stout Parliamentary opposition Leader of the Opposition – William Massey, (Independent). Main centre leaders Mayor of Auckland – Edwin Mitchelson Mayor of Wellington – John Aitken then Thomas Hislop Mayor of Christchurch – Henry Wigram then Charles Gray Mayor of Dunedin – Thomas Scott, then Thomas Christie Events 13 January: Portobello Marine Laboratory opens, initially as a fish hatchery 17 March: The New Zealand Horticultural Trades Association is founded in Normanby. September: The Canterbury Steam Shipping Co is founded in Christchurch. 15 November: The Waikato Independent begins publishing in Cambridge. The newspaper became the Cambridge Independent in 1966. It closed in 1995. Arts and literature See 1904 in art, 1904 in literature, :Category:1904 books Music See: 1904 in music Sport Association football A New South Wales representative team tours, playing a New Zealand team in Dunedin and Wellington. These are the first recognised matches by a New Zealand national football team. 23 July, Dunedin: NZ loses 0–1 30 July, Wellington: Draw 3–3 Boxing National amateur champions Heavyweight – J. Griffin (Greymouth) Middleweight – J. Griffin (Greymouth) Lightweight – T. Rickards (Christchurch) Featherweight – J. Watson (Christchurch) Bantamweight – J. Gosling (Wellington) Chess The 17th National Chess championship was held in Wellington. The champion was W.E. Mason of Wellington. Golf The 12th National Amateur Championships were held in Otago Men: A.H. Fisher (Otago) Women: Miss E. Lewis Horse racing Harness racing The inaugural running of the New Zealand Trotting Cup is won by Monte Carlo Auckland Trotting Cup: Rebel Boy Rugby union Wellington defeat Auckland 6-3, becoming the first challenger to win the Ranfurly Shield. Wellington defend the Ranfurly shield against Canterbury (6–3) and Otago (15–13). Soccer Provincial league champions: Auckland: Auckland Corinthians Otago: Northern Southland: Nightcaps Taranaki: New Plymouth Wellington: Diamond Wellington Births 2 February: A. R. D. Fairburn, poet. 7 February:Morton Coutts – invented the continuous fermentation method of brewing beer. 11 February: Keith Holyoake, politician and 26th Prime Minister. 12 March: Ken James,