← 1869 1868 1867 1870 in New Zealand → 1871 1872 1873
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 1870 in New Zealand.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Queen Victoria
• Governor – Sir George Ferguson Bowen

Government and law

The 4th New Zealand Parliament continues.

• Speaker of the House – Sir David Monro stands down at the end of the year. He will be replaced after the 1871 election by Sir Francis Dillon Bell
• Premier – William Fox
• Minister of Finance – Julius Vogel
• Chief Justice – Hon Sir George Arney

Voting in New Zealand elections is changed to a secret ballot.^[1]

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Christchurch – John Anderson followed by Andrew Duncan
• Mayor of Dunedin – Thomas Birch followed by Henry Fish
• Mayor of Wellington – Joseph Dransfield

Events

• 27 August – 3 September: Second visit by Prince Alfred, returning briefly to Wellington before departing for Sydney.^{[citation needed]}
• Torrens system of registered land titles adopted.^{[citation needed]}

Sport

Archery

• The first club meets at One Tree Hill, Auckland.^[2]

Golf

• New Zealand's first golf course was opened in Dunedin.^[3]

Horse racing

There are 2 races for both the New Zealand Cup and New Zealand Derby (presumably at the beginning and end of the calendar year).^{(Confirmation required)}

Major race winners

• New Zealand Cup: Knottingley
• New Zealand Cup: Knottingley
• New Zealand Derby: Malabar
• New Zealand Derby: Envy

Rugby union

Charles Monro, son of the Speaker of the House, Sir David Monro, introduces rugby to the Nelson Football club.^[2]

• 14 May – First rugby club match, Nelson College versus Nelson Football Club "The Town" at the Botanical reserve. This was the first interclub game of rugby union played in New Zealand.^[4]
• 12 September – A Nelson team, the "Lunatics", defeats Wellington at Petone.^[2]
• – The first "international" between Wellington and a team from HMS Rosario.^[2]

Shooting

Ballinger Belt: Lieutenant Goldie (Otago)^{[citation needed]}

Births

• February (no date): Arthur Withy, journalist and politician.
• 14 April: James Cowan, writer.
• 20 October: C. F. Goldie, painter.

Deaths

• 5 July: Henry Powning Stark, politician and sharebroker.^{[citation needed]}
• 16 July: Elizabeth Guard, of pioneering whaling family.^{[citation needed]}
• 27 November (in England): James Stuart-Wortley, politician^{[citation needed]}
• 30 November: Francis Jollie, politician^{[citation needed]}