Skip to main content

Events on this Day – 10 May

1897

Following the passage of the Female Law Practitioners Act 1896, Ethel Benjamin became the first woman to be admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand.

1925

A gruff Ulsterman from South Auckland, William Ferguson Massey (‘Farmer Bill’) is New Zealand’s second-longest-serving prime minister.

1960

Despite protests, the controversial rugby tour went ahead. The issue of sporting ties with South Africa would eventually split the country in 1981.