Events on this Day – 14 May

Sailing from Melbourne to London, the General Grant hit cliffs on the west coast of the main island in the subantarctic Auckland Islands. Fifteen of the 83 people on board survived the sinking, but only 10 of them were ultimately rescued 18 months later.

Around 200 people were on hand at Nelson’s Botanic Reserve to watch a game of football played under Rugby rules.

Dr Frederic Truby King helped form the Society for the Promotion of the Health of Women and Children at a meeting in Dunedin Town Hall.

The minesweeper HMS Puriri was the second victim of mines laid off the Northland coast by the German raider Orion. Five of its crew were killed.