1947 New Year Honours

The 1947 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth Realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1947 for the British Empire and New Zealand to celebrate the passing of 1946 and the beginning of 1947.

The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged by honour, with classes (Knight, Knight Grand Cross, etc.) and then divisions (Military, Civil, etc.) as appropriate.

British Empire

Viscount

• The Right Honourable Stanley Melbourne Bruce, CH MC LLD FRS, Chairman of the International Emergency Food Council.
• The Right Honourable William Allen, Baron Jowitt, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.

New Zealand

The 1947 New Year Honours for New Zealand were announced on 1 January 1947.

Knight Bachelor

• Charles Ernest Hercus DSO OBE MD – professor of bacteriology and preventative medicine, University of Otago, and dean of the Medical School.

Order of the Bath

Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)

Military Division

• Brigadier Keith Lindsay Stewart CBE DSO – New Zealand Staff Corps, New Zealand Military Forces.

Order of Saint Michael and Saint George

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG)

• The Honourable Humphrey Francis O'Leary – Chief Justice.

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)

• Howard Dartrey Charles Adams – parliamentary law draftsman.
• George Harry Uttley DSc. For services as rector, Southland Boys' High School, Invercargill.

Order of the British Empire

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE)

Civil Division

• James Hight CMG LittD – professor of history and political science, University of New Zealand, and formerly rector of Canterbury University College. For services to education.

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

Civil Division

• James Hardie-Neil DSO MB ChB – of Auckland, a prominent medical practitioner.
• Colonel Ronald Henry Quilliam – of New Plymouth. For public services.

Military Division

• Group Captain Malcolm Frederick Calder – Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

Civil Division

• Robert Boulter CMG – United Kingdom trade commissioner in New Zealand. For services rendered to HM Government in New Zealand during the war.
• Arthur Gordon Butchers – headmaster of the Correspondence School, Wellington.
• Miss Blanche Louise Clark. For services as matron, Wellington Public Hospital.
• Richard Francis Madden – secretary, Police Department.
• Alan Edward Mulgan – of Wellington. For services to literature, journalism and broadcasting.
• Robert Thomas George Patrick – first secretary, New Zealand legation, Moscow.
• Arthur Percy Postlewaite – president, Auckland Returned Services' Association.
• Captain Arthur Henry Prosser – Merchant Navy.
• Waimarama Puhara – of Paki Paki, Hastings, chief of the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe.
• James Ernest Strachan – principal, Rangiora High School.

Military Division

• Captain George Hamilton Dennistoun DSO – Royal Navy (Retired).
• Lieutenant-Colonel George Patrick O'Leary – New Zealand Permanent Staff, New Zealand Military Forces.
• Acting Group Captain Thomas James Denton – Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Civil Division

• Miss Jessie Alexander – a missionary in the Urewera. For social welfare work on behalf of Māori girls and boys.
• Miss Isabella Banks – district health nurse, Te Araroa.
• John Joseph Gallagher – employed in the Police Department.
• Mrs Deborah Goldsmith – of Brooklyn, Wellington. For services in connection with patriotic and social welfare movements.
• Frederick Vernon Horne – organiser of the Red Cross Transport Corps, Auckland, during the war.
• Miss Minnie Johns Jeffery – nurse inspector, Health Department.
• Miss Martha Leslie – of Parnell, Auckland. For services to the munitions industry during the war.
• George Jennings Petherick – a member of the Wellington Hospital Board.
• Miss Alice Pochetty – employed in the high commissioner's office in London.
• John McLean Robertston – mayor of Westport.
• Patrick Joseph Twomey – secretary, Leper Trust Board, Christchurch.
• Mrs Helena Elizabeth Wise – of Eastbourne. For services in connection with patriotic and social welfare movements during the war.

Military Division

• William Corbet Laventure – temporary acting boatswain, Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Major John Henry Cowdrey – New Zealand Medical Corps, New Zealand Military Forces.
• Major Harry Stevens Harbott – New Zealand Military Forces.
• Major (temporary) (Quartermaster) Arthur Barrington Kitchen – Royal Regiment of Artillery.
• Senior Commander Geraldine Vida Moyle McClure – New Zealand Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.
• Flight Lieutenant Victor Graham Baskiville-Robinson – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
• Warrant Officer John Walter Cook – Royal New Zealand Air Force.

British Empire Medal (BEM)

Military Division

• Petty Officer Harold George Josey – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Chief Petty Officer Cook (S) Francis Mervyn Thompson – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Petty Officer Telegraphist Albert Charles Arthur Tite – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Chief Wren (Second Class) Teresa Genevieve Williamson – Women's Royal New Zealand Naval Service.
• Staff-Sergeant (temporary Warrant Officer Class I) James Benjamin Bishop – Royal New Zealand Artillery, New Zealand Military Forces.
• Staff-Sergeant (temporary Warrant Officer Class I) Denis Christian Pedersen – New Zealand Permanent Staff, New Zealand Military Forces.
• Flight Sergeant Hugo Dickson – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
• Senior Sergeant Gwendoline Margaret Florence Matheson – New Zealand Women's Auxiliary Air Force.

Air Force Cross (AFC)

• Acting Squadron Leader Robert Maxwell McKay – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
• Flight Lieutenant Arthur Oliver Hewitt – Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Air Force Medal (AFM)

• Flight Sergeant Andrew Houston Campbell Aitken – Royal New Zealand Air Force.