1961 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)

Knight Bachelor

• James Lawrence Hay – chairman and managing director of Hay's Limited, Christchurch. For civic and charitable services.
• Roy Hunter Stevenson – managing director of the Dunedin Engineering & Steel Company. For public and philanthropic services.

  Order of Saint Michael and Saint George

Companion (CMG)

• Frederick Horowhenua Melrose Hanson – Commissioner of Works.
• Brian Edwin Keiller – chairman of the Wellington Harbour Board.

  Order of the British Empire

Knight Commander (KBE)

• Alfred Hayward – formerly deputy chairman of the Dairy Board.

  Commander (CBE)

• George Bartrum Baker – of Timaru. For services to the farming community.
• George Philip Proctor – president of the New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation.
• Frank Felix Reid – chairman of the Town and Country Planning Board.
• William Arthur Whitlock – of Havelock North. For services to journalism.

• Brigadier Walter Sneddon McKinnon – New Zealand Army.

  Officer (OBE)

• James Douglas Aitchison – of Palmerston North. For services to local government.
• Malcolm Scott Galloway – of Wellington. For services to the New Zealand Red Cross Society.
• John Houston – of Hawera. For services to the community in Taranaki.
• Pei Te Hurinui Jones – of Taumarunui. For services to the Māori people.
• Captain Walter Geoffrey Kelsey – harbourmaster at Auckland.
• Morten Rennerberg Lawson – of Mangamaire. For services to local government.
• Ronald Wright McCredie – of Balclutha. For services to the community.
• Alexander Gibb Monahan – of Motueka. For services to local government and the community.
• Horace McDonald Scott – of Auckland. For services to education.
• John Turnbull – formerly general secretary of the New Zealand Public Service Association.
• Denys William Wanklyn Williams – of Tokomaru Bay. For services to local government.
• Pearce Melvin Eddy Williams – mayor of Kaikohe, and chairman of the Northland Hospital Board.

• Commander Cyril Howard Hilliard – Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve.
• Lieutenant-Colonel Leo Adolphus Kermode – New Zealand Regiment.
• Wing Commander Lawrence Hugh Edwards – Royal New Zealand Air Force.

  Member (MBE)

• Margaret Mariner Bain – of Christchurch. For social-welfare services.
• Lucy Elizabeth Cook – of Marton. For services rendered under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children.
• Helen May Downer – of Rotorua. For services to the kindergarten movement.
• Edwin Edwards – of Paeroa. For services in the fields of social welfare and local government.
• Henry Charles Goffin – of Wellington; brigadier, Salvation Army.
• John James Halcrow. For services in the New Zealand Police.
• Herbert Gladstone Hill – of Wellington. For services in the fields of social welfare and music.
• Basil Hundleby – in recognition of his services as engineer to the Marlborough County Council.
• Charles William Sherlock Keinan – mayor of Milton, since 1944.
• Christian Lassen – of Hastings. For services to local government.
• The Reverend Pakake Heketoro Leonard – of Rotorua. For services to the Māori people.
• John William Macleod – of Loburn. For services to local government and the Returned Services' Association.
• Harry Archibald Mildon – honorary treasurer of the Auckland Returned Services' Association.
• Stanley John Snow – deputy mayor of Whangarei.
• Norman McLeod Speer – of Auckland. For services to the electrical industry.
• Constance Egmont Tulloch – of Putaruru. For social-welfare services.
• Norman Webley – of Dannevirke. For services to local government.
• Kathleen Gertrude Hurd-Wood – of Hamilton. For services to the League of Hard of Hearing in New Zealand.

• Lieutenant-Commander Douglas Gerald Bamfield – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Captain John James Ayton – Corps of Royal New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
• Warrant Officer Second Class Cecil Balfour Fowler – Royal New Zealand Infantry Corps.
• Major Robert Ewen Johnston – New Zealand Regiment.
• Major Robert James Moor – Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery.
• Squadron Leader Lancelot James McLean – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
• Flight Officer Ernestine Graham Hume – Women's Royal New Zealand Air Force.

  Companion of the Imperial Service Order (ISO)

• John Francis Filmer – formerly director, Animal Research Division, Department of Agriculture.
• Raymond Edward Kemp – private secretary to the Postmaster-General.

  British Empire Medal (BEM)

• Joseph Sheehan – detective, New Zealand Police Force. For courage and devotion to duty when effecting the arrest of a criminal armed with a rifle.
• Kenneth Miles Jones – constable, New Zealand Police Force. For arresting a mentally unstable person armed with a knife.

• Chief Petty Officer Edward Charles Frederick Barnes – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Chief Petty Officer Henry Cyril Melville Brock – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Chief Petty Officer William Montgomery Cedric Gibbs – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Chief Petty Officer Writer Reginald Owen Smyth – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Warrant Officer Second Class Raymond Alfred Arthur Burnett – Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers.
• Warrant Officer Second Class Healy Preston – Royal New Zealand Army Service Corps.
• Sergeant John Charles Hart – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
• Corporal Francis Murphy – Royal New Zealand Air Force.

  Bar to Air Force Cross

• Wing Commander Geoffrey Reid Burton Highet – Royal New Zealand Air Force.

  Air Force Cross (AFC)

• Flying Officer Brian Gordon Anderson – Royal New Zealand Air Force.

  Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air

• Flight Lieutenant Mervyn Ryburn Breed – New Zealand Air Force.
• Flight Lieutenant Winston Ross Swap Royal New Zealand Air Force.