Christchurch was a parliamentary electorate in Christchurch, New Zealand. It existed three times. Originally it was the Town of Christchurch from 1853 to 1860. From the 1860–61 election to the 1871 election, it existed as City of Christchurch. It then existed from the 1875–76 election until the 1881 election. The last period was from the 1890 election to the 1905 election. Since the 1946 election, a similarly named electorate called Christchurch Central has been in existence.
The historic electorate was represented by 21 Members of Parliament. For some of the time, it was represented by one member at a time. During other periods, it was one of the few three-member electorates in New Zealand.[1]
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From 1853 to 1871, the electorate was represented by one member at a time. Prior to the 1860-61 election, it was known as Town of Christchurch:[1]
| Election | Winner | |
| 1853 election | Henry Sewell | |
| 1855 election | ||
| 1856 by-election[2] | Richard Packer | |
| 1860 by-election[3][4] | Henry Sewell | |
| 1860-61 election | John Cracroft Wilson | |
| 1866 election | James FitzGerald | |
| 1867 by-election | William Travers | |
| 1870 by-election | William Sefton Moorhouse | |
The electorate was recreated for the 1875–76 election and existed for two terms until the 1881 election as a three-member electorate.
George Grey was elected in both the Thames and the City of Christchurch electorates in September 1879.[5] Grey came first in the three-member Christchurch electorate (Samuel Paull Andrews and Edward Stevens came second with equal numbers of votes, and only 23 votes ahead of Edward Richardson).[6] Richardson petitioned against Grey's return on technical grounds, as Grey had already been elected in the Thames electorate.[7][8] The electoral commission unseated Grey on 24 October,[9] with Richardson offered to fill this vacancy a few days later. Grey kept the Thames seat and remained a member of parliament through that constituency.[10]
| Election | Winners | |||||
| 1875-76 election[11][12] | William Sefton Moorhouse | Edward Richardson | Edward Cephas John Stevens | |||
| 1879 election[6][13] | Samuel Paull Andrews | |||||
From 1890 until the 1905 election, it was a three-member electorate again.[1] The 1896 by-election was caused by the appointment of William Pember Reeves as Agent-General.[14]
| Election | Winners | |||||
| 1890 election[14][15] | Westby Brook Perceval | William Pember Reeves | Richard Molesworth Taylor | |||
| 1891 by-election | Ebenezer Sandford[16] | |||||
| 1893 election[14] | George John Smith | William Whitehouse Collins | ||||
| 1896 by-election[14] | Charles Lewis | |||||
| 1896 election[17] | Tommy Taylor | |||||
| 1899 election | Harry Ell | William Whitehouse Collins (2nd period) | ||||
| 1901 by-election | George John Smith (2nd period) | |||||
| 1902 election | Thomas Henry Davey | Tommy Taylor (2nd period) | ||||