New Zealand general election, 1881
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The New Zealand general election of 1881 was held on 8 and 9 December in the Māori and European electorates, respectively, to elect 95 MPs to the 8th session of the New Zealand Parliament.
1881 was the first time a general election was held under universal male suffrage; all MPs were elected in single-member electorates; and the country quota was introduced, allowing rural electorates to have 25% fewer voters than urban electorates. Beginning with the 1881 election, all elections in European electorates were to be held on the same day, a measure not introduced for Māori electorates until 1951.[1]
1881 electoral redistribution
The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–76 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of European representatives to 91 (up from 84 since the 1875–76 election). The number of Māori electorates was held at four. The House further decided that electorates should not have more than one representative, which led to 35 new electorates being formed: Ashburton, Auckland North, Awarua, Christchurch North, Christchurch South, Coromandel, Dunedin Central, Dunedin East, Dunedin South, Dunedin West, Foxton, Franklin North, Franklin South, Hawke's Bay, Hokonui, Inangahua, Kumara, Lincoln, Manukau, Moeraki, Peninsula, St Albans, Stanmore, Sydenham, Taranaki, Tauranga, Te Aro, Thorndon, Waimate, Waipawa, Wairarapa North, Wairarapa South, Waitotara, Wakanui, and Wellington South. In addition, two electorates that had previously been abolished were recreated: Bay of Islands and Oamaru.[2]
These changes necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries. Only six electorates remained unchanged: Waikato, Waipa, Bruce, Lyttelton, Nelson, and Picton.[2]
The electoral distribution was the first that formally acknowledged the existence of a country quota, where country electorates contained 25% fewer voters than town electorates.[3]
The election
The 1881 election was held on Thursday, 8 December, in the Māori electorates and on Friday, 9 December, in the European electorates to elect a total of 95 MPs to the 8th Parliament. A total number of 120,972 (66.5%) voters turned out to vote.[4] In 11 seats there was only one candidate.[5] 36 and 55 seats were in the North Island and South Island, respectively, plus the 4 Māori electorates.[6]
Results
The following table shows the successful candidate for each electorate.[7]
Member | Electorate | MP's term |
---|---|---|
Montgomery, WilliamWilliam Montgomery | Akaroa | Fourth |
Wright, Edward GeorgeEdward George Wright | Ashburton | Second |
Pearson, William FisherWilliam Fisher Pearson | Ashley | First |
Grey, GeorgeGeorge Grey | Auckland East | Fourth |
Peacock, ThomasThomas Peacock | Auckland North | First |
Dargaville, JosephJoseph Dargaville | Auckland West | First |
Rolleston, WilliamWilliam Rolleston | Avon | Fifth |
Joyce, James ParkerJames Parker Joyce | Awarua | Second |
Hobbs, RichardRichard Hobbs | Bay of Islands | Second |
Rutherford, JamesJames Rutherford | Bruce | First |
Munro, JohnJohn Munro | Buller | First |
Barron, WilliamWilliam Barron | Caversham | Second |
McIlraith, HughHugh McIlraith | Cheviot | First |
Thomson, HenryHenry Thomson | Christchurch North | First |
Holmes, JohnJohn Holmes | Christchurch South | First |
Thomson, James WilliamJames William Thomson | Clutha | Fourth |
McMillan, DavidDavid McMillan | Coleridge | First |
Cadman, AlfredAlfred Cadman | Coromandel | First |
Bracken, ThomasThomas Bracken | Dunedin Central | First |
Green, MatthewMatthew Green | Dunedin East | First |
Fish, HenryHenry Fish | Dunedin South | First |
Dick, ThomasThomas Dick | Dunedin West | Fourth |
Pyke, VincentVincent Pyke | Dunstan | Fourth |
McDonald, AllanAllan McDonald | East Coast | Second |
Tole, JosephJoseph Tole | Eden | Third |
Atkinson, HarryHarry Atkinson | Egmont | Sixth |
Wilson, JamesJames Wilson | Foxton | First |
Harris, BenjaminBenjamin Harris | Franklin North | Second |
Hamlin, EbenezerEbenezer Hamlin | Franklin South | Third |
Postlethwaite, WilliamWilliam Postlethwaite | Geraldine | First |
Sutter, JamesJames Sutter | Gladstone | First |
Petrie, JosephJoseph Petrie | Greymouth | First |
Sutton, FredFred Sutton | Hawkes Bay | Third |
Wynn-Williams, HenryHenry Wynn-Williams | Heathcote | First |
Fitzgerald, Gerard GeorgeGerard George Fitzgerald | Hokitika | First |
Driver, HenryHenry Driver | Hokonui | Fifth |
Mason, ThomasThomas Mason | Hutt | Second |
Weston, Thomas S.Thomas S. Weston | Inangahua | Second |
Feldwick, HenryHenry Feldwick | Invercargill | Second |
Wilson, IsaacIsaac Wilson | Kaiapoi | First |
Seddon, RichardRichard Seddon | Kumara | Second |
O'Callaghan, ArthurArthur O'Callaghan | Lincoln | First |
Allwright, HarryHarry Allwright | Lyttelton | Second |
Johnston, Walter WoodsWalter Woods Johnston | Manawatu | Fourth |
O'Rorke, MauriceMaurice O'Rorke | Manukau | Sixth |
Mitchelson, EdwinEdwin Mitchelson | Marsden | First |
Mackenzie, Francis WallaceFrancis Wallace Mackenzie | Mataura | First |
McKenzie, JohnJohn McKenzie | Moeraki | First |
Hursthouse, RichmondRichmond Hursthouse | Motueka | Third |
de Lautour, CecilCecil de Lautour | Mount Ida | Third |
Buchanan, JohnJohn Buchanan | Napier | First |
Levestam, HenryHenry Levestam | Nelson | Second |
Kelly, ThomasThomas Kelly | New Plymouth | Fifth |
Swanson, WilliamWilliam Swanson | Newton | Fourth |
Shrimski, SamuelSamuel Shrimski | Oamaru | Third |
Moss, FrederickFrederick Moss | Parnell | Third |
Seaton, JamesJames Seaton | Peninsula | Second |
Connoly, EdwardEdward Connoly | Picton | First |
Macandrew, JamesJames Macandrew | Port Chalmers | Eighth |
Stevens, JohnJohn Stevens | Rangitikei | First |
Thorne George, SeymourSeymour Thorne George | Rodney | Third |
Bathgate, JohnJohn Bathgate | Roslyn | Second |
Hall, JohnJohn Hall | Selwyn | Fifth |
Brown, John EvansJohn Evans Brown | St Albans | Third |
Pilliet, WalterWalter Pilliet | Stanmore | First |
White, WilliamWilliam White | Sydenham | First |
Fulton, JamesJames Fulton | Taieri | Second |
Trimble, RobertRobert Trimble | Taranaki | Second |
Morris, GeorgeGeorge Morris | Tauranga | Second |
Johnston, Charles JohnCharles John Johnston | Te Aro | First |
Sheehan, JohnJohn Sheehan | Thames | Fourth |
Levin, WilliamWilliam Levin | Thorndon | Second |
Turnbull, RichardRichard Turnbull | Timaru | Third |
Brown, James ClarkJames Clark Brown | Tuapeka | Fifth |
Whyte, John BlairJohn Blair Whyte | Waikato | Second |
Green, JamesJames Green | Waikouaiti | Second |
Steward, WilliamWilliam Steward | Waimate | Second |
Shephard, JosephJoseph Shephard | Waimea | Third |
Whitaker, Frederick AlexanderFrederick Alexander Whitaker | Waipa | Second |
Smith, William CowperWilliam Cowper Smith | Waipawa | First |
Beetham, GeorgeGeorge Beetham | Wairarapa North | Third |
Buchanan, Walter ClarkeWalter Clarke Buchanan | Wairarapa South | First |
Dodson, HenryHenry Dodson | Wairau | First |
Duncan, Thomas YoungThomas Young Duncan | Waitaki | First |
Hurst, William JohnWilliam John Hurst | Waitemata | Second |
Bryce, JohnJohn Bryce | Waitotara | Fifth |
Wason, CathcartCathcart Wason | Wakanui | Second |
Fergus, ThomasThomas Fergus | Wakatipu | First |
Daniel, TheophilusTheophilus Daniel | Wallace | First |
Watt, William HoggWilliam Hogg Watt | Wanganui | Second |
Hutchison, WilliamWilliam Hutchison | Wellington South | Second |
Tomoana, HenareHenare Tomoana | Eastern Maori | Third |
Tawhai, HoneHone Tawhai | Northern Maori | Second |
Taiaroa, Hori KereiHori Kerei Taiaroa | Southern Maori | Fourth |
Wheoro, Wiremu TeWiremu Te Wheoro | Western Maori | Second |
Notes
- ↑ "The Origins of the Māori Seats". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
- 1 2 McRobie 1989, pp. 43–48.
- ↑ McRobie 1989, p. 47.
- ↑ "General elections 1853-2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
- ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 286.
- ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 173.
- ↑ Cooper 1882, pp. 1–3.
References
- Cooper, G. S. (1882). Votes Recorded for Each Candidate. Government Printer. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
- Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
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