1st New Zealand Parliament

1st Parliament of New Zealand
1st Parliament of New Zealand
2nd Parliament	→
	General Assembly House
Overview
Legislative body	New Zealand Parliament
Term	24 May 1854 – 15 September 1855
Election	1853 New Zealand general election
Government	Fitzgerald Executive (1854); Forsaith Executive (from 1854)
House of Representatives
Members	37
Speaker of the House	Sir Charles Clifford
Leader of the Executive Delegation	Thomas Forsaith from 1854 ; James FitzGerald in 1854
Legislative Council
Members	16
Speaker of the Council	Frederick Whitaker ; — William Swainson until 8 August 1855
Sovereign
Monarch	HM Victoria
Governor	HE Rt Hon. Colonel Thomas Browne from 6 September 1855

Last updated April 24, 2024

The 1st New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 24 May 1854, following New Zealand's first general election (held the previous year). It was dissolved on 15 September 1855 in preparation for that year's election. 37 Members of the House of Representatives (MHRs) represented 24 electorates.

Parliamentary sessions

The Parliament sat for three sessions:^[1]

Session	from	to
First	24 May 1854	17 Aug 1854
Second	31 Aug 1854	16 Sep 1854
Third	8 Aug 1855	15 Sep 1855

New Zealand had not yet obtained responsible government (that is, the power to manage its own affairs), and so the 1st Parliament did not hold any significant power.

The 1st Parliament was held before the creation of either political parties or the office of Premier. There were, however, appointments made to the Executive Council (the formal institution upon which Cabinet is based).^[2] From 14 June 1854 to 2 August 1854, there was a four-person cabinet, New Zealand's first ministry, led by James FitzGerald, with Henry Sewell, Frederick Weld, and Thomas Bartley (a fifth member, Dillon Bell, also joined for a short time). Then, from 31 August 1854 to 2 September 1854, there was another four-person cabinet led by Thomas Forsaith, with James Macandrew, William Travers, and Jerningham Wakefield. Some historians consider FitzGerald and Forsaith to be New Zealand's first Prime Ministers, but neither held any formal leadership role and since "responsible government" had not yet been obtained, they had little real power. Henry Sewell, appointed shortly after the 2nd New Zealand Parliament opened, is more often considered to have been the first Prime Minister.^[3]

On 17 August 1854 when the newly convened House of Representatives met, Administrator of the Government (acting Governor) Robert Wynyard was proposing to prorogue the General Assembly as he had not received authority from London. Sewell wanted to continue the debate and the suspension of standing orders was moved. The minority "Wakefieldites" (followers of Edward Gibbon Wakefield) opposed the move and tried to leave so that there would not be two-thirds of members present. This led to a violent turn when Sewell was reported to have pounced on the member for Nelson James Mackay and seized him by the throat. Suspension was moved an hour later when some members of the absent majority returned. Mackay was later found guilty of gross and premeditated contempt. There were moves to find the member from Dunedin James Macandrew guilty of contempt for entering the house with his hat on, but this was withdrawn.^[4]

The 1st Parliament consisted of thirty-seven representatives representing twenty-four electorates.^[3] Two regions of the colony (the inland regions of the lower North Island and the northwest corner of the South Island) were not part of any electorate, and so were not represented.

Electoral boundaries for the 1st Parliament

Initial composition of the 1st Parliament

Member	Electorate	Province	Election date
William Moorhouse	Akaroa	Canterbury	24 August^[5]
Thomas Bartley	Auckland City of Auckland	Auckland	11 August^[6]
Loughlin O'Brien	Auckland City of Auckland	Auckland	11 August^[7]
James O'Neill	Auckland City of Auckland	Auckland	11 August^[8]
Frederick Merriman	Suburbs of Auckland	Auckland	10 August^[9]
William Porter	Suburbs of Auckland	Auckland	10 August^[10]
Hugh Carleton	Bay of Islands	Auckland	14 July^[11]
James Stuart-Wortley	Christchurch Country	Canterbury	27 August^[12]
Jerningham Wakefield	Christchurch Country	Canterbury	27 August^[13]
Henry Sewell	Christchurch Town of Christchurch	Canterbury	20 August^[14]
John Cargill	Dunedin Country	Otago	1 October^[11]
William Cutten	Dunedin Country	Otago	1 October^[15]
James Macandrew	Dunedin Town of Dunedin	Otago	27 September^[16]
Thomas King	Grey and Bell	New Plymouth	27 August^[17]
Alfred Ludlam	Hutt	Wellington	18 August^[18]
Edward Gibbon Wakefield	Hutt	Wellington	19 August^[13]
James FitzGerald	Lyttelton Town of Lyttelton	Canterbury	17 August^[19]
Alfred Picard	Motueka and Massacre Bay	Nelson	18 August^[20]
James Mackay	Nelson Town of Nelson	Nelson	25 July^[21]
William Travers	Nelson Town of Nelson	Nelson	25 July^[22]
Francis Gledhill	New Plymouth Town of New Plymouth	New Plymouth	26 August^[23]
Thomas Forsaith	Northern Division	Auckland	23 August^[24]
Walter Lee	Northern Division	Auckland	23 August^[18]
William Crompton	Omata	New Plymouth	26 August^[15]
John Bacot	Pensioner Settlements	Auckland	13 August^[25]
Joseph Greenwood	Pensioner Settlements	Auckland	13 August^[26]
Charles Taylor	Southern Division	Auckland	23 August^[27]
John Gray	Southern Division	Auckland	23 August^[26]
William Cautley	Waimea	Nelson	16 August^[28]
David Monro	Waimea	Nelson	16 August^[5]
Samuel Revans	Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay	Wellington	12 August^[29]
Frederick Weld	Wairau	Nelson	2 August^[30]
Isaac Featherston	Wanganui and Rangitikei	Wellington	12 August^[31]
Charles Clifford	Wellington City of Wellington	Wellington	15 August^[28]
Robert Hart	Wellington City of Wellington	Wellington	15 August^[32]
James Kelham	Wellington City of Wellington	Wellington	15 August^[17]
William Rhodes	Wellington Country	Wellington	18 August^[33]

Changes during term

There were few changes during the term of the 1st Parliament, with only three by-elections being held. There were six resignations and one death during 1855, and those seats remained vacant for the remainder of the term.

By-election	Electorate	Date	Incumbent	Reason	Winner
1854	Town of Nelson	19 June	William Travers ^[22]	Resignation	Samuel Stephens ^[34]
1854	Waimea	21 June	William Cautley ^[28]	Resignation	William Travers ^[22]
1854	City of Auckland	4 August	Thomas Bartley ^[6]	Resignation	William Brown ^[35]

Christchurch Country

Stuart-Wortley resigned on 18 July 1855. His seat remained vacant.

City of Auckland

Bartley resigned on 11 July 1854. He was replaced by William Brown, who was elected on 4 August 1854.

City of Wellington

Kelham resigned on 3 August 1855. His seat remained vacant.

Dunedin Country

Cutten resigned on 23 July 1855. His seat remained vacant.

Hutt

Ludlam resigned on 9 July 1855. His seat remained vacant.

Town of Nelson & Waimea

Cautley, MP for Waimea, and Travers, MP for Town of Nelson, both resigned on 26 May 1854. Travers subsequently contested the Waimea seat that Cautley had vacated, being elected on 21 June. Travers' own Nelson seat was won by Samuel Stephens on 19 June. Stephens died on 26 June 1855. His seat remained vacant.

Wairau

Weld resigned on 13 June 1855. His seat remained vacant.

Wanganui and Rangitikei

Featherston resigned on 9 August 1855. His seat remained vacant.

Notes

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References

King, Michael (2003). The Penguin History of New Zealand (20 ed.). Auckland: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-301867-1.
Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
Wilson, David; Rankin, Carol (1998). Tales of Two Contempts. Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. ISBN 0-477-01812-2.

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[FOOTNOTEScholefield195068-1] Scholefield 1950, p. 68.

[FOOTNOTEKing2003205-2] King 2003, p. 205.

[FOOTNOTEKing2003?-3] 1 2 King 2003, p. ?.

[FOOTNOTEWilsonRankin1998?-4] Wilson & Rankin 1998, p. ?.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950127-5] 1 2 Scholefield 1950, p. 127.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield195095-6] 1 2 Scholefield 1950, p. 95.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950129-7] Scholefield 1950, p. 129.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950130-8] Scholefield 1950, p. 130.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950126-9] Scholefield 1950, p. 126.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950133-10] Scholefield 1950, p. 133.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield195099-11] 1 2 Scholefield 1950, p. 99.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950141-12] Scholefield 1950, p. 141.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950145-13] 1 2 Scholefield 1950, p. 145.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950138-14] Scholefield 1950, p. 138.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950102-15] 1 2 Scholefield 1950, p. 102.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950121-16] Scholefield 1950, p. 121.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950118-17] 1 2 Scholefield 1950, p. 118.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950120-18] 1 2 Scholefield 1950, p. 120.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950106-19] Scholefield 1950, p. 106.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950132-20] Scholefield 1950, p. 132.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950123-21] Scholefield 1950, p. 123.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950144-22] 1 2 3 Scholefield 1950, p. 144.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950108-23] Scholefield 1950, p. 108.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950107-24] Scholefield 1950, p. 107.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield195094-25] Scholefield 1950, p. 94.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950109-26] 1 2 Scholefield 1950, p. 109.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950143-27] Scholefield 1950, p. 143.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950100-28] 1 2 3 Scholefield 1950, p. 100.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950134-29] Scholefield 1950, p. 134.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950147-30] Scholefield 1950, p. 147.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950105-31] Scholefield 1950, p. 105.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950112-32] Scholefield 1950, p. 112.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950135-33] Scholefield 1950, p. 135.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1950140-34] Scholefield 1950, p. 140.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield195097-35] Scholefield 1950, p. 97.

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