Christchurch mayoral election, 1876

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Christchurch mayoral election, 1876
Chch COA.JPG
20 December 18761877 →

  James Gapes, 1882c.jpg Charles Thomas Ick portrait.jpg
Candidate James Gapes Charles Thomas Ick
Party Independent Independent
Popular vote 680 515
Percentage 56.90 43.10
Mayor before election

Fred Hobbs

Elected Mayor

James Gapes

The Christchurch City mayoral election, 1876 was the first election for the Mayor of Christchurch held by public vote. The election, held on 20 December, was won by James Gapes, who beat fellow city councillor Charles Thomas Ick.

Mayor of Christchurch head of the municipal government of Christchurch

The Mayor of Christchurch is the head of the municipal government of Christchurch, New Zealand, and presides over the Christchurch City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system. The current mayor, Lianne Dalziel, was first elected in the October 2013 mayoral election and was re-elected in October 2016. The current deputy mayor is Andrew Turner.

James Gapes New Zealand politician

James Gapes was a local politician in Christchurch, New Zealand. He was Mayor of Christchurch on two occasions, and the father of a later mayor, Thomas Gapes. He was the first mayor who was elected by the voting public; previously city councillors chose one from their rank as mayor.

Charles Thomas Ick

Charles Thomas Ick was Mayor of Christchurch from December 1878 to December 1880. Born in Shropshire, he learned the trade of a mercer and draper. The Icks had five children when they emigrated to Otago in 1858. He worked in his learned trade in Dunedin for five years before becoming a farmer in Waikouaiti for seven years. In 1870, he came to Christchurch and set himself up as an auctioneer and later opened a drapery business.

Contents

Background

Initially, councillors elected one of their own as mayor towards the end of the year, and the role was usually awarded to the most senior councillor. The system changed with the introduction of The Municipal Corporations Acts Amendment Act, 1875, as that legislation stipulated that mayors had to be elected at large (i.e. by eligible voters). [1] In December 1875, when the new act first applied, the incumbent mayor, Fred Hobbs, was the only candidate nominated. The returning officer, Edward Bishop, thus declared Hobbs elected unopposed on 17 December 1875. [2] After having served two terms, it became known at the beginning of November 1876 that Hobbs would not seek election for a third term. This was regretted by one of the local newspapers, The Star , as they regarded him as having "discharged his duties with a thoroughness and zeal which will not be readily equalled by his successor." [3] In the same editorial, the two eventual candidates were named. [3] From December 1876 onwards, George Leslie Lee acted as returning officer for mayoral elections for many years. [4]

Fred Hobbs New Zealand politician

Frederick (Fred) Hobbs JP was Mayor of Christchurch, New Zealand 1874–1877 for two terms; he was the first mayor who served more than one term. He is credited with having made significant improvements to the drainage system, and thus improving health in the wider Christchurch area. Upon his lobbying, The Christchurch District Drainage Act 1875 was passed, and Hobbs became the first chairman of the Christchurch Drainage Board. The family were tailors and the location of their business premises in the north-east quadrant of Cathedral Square gave the area the name of Hobbs' corner. Fred Hobbs commissioned a new building of permanent materials for the site, which became known as Cathedral Chambers and which stood there from the mid-1880s to the 1970s. The locality changed name to Broadway corner, based on the popular café that occupied the first floor; this name is no longer in use in Christchurch.

Edward Bishop (mayor) British politician

Edward Brenchley Bishop was the fourth chairman of the Christchurch Town Council, and seven years later the sixth Mayor of Christchurch in 1872–1873. Born in Maidstone, Kent to a wealthy family, his family lived in Belgium during his childhood. He took his father's profession as a distiller and worked in London for 21 years. His sister Susannah emigrated to New Zealand in 1849 and in the following year, many Bishop siblings followed her on the Charlotte Jane, one of the First Four Ships of organised settlement of Canterbury. With his brother Frederick, he had a large farm just south of Christchurch, and the suburb of Somerfield continues to use their farm's name. The brothers were spirit merchants in the city.

The Star is a newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was published daily from 1868 to 1991. It became the Christchurch Star-Sun in June 1935 after merging with a rival newspaper, The Sun, and at the time it ceased daily publication in 1991 it was known as The Christchurch Star. It later became a free newspaper, published twice a week until 2016, then once a week since 2016.

Candidates

James Gapes

James Gapes was from Essex in England. He came to Christchurch with his wife, children, and a relative in 1859. They travelled as assisted immigrants, i.e. they were part of a supported immigration scheme and thus of humble origin. He started a glass, paint and paperhanging business in Victoria Street and was a member of many organisations. He was also known as a flutist, giving concerts together with Sir John Cracroft Wilson. [5] [6] Gapes was first voted onto Christchurch City Council as a city councillor in a February 1873 by-election. [7] [8]

Essex County of England

Essex is a county in the south-east of England, north-east of London. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and London to the south-west. The county town is Chelmsford, the only city in the county. For government statistical purposes Essex is placed in the East of England region.

Victoria Street, Christchurch

Victoria Street is a road in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It runs from the intersection of Papanui Road and Bealey Avenue in the north-west, and terminates in the south-east at the corner of Kilmore and Durham Streets. One of the two diagonal roads that break the original grid plan, it was very important in the development of Christchurch.

John Cracroft Wilson New Zealand politician

Sir John Cracroft Wilson, also known as Nabob Wilson, was a British-educated civil servant in India, farmer and politician in New Zealand.

Charles Thomas Ick

Charles Thomas Ick was an auctioneer by trade. He came from Otago to Christchurch in 1870. [9] He was first elected as a city councillor in October 1872. [10]

Otago Region of New Zealand in South Island

Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately 32,000 square kilometres (12,000 sq mi), making it the country's third largest local government region. Its population was 229,200 in June 2018.

Election

Eligible electors in Christchurch had their first opportunity to vote for a mayor on 20 December 1876. [11] [12] Gapes represented working class interests, whereas Ick represented the wealthier part of the population. [13]

Christchurch mayoral election, 1876 [14]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Independent James Gapes 680 56.90
Independent Charles Thomas Ick 515 43.10
Majority 165 13.81
Turnout 1,195

Gapes won the election, [14] and was sworn in as mayor at the next Christchurch City Council meeting on 2 January 1877. [15] Gapes was defeated at the next mayoral election in December 1877 by Henry Thomson, [16] but won another election as mayor in November 1880. [17] Ick became mayor in November 1878 when he beat Thomson. [18]

Henry Thomson (New Zealand politician) New Zealand politician

Henry Thomson JP was a 19th-century Mayor of Christchurch and Member of Parliament for the Christchurch North electorate in Canterbury, New Zealand.

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Aaron Ayers mayor of Christchurch

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Charles Louisson New Zealand politician

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Thomas Gapes New Zealand mayor

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1878 Christchurch mayoral election

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References

  1. ↑ "Municipal Corporations Acts Amendment Act 1875". University of Auckland. 21 October 1875. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  2. ↑ "Christchurch". The Press . XXIV (3214). 18 December 1875. p. 3. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  3. 1 2 "The Star". The Star (2684). 2 November 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "City Council". The Press . XXVI (3510). 5 December 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  5. ↑ Gapes, Thomas, and Co. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia Company Limited. 1903. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  6. ↑ Mr. James Gapes. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia Company Limited. 1903. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  7. ↑ "News of the Day". The Press . XXI (2365). 4 March 1873. p. 2. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "To the ratepayers of the City of Christchurch". The Press . XXI (2350). 14 February 1873. p. 4. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "Partnership Notice". The Press . XVII (2281). 15 August 1870. p. 2. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  10. ↑ "City Council Election". The Press . XX (2951). 17 October 1872. p. 3. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  11. ↑ "To the Electors of the City of Christchurch". The Star (2713). 8 December 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  12. ↑ "Christchurch City Council". The Press . XXVI (3516). 12 December 1876. p. 4. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  13. ↑ "Telegrams". Bruce Herald. IX (865). 22 December 1876. p. 5. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  14. 1 2 "Christchurch". The Star (2724). 21 December 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  15. ↑ "City Council". The Press . XXVII (3584). 3 January 1877. p. 3. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  16. ↑ "The Mayoral Election". The Press . XXVIII (3855). 29 November 1877. p. 3. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  17. ↑ "Mayoral Elections". The Star (3933). 25 November 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  18. ↑ "Mayoral Election". The Star (3321). 28 November 1878. p. 3. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
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