Westland Boroughs

Last updated

Westland Boroughs was a parliamentary electorate in the West Coast of New Zealand from 1866 to 1870.

Contents

Population centres

Westland Boroughs was made up of the areas covered by the boroughs of Greymouth and Hokitika. The enabling legislation allowed for further boroughs to be added as needed, but this did not happen. [1]

History

The Westland Representation Act 1867 introduced changes to the Waimea and Westland electorates. Their areas were reassigned and four electorates formed. Waimea lost some area, but continued to exist as a landlocked electorate. Westland was abolished in 1867. A new electorate (Westland Boroughs) was established, and the Act stipulated that the sitting member (William Sefton Moorhouse) was transferred to it. Other new electorates, for which by-elections were to be held, were Westland North and Westland South. [2] [3] [4]

Hence, Moorhouse was the first representative, and he had been elected for the Westland electorate in the 1866 general election. Moorhouse resigned on 20 February 1868, [4] and William Henry Harrison won the resulting by-election. Harrison served until the end of the term in 1870, when the electorate was abolished. [5]

Members of Parliament

Westland Boroughs was represented by two Members of Parliament:

ElectionWinner
1866 election William Sefton Moorhouse
(Westland incumbent)
1868 by-election William Henry Harrison

Election results

1868 by-election

1868 Westland Boroughs by-election [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent William Henry Harrison 98 54.7
Independent William Shaw8145.3
Majority179.5
Turnout 179

Notes

  1. McRobie 1989, p. 36.
  2. McRobie 1989, pp. 36f.
  3. "Westland Representation Act 1867 (31 Victoriae 1867 No 48)". Parliamentary Counsel Office. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  4. 1 2 Scholefield 1950, p. 127.
  5. Scholefield 1950, pp. 127, 167.
  6. "The Westland Boroughs". West Coast Times (790). 4 April 1868. p. 2. Retrieved 4 May 2013.

Related Research Articles

William Sefton Moorhouse

William Sefton Moorhouse was a British-born New Zealand politician. He was the second Superintendent of Canterbury Province.

1866 New Zealand general election New Zealand general election

The 1866 New Zealand general election was held between 12 February and 6 April to elect 70 MPs to the fourth term of the New Zealand Parliament.

1871 New Zealand general election New Zealand general election

The New Zealand general election of 1871 was held between 14 January and 23 February to elect 78 MPs across 72 electorates to the fifth session of the New Zealand Parliament. 41,527 electors were registered.

Buller is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate, from 1871 to 1972. It was represented by eleven Members of Parliament.

Grey Valley is a former parliamentary electorate in the West Coast region of New Zealand. The electorate was created for the 1871 general election as a single-member electorate, became a two-member electorate for the 1876 general election, and was split between the single-member electorates of Greymouth and Inangahua for the 1881 general election.

Caversham was a parliamentary electorate in the city of Dunedin in the Otago region of New Zealand, from 1866 to 1908.

Mount Herbert was a former parliamentary electorate in the Canterbury region of New Zealand, from 1866 to 1870.

The Gold Fields District electorate was a 19th-century parliamentary electorate in the Otago region, New Zealand. It was created in 1862, with the first elections in the following year, and it returned two members. It was one of eventually three special interest constituencies created to meet the needs of gold miners. All three of these electorates were abolished in 1870. A unique feature of the Gold Fields District was that it was superimposed over other electorates, and voting was open to those who had held a mining license for some time. As such, suffrage was more relaxed than elsewhere in New Zealand, as voting was otherwise tied to property ownership. Another feature unique to the gold mining electorates was that no electoral rolls were prepared, but voting could be done upon showing a complying miner's license.

Westland North was a parliamentary electorate on the West Coast of New Zealand from 1868 to 1870.

Westland South was a parliamentary electorate on the West Coast of New Zealand from 1868 to 1870.

Westland was a parliamentary electorate in the West Coast of New Zealand from 1866 to 1868 and 1890 to 1972. In 1972 the Tasman and West Coast electorates replaced the former Buller and Westland electorates.

Dunedin and Suburbs South was a parliamentary electorate in the city of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand from 1862 to 1866. From 1863 it was a multi-member electorate.

Roslyn was a parliamentary electorate in the city of Dunedin in the Otago region of New Zealand from 1866 to 1890.

Waimea was a parliamentary electorate in the Nelson Province of New Zealand, from 1853 to 1887. Initially represented by two members, it was a single-member electorate from 1861.

Oamaru was a parliamentary electorate in the Otago region of New Zealand, during three periods between 1866 and 1978.

The 4th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand.

William Henry Harrison was a 19th-century journalist from Greymouth who represented two Westland electorates in the New Zealand House of Representatives.

The 10th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Elections for this term were held in 4 Māori electorates and 91 European electorates on 7 and 26 September 1887, respectively. A total of 95 MPs were elected. Parliament was prorogued in October 1890. During the term of this Parliament, two Ministries were in power.

The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 authorised the General Assembly to establish new electoral districts and to alter the boundaries of, or abolish, existing districts whenever this was deemed necessary. The rapid growth of New Zealand's European population in the early years of representative government meant changes to electoral districts were implemented frequently, both at general elections, and on four occasions as supplementary elections within the lifetime of a parliament.

The Westland Boroughs by-election 1868 was a by-election held in the Westland Boroughs electorate during the 4th New Zealand Parliament, on 3 April 1868.

References