Christchurch (New Zealand electorate)

This article is about the former Christchurch (New Zealand) electorate. For other uses, see Christchurch (disambiguation).

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.

Population centres

In December 1887, the House of Representatives voted to reduce its membership from general electorates from 91 to 70. The 1890 electoral redistribution used the same 1886 census data used for the 1887 electoral redistribution. In addition, three-member electorates were introduced in the four main centres. This resulted in a major restructuring of electorates, and Christchurch was one of eight electorates to be re-created for the 1890 election.

History

The nomination meeting for the first election was held on 16 August 1853 at the Christchurch Land Office, together with the nomination meeting for the Christchurch Country electorate. The first election was held on Saturday, 20 August between 9 am and 4 pm at the Resident Magistrate's Office in Christchurch, with Charles Simeon acting as the returning officer.

At the nomination meeting on 31 January 1861, John Cracroft Wilson was proposed by William Wilson and seconded by William Thomson. Cracroft Wilson was declared elected unopposed.

1853 to 1871

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:

Election	Winner
1853 election		Henry Sewell
1855 election
1856 by-election		Richard Packer
1860 by-election		Henry Sewell
1861 election		John Cracroft Wilson
1866 election		James FitzGerald
1867 by-election		William Travers
1870 by-election		William Sefton Moorhouse

1875 to 1881

The electorate was recreated for the 1875 election and existed for two terms until the 1881 election as a three-member electorate.

The nomination meeting for the 1875 election was held on 16 December. The former member of the Legislative Council, George Leslie Lee, was the returning officer. Edward Richardson, who had previously represented Christchurch West, was nominated by Louis Edward Nathan and seconded by Edward Bishop. Edward Cephas John Stevens, who had previously represented Selwyn, was nominated John Inglis and seconded by William Derisley Wood. Samuel Paull Andrews was nominated by Henry Wynn-Williams and seconded by Daniel Reese. William Sefton Moorhouse was nominated by Fred Hobbs and seconded by William Wilson. Jerningham Wakefield put his own name forward, and he was seconded by J. W. Treadwell. The latter was in turn proposed by J. R. Johnson and seconded by J. S. Buxton. The election was held on 21 December, and Stevens, Richardson, and Moorhouse were returned with 1059, 992, and 662 votes, respectively. Andrews, Wakefield, and Treadwell received 532, 241, and 22 votes, respectively.

George Grey was elected in both the Thames and the City of Christchurch electorates in September 1879. 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). Richardson petitioned against Grey's return on technical grounds, as Grey had already been elected in the Thames electorate. The electoral commission unseated Grey on 24 October, 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.

Election	Winners
1875 election		William Sefton Moorhouse		Edward Richardson		Edward Cephas John Stevens
1879 election		Samuel Paull Andrews

1890 to 1905

From 1890 until the 1905 election, it was a three-member electorate again. Six candidates stood for election in 1890: William Pember Reeves (2784 votes), Westby Perceval (2721 votes), Richard Molesworth Taylor (2614 votes), John Tippett Smith (1811 votes), Edward Wingfield Humphreys (1666 votes) and Eden George (119 votes). Reeves, Perceval and Taylor were thus elected.

The 1896 by-election was caused by the appointment of William Pember Reeves as Agent-General.

Election	Winners
1890 election		Westby Perceval		William Pember Reeves		Richard Molesworth Taylor
1891 by-election		Ebenezer Sandford
1893 election		George John Smith				William Whitehouse Collins
1896 by-election				Charles Lewis
1896 election						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)
(Electorate abolished 1905)

Election results

1899 election

General election, 1899: Christchurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Whitehouse Collins	7,688	53.56	+16.13
	Opposition	Charles Lewis	6,346	44.21	-2.11
	Independent	Harry Ell	6,149	42.84	+9.67
	Independent	Tommy Taylor	5,928	41.30	+2.91
	Independent	George John Smith	5,413	37.71	-4.17
	Liberal	Charles Taylor	5,212	36.31
	Opposition	Michael Donnelly	4,427	30.84	+4.69
	Opposition	James Greig	1,899	13.23
Majority			221	1.54	+1.22
Turnout			14,354	69.18	-9.65
Registered electors			20,750

Table footnotes:

1896 election

General election, 1896: Christchurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Opposition	Charles Lewis	6,570	46.32
	Independent	George John Smith	5,940	41.88
	Independent	Tommy Taylor	5,445	38.39
	Liberal	William Whitehouse Collins	5,309	37.43
	Independent	Harry Ell	4,705	33.17
	Opposition	Harry Joseph Beswick	3,874	27.31
	Opposition	Michael Donnelly	3,709	26.15
	Liberal	William Cullen	3,365	23.72
	Liberal	James Marciel	2,982	21.02
	Liberal	Richard Molesworth Taylor	555	3.91
	Independent	James Timothy Partridge	97	0.68
Majority			136	0.32
Informal votes			350	2.41
Registered electors			18,439
Turnout			14,534	78.82

Table footnotes:

1860 by-election

Town of Christchurch by-election, 1860

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Henry Sewell	77	70.0
	Independent	Michael Hart	33	30.0
Majority			44	40.0
Turnout			110	68.8

1853 election

General election, 1853: Town of Christchurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Henry Sewell	61	64.21
	Independent	Charles B. Fooks	34	35.79
Majority			27	28.42
Turnout			95	73.64
Registered electors			129