Following the resignation of

Robert Heaton Rhodes Robert Heaton Rhodes (1815 – 1 June 1884) was a New Zealand politician, who represented the Akaroa electorate from 1871 to 1874, when he resigned. He was elected unopposed in 1871. Born in 1815 in Rotherham, in the English county of York ...

from his seat in the New Zealand parliament, William Montgomery contested the 20 April 1874 by-election against

Walter Pilliet Walter Hippolyte Pilliet JP (8 February 1840 – 7 November 1885) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in Christchurch, New Zealand. He worked initially as a surveyor and was then resident magistrate in several places. He was a newspaper edi ...

. The results were 168 and 76 votes, respectively, ''i.e.'', a margin of 92 for Montgomery. He thus entered parliament during the

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

term. In July 1874, a select committee declared Montgomery's election to be "null and void", as he had a contract for the supply of railway sleepers with the general government in breach of election rules. The select committee accepted that the breach was inadvertent. Montgomery stood for re-election in the second by-election, on 10 August 1874 and was returned unopposed.

References

Akaroa 1874 1874 elections in New Zealand Akaroa August 1874 events April 1874 events Politics of Canterbury, New Zealand {{NewZealand-election-stub