Bruce was a rural parliamentary

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district An ...

in the

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

region of New Zealand, from 1861 to 1922. For part of the 1860s with the influx to Otago of gold-miners it was a multi-member constituency with two members.

Population centres

In 1865 the Bruce electorate included

Tokomairiro Milton, formerly known as Tokomairiro or Tokomairaro, is a town of over 2,000 people, located on State Highway 1, 50 kilometres to the south of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand. It lies on the floodplain of the Tokomairaro River, one branch of whi ...

Waihola The township of Waihola lies between Dunedin and Milton, New Zealand in Otago, in New Zealand's South Island. It lies close to the southeast shore of the shallow tidal lake which shares its name. The town is located on State Highway 1, and the ...

East Taieri East Taieri is a small township, located between Mosgiel and Allanton in New Zealand's Otago region. It lies on State Highway 1 en route between the city of Dunedin and its airport at Momona. It lies close to the southeastern edge of the Taieri ...

, suburbs of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

Inch Clutha Inch Clutha is a large, flat island sitting in the delta between the Matau (northern) and Koau (southern) branches of the Clutha River, downstream from the town of Balclutha in the South Island of New Zealand. Approximately long and wide, th ...

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, Warepa and Pomahaka.

History

The Bruce electorate was formed in the 1860 electoral redistribution. It covered the rural area surrounding

that had previously been part of the

Dunedin Country Dunedin Country was a parliamentary electorate in the rural area surrounding the city of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, from 1853 to 1860. It was a two-member electorate and was represented by a total of five members of parliament. Population c ...

electorate. The Bruce electorate was a two-member constituency. The electorate was named after

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

who was

King of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...

from 1306 to 1329.

Charles Kettle Charles Henry Kettle (6 April 1821 – 3 June 1863) surveyed the city of Dunedin in New Zealand, imposing a bold design on a challenging landscape. He was aiming to create a Romantic effect and incidentally produced the world's steepest st ...

and

Thomas Gillies Thomas Bannatyne Gillies (17 January 1828 – 26 July 1889) was a 19th-century New Zealand lawyer, judge and politician. Early life He was born at Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, Scotland, on 17 January 1828. He was the eldest of nine children of ...

were the only two candidates for the newly constituted two-member electorate of Bruce. They were thus declared elected unopposed on 11 February 1861. Kettle died on 5 June 1862.

Edward Cargill Edward Bowes Cargill (9 October 1823 – 9 August 1903) was a 19th-century businessman and Member of Parliament in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. He was the Mayor of Dunedin from 1897 to 1898. Early life Cargill was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, i ...

succeeded him in the 1862 by-election.

resigned in 1865 and the subsequent by-election was contested by William John Dyer and

Arthur John Burns Arthur John Burns (22 October 1830 – 15 September 1901) was a prominent early settler of Otago, New Zealand, a member of the Otago Provincial Council, a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and founder of the Mosgiel Woollen Compa ...

. On 8 April 1865, Burns and Dyer received 102 and 78 votes. Burns was thus declared elected. Later in 1865,

resigned. The resulting by-election, held on 26 July, was contested by

James Macandrew James Macandrew (1819(?) – 25 February 1887) was a New Zealand ship-owner and politician. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1853 to 1887 and as the last Superintendent of Otago Province. Early life Macandrew was born in Scotland, prob ...

and John Cargill. Macandrew and J. Cargill received 207 and 34 votes, and Macandrew was declared elected. From the 1866 general election, Bruce was a single-member electorate. John Cargill was its first representative, and he resigned in 1870.

James Clark Brown James Clark Brown (December 1830 – 6 February 1891) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in Otago, New Zealand. He stood unsuccessfully in the for ; a contemporary report saying that his loss was due to ''his own inaction'' and al ...

won the 1870 by-election on 21 March. Brown stood for Tuapeka in the 1871 general election. William Murray won the 1871 election for Bruce, was confirmed in 1876 and 1879, but defeated in 1881 by James Rutherford, who died in 1883. James McDonald won the

1883 by-election Events January–March * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * Ja ...

, but was defeated at the 1884 general election. Robert Gillies won the 1884 general election, but resigned on 30 June 1885. Donald Reid won the resulting

1885 by-election Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 &nda ...

, but was defeated at the 1887 general election by Crawford Anderson. He retired at the end of the term, and the 1890 general election was won by James William Thomson, who resigned again in 1892. The later Defence Minister James Allen won the 1892 by-election and held the seat until 1920, when he resigned. John Edie was successful in the 1920 by-election, and when the electorate was abolished in 1922, he successfully stood for Clutha.

Members of Parliament

Bruce was represented by 16

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

. Key:

1861 to 1866

Bruce was a two-member electorate from 1861 to 1866.

1866 to 1922

From 1866 to 1922, Bruce was a single-member electorate.

Election results

1920 by-election

1919 election

1899 election

1892 by-election

1890 election

1885 by-election

1883 by-election

1871 election

July 1865 by-election

April 1865 by-election

1862 by-election

Notes

References

* * * {{Historic electorates of New Zealand , state=collapsed Historical electorates of New Zealand 1860 establishments in New Zealand 1922 disestablishments in New Zealand Politics of Otago