Dunedin Country was a 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 The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, ...

in the rural area surrounding the city 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 ...

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 centres

The

New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. 72) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that granted self-government to the Colony of New Zealand. It was the second such Act, the previous 1846 Act not having been fully ...

, passed by the British government, allowed New Zealand to establish a representative government. The initial 24 New Zealand electorates were defined by Governor

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...

in March 1853. Dunedin Country was one of the initial two-member electorates. The electorate covered the

Otago Province The Otago Province was a province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The capital of the province was Dunedin. Southland Province split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the province again in 1870. Area a ...

in its entirety with the exclusion of Dunedin, which was represented through the Town of Dunedin electorate. The area was sparsely populated, but during its existence,

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

was laid out in 1856. The Constitution Act also allowed the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

to establish new electorates, and this was first done in 1858, when four new electorates were formed by splitting existing electorates. was one of those four electorates, and it was established by splitting the Dunedin Country electorate. In the 1860 electoral redistribution, the Dunedin Country electorate was abolished, and its area split between the Wallace, , and electorates.

History

Three people were nominated for the first election in , but only

William Cutten William Henry Cutten (10 April 1822 – 30 June 1883) was a New Zealand politician from the Otago region. Biography Cutten was born in London in 1822. He received a good education and then studied law, which earned him a job at the departme ...

and John Cargill accepted the nomination.

Edward McGlashan Edward McGlashan (12 December 1817 – 31 July 1889) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. McGlashan was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1817. His father's family were publishers to the University of Edinburgh. ...

stated that he was not available to represent the electorate. The returning officer therefore declared Cutten and Cargill elected. Cutten resigned in 1855 before the end of the term of the term of the

1st New Zealand Parliament The 1st New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 24 May 1854, following New Zealand's first general election (held the previous year). It was dissolved on 15 September 1855 in preparation for that year's ...

citing business pressure; no by-election was held. John Cargill and his father William were elected unopposed on 11 December 1855 for the 2nd New Zealand Parliament. John and William resigned in 1858 and October 1859, respectively. The first vacancy was filled by

John Parkin Taylor John Parkin Taylor (1812 – 12 August 1875) was a 19th-century New Zealand runholder, and a politician in Otago and Southland. In his early life, Taylor lived in various countries and studied languages in Germany. He worked as a merchant and ...

, who retired from parliament at the end of this term. The second vacancy was filled by

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 o ...

, who was declared elected unopposed.

Members of Parliament

The electorate was represented by five

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 ...

Election results

Only one election in the Dunedin Country electorate was contested. At the two general elections and the 1860 by-election, the candidates were declared elected unopposed.

1858 by-election

Notes

References

* * * {{Historic electorates of New Zealand , state=collapsed Historical electorates of New Zealand 1853 establishments in New Zealand 1860 disestablishments in New Zealand