Inangahua is a former 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
Buller District
Buller District is one of 53 districts of New Zealand, and is within the West Coast Region. It covers Westport, Karamea, Reefton and Inangahua Junction.
Buller District's overall land area is . The district is administered by the Buller Distri ...
, which is part of the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
region of New Zealand, from 1881 to 1896. The town of
Inangahua Junction
Inangahua is a small settlement in the northwest of New Zealand's South Island. It consists of three settled areas: Inangahua Junction at the confluence of the Inangahua and Buller Rivers, north of Reefton and southeast of Westport; Inagahua L ...
, which gave the electorate its name, was located in the adjacent electorate until 1887.
Population centres
The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the
1875–1876 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, 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 ...
increased the number of European representatives to 91 (up from 84 since the 1875–76 election). The number of Māori electorates was held at four. The House further decided that electorates should not have more than one representative, which led to 35 new electorates being formed, including Inangahua, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries.
The original electorate was landlocked.
Springs Junction
Springs Junction is a small settlement and road junction in the West Coast region of New Zealand. It lies at the junction of and State Highway 65 (the Shenandoah Highway), east of Reefton, on the main route between Christchurch and the Nelson, ...
and
Reefton
Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. Ahaura is 44 km south-west of Reefton, Inangahua Junction is 34 km to the north, Maruia is 63  ...
were located in the Inangahua electorate, but the township of
Inangahua
Inangahua is a small settlement in the northwest of New Zealand's South Island. It consists of three settled areas: Inangahua Junction at the confluence of the Inangahua and Buller Rivers, north of Reefton and southeast of Westport; Inagahua Lan ...
itself was located in the adjacent electorate. In the 1887 electoral redistribution, the electorate expanded to the north and the west, gained access to the
coast
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...
, and gained the townships of Inangahua,
Owen River
The Owen River is located in the northwest of New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over ...
(a settlement during the gold rush), and
Murchison.
History
Inangahua was represented by six
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 ...
:
Thomas S. Weston
Thomas Shailer Weston (7 June 1836 – 15 October 1912), often referred to as Thomas S. Weston, was a judge and 19th-century Member of Parliament from Westland, New Zealand. Weston was the patriarch of one of two dominant Canterbury families of ...
from 1881 to 1883 (resigned),
Edward Shaw from 1883 to 1884 (retired),
Andrew Agnew Stuart Menteath from 1884 to 1887 (elected for
Te Aro
Te Aro (formerly also known as Te Aro Flat) is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It comprises the southern part of the central business district including the majority of the city's entertainment district and covers the mostly fla ...
electorate).
Richard Reeves represented the electorate from to 1893, when he was adjudged bankrupt. He was challenged in the by John Drake, a representative of Labour Unionists. The incumbent won the election by a one-vote margin (1003 votes to 1002).
Robert Stout
Sir Robert Stout (28 September 1844 – 19 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who was the 13th premier of New Zealand on two occasions in the late 19th century, and later Chief Justice of New Zealand. He was the only person to hold both ...
was briefly a member in 1893 (from 8 June to 8 November) after Reeves (a fellow
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
member) resigned when he became bankrupt. Stout successfully stood in the
City of Wellington
Wellington City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, ...
electorate in the . The last representative for Inangahua was
Patrick O'Regan from 1893 to 1896. When Inangahua was abolished in 1896, O'Regan was elected for
Buller.
Members of Parliament
Key
Election results
1893 election
1893 by-election
1890 election
1881 election
Notes
References
*
*
{{Historic electorates of New Zealand , state=collapsed
Historical electorates of New Zealand
Buller District
1881 establishments in New Zealand
1896 disestablishments in New Zealand
Politics of the West Coast, New Zealand