Mataura 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 Southland Region of New Zealand, from 1866 to 1946.

Population centres

In the 1865 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 ...

focussed its review of electorates to South Island electorates only, as the Central

Otago Gold Rush The Otago Gold Rush (often called the Central Otago Gold Rush) was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand. This was the country's biggest gold strike, and led to a rapid influx of foreign miners to the area – ...

had caused significant population growth, and a redistribution of the existing population. Fifteen additional South Island electorates were created, including Mataura, and the number of Members of Parliament was increased by 13 to 70. Mataura was located in the rural Southland Region. It covered the area around

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 ...

(which had its own urban electorate) and settlements included

Bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New ...

, Winton,

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...

Mataura Mataura is a town in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand. Mataura has a meat processing plant, and until 2000 it was the site of a large pulp and paper mill. Geography Mataura is situated on and the Main South Line rail ...

, and Edendale.

History

Mataura was first established for the 1866 general election. The first representative was

Dillon Bell Sir Francis Dillon Bell (8 October 1822 – 15 July 1898) was a New Zealand politician of the late 19th century. He served as New Zealand's third Minister of Finance (the first parliamentary finance minister), and later as its third Speaker of ...

from 1866 until when he retired from politics at the dissolution of parliament in December 1875. Bell was succeeded by

William Wood William Wood may refer to: Politicians * William Wood (MP for Berkshire), Member of Parliament (MP) for Berkshire, 1395 * William Wood (15th century MP), MP for Winchester, 1413 * William Wood, 1st Baron Hatherley (1801–1881), British state ...

, who won the 1876 election. Wood resigned at the end of 1878, as he had been appointed to the Legislative Council. Woods resignation caused the , which was won by

James Shanks James Stewart Shanks (1835–1911) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from the Otago region, New Zealand. He represented the Mataura Mataura is a town in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand. Mataura has a m ...

; he retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1881. Shanks was succeeded by Francis Wallace Mackenzie, who won the , but who was defeated in 1884 by George Richardson. In the , Richardson was defeated by

Robert McNab Robert McNab (1 October 1864 – 3 February 1917) was a New Zealand lawyer, farmer, historian, and politician of the Liberal Party. He was Minister of Justice for the 18 months before his death. Early life McNab was born in 1864 at Dunragget far ...

of the

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 ...

, but Richardson in turn defeated McNab in the . In 1898, Richardson was declared bankrupt, and the resulting was won by McNab, who served until he was defeated again in the .

Members of Parliament

The electorate was represented by nine

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

Election results

1931 election

1928 election

1919 election

1899 election

1898 by-election

1890 election

1871 election

Notes

References

* * * {{Historic electorates of New Zealand , state=collapsed Historical electorates of New Zealand Politics of Southland, New Zealand 1865 establishments in New Zealand 1946 disestablishments in New Zealand Mataura