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Chalmers, originally Port Chalmers, 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
Otago Region 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 ...
of New Zealand, from 1866 to 1938 with a break from 1896 to 1902. It was named after the town of
Port Chalmers Port Chalmers is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The origi ...
, the main port 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 ...
and Otago.


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 The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
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 Port Chalmers, and the number of Members of Parliament was increased by 13 to 70.


History

Port Chalmers was first established in 1866 for the term of the 4th New Zealand Parliament. For the , it was renamed as Chalmers. In 1896, the electorate was abolished, but it was re-created (again as Chalmers) for the . The electorate was abolished again for the last time in 1938. Due to World War II, the 1941 census was postponed. The next census was brought forward to 1945 so that the significant changes in population since the 1936 census could be taken into consideration in a 1946 electoral redistribution prior to the scheduled 1946 general election. At the same time, the Labour government abolished the
country quota The country quota was a part of the New Zealand electoral system from 1881 until 1945, when it was abolished by the First Labour Government. Its effect was to make urbanUrban electorate were those that contained cities or boroughs of over 2000 pe ...
. The electoral redistribution changed all 76 electorates. When the draft electoral redistribution was released for consultation in early April 1946, it was proposed for the electorate to be abolished and most of its area was supposed to go to a re-created Chalmers electorate. Based on consultation feedback, the Port Chalmers Borough became part of the electorate. With such a geographic change, the proposed name of Chalmers electorate was no longer viable and the electorate name Dunedin North changed to North Dunedin instead. Thomas Dick was elected on 17 March 1866 and resigned on 15 October 1866. He successfully contested the 15 December , but resigned again on 26 April 1867.
David Forsyth Main David Forsyth Main (1831 – 27 July 1880) was a 19th-century member of parliament in Otago, New Zealand. Main was one of three candidates in the electorate in the , when he came a close second to James Benn Bradshaw. Main represented the ...
succeeded him through the .
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 ...
died in February 1887 whilst holding the electorate. The was won by James Mills. The was contested by Mills and James Green, with Mills being successful.
James Dickson James or Jim Dickson may refer to: Politicians *James Dickson (Scottish politician) (c. 1715–1771), MP for Lanark Burghs 1768–1771 *James Dickson (New South Wales politician) (1813–1863), member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly *Ja ...
represented Chalmers for four parliamentary terms from the until 1928, when he retired. Dickson was succeeded by another member of the Reform Party,
Alfred Ansell Alfred Edward Ansell (1876 – 16 February 1941) was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand. Ansell was born in 1876 in Dunedin. He was elected to the Chalmers electorate in the 1928 general election, but was defeated in 1935 ...
, who won the and s. In both elections, Ansell was challenged by Labour's Norman Hartley Campbell. Campbell had already won the nomination as the Labour candidate for the against M. Connolly, when he died in February 1935 following an operation. The Labour Party hierarchy wanted to make Connolly their candidate, but there was resentment and a new ballot was held, which was won by Archie Campbell, the brother of Norman Hartley Campbell. Archie Campbell defeated Ansell with the swing to Labour in the 1935 election, but retired in 1938. The electorate was represented by seven
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 ...
from 1866 to 1896, and a further five MPs from 1902 to 1938. At the 1937 redistribution the electorate was split between
Dunedin Central Dunedin Central was a parliamentary electorate in the city of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand from 1881 to 1890 and 1905 to 1984. Population centres The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In th ...
, and electorates.


Members of Parliament

Key


Election results


1935 election


1931 election


1928 election


1902 election


1893 election


1890 election


1878 by-election


1867 by-election


Notes


References

* * * {{Historic electorates of New Zealand , state=collapsed Historical electorates of New Zealand 1865 establishments in New Zealand 1902 establishments in New Zealand 1896 disestablishments in New Zealand 1938 disestablishments in New Zealand Politics of Otago