Wellington (originally City of Wellington), 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 in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district An ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand. It existed from 1853 to 1905 with a break in the 1880s. It was a multi-member electorate. The electorate was represented, over the years, by 24 members of parliament.

Population centres

In December 1887, 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 ...

voted to reduce its membership from general electorates from 91 to 70. The 1890 electoral redistribution used the same 1886 census data used for the 1887 electoral redistribution. In addition, three-member electorates were introduced in the four main centres. This resulted in a major restructuring of electorates, and Wellington was one of eight electorates to be re-created for the 1890 election.

History

The electorate was one of the original electorates used in the

1853 Events January–March * January 6 – Florida Governor Thomas Brown signs legislation that provides public support for the new East Florida Seminary, leading to the establishment of the University of Florida. * January 8 – Taiping Reb ...

election for 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 ...

. During the period until 1871, Wellington was a three-member electorate. In 1858,

Isaac Featherston Isaac Earl Featherston (21 March 1813 – 19 June 1876) was a New Zealand politician, and was known for his advocacy for the establishment of New Zealand self-government, and the importance of the provincial governments. Early life and family ...

and

William Fitzherbert William Fitzherbert may refer to: *Saint William of York, Archbishop of York *William Fitzherbert (New Zealand politician) (1810–1891), New Zealand politician * Sir William FitzHerbert, 1st Baronet (1748–1791), of Derbyshire *William Fitzherb ...

resigned their seats in Parliament. Featherston apparently wanted to return to England. Instead, he successfully stood for re-election within months. The other person returned in the same by-election was

William Barnard Rhodes William Barnard Rhodes (1807? – 11 February 1878), casually referred to as Barney Rhodes, was a New Zealand landowner, pastoralist, businessman and politician. He was probably born in Lincolnshire, England, but took up a career at sea at an ...

. The election for the 3rd Parliament was held on 11 December 1860, with the announcement of the official results on 15 December.

Members of Parliament

Key

Three-member electorate (1853–1871)

Two-member electorate (1871–1881)

Three-member electorate (1890–1905)

From 1881 to 1890, the Wellington electorate was replaced by three separate electorates: and during the whole nine years, and (until 1887) then (1887–1890) In 1905 the Wellington electorate was again replaced by three electorates: , , and . In the , all three Wellington incumbents stood in the new electorates, with Fisher and Aitken winning in Central and East respectively, while Duthie lost to Charles Izard in Wellington North – ending his parliamentary career.

Election results

1905 by-election

1902 election

¹ Majority is difference between lowest winning poll (Fisher: 6,685) and highest losing poll (O'Regan: 6,304)

1899 election

¹ Majority is difference between lowest winning poll (Fisher: 6,442) and highest losing poll (Macdonald: 6,320)

1899 by-election

1898 by-election

1896 election

¹ Majority is difference between lowest winning poll (Fisher: 5,858) and highest losing poll (Atkinson: 5,830) ² Turnout is total number of voters – as voters had three votes each total votes cast was higher (37,618)

1893 election

1893 was the first election in which women could vote (the electoral act giving women the vote was passed ten weeks prior to the election).Electoral Act, 1893
/ref> Electoral returns quantified female enrolment and turnout, and showed women's turnout was higher than men's while women's enrolment was lower. ¹ Majority is difference between lowest winning poll (Duthie – 4,840) and highest losing poll (Mcdonald – 3,863) ² Turnout is total number of voters – as voters had three votes each total votes cast was higher (36,102 valid, and 147 invalid votes)

1892 by-election

1890 election

1878 by-election

1877 by-election

1858 by-election

1855 election

;Table footnotes

Notes

References

* * {{Historic electorates of New Zealand , state=collapsed Historical electorates of New Zealand Politics of the Wellington Region 1853 establishments in New Zealand 1905 disestablishments in New Zealand 1890 establishments in New Zealand 1881 disestablishments in New Zealand