8th New Zealand Parliament

The 8th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament.

8th Parliament of New Zealand
7th Parliament 9th Parliament
Overview
Legislative bodyNew Zealand Parliament
Term18 May 1882 – 24 June 1884
Election1881 New Zealand general election
GovernmentHall ministry (until 1882)
Whitaker ministry (1882 - 1883)
Third Atkinson ministry (from 1883)
House of Representatives
Members95
Speaker of the HouseMaurice O'Rorke
PremierHarry Atkinson
— from 25 September 1883

John Hall
— until 21 April 1882
Legislative Council
Members47 (at start)
49 (at end)
Speaker of the CouncilWilliam Fitzherbert
PremierFrederick Whitaker
— 21 April 1882 – 25 September 1883
Sovereign
MonarchHM Victoria
GovernorHE Lt. Gen. Sir William Jervois from 20 January 1883
— HE Rt. Hon. Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon until 24 June 1882

Elections for this term were held in 4 Māori electorates and 91 general electorates on 8 and 9 December 1881, respectively. A total of 95 MPs were elected, i.e. multi-member electorates were no longer used. Parliament was prorogued in June 1884. During the term of this Parliament, three Ministries were in power.

Sessions

The 8th Parliament opened on 18 May 1882, following the 1881 general election. It sat for three sessions, and was prorogued on 27 June 1884.[1]

SessionOpenedAdjourned
first18 May 188215 September 1882
second14 June 18838 September 1883
third5 June 188424 June 1884

Historical context

Portraits depicting members of the 1882 House of Representatives.

Political parties had not been established yet; this only happened after the 1890 election. Anyone attempting to form an administration thus had to win support directly from individual MPs. This made first forming, and then retaining a government difficult and challenging.[2]

Ministries

The Hall Ministry under Premier John Hall had been in power since 8 October 1879. This ministry lasted until 21 April 1882. It was succeeded by the Whitaker Ministry, which lasted until 25 September 1883. The second Atkinson Ministry succeeded it. This Ministry finished on 16 August 1884, just after the 1884 general election for the 9th Parliament.[3][4]

Electorates

Ninety-one general and four Māori electorates were used for the 1881 elections, i.e. the previous multi-member electorates were abolished. The changes were the result of the Representation Act 1881.[5] 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 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: Ashburton, Auckland North, Awarua, Christchurch North, Christchurch South, Coromandel, Dunedin Central, Dunedin East, Dunedin South, Dunedin West, Foxton, Franklin North, Franklin South, Hawke's Bay, Hokonui, Inangahua, Kumara, Lincoln, Manukau, Moeraki, Peninsula, St Albans, Stanmore, Sydenham, Taranaki, Tauranga, Te Aro, Thorndon, Waimate, Waipawa, Wairarapa North, Wairarapa South, Waitotara, Wakanui, and Wellington South. In addition, two electorates that had previously been abolished were recreated: Bay of Islands and Oamaru.[6]

These changes necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries. Only six electorates remained unchanged: Waikato, Waipa, Bruce, Lyttelton, Nelson, and Picton.[6]

Initial composition of the 8th Parliament

95 seats were created across the electorates.[7] The following table shows the successful candidate for each electorate.[8]

Member Electorate Affiliation MP's term
William Montgomery Akaroa Greyite Fourth
Edward George Wright Ashburton Greyite Second
William Fisher Pearson Ashley Greyite First
George Grey Auckland East Greyite Fourth
Thomas Peacock Auckland North Independent First
Joseph Dargaville Auckland West Independent First
William Rolleston Avon Conservative Fifth
James Parker Joyce Awarua Greyite Second
Richard Hobbs Bay of Islands Conservative Second
James Rutherford Bruce Independent First
John Munro Buller Independent Liberal First
William Barron Caversham Greyite Second
Hugh McIlraith Cheviot Conservative First
Henry Thomson Christchurch North Conservative First
John Holmes Christchurch South Greyite First
James William Thomson Clutha Conservative Fourth
David McMillan Coleridge Conservative First
Alfred Cadman Coromandel Greyite First
Thomas Bracken Dunedin Central Greyite First
Matthew Green Dunedin East Independent First
Henry Fish Dunedin South Independent First
Thomas Dick Dunedin West Conservative Fourth
Vincent Pyke Dunstan Greyite Fourth
Allan McDonald East Coast Greyite Second
Joseph Tole Eden Greyite Third
Harry Atkinson Egmont Conservative Sixth
James Wilson Foxton Conservative First
Benjamin Harris Franklin North Greyite Second
Ebenezer Hamlin Franklin South Greyite Third
William Postlethwaite Geraldine Conservative First
James Sutter Gladstone Independent First
Joseph Petrie Greymouth Conservative First
Fred Sutton Hawkes Bay Conservative Third
Henry Wynn-Williams Heathcote Conservative First
Gerard George Fitzgerald Hokitika Conservative First
Henry Driver Hokonui Conservative Fifth
Thomas Mason Hutt Conservative Second
Thomas S. Weston Inangahua Conservative Second
Henry Feldwick Invercargill Greyite Second
Isaac Wilson Kaiapoi Conservative First
Richard Seddon Kumara Greyite Second
Arthur O'Callaghan Lincoln Conservative First
Harry Allwright Lyttelton Conservative Second
Walter Woods Johnston Manawatu Conservative Fourth
Maurice O'Rorke Manukau Independent Sixth
Edwin Mitchelson Marsden Conservative First
Francis Wallace Mackenzie Mataura Greyite First
John McKenzie Moeraki Greyite First
Richmond Hursthouse Motueka Conservative Third
Cecil de Lautour Mount Ida Greyite Third
John Buchanan Napier Greyite First
Henry Levestam Nelson Greyite Second
Thomas Kelly New Plymouth Conservative Fifth
William Swanson Newton Conservative Fourth
Samuel Shrimski Oamaru Greyite Third
Frederick Moss Parnell Greyite Third
James Seaton Peninsula Greyite Second
Edward Connoly Picton Conservative First
James Macandrew Port Chalmers Greyite Eighth
John Stevens Rangitikei Independent Liberal First
Seymour Thorne George Rodney Greyite Third
John Bathgate Roslyn Greyite Second
John Hall Selwyn Conservative Fifth
John Evans Brown St Albans Greyite Third
Walter Pilliet Stanmore Conservative First
William White Sydenham Greyite First
James Fulton Taieri Conservative Second
Robert Trimble Taranaki Conservative Second
George Morris Tauranga Conservative Second
Charles John Johnston Te Aro Conservative First
John Sheehan Thames Independent Fourth
William Levin Thorndon Conservative Second
Richard Turnbull Timaru Greyite Third
James Clark Brown Tuapeka Greyite Fifth
John Blair Whyte Waikato Conservative Second
James Green Waikouaiti Conservative Second
William Steward Waimate Conservative Second
Joseph Shephard Waimea Greyite Third
Frederick Alexander Whitaker Waipa Conservative Second
William Cowper Smith Waipawa Independent Liberal First
George Beetham Wairarapa North Conservative Third
Walter Clarke Buchanan Wairarapa South Conservative First
Henry Dodson Wairau Greyite First
Thomas Young Duncan Waitaki Greyite First
William John Hurst Waitemata Conservative Second
John Bryce Waitotara Conservative Fifth
Cathcart Wason Wakanui Conservative Second
Thomas Fergus Wakatipu Conservative First
Theophilus Daniel Wallace Greyite First
William Hogg Watt Wanganui Conservative Second
William Hutchison Wellington South Greyite Second
Henare Tomoana X-01Eastern Maori Conservative Third
Hone Tawhai X-02Northern Maori Greyite Second
Hori Kerei Taiaroa X-03Southern Maori Greyite Fourth
Wiremu Te Wheoro X-04Western Maori Greyite Second

Changes during term

There were a number of changes during the term of the 8th Parliament.

By-electionElectorateDateIncumbentReasonWinner
1882 Franklin North 9 June Benjamin Harris Election declared void Benjamin Harris
1882 Wakanui 16 June Cathcart Wason Election declared void Joseph Ivess
1882 Stanmore[9] 11 July Walter Pilliet Election declared void Walter Pilliet
1883 Peninsula 22 January[10] James Seaton Death William Larnach
1883 Selwyn 6 April John Hall Resignation Edward Lee
1883 Inangahua 14 May Thomas S. Weston Resignation Edward Shaw
1883 Bruce 29 June James Rutherford Death James McDonald
1884 Selwyn 15 February Edward Lee Death Edward Wakefield
1884 Thorndon 13 May William Levin Resignation Alfred Newman
1884 Kaiapoi 16 May Isaac Wilson Resignation Edward Richardson
1884 East Coast 16 June Allan McDonald Resignation Samuel Locke

Notes

  1. Scholefield 1950, p. 68.
  2. King 2003, p. ?.
  3. King 2003, p. 534.
  4. Scholefield 1950, pp. 37–38.
  5. "Representation Act 1881(45 VICT 1881 No 14)". New Zealand Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  6. McRobie 1989, pp. 43–48.
  7. "General elections 1853–2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  8. Cooper 1882, pp. 1–3.
  9. "Stanmore Election". The Star (4437). 14 July 1882. p. 3. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  10. "The Peninsula Election". Otago Daily Times (6534). 23 January 1883. p. 2. Retrieved 28 June 2012.

References

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