Bay of Islands is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It existed during various periods between 1853 and 1993. It was thus one of the original 24 electoral districts, and New Zealand's first ever MP was elected, although unopposed, in the Bay of Islands; Hugh Carleton thus liked to be called the Father of the House.
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 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, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated, including Bay of Islands. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries.[1]
Hugh Carleton was elected to the seat in the first New Zealand Parliament in 1853. Although he was elected unopposed, he was the first MP elected and liked to be called Father of the House.[2] He represented the seat until 1870, when he was defeated.[3]
The Bay of Islands electorate existed from 1853 to 1870, then from 1881 to 1946 (when it was replaced by the Hobson electorate), then from 1978 to 1993, after which it became the Far North electorate.[4] In 1996 it became the Northland electorate.
Members representing the electorate from 1881 to 1922 were Richard Hobbs 1881–1890 (retired), Robert Houston 1890–1908 (retired), Vernon Reed 1908–1915 (election declared void) and 1917–1922 (defeated), and William Stewart 1915–1917 (resigned). In 1929, Harold Rushworth, a Country Party member, had his 1928 election declared void, but he won the subsequent by-election.[5]
The 1893 election was contested by Houston (1431 votes), Trownson (1200 votes) and Dargaville (399 votes). The incumbent was thus re-elected.[7]
The 1896 election was contested by Houston (1592 votes) and John Press (965 votes). The incumbent was again re-elected.[8] Houston remained the electorate's representative until he retired at the 1908 election.[9]
Houston was succeeded by Vernon Reed, who represented the Liberal Party in the 1908 and 1911 elections.[10] The opposition candidate in 1908 was John Charles Johnson,[11] and by 1911 the Reform Party had established itself and George Wilkinson was their candidate.[12]
Harold Rushworth of the Country Party represented the electorate from the 1928 election onwards.[13] For the 1935 election, the United Party chose Robert Boyd Russell as their candidate. On 7 October 1935, Russell died in a rifle accident on his farm.[14] The United Party selected Clive Cameron as their replacement candidate.[15]
^George Wilkinson had been the official Reform Party candidate in the 1911 election whilst Vernon Reed had stood for the Liberal Party, but in 1914, Reed became the official candidate of the Reform Party.[31]
^ a b"The General Election, 1890". National Library. 1891. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
^"The General Election, 1893". National Library. 1894. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
^"Bay of Islands". Auckland Star. Vol. XXVII, no. 290. 7 December 1896. p. 2. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
^Wilson 1985, p. 206.
^Wilson 1985, p. 228.
^ a bAtoJs 1908 election 1909, p. 1.
^ a bAtoJs 1911 election 1912, p. 1.
^ a bThe General Election, 1928. Government Printer. 1929. p. 1. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
^"Fatally Shot". Auckland Star. Vol. LXVI, no. 238. 8 October 1935. p. 11. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
^"Bay of Islands Seat". The Evening Post. Vol. CXX, no. 91. 14 October 1935. p. 11. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
^
"The General Election, 1943". National Library. 1944. p. 11. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
^"Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. 80, no. 24713. 13 October 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
^"The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. p. 1. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
^"Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LXXV, no. 23181. 29 October 1938. p. 25. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
^The New Zealand Official Year-Book. Government Printer. 1936. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
^The General Election, 1931. Government Printer. 1932. p. 1. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
^"Bay of Islands Seat – Final Figures Announced". The Evening Post. Vol. CVII, no. 91. 20 April 1929. p. 10. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
^"Public Notices". Auckland Star. Vol. LIX, no. 302. 21 December 1928. p. 5. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
^The General Election, 1925. Government Printer. 1926. p. 1. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
^Hislop, J. (1923). The General Election, 1922. Government Printer. p. 1. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
^Hislop, J. (1921). The General Election, 1919. National Library. p. 1. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
^"Bay of Islands Election". The Evening Post. Vol. LXXXIX, no. 144. 19 June 1915. p. 6. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
^"Bay of Islands Election". King Country Chronicle. Vol. IX, no. 775. 2 June 1915. p. 5. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
^Cyclopedia Company Limited (1902). "Mr. George Gardiner Menzies". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Auckland Provincial District. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
^Hislop 1915, p. 1.
^"Political Gossip". The Marlborough Express. Vol. C, no. 266. 16 November 1914. p. 3. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
^"The General Election, 1893". National Library. 1894. p. 1. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
^"The General Election". Otago Daily Times. 28 November 1893. p. 6. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
^"Page 4 Advertisements Column 3". The Northern Advocate. 25 November 1893. p. 4. Retrieved 19 November 2013.