City of Dunedin (New Zealand electorate)

City of Dunedin, during the first two parliaments called Town of Dunedin, was a parliamentary electorate in Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand. It was one of the original electorates created in 1853 and existed, with two breaks, until 1905. The first break, from 1862 to 1866, was caused by an influx of people through the Otago gold rush, when many new electorates were formed in Otago. The second break occurred from 1881 to 1890. It was the only New Zealand electorate that was created as a single-member, two-member and three member electorate.

Population centres

In December 1887, the House of Representatives 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 Dunedin was one of eight electorates to be re-created for the 1890 election.^[1]

History

From 1853 to 1860, the electorate was known as the Town of Dunedin. From 1860 to 1905, it was the City of Dunedin.^[2]

James Macandrew was the first elected member. He resigned on 2 November 1858 and was re-elected in a 14 January 1859 by-election.^[3][4]

Elections for the first two-member electorate were held on 24 December 1860. Three people contested the poll, with Thomas Dick and Edward McGlashan returned.^[5]

In 1863, the electorate was abolished and replaced with Dunedin and Suburbs North and Dunedin and Suburbs South. It was recreated for the 1866 general election.

James Gordon Stuart Grant was a local eccentric and a frequent candidate from 1867 to 1884.

The 1875 election was contested by eight candidates. The three candidates on the anti-centralist ticket, James Macandrew, William Larnach and Robert Stout, were all successful. They beat William Reynolds, James Macassey^[6] Henry Fish, James Grant and John Armstrong.^[7]

Larnach resigned on 31 May 1878.^[8]

The 1893 election was contested by eight candidates, who contested three available positions. William Hutchison and David Pinkerton were incumbents who were successful, William Earnshaw was the third successful candidate (he had represented the Peninsula electorate in the previous Parliament), the previous representative Henry Fish came fourth, Hugh Gourley was fifth, with other unsuccessful candidates being James Gore, Charles Haynes, and David Nicol.^[9]

Dunedin was recreated for the 2020 general election as a single-member electorate, as Dunedin no longer has a population large enough to support two electorates. The electorate, however, does not include South Dunedin, as that is now part of a recreated Taieri electorate.^[10]

Members of Parliament

The multi-member electorate was represented by 23 Members of Parliament:

Single-member electorate

From 1853 to 1860, Town of Dunedin was a single-member electorate.

Election	Winner
1853 election		James Macandrew
1855 election
1859 by-election		James Macandrew

Two-member electorate

From 1860 to 1863, and 1866 to 1875 City of Dunedin was a two-member electorate. Under the Representation Act 1862^[11] the City of Dunedin electorate was abolished, with two new electorates, Dunedin and Suburbs North and Dunedin and Suburbs South replacing it, with elections being held on 28 March to 6 April 1863 respectively. All electorates before and after changes returned two members, with each of the previous incumbents in City of Dunedin being assigned an incumbency in one of the Dunedin Suburbs electorates, although Thomas Dick resigned before taking up his entitlement in Dunedin and Suburbs North, forcing the 1863 by-election.

Election	Winners
1860 election		Thomas Dick		Edward McGlashan[12][13]
1st 1862 by-election		Thomas Dick
2nd 1862 by-election				John Richardson
3rd 1862 by-election				James Paterson
Electorate abolished 1862 see Dunedin and Suburbs North and Dunedin and Suburbs South)
1866 election		William Reynolds		James Paterson
1867 by-election		William Reynolds
1869 by-election				Thomas Birch[14]
1871 election				John Bathgate
1874 by-election				Nathaniel Wales

Three-member electorate

From 1875 to 1881, and 1890 to 1905 City of Dunedin was a three-member electorate.

Key:

  Independent   Liberal   Conservative   Liberal–Labour   Independent Liberal

Election	Winners
1875 election		James Macandrew		William Larnach		Robert Stout[15]
1878 by-election				Richard Oliver
1879 by-election						William Stewart
1879 election		Thomas Dick
(Electorate abolished 1881–1890, see Dunedin Central, Dunedin East and Dunedin West)
1890 election		William Hutchison		David Pinkerton		Henry Fish
1893 election						William Earnshaw
1896 election		Scobie Mackenzie		John A. Millar		Henry Fish
1897 by-election						Alexander Sligo
1899 election		James Arnold				Alfred Barclay
1902 election						Harry Bedford
(Electorate abolished 1905, see Dunedin Central, Dunedin North and Dunedin South)

Election results

1899 election

1899 general election: Dunedin^[16][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal–Labour	John A. Millar	9,045	61.70	+14.78
	Liberal–Labour	James Arnold	8,290	56.55
	Liberal	Alfred Richard Barclay	7,363	50.23
	Conservative	Scobie Mackenzie	6,726	45.88	−12.96
	Conservative	Alexander Sligo	6,415	43.76
	Conservative	Charles Haynes	4,919	33.55
	Liberal	Charles Robert Chapman	1,222	8.34
Majority			637	4.35	+1.50
Turnout			14,660	72.99	+1.99
Registered electors			20,084

1897 by-election

1897 City of Dunedin by-election^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alexander Sligo	5,045	45.29
	Liberal	Hugh Gourley	4,065	36.49
	Independent Liberal	William Hutchison	2,030	18.22
Informal votes			55
Majority			980
Turnout			11,140	75.59
Registered electors			14,811

1896 election

1896 general election: Dunedin^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Scobie Mackenzie	7,821	58.84
	Liberal–Labour	John A. Millar	6,236	46.92
	Conservative	Henry Fish	6,067	45.64	−1.87
	Liberal	David Pinkerton	5,689	42.80	−15.94
	Liberal	William Hutchison	4,983	37.49	−12.57
	Conservative	Alexander Campbell Begg[21]	4,409	33.17
	Liberal–Labour	William Earnshaw	2,421	18.21	−34.41
	Conservative	James Gore	1,299	9.77	−22.57
	Independent	Alfred Henry Burton	274	2.06
	Conservative	Murray Aston	272	2.05
	Independent	Frederick Marler Lester	209	1.57
	Independent	David Nicol	196	1.47	−2.06
Majority			378[nb 1]	2.84	0.29
Turnout			13,292	71.01	2.94
Registered electors			18,719[22]

Table footnotes:

1. Majority is difference between lowest winning poll (Fish - 6,067) and highest losing poll (Pinkerton - 5,689)

1893 election

1893 general election: Dunedin^[23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal–Labour	David Pinkerton	6,771	58.74	−4.88
	Liberal–Labour	William Earnshaw	6,066	52.62
	Liberal	William Hutchison	5,771	50.06	−6.10
	Conservative	Henry Fish	5,477	47.51	−10.65
	Liberal	Hugh Gourley	4,081	35.40
	Conservative	James Gore	3,728	32.34
	Conservative	Charles Haynes[25]	2,283	19.80
	Independent	David Nicol	407	3.53
Majority			294	2.55	−2.90
Turnout			11,528	68.07	+12.79
Registered electors			16,936

1890 election

1890 general election: City of Dunedin^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal–Labour	David Pinkerton	3,209	63.61
	Liberal	Henry Fish	2,934	58.16
	Liberal	William Hutchison	2,833	56.16
	Conservative	James Allen[27]	2,485	49.26
	Conservative	Richard Henry Leary[27]	1,838	36.43
	Liberal	Alfred Lee Smith[27]	1,835	36.38
Majority			348	6.90
Turnout			5,045	55.28
Registered electors			9,126

1875 election

1875 general election: Dunedin^[28][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	James Macandrew	891	71.22
	Independent	Robert Stout	865	69.14
	Independent	William Larnach	843	67.38
	Independent	William Reynolds	476	38.04
	Independent	James Macassey	409	32.69
	Independent	Henry Fish	238	19.02
	Independent	James Grant	29	2.31
Turnout			1,251

1879 City of Dunedin by-election

1879 City of Dunedin by-election^[29][30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Downie Stewart Sr	726	54.18
	Independent	Charles Reeves	563	42.01
	Independent	James Gordon Stuart Grant	51	3.81
Turnout			1340
Majority			163	12.16

1878 City of Dunedin by-election

1878 City of Dunedin by-election^[31][32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Richard Oliver	769	53.89
	Independent	Charles Stephen Reeves	658	46.11
Majority			111	7.78
Turnout			1427

1874 City of Dunedin by-election

1874 City of Dunedin by-election^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Nathaniel Wales	629	52.03
	Independent	George Elliott Barton	541	44.75
	Independent	James Gordon Stuart Grant	39	3.23
Turnout			1209
Majority			88	7.28

1869 City of Dunedin by-election

1869 City of Dunedin by-election^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Thomas Birch	578	76.35
	Independent	James Gordon Stuart Grant	179	23.65
Turnout			757
Majority			399	52.71

1867 City of Dunedin by-election

1867 City of Dunedin by-election^[35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Reynolds	333	86.49
	Independent	James Gordon Stuart Grant	52	13.51
Turnout			385
Majority			281	72.99

May 1862 City of Dunedin by-election

May 1862 City of Dunedin by-election^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Richardson	45	54.88
	Independent	James Paterson	37	45.12
Turnout			82
Majority			8	9.76

1860 election

1860 general election: Town of Dunedin^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Thomas Dick	96	44.04
	Independent	Edward McGlashan	88	40.37
	Independent	William John Dyer	34	15.60
Turnout			218

1859 by-election

1859 Town of Dunedin by-election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	James Macandrew	40	93.02	−
	Independent	James Gordon Stuart Grant[38]	3	6.98	−
Majority			37	86.05	−
Total votes			43	-	-

Notes

1. McRobie 1989, pp. 54ff.
2. Wilson 1985, p. 261.
3. Wilson 1985, p. 213.
4. "Election of a Member for the House of Representatives". Otago Witness. No. 372. 15 January 1859. p. 5. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
5. "Dunedin Representatives". Otago Witness. No. 474. 29 December 1860. p. 5. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
6. "The Late Mr James Macassey". Otago Daily Times. No. 5695. 21 May 1880. p. 7. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
7. "The General Elections". New Zealand Tablet. Vol. III, no. 138. 24 December 1875. p. 12. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
8. Wilson 1985, p. 212.
9. "The General Election, 1893". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1894 Session I, H-19. 1894. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
10. "Report of the Representation Commission 2020" (PDF). 17 April 2020.
11. "Representation Act 1862".
12. Wilson 1985, p. 215.
13. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1905). "Ex-Members". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Otago & Southland Provincial Districts. Christchurch. Retrieved 30 June 2010.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
14. Wilson 1985, p. 184.
15. Morrell, William Parker (22 April 2009). "STOUT, Sir Robert, P.C., K.C.M.G." An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
16. "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
17. "City of Dunedin Electoral District". Otago Daily Times. No. 11593. 29 November 1899. p. 6. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
18. "The Dunedin Election". The Marlborough Express. Vol. XXXII, no. 224. 14 October 1897. p. 2. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
19. "Otago". Auckland Star. Vol. XXVII, no. 305. 23 December 1896. p. 6. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
20. "City of Dunedin Electoral District". Otago Daily Times. No. 10666. 4 December 1896. p. 1. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
21. Scholefield 1940, p. 55.
22. McRobie 1989, p. 64.
23. "The General Election, 1893". National Library. 1894. p. 3. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
24. "The General Election". Otago Daily Times. 28 November 1893. p. 6. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
25. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1905). "Mr. Charles Haynes, J. P". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Otago & Southland Provincial Districts. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
26. "The General Election, 1890". National Library. 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
27. "Election Notices". Otago Daily Times. No. 9975. 29 November 1890. p. 3. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
28. "Dunedin Election". North Otago Times. 21 December 1875. p. 2. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
29. "Dunedin Election". Oamaru Mail. 15 July 1879.
30. "Meeting of Mr Reeves' Supporters". Otago Daily Times. No. 5427. 11 July 1879. p. 3. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
31. "The City Election". Evening Star. 1 July 1878.
32. "The City Election". Otago Daily Times. No. 5131. 29 July 1878. p. 7. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
33. "The City Election". Evening Star. No. 3487. 27 April 1874. p. 2. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
34. "The City Election". Otago Daily Times. No. 2212. 9 March 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
35. "Dunedin Election". Otago Daily Times. 21 January 1867.
36. "Dunedin City Election". Otago Witness. No. 548. 31 May 1862. p. 4. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
37. "Local Intelligence". Otago Witness. No. 474. 29 December 1860. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
38. "List of Persons Qualified to Serve as Jurors for the Province of Otago, for the Year 1859-60". Otago Witness. No. 375. 5 February 1859. p. 1. Retrieved 19 December 2016.

References

• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
• Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L (PDF). Vol. I. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.