6th New Zealand Parliament

Sessions

The 6th Parliament opened on 15 June 1876, following the 1875–1876 general election. It sat for four sessions, and was prorogued on 15 August 1879.

Historical context

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.

The capital had moved from Auckland to Wellington in 1865. Parliament was meeting in the Provincial Council buildings. With the increase in the number of Members of Parliament to 70, conditions became very crowded. The original building "grew like topsy" until the end of the 19th century, and was consumed by fire on 11 December 1907.

In 1868, the first elections were held in the four Māori electorates that were created in the previous year.

Ministries

Since July 1875, the Pollen Ministry was in power, led by Premier Daniel Pollen. On 15 February 1876, the second Vogel Ministry was established, which lasted until 1 September 1876. This was followed by the Atkinson Ministry, what is known as the beginning of the Continuous Ministry, which lasted from 1 to 13 September 1876. It was reconstituted as the second Atkinson Ministry, which ruled from 13 September 1876 to 13 October 1877. This was succeeded by the Grey Ministry, which was in power from 13 October 1877 to 8 October 1879. This period extended slightly after the period of the 1879 general elections for the 7th Parliament.

Electorates

61 electorates were used for the 1866 elections. This was a significant increase from the 43 electorates used in the previous (1860–1861) election, and resulted from the Representation Act 1865. The bill had its third reading and was assented in October 1865. --

Initial composition of the 6th Parliament

88 seats were created across the electorates.

Changes during term

There were numerous changes during the term of the 6th Parliament.

Existing electorates

;Ashley Walker resigned in 1867. Henry Tancred won the subsequent 1867 by-election.

;Auckland West James Williamson resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by .

;Avon Ward resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by William Reeves, who himself resigned in 1868. William Rolleston won the subsequent 1868 by-election.

;Bruce Cargill resigned in 1870 and was succeeded by James Clark Brown.

;Caversham Burns resigned in 1870 and was succeeded by James McIndoe.

;City of Christchurch FitzGerald resigned in 1867 and was succeeded by William Travers, who himself resigned in 1870. William Sefton Moorhouse took the seat for the remaining months in 1870.

;City of Dunedin Paterson resigned in 1869 and was succeeded by Thomas Birch.

;City of Nelson Stafford resigned in 1868 and was succeeded by Nathaniel Edwards.

;Collingwood Richmond resigned in 1868 and was succeeded by Arthur Shuckburgh Collins.

;Kaiapoi Beswick resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by John Studholme.

;Manuherikia Baldwin resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by David Mervyn.

;Marsden Hull resigned in 1868. He was succeeded by John Munro.

;Mongonui Ball resigned in 1870. He was succeeded by Thomas Gillies on 30 March 1870.

;Mount Herbert Moorhouse was elected in the Mount Herbert electorate on 22 February 1866. He also stood in the Westland electorate and was returned 16 March 1866. He chose to represent Westland. A by-election was held on 27 July 1866 and Thomas Henry Potts was returned unopposed.

;New Plymouth Richardson resigned in 1867 and was succeeded by Harry Atkinson, who himself resigned in 1869. Thomas Kelly won the 1869 by-election.

;Newton Graham resigned in 1869 and was succeeded by Robert James Creighton.

;Northern Division Henderson resigned in 1867. The 6 July 1867 by-election was won by Thomas Macfarlane.

O'Neill resigned in 1869 and was succeeded by Henry Warner Farnall.

;Oamaru Campbell resigned in 1869 and was succeeded by Charles Christie Graham.

;Omata Atkinson resigned in 1867 and was succeeded in 1868 by Charles Brown, who himself resigned in 1870. Frederic Alonzo Carrington was the successful candidate in the 1870 by-election.

;Parnell Whitaker resigned in 1867 and was succeeded by Charles Heaphy.

;Pensioner Settlements De Quincey resigned in 1867. The 5 August 1867 by-election was won by John Kerr. A second person, a Mr Jackson, was nominated, but the returning officer would not accept the nomination, as Jackson was not on the electoral roll. Thus, Kerr was declared elected unopposed.

;Picton Beauchamp resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by William Adams, who himself resigned in 1868. Courtenay Kenny won the 1868 by-election.

;Port Chalmers Dick, who was elected on 17 March 1866, resigned on 15 October 1866. He successfully contested the 15 December 1866 by-election, but resigned again on 26 April 1867. David Forsyth Main successfully contested the 1867 by-election.

;Raglan Newman resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by James Farmer.

;Rangitīkei Watt resigned in 1868. He was succeeded by William Fox, who won the 1868 by-election.

;Roslyn Hepburn resigned in 1868. He was succeeded by Henry Driver.

;Taieri Reid resigned in 1869. He was succeeded by Henry Howorth.

;Timaru Cox resigned in 1868. He was succeeded by Edward Stafford.

;Town of Lyttelton Hargreaves resigned in 1868. He was succeeded by John Thomas Peacock.

;Waikouaiti Murison resigned in 1868 and was succeeded by Robert Mitchell. Mitchell himself resigned in the following year and was replaced by Francis Rich.

;Waimea Oliver resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by Edward Baigent.

;Wallace McNeil resigned in 1869 and was succeeded by Cuthbert Cowan. Cowan himself resigned in the same year he got elected and was replaced by George Webster.

;Westland The electorate was abolished in 1867. A new electorate (Westland Boroughs) was established, and Moorhouse was transferred to it.

New electorate

;Westland Boroughs Westland Boroughs was established in 1867, and Moorhouse transferred to it. He resigned in 1868, and William Henry Harrison won the resulting by-election.

Māori electorates

The first elections for the new Māori electorates were held in 1868.

;Eastern Māori Tareha te Moananui was the first representative for the Eastern Māori electorate.

;Northern Māori Frederick Nene Russell was the first representative for the Northern Māori electorate.

;Southern Māori John Patterson was the first representative for the Southern Māori electorate.

;Western Māori Mete Paetahi was the first representative for the Western Māori electorate. --

Notes

References

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References

1. "History Buildings and grounds". New Zealand Parliament.
2. "Parliament timeline". New Zealand Parliament.
3. (2 November 1865). "The Representation Bill". North Otago Times.
4. (Volume XXI). "Digest of General Assembly Laws". [[Daily Southern Cross]].
5. "General elections 1853–2005 – dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand.
6. (Issue 751, 21 April 1866). "The New Parliament". [[Otago Witness]].
7. (1 March 1866). "Election Intelligence". Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle.
8. (21 March 1866). "Representation of Westland". West Coast Times.
9. (7 August 1866). "News of the Day". Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle.
10. (8 July 1867). "Northern Division Election". [[Daily Southern Cross]].
11. (6 August 1867). "PENSIONER SETTLEMENTS ELECTION. RETURN OF MR. KERR.". [[Daily Southern Cross]].