8th New Zealand Parliament

Parliamentary term

8th Parliament of New Zealand

| ←| 7th Parliament | 9th Parliament| →

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Overview
Legislative body| New Zealand Parliament
Term| 18 May 1882 – 24 June 1884
Election| 1881 New Zealand general election
Government| Hall ministry (until 1882)
Whitaker ministry (1882 - 1883)
Third Atkinson ministry (from 1883)
House of Representatives
Members| 95
Speaker of the House| Maurice O'Rorke
Premier| Harry Atkinson
— from 25 September 1883

John Hall
— until 21 April 1882
Legislative Council
Members| 47 (at start)
49 (at end)
Speaker of the Council| William Fitzherbert
Premier| Frederick Whitaker
— 21 April 1882 – 25 September 1883
Sovereign
Monarch| HM Victoria
Governor| HE Lt. Gen. Sir William Jervois from 20 January 1883
— HE Rt. Hon. Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon until 24 June 1882

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

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

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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]

Session | Opened | Adjourned

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first | 18 May 1882 | 15 September 1882
second | 14 June 1883 | 8 September 1883
third | 5 June 1884 | 24 June 1884

## Historical context

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

By-election | Electorate | Date | Incumbent | Reason | Winner

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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

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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. ^ a b 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. No. 4437\. 14 July 1882. p. 3. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
10. ^ "The Peninsula Election". Otago Daily Times. No. 6534\. 23 January 1883. p. 2. Retrieved 28 June 2012.

## References

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* Cooper, G. S. (1882). Votes Recorded for Each Candidate. Government Printer. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
* Cyclopedia Company Limited (1902). The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Auckland Provincial District. Christchurch: Cyclopedia Company.
* Cyclopedia Company Limited (1903). "Southland". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Otago & Southland Provincial Districts. Christchurch: Cyclopedia Company.
* Cyclopedia Company Limited (1906). "Present And Past Members Of Parliament". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts. Christchurch: Cyclopedia Company.
* Cyclopedia Company Limited (1908). "Former Members Of The House Of Representatives". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts. Christchurch: Cyclopedia Company.
* King, Michael (2003). The Penguin History of New Zealand (20 ed.). Auckland: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-301867-1.
* McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
* Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
* Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.