Mataura (New Zealand electorate)

Former electorate in Southland, New Zealand

Mataura was a parliamentary electorate in the Southland Region of New Zealand, from 1866 to 1946.

## Population centres

[edit]

In the 1865 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives focussed its review of electorates to South Island electorates only, as the Central Otago gold rush had caused significant population growth, and a redistribution of the existing population. Fifteen additional South Island electorates were created, including Mataura, and the number of Members of Parliament was increased by 13 to 70.[1]

Mataura was located in the rural Southland Region.[2] It covered the area around Invercargill (which had its own urban electorate) and settlements included Bluff, Winton, Gore, Mataura, and Edendale.[3]

## History

[edit]

Mataura was first established for the 1866 general election. The first representative was Dillon Bell from 1866 until when he retired from politics at the dissolution of parliament in December 1875.[4] Bell was succeeded by William Wood, who won the 1876 election. Wood resigned at the end of 1878, as he had been appointed to the Legislative Council.[5]

Woods resignation caused the 1879 by-election, which was won by James Shanks; he retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1881.[6] Shanks was succeeded by Francis Wallace Mackenzie, who won the 1881 election, but who was defeated in 1884 by George Richardson.[7] In the 1893 election, Richardson was defeated by Robert McNab of the Liberal Party, but Richardson in turn defeated McNab in the 1896 election.[8] In 1898, Richardson was declared bankrupt,[9] and the resulting 1898 by-election was won by McNab, who served until he was defeated again in the 1908 election.[10]

### Members of Parliament

[edit]

The electorate was represented by nine Members of Parliament:[11]

Key

Independent   Conservative   Liberal   Reform   United   National

Election  | Winner

|

1866 election |  | Dillon Bell
1871 election
1876 election |  | William Wood
1879 by-election |  | James Shanks
1879 election
1881 election |  | Francis Wallace Mackenzie
1884 election |  | George Richardson
1887 election
1890 election |
1893 election |  | Robert McNab
1896 election |  | George Richardson (2nd period)
1898 by-election |  | Robert McNab (2nd period)
1899 election
1902 election
1905 election
1908 election |  | George Anderson
1911 election
1914 election
1919 election
1922 election
1925 election
1928 election |  | David McDougall
1931 election |
1935 election
1938 election |  | Tom Macdonald
1943 election
(Electorate abolished 1946; see Wallace)

## Election results

[edit]

### 1931 election

[edit]

1931 general election: Mataura[12][13] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| United | David McDougall | 4,254  | 56.23  |
| Independent | Thomas Golden  | 3,311  | 43.77  |
Majority | 943  | 12.47  |
Informal votes  | 129  | 1.68  |
Turnout | 7,694  | 83.47  |
Registered electors | 9,218  |  |

### 1928 election

[edit]

1928 general election: Mataura[14] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| United | David McDougall | 4,175  | 50.37  |
| Reform | George James Anderson | 4,113  | 49.63  |
Majority | 62  | 0.75  |
Informal votes  | 48  | 0.58  |
Turnout | 8,336  | 90.67  |
Registered electors | 9,194  |  |

### 1919 election

[edit]

1919 general election: Mataura[15][16] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Reform | George James Anderson | 3,042  | 52.66  |
| Independent Liberal | David McDougall | 1,706  | 29.53  |
| Labour | W. Alexander McLachlan[17][18] | 848  | 14.68  |
| Independent Labour | Norman McIntyre  | 181  | 3.13  |
Majority | 1,336  | 23.13  |
Informal votes  | 50  | 0.86  |
Turnout | 5,827  | 81.81  |
Registered electors | 7,123  |  |

### 1899 election

[edit]

1899 general election: Mataura[19][20] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Liberal | Robert McNab | 2,132  | 51.94  | −3.74
| Conservative | Irven Willis Raymond  | 1,973  | 48.06  |
Majority | 159  | 3.87  |
Turnout | 4,105  | 79.16  |
Registered electors | 5,186  |  |

### 1898 by-election

[edit]

1898 Mataura by-election[21] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Liberal | Robert McNab | 1,894  | 55.68  |
| Independent | Wilfrid Francis Ward  | 1,507  | 44.31  |
Majority | 387  | 11.37  |
Turnout | 3,401  |  |

### 1890 election

[edit]

1890 general election: Matarua[22] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | George Richardson | 836  | 53.97  |
| Liberal | John Gideon Fraser  | 713  | 46.03  |
Majority | 123  | 7.94  |
Turnout | 1,549  | 2566  |
Registered electors | 2,566  |  |

### 1871 election

[edit]

1871 general election: Mataura[23] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Independent | Dillon Bell | 235  | 62.17  |
| Independent | Andrew Kinross[24] | 73  | 19.31  |
| Independent | Thomas Denniston | 70  | 18.52  |
Majority | 162  | 42.86  |
Turnout | 378  | 49.28  |
Registered electors | 767  |  |

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ McRobie 1989, p. 36.
2. ^ "Government, education and health". Te Ara. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
3. ^ McRobie 1989, p. 37.
4. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 183.
5. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 167, 247.
6. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 234.
7. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 216, 230.
8. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 217, 230.
9. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 230.
10. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 217.
11. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 267.
12. ^ The General Election, 1931. Government Printer. 1932. p. 3. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
13. ^ "Mr McDougall Opposed". The Evening Post. Vol. CXII, no. 120\. 17 November 1931. p. 10. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
14. ^ Skinner, W. A. G. (1929). The General Election, 1928. Government Printer. p. 3. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
15. ^ The New Zealand Official Year-Book. Government Printer. 1920. Archived from the original on 1 September 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
16. ^ "The Mataura Election". Otago Daily Times. No. 17803\. 9 December 1919. p. 6. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
17. ^ "General Election". Otago Daily Times. No. 17798\. 3 December 1919. p. 4. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
18. ^ Gustafson 1980, p. 161.
19. ^ "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 1. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
20. ^ "Electoral District of Mataura". Mataura Ensign. No. 673\. 12 December 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
21. ^ "Result of Mataura Election". Wanganui Herald. Vol. XXXII, no. 9447\. 27 May 1898. p. 2. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
22. ^ "The General Election, 1890". National Library. 1891. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
23. ^ "Telegrams". Otago Witness. No. 1003\. 18 February 1871. p. 13. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
24. ^ Cyclopedia Company Limited (1905). "Old Colonists". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Otago & Southland Provincial Districts. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 12 December 2015.

## References

[edit]

* Gustafson, Barry (1980). Labour's path to political independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party, 1900–19. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press. ISBN 0-19-647986-X.
* McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
* Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

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