Bruce (New Zealand electorate)

Bruce was a rural parliamentary electorate in the Otago region of New Zealand, from 1861 to 1922. For part of the 1860s with the influx to Otago of gold-miners it was a multi-member constituency with two members.

Population centres

In 1865 the Bruce electorate included Tokomairiro, Waihola, East Taieri, suburbs of Dunedin, Inch Clutha, Lawrence, Warepa and Pomahaka.

History

The Bruce electorate was formed in the 1860 electoral redistribution. It covered the rural area surrounding Dunedin that had previously been part of the Dunedin Country electorate. The Bruce electorate was a two-member constituency.[1]

Charles Kettle and Thomas Gillies were the only two candidates for the newly constituted two-member electorate of Bruce. They were thus declared elected unopposed on 11 February 1861.[2]

Kettle died on 5 June 1862.[3] Edward Cargill succeeded him in the 1862 by-election.[4]

Thomas Gillies resigned and the subsequent by-election was contested by W. J. Dyer and Arthur John Burns.[5] On 8 April 1865, Burns and Dyer received 102 and 78 votes. Burns was thus declared elected.[6]

Later in 1865, Edward Cargill resigned. The resulting second by-election in 1865, held on 26 July, was contested by James Macandrew and John Cargill. Macandrew and J. Cargill received 207 and 34 votes, and Macandrew was declared elected.[7]

From the 1866 general election, Bruce was a single-member electorate. John Cargill was its first representative, and he resigned in 1870. James Clark Brown won the 1870 by-election on 21 March. Brown stood for Tuapeka in the 1871 general election. William Archibald Murray won the 1871 election for Bruce, was confirmed in 1876 and 1879, but defeated in 1881 by James Rutherford, who died in 1883. James McDonald won the 1883 by-election, but was defeated at the 1884 general election.[4]

Robert Gillies won the 1884 general election, but resigned on 30 June 1885.[8] Donald Reid won the resulting 1885 by-election, but was defeated at the 1887 general election by Crawford Anderson. He retired at the end of the term, and the 1890 general election was won by James William Thomson, who resigned again in 1892.[4]

The later Defence Minister James Allen won the 1892 by-election and held the seat until 1920, when he resigned. John Edie was successful in the 1920 by-election, and when the electorate was abolished in 1922, he successfully stood for Clutha.[4]

Members of Parliament

Bruce was represented by 16 Members of Parliament.[4]

1861 to 1866

Bruce was a two-member electorate from 1861 to 1866.

Election Winners
1861 election Charles Kettle Thomas Gillies
1862 by-election Edward Cargill
April 1865 by-election Arthur John Burns
July 1865 by-election James Macandrew

1866 to 1922

From 1866 to 1922, Bruce was a single-member electorate.

Election Winner
1866 election John Cargill
1870 by-election James Clark Brown
1871 election William Archibald Murray
1876 election
1879 election
1881 election James Rutherford
1883 by-election James McDonald
1884 election Robert Gillies
1885 by-election Donald Reid
1887 election Crawford Anderson
1890 election James William Thomson
1892 by-election James Allen
1893 election
1896 election
1899 election
1902 election
1905 election
1908 election
1911 election
1914 election
1919 election
1920 by-election John Edie
(Electorate abolished 1922)

Election results

1920 by-election

Bruce by-election, 1920[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Edie 2,331 51.44
Reform James Begg 2,201 48.56
Majority 130 2.86
Turnout 4,532

1919 election

General election, 1919: Bruce[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform James Allen 2,993 51.08
Liberal John Edie 2,867 48.92
Majority 126 2.15
Informal votes 71 1.20
Registered electors 7,395
Turnout 5,931 80.20

1899 election

General election, 1899: Bruce[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Opposition James Allen 1,966 55.10
Liberal Crawford Anderson[12] 1,602 44.90
Majority 364 10.20
Turnout 3,568 76.48
Registered electors 4,665

1892 by-election

Bruce by-election, 1892[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Opposition James Allen 1,085 66.85
Liberal Alfred Lee Smith 538 33.14
Majority 547 33.70
Turnout 1,623 75.06
Registered electors 2,162

1862 by-election

Bruce by-election, 1862[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Edward Cargill 74 57.81
Independent William Baldwin 54 42.19
Turnout 128
Majority 20

Notes

  1. ↑ McRobie 1989, pp. 31–35.
  2. ↑ "Local Intelligence". Otago Witness (481). 16 February 1861. p. 5. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  3. ↑ Patterson, Brad. "Kettle, Charles Henry". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 188. OCLC 154283103.
  5. ↑ "The Nomination". Bruce Herald II (52). 6 April 1865. p. 5. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  6. ↑ "Bruce Election". Otago Witness (698). 15 April 1865. p. 11. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  7. ↑ "Bruce Election". Otago Witness (714). 5 August 1865. p. 11. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  8. ↑ Scholefield 1950, p. 108.
  9. ↑ "Bruce By-election". Manawatu Times. XLIII (1541). 15 April 1920. p. 5. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  10. ↑ The New Zealand Official Year-Book. Government Printer. 1920. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  11. ↑ "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 3. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  12. ↑ "Bruce Electoral District". Clutha Leader XXVI (1355). 5 December 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  13. ↑ "The Bruce Election". Manawatu Herald. 7 May 1892. p. 2. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  14. ↑ "The Election for Bruce". Otago Daily Times (204). 4 August 1862. p. 5. Retrieved 17 November 2015.

References

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