Marsden (New Zealand electorate)

Marsden is a former parliamentary electorate, in the Whangarei District and in the Northland Region of New Zealand.

Population centres

The initial 24 New Zealand electorates were defined by Governor George Grey in March 1853, based on the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 that had been passed by the British government. The Constitution Act also allowed the House of Representatives to establish new electorates, and this was first done in 1858, when four new electorates were formed by splitting existing electorates.[1] Marsden was one of those four electorates, and it covered the northern area split off from the Northern Division electorate.[2]

The electorate was mixed urban and rural, around the city of Whangarei.

History

The electorate existed from 1858 to 1972, and the first election was held on 29 November 1859, which was during the term of the 2nd Parliament. James Farmer was the first representative.[3] The second representative was John Munro, who was elected on 27 December 1860, and served the whole term of the 3rd Parliament.[4]

Francis Hull was elected to the 4th Parliament, resigned in 1869 and was succeeded by Munro in the February by-election. Munro served the rest of the term, plus the term of the 5th Parliament.[4]

All subsequent representatives have always served full terms.

The 1887 election was contested by Robert Thompson and Joseph Dargaville, and they received 955 and 550 votes, respectively. Thompson was thus declared elected.[5]

Thompson acquired the labels 'Marsden Thompson' and 'the member for roads and bridges' in Parliament. He was known for his devotion to the interests of his district, which was desperately in need of good roads, and his only reason for being a Liberal was that the government was the only source of funding for roads and bridges (as with many other Liberals representing country electorates). He was pro-freehold (land), and was opposed to Liberal policies such as labour legislation and old age pensions. In 1908, when he stood unsuccessfully for Auckland West against a sitting Liberal member, he was once more an Independent, and his programme – freehold (land), acquisition of Maori land and opposition to prohibition had not altered.[6]

Alfred Murdoch unsuccessfully contested the Marsden electorate in the 1919 election as an independent Liberal against the incumbent from the Reform Party, Francis Mander.[7][8] Mander retired at the 1922 election,[8] and Murdoch was elected.[9] At the next election in 1925, Murdoch was defeated by William Jones of the Reform Party, but Murdoch defeated Jones in turn in 1928 when he stood for the United Party.[10] After two parliamentary terms, Murdoch was defeated in 1935 by James Barclay of the Labour Party.[11] In 1943, Murdoch, now standing for the National Party, defeated Barclay and won the electorate back, and held it until he retired in 1954.[11]

Members of Parliament

Key

  Independent     Liberal     Reform  
  United     Labour     National  
Election Winner
1859 supplementary election James Farmer
1861 election John Munro
1866 election Francis Hull
1869 by-election John Munro
1871 election
1876 election Sir Robert Douglas
1879 election William Colbeck
1881 election Edwin Mitchelson
1884 election
1887 election Robert Thompson 1
1890 election
1893 election
1896 election
1899 election
1902 election Francis Mander 2
1905 election
1908 election
1911 election
1914 election
1919 election
1922 election Alfred Murdoch 3
1925 election William Jones
1928 election Alfred Murdoch 3
1931 election
1935 election James Barclay
1938 election
1943 election Alfred Murdoch 3
1946 election
1949 election
1951 election
1954 election Donald McKay
1957 election
1960 election
1963 election
1966 election
1969 election
(Electorate abolished 1972)

1 Independent Conservative; then Liberal; then Independent; then Independent Liberal

2 Independent; then Reform

3 Independent Liberal; then United; then National

Election results

1943 election

General election, 1943: Marsden[12][ob 1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Alfred Murdoch 6,202 52.58 +4.95
Labour James Gillespie Barclay 5,196 44.05 -8.32
Democratic Labour Ernest Petty 398 3.37
Majority 1,006 8.53 +3.79
Informal votes 110 0.92 +0.56
Turnout 11,906 95.18 +0.09
Registered electors 12,509

Table footnotes:

  1. ↑ Registered electors refers to civilian voters only; nationwide, 93,295 servicemen also cast valid votes although their names did not appear on electoral rolls.[13]

1938 election

General election, 1938: Marsden[14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Gillespie Barclay 6,157 52.37
National Alfred Murdoch 5,600 47.63
Majority 557 4.74
Informal votes 43 0.36
Turnout 11,800 95.08
Registered electors 12,410

1931 election

General election, 1931: Marsden[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Alfred Murdoch 5,838 66.84 +22.73
Labour James Gillespie Barclay 2,896 33.16
Majority 2,942 33.68 +28.63
Informal votes 144 1.62 +0.87
Turnout 8,878 81.46 -6.46
Registered electors 10,898

1928 election

General election, 1928: Marsden[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Alfred Murdoch 3,925 44.12 +3.42
Reform William Jones 3,475 39.06 -9.46
Labour William Henry Chetham 1,299 14.60
Independent Albert Hugh Curtis 198 2.23
Majority 450 5.06 -2.76
Informal votes 67 0.75 +0.09
Turnout 8,964 87.93 -2.84
Registered electors 10,195

1925 election

General election, 1925: Marsden[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform William Jones 4,038 48.52 -0.56
United Alfred Murdoch 3,387 40.70 -10.22
Labour Arthur Shapton Richards 897 10.78
Majority 651 7.82 +5.98
Informal votes 55 0.66 -0.62
Turnout 8,377 90.77 +3.71
Registered electors 9,229

1922 election

General election, 1922: Marsden[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Alfred Murdoch 3,752 50.92 +14.90
Reform William Jones 3,616 49.08
Majority 136 1.85 -1.37
Informal votes 95 1.27 -0.53
Turnout 7,463 87.06 +8.35
Registered electors 8,572

1919 election

General election, 1919: Marsden[20][21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Francis Mander 2,307 39.24
Independent Liberal Alfred Murdoch 2,118 36.03
Independent Donald Alexander McLean 850 14.46
Independent Albert Hugh Curtis 604 10.27
Majority 189 3.21
Informal votes 108 1.80
Turnout 5,987 78.71
Registered electors 7,606

1899 election

General election, 1899: Marsden[22][23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Liberal Robert Thompson 2,205 59.42
Opposition George Alderton 891 24.01
Independent Charles Mackesy 615 16.57
Majority 1,314 35.41
Turnout 3,711 66.97
Registered electors 5,541

Notes

  1. ↑ McRobie 1989, pp. 29.
  2. ↑ McRobie 1989, p. 28.
  3. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 195.
  4. 1 2 Scholefield 1925, p. 120.
  5. ↑ "The General Election, 1887". National Library. 1887. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  6. ↑ Hamer, David (1988). The New Zealand Liberals: The Years of Power, 1891–1912 (1st ed.). Auckland: Auckland University Press. pp. 168, 169, 367. ISBN 1-86940-014-3.
  7. ↑ Gustafson 1986, p. 335.
  8. 1 2 Wilson 1985, p. 218.
  9. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 222.
  10. ↑ Wilson 1985, pp. 209, 222.
  11. 1 2 Wilson 1985, pp. 182, 222.
  12. ↑ The General Election, 1943. National Library. 1944. p. 6. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  13. ↑ McRobie 1989, p. 92.
  14. ↑ "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. p. 3. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  15. ↑ "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald LXXV (23181). 29 October 1938. p. 25. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  16. ↑ The General Election, 1931. Government Printer. 1932. p. 3. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  17. ↑ The General Election, 1928. Government Printer. 1929. p. 3. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  18. ↑ The General Election, 1925. Government Printer. 1926. p. 1. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  19. ↑ The General Election, 1922. Government Printer. 1923. p. 1. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  20. ↑ The New Zealand Official Year-Book. Government Printer. 1920. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  21. ↑ "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald LVI (17339). 10 December 1919. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  22. ↑ "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 1. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  23. ↑ "Electoral District of Marsden". The Northern Advocate. 16 December 1899. p. 4. Retrieved 15 February 2014.

References

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