Cheviot was a parliamentary
electorate
Electorate may refer to:
* The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate''
* The dominion of a prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806
* An electoral district
...
in the
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
region of New Zealand, from 1858 to 1890. It was named after what was then one of the country's largest sheep stations, Cheviot Hills.
Population centres
The initial 24 New Zealand electorates were defined by Governor
George Grey
Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Gov ...
in March 1853, based on the
New Zealand Constitution Act 1852
The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 ( 15 & 16 Vict. c. 72) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that granted self-government to the Colony of New Zealand. It was the second such act, the New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 not ...
that had been passed by the British government. The Constitution Act also allowed the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
to establish new electorates, and this was first done in 1858, when four new electorates were formed by splitting existing electorates. Cheviot was one of those four electorates, and it was established in areas that previously belonged to the and electorates.
The Cheviot electorate was entirely rural. The returning officer,
Leslie Lee, decided on two polling stations for the first election in December 1859, and they were both
sheep stations of
runholders:
Robinson Robinson may refer to:
People and names
* Robinson (name)
Fictional characters
* Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719
Geography
* Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 19 ...
's station Cheviot Hills, and Mason's Old Station at Waituhi Creek.
History
The first election in the Cheviot electorate was held on 18 December 1859, which was partway through the term of the
2nd New Zealand Parliament
The 2nd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 15 April 1856, following New Zealand's 1855 election. It was dissolved on 5 November 1860 in preparation for 1860–61 election. The 2nd Parliament was th ...
.
Edward Jollie
Edward Jollie (1 September 1825 – 7 August 1894) was a pioneer land surveyor in New Zealand, initially as a cadet surveyor with the New Zealand Company. The Christchurch Central City is laid out to his survey.
Biography
Jollie was born in ...
was the first representative.
Charles Hunter Brown
Charles Hunter Brown (1825–1898) was a New Zealand politician from Canterbury, New Zealand.
He represented Christchurch Country in the 2nd Parliament in 1860
Events
January
* January 2 – The astronomer Urbain Le Verrie ...
announced his candidacy for the 1 March 1861 election long before the election date was set.
Frederick Weld
Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld (9 May 1823 – 20 July 1891), was an English-born New Zealand politician and colonial administrator of various British colonies and territories located in Oceania and Southeast Asia. He was the sixth Prime Minis ...
was narrowly defeated in the 15 February 1861 election in the electorate and subsequently became a candidate in Cheviot, where he defeated Brown.
In the
1866 election,
David Monro was declared elected unopposed.
was the only representative who did not serve through his whole term – he resigned on 2 April 1878. The subsequent
1878 by-election, held on 27 May, was won by
Alfred Saunders
Alfred Saunders (12 June 1820 – 28 October 1905) was a New Zealand farmer, reformer, women's suffrage and temperance advocate and politician. He was Superintendent of Nelson Province and represented several electorate in the New Zealand Hous ...
.
The electorate was abolished in 1890.
Election results
The electorate was represented by eight
Members of Parliament:
Key
Election results
1878 by-election
1861 election
See also
*History and naming of the town of
Cheviot
Notes
References
*
*
{{Historic electorates of New Zealand , state=collapsed
Historical electorates of New Zealand
1858 establishments in New Zealand
1890 disestablishments in New Zealand