Ashley (New Zealand electorate)

Ashley was a New Zealand electorate situated north of Christchurch. It was in use from 1866 to 1902, and was replaced with the Hurunui electorate.

Population centres

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

The Ashley electorate was formed from a corner of Cheviot electorate, and included the towns of Ashley, Amberley, and Oxford. The electorate's boundaries remained roughly the same until the 1881 election, when it expanded slightly into Kaiapoi electorate and Amberley was returned to Cheviot. In the 1887 election, the electorate expanded westwards into Cheviot's southern tip. In the 1890 election, Cheviot itself was abolished, and the majority of its territory was absorbed into Ashley — to compensate, territory was taken from Ashley in the south and given to Kaiapoi. In the 1893 election, Ashley expanded further north, taking the town of Kaikōura from Wairau electorate, but ceded Oxford to Kaiapoi in the south. In the 1902 election, Ashley was dissolved, being replaced with an electorate called Hurunui, covering much the same area.

History

The first representative was Lancelot Walker, who won the 1866 election unopposed.^[2] Walker resigned in the following year^[3] and was succeeded by Henry Tancred in the 1867 by-election; Tancred was also unopposed.^[4]^[5] Tancred retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1870^[4] and was succeeded by John Evans Brown, who won the election against two others.^[6]^[7] At the 1876 election, Brown was challenged by William Miles Maskell, who had been one of his opponents in 1871, but Brown retained his seat.^[8]

For the 1879 election, three candidates contested the election, with William Sefton Moorhouse gaining an absolute majority.^[9] The 1881 election was contested by five candidates, with William Fisher Pearson the winner.^[10] In the 1884 election, Pearson had a dominant win over one challenger.^[11]

In the 1890 election, the electorate was contested by Richard Meredith, James Dupré Lance and John George Knight,^[12] who received 648, 611 and 137 votes, respectively. Meredith was thus declared elected.^[13]

Members of Parliament

Key

Independent Liberal

Election	Winner
1866 election		Lancelot Walker
1867 by-election		Henry Tancred^[4]
1871 election^[14]		John Brown
1876 election^[15]		John Brown
1879 election^[16]		William Moorhouse
1881 election		William Pearson
1884 election
1887 election
1888 by-election		John Verrall
1890 election		Richard Meredith
1893 election
1896 election
1899 election
(Electorate abolished in 1902; see Hurunui)

Election results

1899 election

1899 general election: Ashley^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Meredith	1,943	61.98	+11.34
	Conservative	Thomas Caverhill	1,192	38.02
Majority			751	23.96	+12.87
Turnout			3,135	70.15	−12.51
Registered electors			4,469

1896 election

1896 general election: Ashley^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Meredith	1,700	50.64	−8.20
	Conservative	Henry Fear Reece	1,328	39.56
	Liberal	George Renner	329	9.80
Majority			372	11.08
Turnout			3,357	82.66	+12.25
Registered electors			4,061

1893 election

1893 general election: Ashley^[19]^[20]^[21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Meredith	1,668	58.84	+12.61
	Conservative	David Duncan Macfarlane	1,078	38.02
	Liberal	David Dick	89	3.14
Majority			590	20.81	+18.51
Turnout			2,835	70.42

1890 election

1890 general election: Ashley^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Richard Meredith	643	46.22
	Independent	James Dupré Lance	611	43.92
	Liberal	John George Knight	137	9.84
Majority			38	2.73
Turnout			1,391	55.90
Registered electors			2,488

1888 by-election

1888 Ashley by-election^[22]^[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Verrall	234	33.86	+21.67
	Independent	Alfred Saunders	232	33.57
	Independent	Marmaduke Dixon^[24]^[25]	225	32.56
Majority			2	0.29	−27.21
Turnout			691

1887 election

1887 general election: Ashley^[26]^[27]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Fisher Pearson	501	57.65	−25.28
	Independent	Robert Luke Higgins	262	30.15
	Independent	John Verrall	106	12.20
Majority			239	27.50	−38.36
Turnout			869	58.96	25.03
Registered electors			1,474

1884 election

1884 general election: Ashley^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Fisher Pearson	413	82.93	+38.01
	Independent	Peter Duncan	85	17.07
Majority			328	65.86	+44.51
Turnout			498	33.92	−25.18
Registered electors			1,468

1881 election

1881 general election: Ashley^[10]^[28]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Fisher Pearson	385	44.92
	Independent	James Guild	202	23.57
	Independent	Marmaduke Dixon	158	18.44
	Independent	James Alexander Cunningham	104	12.14	+3.44
	Independent	William Patterson	8	0.93
Majority			183	21.35	11.61
Turnout			857	59.10
Registered electors			1,450

1879 election

1879 general election: Ashley^[9]^[29]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Sefton Moorhouse	337	50.52
	Independent	Walpole Cheshire Fendall	272	40.78
	Independent	James Alexander Cunningham	58	8.70
Majority			65	9.75	−5.72
Informal votes
Turnout			686
Registered electors

1875–1876 election

1875–1876 general election: Ashley^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Evans Brown	265	57.73	+4.30
	Independent	William Miles Maskell	194	42.27	+21.33
Majority			71	15.47	−12.34
Turnout			459
Registered electors

1871 election

1871 general election: Ashley^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	John Evans Brown	171	53.44
	Independent	Albert Charles Gray	82	25.63
	Independent	William Miles Maskell	67	20.94
Majority			89	27.81
Turnout			320
Registered electors

Notes

^ McRobie 1989, p. 36.
^ "Ashley election". The Press. Vol. IX, no. 1035. 3 March 1866. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
^ Wilson 1985.
^ ^a ^b ^c Parton, H. N. "Tancred, Henry John". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
^ "Ashley Election". Lyttelton Times. Vol. XXVIII, no. 2070. 9 August 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2020 – via Papers Past.
^ Wilson 1985, p. 186.
^ ^a ^b "The general elections". The Star. No. 852. 20 February 1871. p. 3. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b "The elections". The Press. Vol. XXV, no. 3235. 13 January 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b "The elections". Globe. Vol. XXI, no. 1739. 16 September 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b Cooper, G. S. (1882). Votes Recorded for Each Candidate. Government Printer. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b Cooper, G. S. (1884). The General Election, 1884. National Library. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
^ "Ashley Electoral District". The Press. Vol. XLVIL, no. 7721. 28 November 1890. p. 8. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
^ ^a ^b "The General Election, 1890". National Library. 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
^ "The General Elections". The Star. No. 852. 20 February 1871. p. 3. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
^ "Ashley Polling". The Star. No. 2435. 12 January 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
^ "The General Assembly Elections". Vol. XXIII, no. 3454. Grey River Argus. 13 September 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
^ "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
^ "Ashley". The Press. Vol. LIII, no. 9592. 5 December 1896. p. 8. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
^ "The General Election, 1893". National Library. 1894. p. 2. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
^ "Election Notices". The Press. Vol. L, no. 8656. 4 December 1893. p. 1. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
^ "Ashley". The Star. No. 4813. 29 November 1893. p. 1. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
^ "Page 1 Advertisements Column 5". The Press. Vol. XLV, no. 7124. 21 July 1888. p. 1. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
^ "Ashley Election". The Press. Vol. XLV, no. 7132. 31 July 1888. p. 5. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
^ Scholefield 1940, pp. 209f.
^ "Marmaduke Dixon – 1828–1895". Waimakariri Libraries. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
^ "The General Election, 1887". National Library. 1887. p. 2. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
^ "Ashley". The Press. Vol. XLIV, no. 6861. 20 September 1887. p. 6. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
^ "Ashley". Globe. Vol. XXIII, no. 2393. 3 December 1881. p. 3. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
^ McRobie 1989, p. 44.

References

McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L (PDF). Vol. I. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

[FOOTNOTEMcRobie198936-1] McRobie 1989, p. 36.

[2] "Ashley election". The Press. Vol. IX, no. 1035. 3 March 1866. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2020.

[FOOTNOTEWilson1985-3] Wilson 1985.

[DNZB_Tancred-4] Parton, H. N. "Tancred, Henry John". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 9 March 2010.

[5] "Ashley Election". Lyttelton Times. Vol. XXVIII, no. 2070. 9 August 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2020 – via Papers Past.

[FOOTNOTEWilson1985186-6] Wilson 1985, p. 186.

[1871_election-7] "The general elections". The Star. No. 852. 20 February 1871. p. 3. Retrieved 21 December 2020.

[1875–1876_election-8] "The elections". The Press. Vol. XXV, no. 3235. 13 January 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2020.

[1879_election-9] "The elections". Globe. Vol. XXI, no. 1739. 16 September 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2020.

[1881_election-10] Cooper, G. S. (1882). Votes Recorded for Each Candidate. Government Printer. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2020.

[1884_election-11] Cooper, G. S. (1884). The General Election, 1884. National Library. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2020.

[12] "Ashley Electoral District". The Press. Vol. XLVIL, no. 7721. 28 November 1890. p. 8. Retrieved 22 November 2013.

[General_Election,_1890-13] "The General Election, 1890". National Library. 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 25 February 2012.

[1871_Ashley_election-14] "The General Elections". The Star. No. 852. 20 February 1871. p. 3. Retrieved 19 April 2010.

[1876_Ashley_election-15] "Ashley Polling". The Star. No. 2435. 12 January 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 23 April 2010.

[1879_elections-16] "The General Assembly Elections". Vol. XXIII, no. 3454. Grey River Argus. 13 September 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 24 March 2010.

[1899_election_results-17] "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 1 November 2012.

[18] "Ashley". The Press. Vol. LIII, no. 9592. 5 December 1896. p. 8. Retrieved 21 December 2020.

[1893_election-19] "The General Election, 1893". National Library. 1894. p. 2. Retrieved 26 March 2014.

[20] "Election Notices". The Press. Vol. L, no. 8656. 4 December 1893. p. 1. Retrieved 26 March 2014.

[21] "Ashley". The Star. No. 4813. 29 November 1893. p. 1. Retrieved 26 March 2014.

[22] "Page 1 Advertisements Column 5". The Press. Vol. XLV, no. 7124. 21 July 1888. p. 1. Retrieved 14 February 2014.

[1888_Ashley-23] "Ashley Election". The Press. Vol. XLV, no. 7132. 31 July 1888. p. 5. Retrieved 14 February 2014.

[FOOTNOTEScholefield1940209f-24] Scholefield 1940, pp. 209f.

[25] "Marmaduke Dixon – 1828–1895". Waimakariri Libraries. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.

[General_Election,_1887-26] "The General Election, 1887". National Library. 1887. p. 2. Retrieved 25 February 2012.

[27] "Ashley". The Press. Vol. XLIV, no. 6861. 20 September 1887. p. 6. Retrieved 14 February 2014.

[28] "Ashley". Globe. Vol. XXIII, no. 2393. 3 December 1881. p. 3. Retrieved 21 December 2020.

[FOOTNOTEMcRobie198944-29] McRobie 1989, p. 44.

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v t e Historical electorates of New Zealand « current electorates »
General electorates	Akaroa Albany Aoraki Arch Hill Ashburton Ashley Auckland Auckland East Auckland North Auckland Suburbs Auckland West Avon Awarua Bay of Islands Birkenhead Brooklyn Bruce Buller Caversham Chalmers Cheviot Christchurch Christchurch Country Christchurch North Christchurch South Christchurch West City of Auckland City of Christchurch City of Dunedin City of Nelson City of Wellington Clevedon Clive Clutha Clutha-Southland Coleridge Collingwood County of Hawke Courtenay Dunedin Central Dunedin Country Dunedin East Dunedin North Dunedin South Dunedin and Suburbs North Dunedin and Suburbs South Dunedin Suburbs Dunedin West Dunstan East Cape Eastern Bay of Plenty Eastern Hutt Eden Egmont Ellesmere Fendalton Far North Foxton Franklin Franklin North Franklin South Geraldine Gisborne Glenfield Gladstone Grey Grey and Bell Grey Lynn Greymouth Grey Valley Halswell Hamilton Hampden Hastings Hauraki Hawera Hawkes Bay Heathcote Helensville Henderson Heretaunga Hobson Hokitika Hokonui Horowhenua Howick Hunua Hurunui Hutt Inangahua Island Bay Kaiapoi Kaimai Kaipara Kapiti Karapiro Karori King Country Kumara Lincoln Linwood Lyttelton Mahia Manawatu Manuherikia Manukau Manukau East Maramarua Marlborough Marsden Masterton Matakana Matamata Mataura Mid-Canterbury Miramar Moeraki Mongonui Mongonui and Bay of Islands Mornington Motueka Motueka and Massacre Bay Mount Herbert Mount Ida Mount Victoria Newton Newtown Northern Division Oamaru Ohariu-Belmont Ohinemuri Omata Onehunga Onslow Oroua Otago Otago Central Otahuhu Otara Owairaka Pahiatua Palmerston Panmure Papanui Papatoetoe Pareora Parnell Patea Pencarrow Peninsula Pensioner Settlements Petone Piako Picton Ponsonby Porirua Port Chalmers Port Hills Raglan Rakaia Rangiora Rangiriri Remuera Riccarton Riverton Rodney Roskill Roslyn Ruahine St Albans St Kilda South Canterbury Southern Division Stanmore Stratford Suburbs of Auckland Suburbs of Nelson Sydenham Taranaki Tarawera Tasman Taumarunui Te Aro Te Aroha Temuka Thames Thorndon Timaru Titirangi Tongariro Totara Tuapeka Waiapu Waihemo Waikaia Waikaremoana Waikouaiti Waimarino Waimate Waimea Waimea-Picton Waimea-Sounds Waipa Waipareira Waipawa Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay Wairarapa North Wairarapa South Wairau Waitemata Waitakere Waitomo Waitotara Wakanui Wakatipu Wallace Wanganui and Rangitikei Wellington Wellington Country Wellington East Wellington-Karori Wellington North Wellington South Wellington South and Suburbs Wellington Suburbs Wellington Suburbs and Country Wellington West West Auckland West Coast Western Hutt Westland Westland North Westland South Woodville Yaldhurst
Māori electorates	Eastern Maori Hauraki Māori Northern Maori Southern Maori Tainui Te Puku O Te Whenua Te Tai Rawhiti Western Maori
Goldminers' electorates	Gold Fields Gold Field Towns Westland Boroughs