1893 general election Turnout 75.3%
Results of the election.
The 1893 New Zealand general election was held on 28 November and 20 December in the European and Māori electorates , respectively, to elect 74 MPs to the 12th session of the New Zealand Parliament . The election was won by the Liberal Party , and Richard Seddon became prime minister.
1893 was the year universal suffrage was granted to women over 21 (including Māori), plural registration was abolished, plural voting for Māori property-owners was abolished, and only those whose descent was exactly half Māori were allowed to choose whether to vote in European or Māori electorates. Women's suffrage was the most consequential change.
1892 electoral redistribution
The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1890 for the 1890 election . The 1891 New Zealand census was the first to automatically trigger an electoral redistribution, which was undertaken in 1892. The population drift to the North Island resulted in the transfer of one electorate from the south to the north. Only three electorates remained with unaltered boundaries: Thames , Wairarapa , and Timaru . 14 new electorates were established, and of those, eight electorates were established for the first time: Bay of Plenty , Otaki , Pareora , Patea , Riccarton , Waiapu , Waimea-Sounds , and Wellington Suburbs . The remaining six electorates had existed before, and they were re-established for the 12th Parliament: Caversham , Chalmers , Lyttelton , Rangitata , Waihemo , and Waipa .
Women's suffrage
Kate Sheppard National Memorial in Christchurch adjacent to Our City . The figures shown from left to right are Amey Daldy , Kate Sheppard , Ada Wells and Harriet Morison
By far the most notable change for the 1893 election was that the Electoral Act, 1893, extended the franchise to all women (including Māori ) aged 21 and over. Women's suffrage was granted after about two decades of campaigning by women such as Kate Sheppard and Mary Ann Müller and organisations such as the New Zealand branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union led by Anne Ward .[ 4] Of countries presently independent, New Zealand was the first to give women the vote in modern times.[ 5] John Hall , a Conservative politician and former premier , received most of the credit for pushing the legislation through Parliament; he is the only male who has his name inscribed on the Kate Sheppard National Memorial .[ 5] There were only 10 weeks between the passage of the legislation and the election, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) set about to enrol as many women as possible.[ 4]
The bill had passed under the Liberal government which generally advocated social and political reform, but only due to a combination of personality issues and political accident. Seddon opposed it (unlike many other Liberals) because many women supported prohibition. He had expected to stop the bill in the upper house, but found that one more vote was needed. Thomas Kelly , a new Liberal Party councillor had left himself paired in favour of the measure, but Seddon obtained his consent by wire to change his vote. Seddon's manipulation so incensed two opposition councillors, William Reynolds and Edward Stevens that they changed sides and voted for the bill, which was passed by 20 votes to 18 so giving the vote to women.[ 6] Both the Liberals and the Conservatives subsequently claimed credit for sponsoring the enfranchisement of women and both sought to acquire women's votes, although the Liberals benefitted more.
The election
The 1893 election was held on Tuesday, 28 November in the general electorates, and on Wednesday, 20 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 12th Parliament.[ 8] [ 9]
A total number of 302,997 (75.3%) voters turned out to vote.[ 10] 65% of all eligible New Zealand women voted in the 1893 election.[ 4] In 3 seats there was only one candidate. 31 and 39 electorates were in the North Island and South Island , respectively, plus the 4 Māori electorates.
Results
An 1893 cartoon depicting William Rolleston urging women to vote for the Conservative Party to whom they "owe the franchise".
Party totals
The following table gives party strengths and vote distribution according to Wilson (1985), who records Maori representatives as Independents prior to the 1905 election .
Election results
Party
Candidates
Total votes
Percentage
Seats won
Change
Liberal
103
175,814
57.80%
51
+11
Conservative
55
74,482
24.49%
13
-12
Independent
49
53,880
17.71%
10
+1
Total
207
302,997
74
Votes summary
Popular Vote
Liberal and Liberal-Labour
57.80%
Conservative
24.49%
Independents
17.71%
Parliament seats
Liberal
68.91%
Conservative
17.58%
Independents
13.51%
Electorate results
The following is a table of electorate results by electorate.
Key
Liberal
Conservative
Liberal–Labour
Independent Liberal
Independent
Electorate results for the 1893 New Zealand general election[ 14] [ 15] [ 16]
Electorate
Incumbent
Winner
Majority
Runner up
General electorates
Ashburton
Edward George Wright
John McLachlan
26
Cathcart Wason
Ashley
Richard Meredith
590
David Duncan Macfarlane
Auckland, City of
John Shera
George Grey
2,233
Thomas Tudehope[ nb 1] [ 17]
Thomas Thompson
William Crowther
438
Alfred Cadman
Charles Button
68
Avon
Edwin Blake
William Tanner
653
George McIntyre
Awarua
Joseph Ward
Uncontested
Bay of Islands
Robert Houston
231
James Trounsen[ 18]
Bay of Plenty
New electorate
William Kelly
209
Henry Burton[ 19]
Bruce
James Allen
Uncontested
Buller
Eugene O'Conor
Roderick McKenzie
213
Eugene O'Conor
Caversham
New electorate
Arthur Morrison
136
William Barron
Chalmers
New electorate
John A. Millar
119
Edmund Allen
Christchurch, City of
William Pember Reeves
1,848
Ebenezer Sandford [ nb 2]
Ebenezer Sandford
George Smith
916
Richard Molesworth Taylor
William Whitehouse Collins
281
Clutha
Thomas Mackenzie
832
James Burgh[ 20]
Dunedin, City of
David Pinkerton
1,294
Henry Fish [ nb 3]
Henry Fish
William Earnshaw
589
William Hutchison
294
Eden
Edwin Mitchelson
1,161
Malcolm Niccol [ 21]
Egmont
Felix McGuire
135
Benjamin Robbins
Ellesmere
John Hall
William Montgomery
293
William Rolleston
Franklin
Ebenezer Hamlin
Benjamin Harris
89
William Massey
Grey
Arthur Guinness
1,723
Richard Nancarrow
Hawke's Bay
William Russell
70
Charles William Reardon[ 22]
Inangahua
Robert Stout
Patrick O'Regan
204
William Goodwin Collings
Invercargill
James Whyte Kelly
1,242
Joseph Hatch
Kaiapoi
Richard Moore
David Buddo
87
Richard Moore
Lyttelton
New electorate
John Joyce
1,041
Edwin Blake
Manukau
Frank Buckland
Maurice O'Rorke
252
Frank Buckland
Marsden
Robert Thompson [ nb 4]
1,010
James Harrison[ 18]
Masterton
Alexander Hogg
1,228
Joseph Harkness
Mataura
George Richardson
Robert McNab
119
George Richardson
Napier
George Swan
Samuel Carnell
520
George Swan
Nelson
Joseph Harkness
John Graham
279
Richmond Hursthouse
New Plymouth
Edward Smith
491
Robert Trimble
Oamaru
Thomas Duncan
416
PB Fraser
Otaki
New electorate
James Wilson
195
Donald Fraser[ 23]
Palmerston
James Wilson
Frederick Pirani
203
George Matthew Snelson [ 24]
Pareora
New electorate
Frederick Flatman
217
Arthur Rhodes
Parnell
Frank Lawry
334
William Shepherd Allen
Patea
New electorate
George Hutchison
673
William Cowern
Rangitata
New electorate
William Maslin
67
Edward George Wright
Rangitikei
Robert Bruce
John Stevens
176
Frank Lethbridge
Riccarton
New electorate
George Warren Russell
106
William Boag
Selwyn
Alfred Saunders
232
Thomas Hamilton Anson
Taieri
Walter Carncross
76
John Buckland
Thames
James McGowan
311
Edmund Taylor
Timaru
William Hall-Jones
407
Edward George Kerr
Tuapeka
Hugh Valentine
Vincent Pyke
340
Charles Rawlins
Waihemo
New electorate
John McKenzie
324
Scobie Mackenzie
Waiapu
New electorate
James Carroll
497
Cecil de Lautour
Waikato
Edward Lake
Alfred Cadman
75
Isaac Coates [ 15]
Waikouaiti
James Green
510
George J. Bruce[ 25]
Waimea-Sounds
New electorate
Charles H. Mills
333
H Everett
Waipa
New electorate
Frederic Lang
989
Gerald Peacock[ 26]
Waipawa
William Smith
Charles Hall
378
George Hunter
Wairarapa
Walter Clarke Buchanan
690
George Augustus Fairbrother[ 27]
Wairau
Lindsay Buick
322
William Sinclair
Waitaki
John McKenzie
William Steward
1,062
Thomas Paterson[ 28]
Waitemata
Jackson Palmer
Richard Monk
239
Jackson Palmer
Wakatipu
Thomas Fergus
William Fraser
326
John O'Meara
Wallace
James Mackintosh
433
Henry Hirst
Wanganui
Archibald Willis
197
Gilbert Carson
Wellington, City of
John Duthie
Kennedy Macdonald
George Fisher
Francis Bell
William McLean
Sir Robert Stout
Wellington Suburbs
New electorate
Alfred Newman
124
Thomas Wilford
Westland
Richard Seddon
Uncontested
Māori electorates [ nb 5]
Eastern Maori
James Carroll
Wi Pere
1,399
Hoani Paraone Tunuiarangi
Northern Maori
Eparaima Te Mutu Kapa
Hone Heke Ngapua
507
Eparaima Te Mutu Kapa
Southern Maori
Tame Parata
185
Teoti Pita Mutu
Western Maori
Hoani Taipua
Ropata Te Ao
90
Pepene Eketone
Table footnotes:
^ Majority is difference in votes to fourth candidate
^ Majority is difference in votes to fourth candidate
^ Majority is difference in votes to fourth candidate
^ Robert Thompson was an Independent in the previous Parliament
^ The affiliation of many of the Māori candidates is unknown or uncertain
Notes
^ a b c Malcolm, Tessa K. "Sheppard, Katherine Wilson" . Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture and Heritage . Retrieved 2 December 2013 .
^ a b "One giant leap for womankind" . The New Zealand Herald . 13 November 2013. pp. F24 – F25 . Retrieved 21 February 2015 .
^ Women's Suffrage in New Zealand by Patricia Grimshaw, p 92. (1972, Auckland University Press)
^ "The General Election, 1893" . National Library. 1894. pp. 1– 4. Retrieved 25 February 2012 .
^ "The general Election" . Otago Daily Times . 23 December 1893. p. 2. Retrieved 23 August 2011 .
^ "General elections 1853-2005 - dates & turnout" . Elections New Zealand. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2010 .
^ "The General Election, 1893" . National Library . 1894. pp. 1– 4. Retrieved 19 November 2013 .
^ a b "The General Election" . Otago Daily Times . 28 November 1893. p. 6. Retrieved 28 November 2013 .
^ "General Election" . Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate . Vol. 4, no. 91. 1 December 1893. p. 2. Retrieved 13 September 2016 .
^ "Electorate City of Auckland" . Auckland Star . Vol. XXIV, no. 273. 17 November 1893. p. 3. Retrieved 28 November 2013 .
^ a b "Page 4 Advertisements Column 3" . The Northern Advocate . 25 November 1893. p. 4. Retrieved 19 November 2013 .
^ "Public Notice" . Bay of Plenty Times . 20 November 1893. p. 5. Retrieved 28 November 2013 .
^ "Political News" . Tuapeka Times . Vol. XXV, no. 4049. 11 November 1893. p. 3. Retrieved 14 August 2016 .
^ Scholefield, Guy , ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L (PDF) . Vol. I. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs . p. 124. Retrieved 26 August 2016 .
^ "Hawke's Bay Electorate" . Hawke's Bay Herald . Vol. XXVIII, no. 9544. 2 December 1893. p. 3. Retrieved 30 November 2013 .
^ "The Otaki Election" . Manawatu Herald . 16 November 1893. p. 3. Retrieved 23 August 2016 .
^ "The Palmerston Election" . Feilding Star . Vol. XV, no. 125. 25 November 1893. p. 3. Retrieved 23 August 2016 .
^ "Waikouaiti Electoral District" . Otago Daily Times . No. 9901. 21 November 1893. p. 3. Retrieved 23 August 2016 .
^ "The General Elections" . The Press . Vol. L, no. 8651. 28 November 1893. p. 6. Retrieved 29 November 2013 .
^ Cyclopedia Company Limited (1897). "Borough Of Carterton". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Wellington Provincial District . Wellington: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand . Retrieved 30 November 2013 .
^ "The Oamaru Mail" . Vol. XVIII, no. 5804. 28 November 1893. p. 2. Retrieved 23 August 2016 .
References
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 .
Brooking, Tom (1988). Milestones: Turning Points in New Zealand History . Lower Hutt : Mills Publications. ISBN 0-908722-30-3 .
External links