City of Auckland (New Zealand electorate)
# City of Auckland (New Zealand electorate)

City of Auckland was a New Zealand electorate formed for the election of 1853. It covered the core of Auckland during the early days of New Zealand democracy, when the city was small enough to be covered by two or three seats. It existed from 1853 to 1860, and from 1890 to 1905.

## Population centres

The City of Auckland electorate was one of the original electorates, and was used in the country's first election. It covered a territory roughly corresponding to the central business district of the city today, and was surrounded by another electorate called Auckland Suburbs. As the city was growing rapidly, however, the electorate did not last long – in the 1860 election, it was divided into Auckland East and Auckland West.

At the 1890 election, however, the total number of seats was reduced. This necessitated the re-creation of a seat to cover all of inner Auckland. This was accomplished by merging most of Auckland Central, Auckland West, Auckland North and Ponsonby, and taking a considerable amount of Parnell. In the 1893 election, the seat absorbed most of Newton electorate, but lost some of its southern territories to the remnants of Parnell. In 1902 election, Grey Lynn was split away into its own electorate. In the 1905 election, the remainder of the electorate was split in three, becoming Auckland Central, Auckland East, and Auckland West.

## History

The 1890 election was contested by seven candidates. John Shera, Thomas Thompson and William Lee Rees received 2006, 1860 and 1761 votes, respectively, and were elected. Adam Porter, William Joseph Napier, James Wallis and Harry Farnall received 1501, 1319, 748 and 262 votes, respectively, and were unsuccessful.

### Members of Parliament

Key

Independent  Liberal  Conservative

| Election | Winner(s) | Winner(s) | Winner(s) |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1853 election | Thomas Bartley | Loughlin O'Brien | James O'Neill |
| 1854 by-election | William Brown | Loughlin O'Brien | James O'Neill |
| 1855 election | Thomas Beckham | William Daldy | Logan Campbell |
| 1858 by-election | Thomas Beckham | William Daldy | Thomas Forsaith |
| 1860 by-election | Archibald Clark | William Daldy | Thomas Forsaith |
| (Electorate abolished 1861–1890 and split in two, see Auckland East and Auckland West; from 1887 to 1890 also Auckland Central) |||||||
| 1890 election | William Lee Rees | John Shera | Thomas Thompson |
| 1893 by-election | Alfred Cadman | John Shera | Thomas Thompson |
| 1893 election | Charles Button | William Crowther | George Grey |
| 1895 by-election | Charles Button | William Crowther | Thomas Thompson |
| 1896 election | James Job Holland | William Crowther | Thomas Thompson |
| 1899 election | William Napier | William Crowther | George Fowlds |
| 1900 by-election | William Napier | Joseph Witheford | George Fowlds |
| 1902 election | Frederick Baume | Joseph Witheford | Alfred Kidd |
| (Electorate abolished 1905 and split in three, see Auckland Central, Auckland East, and Auckland West) |||||||

## Election results

### 1902 election

1902 general election: Auckland :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal | Joseph Witheford | 7,854 | 58.73 | |
| | Liberal | Frederick Baume | 7,540 | 56.38 | |
| | Liberal | Alfred Kidd | 5,786 | 43.26 | |
| | Conservative | William Richardson | 4,852 | 36.28 | |
| | Liberal | William Joseph Napier | 4,271 | 31.93 | -15.36 |
| | Labour | Arthur Rosser | 3,504 | 26.20 | -1.03 |
| | Independent Liberal | Robert French | 3,055 | 22.84 | +12.24 |
| | Independent | John Henry Hannan | 2,016 | 15.07 | |
| | Labour | John Fawcus | 966 | 7.22 | |
| | Conservative | Albert Penn Bradly | 217 | 1.62 | |
| | Independent | H N Simson | 58 | 0.43 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 934 | 6.98 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 13,373 | 66.94 | -3.37 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 19,976 | | |

### 1900 by-election

City of Auckland by-election, 1900 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal | Joseph Witheford | 4,927 | 44.79 | |
| | Conservative | Richard Hobbs | 2,823 | 25.66 | -10.39 |
| | Liberal | James Job Holland | 2,236 | 20.32 | -15.80 |
| | Conservative | William Richardson | 991 | 9.00 | |
| | Labour | Leonard William Snellar Small | 23 | 0.20 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,104 | 19.12 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,000 | | |

### 1899 election

1899 general election: Auckland :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal | William Joseph Napier | 6,097 | 47.29 | |
| | Conservative | William Crowther | 5,595 | 43.40 | +17.72 |
| | Liberal | George Fowlds | 4,751 | 36.85 | -12.07 |
| | Liberal | James Job Holland | 4,657 | 36.12 | -15.19 |
| | Conservative | Richard Hobbs | 4,647 | 36.05 | |
| | Liberal | Frederick Baume | 3,792 | 29.41 | |
| | Liberal–Labour | Arthur Rosser | 3,511 | 27.23 | -10.87 |
| | Conservative | Samuel Vaile | 2,456 | 19.05 | |
| | Liberal–Labour | James Regan | 1,470 | 11.40 | |
| | Independent Liberal | Robert French | 1,366 | 10.60 | |
| | Independent Liberal | Patrick Quinlan | 334 | 2.59 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 94 | 0.73 | -10.09 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,892 | 70.31 | +9.56 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 18,336 | | |

### 1896 election

1896 general election: Auckland :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal | Thomas Thompson | 7,192 | 58.60 | +19.85 |
| | Liberal | James Job Holland | 6,298 | 51.32 | |
| | Conservative | William Crowther | 6,004 | 48.92 | +3.96 |
| | Liberal–Labour | Arthur Rosser | 4,676 | 38.10 | |
| | Conservative | Charles Button | 4,008 | 32.66 | -8.68 |
| | Conservative | Edwin Mitchelson | 3,620 | 29.50 | |
| | Liberal | George Fowlds | 3,152 | 25.68 | |
| | Liberal–Labour | John Fawcus | 906 | 7.38 | |
| | Liberal | John Shera | 609 | 4.96 | -2.82 |
| | Independent | Ernest Eugster | 354 | 2.88 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,328 | 10.82 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,273 | 60.75 | +0.02 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 20,204 | | |

### 1895 by-election

1895 City of Auckland by-election :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal | Thomas Thompson | 5,528 | 60.99 |
| | Conservative | Richard Monk | 3,535 | 39.01 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,993 | 21.99 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,063 | |

### 1893 election

1893 general election: City of Auckland :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Independent | George Grey | 6,379 | 62.57 | |
| | Liberal | William Crowther | 4,584 | 44.96 | |
| | Conservative | Charles Button | 4,214 | 41.34 | |
| | Conservative | Thomas Tudehope | 4,146 | 40.67 | |
| | Liberal | Thomas Thompson | 3,950 | 38.75 | -20.23 |
| | Liberal | William Joseph Napier | 3,531 | 34.64 | -7.18 |
| | Independent Liberal | Edward Withy | 2,393 | 23.47 | |
| | Liberal | John Shera | 793 | 7.78 | -55.85 |
| | Liberal | Samuel Vaile | 502 | 4.92 | |
| | Liberal | Thomas Fernandez | 92 | 0.90 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 68 | 0.67 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,195 | 60.73 | +14.30 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 16,788 | | |

### 1893 by-election

1893 City of Auckland by-election :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal | Alfred Cadman | 1,888 | 62.51 |
| | Liberal | William Lee Rees | 1,132 | 37.48 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 751 | 24.86 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,020 | |

### 1890 election

1890 general election: City of Auckland :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal | John Shera | 2,006 | 63.63 |
| | Liberal | Thomas Thompson | 1,860 | 58.98 |
| | Liberal | William Lee Rees | 1,761 | 55.86 |
| | Independent | Adam Porter | 1,501 | 47.61 |
| | Liberal | William Joseph Napier | 1,319 | 41.82 |
| | Conservative | James Wallis | 748 | 23.70 |
| | Independent | H W Farnall | 262 | 8.31 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 505 | 15.99 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,457 | 46.43 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 6,788 | |

### 1853 election

1853 general election: Auckland :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Independent | Loughlin O'Brien | 415 | 84.46 |
| | Independent | James O'Neill | 391 | 79.58 |
| | Independent | Thomas Bartley | 269 | 54.75 |
| | Independent | John Makepeace | 257 | 52.31 |
| | Independent | William Daldy | 142 | 28.90 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12 | 2.44 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 491 | 62.27 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 789 | |

Table footnotes:

* ↑ Majority is difference between lowest winning poll (Bartley – 269) and highest losing poll (Makepeace – 257).
* ↑ As electors had three votes each, turnout is assumed to be the sum of votes divided by three.
