| 2nd Parliament of New Zealand | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | New Zealand Parliament | ||||
| Term | 15 April 1856 – 5 November 1860 | ||||
| Election | 1855 New Zealand general election | ||||
| Government | Sewell ministry(until 1856) First Fox ministry(1856) First Stafford ministry(from 1856) | ||||
| House of Representatives | |||||
| Members | 37 | ||||
| Speaker of the House | Sir Charles Clifford | ||||
| Colonial Secretary | Edward Stafford — from 2 June 1856 William Fox — 20 May – 2 June 1856 Henry Sewell — until 20 May 1856 | ||||
| Legislative Council | |||||
| Members | 13 (at start) 19 (at end) | ||||
| Speaker of the Council | Thomas Bartley —Frederick Whitaker until 12 May 1856 | ||||
| Sovereign | |||||
| Monarch | HMQueen Victoria | ||||
| Governor | HE Rt. HonColonel Thomas Browne | ||||
The2nd New Zealand Parliament was a term of theParliament of New Zealand. It opened on 15 April 1856, following New Zealand's1855 election. It was dissolved on 5 November 1860 in preparation for1860–61 election. The 2nd Parliament was the first under which New Zealand hadresponsible government, meaning that unlike previously, theCabinet was chosen (although not officially appointed) by Parliament rather than by the Governor-General of New Zealand.
At this time political parties had not been established (they were not established until after the1890 election), meaning that anyone attempting to form an administration had to win support directly from individual MPs. This made forming (and retaining) a government difficult. TheSewell Ministry, the firstresponsible government, led byHenry Sewell, lasted only two weeks. Thefirst Fox Ministry, the second responsible government, led byWilliam Fox, also lasted only two weeks. The third responsible government, thefirst Stafford Ministry, led byEdward Stafford, was more stable, governing for the remainder of the 2nd Parliament and for the beginning of the3rd.
Parliament sat for three sessions:[1]
| Session | from | to |
|---|---|---|
| First | 15 Apr 1856 | 16 Aug 1856 |
| Second | 10 Aug 1858 | 21 Aug 1858 |
| Third | 30 Jul 1860 | 5 Nov 1860 |
The 2nd Parliament, which initially used the same electoral boundaries as the1st Parliament, consisted of thirty-seven representatives representing twenty-four electorates. Two regions of the colony (the inland regions of the lowerNorth Island and the north-west corner of theSouth Island) were not part of any electorate, and so were not represented.
TheNew Zealand Constitution Act 1852 allowed the General Assembly to add or alter electorates whenever this was desired, and this was first done in 1858 as described below. The amendment changed the boundaries to some electorates andsupplementary elections were held the following year—held between 7 November and 18 December 1859—to fill vacancies.[2]
The turnover of MPs was very high in the 2nd Parliament, with 32 by-elections and a supplementary election being held. This situation was partly the result of a redistribution of boundaries to seven electorates, and the creation of four new electorates – agreed upon in theElectoral Districts Act, 1858, with the total number ofMPs in Parliament rising from 37 to 41, and the number of electorates rising from 24 to 28. The electoratesBay of Islands andNorthern Division were combined and then redivided, withMarsden resulting as a new electorate.[28] TheWairarapa and Hawke's Bay electorate was split into two separate components,Wairarapa andCounty of Hawke. All the previously unincorporated areas in the lowerNorth Island were divided between Wairarapa, County of Hawke,Wanganui and Rangitikei, andWellington Country.[29]
In theSouth Island, the southern portion ofWairau electorate, plus part ofChristchurch Country, became the newCheviot electorate.[30] The western portion ofDunedin Country was split off and became the newWallace electorate. The northwest of the South Island remained the colony's only territory not part of an electorate.[30]
Members of Parliament belonging to one of the electorates that was split could choose which of the two new electorates they would want to represent, and by-elections were held during 1859 in the thus unrepresented electorates.[2]
At the opening of the 6th session of the Parliament on 10 April 1858,[31] thespeaker read out 14 resignations.[32]
Cuff resigned on 12 January 1858[32][49] and was succeeded byWilliam Sefton Moorhouse.
Merriman resigned on 13 March 1860.[50] He was succeeded byJoseph Hargreaves, who was elected on 5 April 1860, and resigned on 24 July 1860.[51] Hargreaves was replaced byJohn Logan Campbell, who was returned unopposed on 4 August 1860.[52]
Brodie resigned on 6 December 1859[53] and was succeeded byTheophilus Heale.[54]
Brittin resigned on 7 July 1856, returned to England on 'urgent business' and did not return to New Zealand.[55][53] He was succeeded in 1856 byJohn Ollivier,[56] who himself resigned on 21 January 1860.[57] Ollivier was succeeded byIsaac Cookson.
Hall resigned on 10 March 1860[58] and was succeeded byCharles Hunter Brown.
Campbell resigned on 19 November 1856.[59][32] He was succeeded byThomas Forsaith.
Beckham resigned on 31 May 1859.[60] He was succeeded byArchibald Clark.[61]
Fitzherbert resigned on 17 March 1858,[62] and Featherston resigned on 24 March 1858.[63][32] Featherston apparently wanted to return to England.[64] Instead, he successfully stood for re-election within months. The other person returned in the same by-election wasWilliam Barnard Rhodes.[65]
The renamedCounty of Hawke (it had previously beenWairarapa and Hawke's Bay, until its southern portion was made into the separate electorate ofWairarapa).Thomas Henry Fitzgerald was elected as its representative on 26 April 1860.
John and his father William Cargill resigned on 5 March 1858[59][32] and 16 December 1859,[59] respectively. The first vacancy was filled byJohn Parkin Taylor, who retired from parliament at the end of this term. The second vacancy was filled byThomas Gillies.[66]
Brown resigned on 14 August 1856[53] to (unsuccessfully) contest the Taranakisuperintendency. He was again elected in 1858 and resigned in 1860, when his militia service required his full attention.[67] In between Brown's terms,John Lewthwaite (who resigned in 1858) represented the electorate.[32]
Bell resigned in 1858[32] and was succeeded byWilliam Fitzherbert. Ludlam, the other representative of Hutt, resigned in 1856 and was replaced bySamuel Revans, who resigned again on 22 March 1858[32] and was succeeded byAlfred Renall.
Parker resigned in 1856 and was succeeded byHerbert Curtis.[68]
East resigned in 1860. The subsequent by-election on 16 April 1860 was won unopposed byJames Crowe Richmond.[69]
Greenwood resigned[32] and CaptainJermyn Symonds was elected on 30 April 1858.[70]
Taylor resigned on 13 April 1858 and was succeeded through an1858 by-election byTheodore Haultain.
Sewell resigned his seat in late 1856 to return to England. He was succeeded byRichard Packer.[71] Packer resigned in 1859. Sewell, having returned from England, won the1860 by-election.[72] He did not seek re-election at the end of the term, but was appointed Registrar-General of Lands towards the end of 1860.[73]
Macandrew resigned on 2 November 1858. He successfully contested the January1859 by-election in the same electorate.[74]
FitzGerald] resigned in 1857 due to ill health.[32][75]Crosbie Ward won the resulting by-election in May 1858.[76]
Elliot resigned in 1858.[32] He was succeeded byDavid Monro, who had already represented the electorate in the 1st Parliament.
Travers resigned in 1859 and was succeeded byFedor Kelling.[68]
Smith resigned on 10 March 1858.[32] He was succeeded byJames Burne Ferguson.[77]
Wells resigned in 1858.[32] He was succeeded byFrederick Weld, who had already represented the electorate in the 1st Parliament.
Ward resigned on 22 March 1858.[32] He was succeeded byAlfred Brandon.
Cheviot was first created in 1859, withEdward Jollie its first representative.
Marsden was established in 1859.James Farmer was the first representative, elected on 16 December 1859.[78]
TheWairarapa electorate was created in 1859.Charles Carter was the first elected representative.
TheWallace electorate was created in 1859 and the first elections held on 30 November.Dillon Bell was the first elected representative.
Data related to2nd New Zealand Parliament at Wikidata