Avon (New Zealand electorate)

Population centres

The electorate was in Christchurch, New Zealand, named after the Avon River. For the 1887 by-election, polling booths were in Riccarton and Papanui. For the 1887 general election, polling booths were in Papanui, Bright's Road, Spreydon and New Brighton. For the , polling booths were in Papanui, Richmond, Belfast, Ohoka and Clarkville.

History

The electorate was created in 1861, and existed continuously until 1996, when with MMP it was absorbed into the new Christchurch East electorate.

Alfred Richard Creyke stood in the 1861 general election (held on 1 February) in the Avon electorate for Parliament, whilst William Thomson stood in the same electorate for the Canterbury Provincial Council. Thomson proposed Creyke and vice versa; both were elected unopposed. Creyke thus became the first representative. Creyke resigned from Parliament on 21 April 1862.

Creyke was succeeded by William Thomson, who was elected in the 11 June and took his oath on 30 July 1862. He retired on 27 January 1866. Thomson was succeeded by Crosbie Ward, who won the against Charles Wellington Bishop (brother of Edward Bishop). Ward resigned in the following year.

William Reeves won the resulting by-election. He resigned in the following year. William Rolleston represented the electorate from the resulting by-election (elected unopposed) to 1884. In the 1879 general election, he was returned unopposed. Rolleston did not stand in the Avon electorate in the , but (successfully) contested Geraldine instead.

Rolleston was succeeded by Leonard Harper in the Avon electorate. Harper resigned on 3 May 1887, and the resulting by-election was contested by Edwin Blake and William Dunlop, who received 255 and 252 votes, respectively. The 1887 general election was contested by Edwin Blake and E. G. Wright. Blake won the election by a good margin. In the , Edwin Blake and George Gatonby Stead received 774 and 587 votes, respectively. At the end of the parliamentary term in 1893, Blake retired from politics.

William Tanner won the . In the previous Parliament, he had represented the electorate. Tanner was initially an independent, but joined the Liberal Party for the . In the , he was beaten by George Russell in the second ballot (the voting system in place from 1908 until 1913). In the , four candidates contested the electorate, with Russell representing the liberal Ward Government, James McCombs standing as an Independent Liberal, J. O. Jamieson as an opposition candidate and W. R. Smith representing labour interests. Russell and McCombs polled 3,040 and 2,817 votes, respectively, and proceeded to the second ballot. Russell won the second ballot with 3,854 to 3,583 votes. Russell was defeated in the by Labour's Dan Sullivan. Sullivan was successful at the next eight subsequent elections. In the , he was opposed by James Neil Clarke of the National Party, who a few years later became Deputy-Mayor of Christchurch. Sullivan died in office on 8 April 1947.

Sullivan's death caused the by-election, which was won by John Mathison of the Labour Party. He was a cabinet minister from 1957 to 1960 in the Second Labour Government and retired from Parliament in 1972.

Mathison was succeeded by Mary Batchelor, who represented the electorate for five parliamentary terms. Batchelor in turn was succeeded by Larry Sutherland, who won the . He served the electorate until its abolition in 1996. He successfully contested the replacement electorate of Christchurch East in the .

Members of Parliament

Key

Election results

1993 election

|reg. electors = 23,514

1990 election

|reg. electors = 22,818

1987 election

|reg. electors = 21,968

1984 election

|reg. electors = 21,397

1981 election

|reg. electors = 21,861

1978 election

|reg. electors = 26,824

1975 election

|reg. electors = 21,954

1972 election

|reg. electors = 17,730

1969 election

|reg. electors = 16,839

1966 election

|reg. electors = 18,761

1963 election

|reg. electors = 17,242

1960 election

|reg. electors = 17,411

1957 election

|reg. electors = 15,748

1954 election

|reg. electors = 15,076

1951 election

|reg. electors = 17,906

1949 election

|reg. electors = 16,547

1947 by-election

Robertson was a member of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) but his nomination was refused endorsement by DLP leader John A. Lee.

1946 election

|reg. electors = 15,092

1943 election

|reg. electors = 15,650

1935 election

1931 election

|reg. electors = 13,350

1928 election

|reg. electors = 12,953

1925 election

|reg. electors = 12,088

1922 election

|reg. electors = 11,059

1919 election

|reg. electors = 11,137

1914 election

|reg. electors = 9,673

1911 election

|reg. electors = 8,784

|reg. electors = 8,784

1908 election

|reg. electors = 8,257

|reg. electors = 8,257

1899 election

|reg. electors = 4,893

1896 election

|reg. electors = 4,289

1893 election

|reg. electors = 4,321

1890 election

|reg. electors = 2,380

1866 election

|reg. electors =

Notes

References

References

1. (6 December 1890). "Avon". [[The Star (Christchurch).
2. (2 February 1861). "Elections". [[Lyttelton Times]].
3. Cyclopedia Company Limited. (1903). "The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Canterbury Provincial District".
4. (23 August 1862). "GENERAL ASSEMBLY.". [[Otago Witness]].
5. (28 August 1879). "The General Elections.". [[The Star (Christchurch).
6. (5 May 1887). "HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.". [[The Star (Christchurch).
7. (2 June 1887). "THE AVON ELECTION.". [[The Star (Christchurch).
8. (16 September 1887). "Avon". [[The Star (Christchurch).
9. (27 September 1887). "Avon.". [[The Star (Christchurch).
10. (12 December 1911). "Official Results". [[The Press]].
11. (18 December 1911). "Official returns". [[The Press]].
12. (5 August 1943). "More Candidates". [[The Evening Post (New Zealand).
13. Bryce, Fiona. (1 April 2005). "Where are they now?... Former MP Mary Batchelor". [[The Star (Christchurch).
14. "Obituaries — Hon Jonathan Elworthy, Larry Sutherland". New Zealand Parliament.
15. (1993). "Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place". New Zealand Chief Electoral Office.
16. (1990). "Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place". New Zealand Chief Electoral Office.
17. (1950). "The General Election, 1949". [[National Library of New Zealand.
18. (24 May 1947). "Avon By-Election". Evening Star.
19. (12 October 1943). "Public Notices". [[The Press]].
20. (1936). "The New Zealand Official Year-Book". Government Printer.
21. (1932). "The General Election, 1931". Government Printer.
22. (1929). "The General Election, 1928". Government Printer.
23. (30 October 1928). "Electoral Notices". [[The Press]].
24. (16 October 1928). "Christchurch Seats". [[Auckland Star]].
25. (1926). "The General Election, 1925". Government Printer.
26. (2 November 1925). "Tribute to Mr Leadley". [[The Press]].
27. (1923). "The General Election, 1922". Government Printer.
28. (28 November 1922). "Election Notices". [[The Press]].
29. (1921). "The General Election, 1919". [[National Library of New Zealand.
30. (27 December 1919). "Election Notices". [[The Press]].
31. (16 December 1919). "Avon". [[The Press]].
32. (1915). "The General Election, 1914". [[National Library of New Zealand.
33. (22 October 1914). "The Avon Seat". [[The Star (Christchurch).
34. (1912). "The General Election, 1911". [[National Library of New Zealand.
35. (12 December 1911). "Thacker and Davey in Second Ballot". [[The Evening Post (New Zealand).
36. (18 November 1911). "Things going merrily in Christchurch". [[The Evening Post (New Zealand).
37. (5 December 1911). "The Avon Election". [[The Press]].
38. (22 November 1911). "Notes". [[The Press]].
39. (9 December 1911). "Labour Party's Support". Wairarapa Daily Times.
40. (19 June 1900). "The General Election, 1899". Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives.
41. (7 December 1896). "Electoral District of Avon". [[The Press]].
42. (1894). "The General Election, 1893". [[National Library of New Zealand.
43. (29 November 1893). "The General Election". [[Nelson Evening Mail]].
44. (1891). "The General Election, 1890". [[National Library of New Zealand.
45. (21 February 1866). "The Avon election". [[The Press]].