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 Central 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.

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 elections, when it expanded slightly into Kaiapoi electorate and Amberley was returned to Cheviot. In the 1887 elections, the electorate expanded westwards into Cheviot's southern tip. In the 1890 elections, 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 elections, Ashley expanded further north, taking the town of Kaikoura from Wairau electorate, but ceded Oxford to Kaiapoi in the south. In the 1902 elections, 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. Walker resigned in the following year and was succeeded by Henry Tancred in the 1867 by-election.

Tancred retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1870 and was succeeded by John Evans Brown.

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

Members of Parliament

Key

  Independent     Liberal  

Election	Winner
1866 election		Lancelot Walker
1867 by-election		Henry Tancred
1871 election		John Brown
1876 election
1879 election		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

Election results

1899 election

General election, 1899: Ashley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Meredith	1,943	61.98
	Opposition	Thomas Caverhill	1,192	38.02
Majority			751	23.96
Turnout			3,135	70.15
Registered electors			4,469

1893 election

General election, 1893: Ashley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Meredith	1,668	58.84	+12.61
	Opposition	David Duncan Macfarlane	1,078	38.02
	Liberal	David Dick	89	3.14
Majority			590	20.81	+18.51
Turnout			2,835	70.42

1888 by-election

Ashley by-election, 1888

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Verrall	234	33.86	+21.67
	Independent	Alfred Saunders	232	33.57
	Independent	Marmaduke Dixon	225	32.56
Majority			2	0.29	-27.21
Turnout			691

1887 election

General election, 1887: Ashley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Fisher Pearson	501	57.65
	Independent	Robert Luke Higgins	262	30.15
	Independent	John Verrall	106	12.20
Majority			239	27.50
Turnout			869	58.96
Registered electors			1,474