# 2nd New Zealand Parliament

The 2nd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 15 April 1856, following New Zealand's 1855 election. It was dissolved on 5 November 1860 in preparation for 1860–61 election. The 2nd Parliament was the first under which New Zealand had responsible government, meaning that unlike previously, the Cabinet was chosen (although not officially appointed) by Parliament rather than by the Governor-General of New Zealand.

## Historical context

At this time political parties had not been established (they were not established until after the 1890 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. The Sewell Ministry, the first responsible government, led by Henry Sewell, lasted only two weeks. The first Fox Ministry, the second responsible government, led by William Fox, also lasted only two weeks. The third responsible government, the first Stafford Ministry, led by Edward Stafford, was more stable, governing for the remainder of the 2nd Parliament and for the beginning of the 3rd.

## Parliamentary sessions

Parliament sat for three sessions:
| Session | from | to |
| First | 15 Apr 1856 | 16 Aug 1856 |
| Second | 10 Aug 1858 | 21 Aug 1858 |
| Third | 30 Jul 1860 | 5 Nov 1860 |

## Electoral boundaries for the 2nd Parliament

The 2nd Parliament, which initially used the same electoral boundaries as the 1st Parliament, consisted of thirty-seven representatives representing twenty-four electorates. Two regions of the colony (the inland regions of the lower North Island and the north-west corner of the South Island) were not part of any electorate, and so were not represented.
The New 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 and supplementary elections were held the following year—held between 7 November and 18 December 1859—to fill vacancies.

## Initial composition of the 2nd Parliament

| Member | Electorate | Province | MP's term | Election date |
| John Cuff | Akaroa | Canterbury | First | 28 December |
| John Logan Campbell | City of Auckland | Auckland | First | 27 October |
| Thomas Beckham | City of Auckland | Auckland | First | 27 October |
| William Daldy | City of Auckland | Auckland | First | 27 October |
| Frederick Merriman | Auckland Suburbs | Auckland | Second | 27 October |
| Walter Brodie | Auckland Suburbs | Auckland | First | 27 October |
| Hugh Carleton | Bay of Islands | Auckland | Second | 24 November |
| Dingley Brittin | Christchurch Country | Canterbury | First | 20 December |
| John Hall | Christchurch Country | Canterbury | First | 20 December |
| Henry Sewell | Town of Christchurch | Canterbury | Second | 18 December |
| John Cargill | Dunedin Country | Otago | Second | 11 December |
| William Cargill | Dunedin Country | Otago | First | 11 December |
| James Macandrew | Town of Dunedin | Otago | Second | 11 December |
| Charles Brown | Grey and Bell | New Plymouth | First | 8 November |
| Alfred Ludlam | Hutt | Wellington | Second | 16 November |
| Dillon Bell | Hutt | Wellington | First | 16 November |
| James FitzGerald | Town of Lyttelton | Canterbury | Second | 21 December |
| Charles Parker | Motueka and Massacre Bay | Nelson | First | 8 November |
| Alfred Domett | Town of Nelson | Nelson | First | 12 November |
| Edward Stafford | Town of Nelson | Nelson | First | 12 November |
| William Richmond | Town of New Plymouth | New Plymouth | First | 5 November |
| Thomas Henderson | Northern Division | Auckland | First | 27 October |
| Walter Lee | Northern Division | Auckland | Second | 27 October |
| Alfred East | Omata | New Plymouth | First | 10 November |
| John Williamson | Pensioner Settlements | Auckland | First | 27 October |
| Joseph Greenwood | Pensioner Settlements | Auckland | Second | 27 October |
| Charles Taylor | Southern Division | Auckland | Second | 26 October |
| Robert Graham | Southern Division | Auckland | First | 26 October |
| Charles Elliott | Waimea | Nelson | First | 5 November |
| William Travers | Waimea | Nelson | Second | 5 November |
| John Smith | Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay | Wellington | First | 26 November |
| William Wells | Wairau | Nelson | First | 19 November |
| William Fox | Wanganui and Rangitikei | Wellington | First | 27 November |
| Charles Clifford | City of Wellington | Wellington | Second | 13 November |
| Isaac Featherston | City of Wellington | Wellington | Second | 13 November |
| William Fitzherbert | City of Wellington | Wellington | First | 13 November |
| Dudley Ward | Wellington Country | Wellington | First | 15 November |

## Changes during term

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 the Electoral Districts Act, 1858, with the total number of MPs in Parliament rising from 37 to 41, and the number of electorates rising from 24 to 28. The electorates Bay of Islands and Northern Division were combined and then redivided, with Marsden resulting as a new electorate. The Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay electorate was split into two separate components, Wairarapa and County of Hawke. All the previously unincorporated areas in the lower North Island were divided between Wairarapa, County of Hawke, Wanganui and Rangitikei, and Wellington Country.
In the South Island, the southern portion of Wairau electorate, plus part of Christchurch Country, became the new Cheviot electorate. The western portion of Dunedin Country was split off and became the new Wallace electorate. The northwest of the South Island remained the colony's only territory not part of an electorate.
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.
At the opening of the 6th session of the Parliament on 10 April 1858, the speaker read out 14 resignations.
| By-election | Electorate | Date | Incumbent | Reason | Winner |
| 1856 | Motueka and Massacre Bay | 19 May | Charles Parker | Resignation | Herbert Curtis |
| 1856 | Christchurch Country | 14 October | Dingley Brittin | Resignation | John Ollivier |
| 1856 | Grey and Bell | 14 October | Charles Brown | Resignation | John Lewthwaite |
| 1856 | Town of Christchurch | 18 November | Henry Sewell | Resignation | Richard Packer |
| 1856 | Hutt | 27 November | Alfred Ludlam | Resignation | Samuel Revans |
| 1858 | City of Auckland | 27 April | John Logan Campbell | Resignation | Thomas Forsaith |
| 1858 | Pensioner Settlements | 29 April | Joseph Greenwood | Resignation | Jermyn Symonds |
| 1858 | Southern Division | 8 May | Charles Taylor | Resignation | Theodore Haultain |
| 1858 | Grey and Bell | 17 May | John Lewthwaite | Resignation | Charles Brown |
| 1858 | Waimea | 21 May | Charles Elliott | Resignation | David Monro |
| 1858 | Wairau | 21 May | William Wells | Resignation | Frederick Weld |
| 1858 | Town of Lyttelton | 28 May | James FitzGerald | Resignation | Crosbie Ward |
| 1858 | Akaroa | 31 May | John Cuff | Resignation | William Moorhouse |
| 1858 | Dunedin Country | 16 June | John Cargill | Resignation | John Taylor |
| 1858 | Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay | 22 July | J. Valentine Smith | Resignation | James Ferguson |
| 1858 | City of Wellington | 27 July | Isaac Featherston William Fitzherbert | Resignations | Isaac Featherston William Rhodes |
| 1858 | Wellington Country | 29 July | Dudley Ward | Resignation | Alfred Brandon |
| 1858 | Hutt | 31 July | Dillon Bell Samuel Revans | Resignations | Alfred Renall William Fitzherbert |
| 1859 | Town of Dunedin | 14 January | James Macandrew | Resignation | James Macandrew |
| Supplementary election, 1859 ||||||
| Cheviot | Cheviot | 18 December | 18 December | 18 December | Edward Jollie |
| Marsden | Marsden | 29 November | 29 November | 29 November | James Farmer |
| Wairarapa | Wairarapa | 7 November | 7 November | 7 November | Charles Carter |
| Wallace | Wallace | 30 November | 30 November | 30 November | Dillon Bell |
| By-election | Electorate | Date | Incumbent | Reason | Winner |
| 2nd Parliament (continued) ||||||
| 1859 | Waimea | 26 December | William Travers | Resignation | Fedor Kelling |
| 1860 | Town of Christchurch | 18 January | Richard Packer | Resignation | Henry Sewell |
| 1860 (1st) | Suburbs of Auckland | 25 January | Walter Brodie | Resignation | Theophilus Heale |
| 1860 | Dunedin Country | 28 March | William Cargill | Resignation | Thomas Gillies |
| 1860 (1st) | Christchurch Country | 2 April | John Ollivier | Resignation | Isaac Cookson |
| 1860 | City of Auckland | 5 April | Thomas Beckham | Resignation | Archibald Clark |
| 1860 (2nd) | Suburbs of Auckland | 5 April | Frederick Merriman | Resignation | Joseph Hargreaves |
| 1860 | Omata | 16 April | Alfred East | Resignation | James Richmond |
| 1860 (2nd) | Christchurch Country | 21 April | John Hall | Resignation | Charles Hunter Brown |
| 1860 | County of Hawke | 26 April | James Ferguson | Resignation | Thomas Fitzgerald |
| 1860 | Northern Division | 23 May | Thomas Henderson | Resignation | Thomas Henderson |
| 1860 | Grey and Bell | 28 May | Charles Brown | Resignation | Thomas King |
| 1860 (3rd) | Suburbs of Auckland | 4 August | Joseph Hargreaves | Resignation | John Logan Campbell |

### Existing electorates
#### Akaroa

Cuff resigned on 12 January 1858 and was succeeded by William Sefton Moorhouse.

#### Auckland Suburbs

Merriman resigned on 13 March 1860. He was succeeded by Joseph Hargreaves, who was elected on 5 April 1860, and resigned on 24 July 1860. Hargreaves was replaced by John Logan Campbell, who was returned unopposed on 4 August 1860.
Brodie resigned on 6 December 1859 and was succeeded by Theophilus Heale.

#### Christchurch Country

Brittin resigned on 7 July 1856, returned to England on 'urgent business' and did not return to New Zealand. He was succeeded in 1856 by John Ollivier, who himself resigned on 21 January 1860. Ollivier was succeeded by Isaac Cookson.
Hall resigned on 10 March 1860 and was succeeded by Charles Hunter Brown.

#### City of Auckland

Campbell resigned on 19 November 1856. He was succeeded by Thomas Forsaith.
Beckham resigned on 31 May 1859. He was succeeded by Archibald Clark.

#### City of Wellington

Fitzherbert resigned on 17 March 1858, and Featherston resigned on 24 March 1858. Featherston apparently wanted to return to England. Instead, he successfully stood for re-election within months. The other person returned in the same by-election was William Barnard Rhodes.

#### County of Hawke

The renamed County of Hawke (it had previously been Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay, until its southern portion was made into the separate electorate of Wairarapa). Thomas Henry Fitzgerald was elected as its representative on 26 April 1860.

#### Dunedin Country

John and his father William Cargill resigned on 5 March 1858 and 16 December 1859, respectively. The first vacancy was filled by John Parkin Taylor, who retired from parliament at the end of this term. The second vacancy was filled by Thomas Gillies.

#### Grey and Bell

Brown resigned on 14 August 1856 to (unsuccessfully) contest the Taranaki superintendency. He was again elected in 1858 and resigned in 1860, when his militia service required his full attention. In between Brown's terms, John Lewthwaite (who resigned in 1858) represented the electorate.

#### Hutt

Bell resigned in 1858 and was succeeded by William Fitzherbert. Ludlam, the other representative of Hutt, resigned in 1856 and was replaced by Samuel Revans, who resigned again on 22 March 1858 and was succeeded by Alfred Renall.

#### Motueka and Massacre Bay

Parker resigned in 1856 and was succeeded by Herbert Curtis.

#### Omata

East resigned in 1860. The subsequent by-election on 16 April 1860 was won unopposed by James Crowe Richmond.

#### Pensioner Settlements

Greenwood resigned and Captain Jermyn Symonds was elected on 30 April 1858.

#### Southern Division

Taylor resigned on 13 April 1858 and was succeeded through an 1858 by-election by Theodore Haultain.

#### Town of Christchurch

Sewell resigned his seat in late 1856 to return to England. He was succeeded by Richard Packer. Packer resigned in 1859. Sewell, having returned from England, won the 1860 by-election. He did not seek re-election at the end of the term, but was appointed Registrar-General of Lands towards the end of 1860.

#### Town of Dunedin

Macandrew resigned on 2 November 1858. He successfully contested the January 1859 by-election in the same electorate.

#### Town of Lyttelton

FitzGerald] resigned in 1857 due to ill health. Crosbie Ward won the resulting by-election in May 1858.

#### Waimea

Elliot resigned in 1858. He was succeeded by David Monro, who had already represented the electorate in the 1st Parliament.
Travers resigned in 1859 and was succeeded by Fedor Kelling.

#### Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay

Smith resigned on 10 March 1858. He was succeeded by James Burne Ferguson.

#### Wairau

Wells resigned in 1858. He was succeeded by Frederick Weld, who had already represented the electorate in the 1st Parliament.

#### Wellington Country

Ward resigned on 22 March 1858. He was succeeded by Alfred Brandon.

### New electorates
#### Cheviot

Cheviot was first created in 1859, with Edward Jollie its first representative.

#### Marsden

Marsden was established in 1859. James Farmer was the first representative, elected on 16 December 1859.

#### Wairarapa

The Wairarapa electorate was created in 1859. Charles Carter was the first elected representative.

#### Wallace

The Wallace electorate was created in 1859 and the first elections held on 30 November. Dillon Bell was the first elected representative.