# 3rd New Zealand Parliament

The 3rd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Elections for this term were held between 12 December 1860 and 28 March 1861 in 43 electorates to elect 53 MPs. Two electorates were added to this during this term, Gold Fields District (overlaid over existing Otago electorates) and a new Dunedin electorate created by splitting the existing City of Dunedin into Dunedin and Suburbs North and Dunedin and Suburbs South, increasing the number of MPs to 57. During the term of this Parliament, six Ministries were in power.

## Historical context

The third Parliament opened on 3 June 1861 (after a postponement from the previously announced date of 30 May 1861), following New Zealand's 1860–1861 election. It was the second Parliament under which New Zealand had responsible government, meaning that unlike the first Parliament, the Cabinet was chosen (although not officially appointed) by Parliament rather than by the Governor.
Political parties had not been established yet; this only happened after the 1890 election. Anyone attempting to form an administration thus had to win support directly from individual MPs. This made first forming, and then retaining a government difficult and challenging.
The third Parliament sat during the time of the New Zealand wars. Even before the first session started, William Cutfield King (representing the Grey and Bell electorate) was killed in the First Taranaki War. Marmaduke Nixon (Franklin electorate) was killed in action in 1864 whilst leading an assault on a Māori village during the Invasion of Waikato.

## Ministries

Since 1856, the first Stafford Ministry, led by Edward Stafford, was in place. This was the third administration under responsible government, and it was dissolved on 12 July 1861. Stafford was the third Premier of New Zealand. William Fox then formed the second Fox Ministry, which was in place from 12 July 1861 to 6 August 1862. Fox had previously been the Premier under the second administration. Alfred Domett, the fourth Premier, led the fifth administration, the Domett Ministry. This was in place from 6 August 1862 until 30 October 1863.
The Whitaker–Fox Ministry was the next administration, led by Frederick Whitaker as the fifth Premier. This administration was in place from 30 October 1863 to 24 November 1864. This was followed by the Weld Ministry under Frederick Weld as the sixth Premier. This was in place from 24 November 1864 to 16 October 1865. A few months before the 1866 general elections, Stafford once again became Premier on 16 October 1865, leading the second Stafford Ministry. This lasted well into the term of the fourth Parliament on 28 June 1869.

## Sessions

Parliament sat for five sessions:
| Session | from | to |
| First | 3 June 1861 | 7 September 1861 |
| Second | 7 July 1862 | 15 September 1862 |
| Third | 19 October 1863 | 14 December 1863 |
| Fourth | 24 November 1864 | 13 December 1864 |
| Fifth | 26 July 1865 | 30 October 1865 |
The first session started on 30 May 1861. Ever since Parliament had first met in 1854 in Auckland, an argument was had for the members to meet in a more central place. The second session of the 3rd Parliament was the first to meet outside of Auckland; the buildings of the Wellington Provincial Council were used for this session. A proposal to make this move to Wellington permanent was lost by a single vote.
The fifth session started on 26 July 1865 and Parliament was prorogued on 30 October.

## Electoral boundaries for the third Parliament

43 electorates were used for the 1860–61 elections. This was a significant increase from the previous 28 electorates, and resulted from the passage of the Representation Act 1860.

## Initial composition of the third Parliament

53 seats were created across the 43 electorates. The City of Wellington electorate was the only three-member electorate, and eight electorates were represented by two members. The remaining 34 electorates were represented by a single member.
| Member | Electorate | Province | MP's term | Election date |
| Augustus White | Akaroa | Canterbury | First | 13 February 1861 |
| Thomas Russell | Auckland East | Auckland | First | 11 January 1861 |
| Josiah Firth | Auckland West | Auckland | First | 11 January 1861 |
| John Williamson | Auckland West | Auckland | Second | 11 January 1861 |
| Alfred Creyke | Avon | Canterbury | First | 1 February 1861 |
| Hugh Carleton | Bay of Islands | Auckland | Third | 13 February 1861 |
| Thomas Gillies | Bruce | Otago | Second | 11 February 1861 |
| Charles Kettle | Bruce | Otago | First | 11 February 1861 |
| Frederick Weld | Cheviot | Canterbury | Third | 1 March 1861 |
| John Cracroft Wilson | City of Christchurch | Canterbury | First | 31 January 1861 |
| John Ormond | Clive | Hawke's Bay | First | 20 February 1861 |
| Andrew Richmond | Collingwood | Nelson | First | 4 February 1861 |
| Thomas Dick | City of Dunedin | Otago | First | 24 December 1860 |
| Edward McGlashan | City of Dunedin | Otago | First | 24 December 1860 |
| Thomas Rowley | Ellesmere | Canterbury | First | 25 January 1861 |
| Robert Graham | Franklin | Auckland | Second | 28 January 1861 |
| Marmaduke Nixon | Franklin | Auckland | First | 28 January 1861 |
| William King | Grey and Bell | Taranaki | First | 27 November 1860 |
| Thomas Fraser | Hampden | Otago | First | 20 February 1861 |
| George Hall | Heathcote | Canterbury | First | 12 February 1861 |
| William Fitzherbert | Hutt | Wellington | Second | 12 December 1860 |
| Alfred Renall | Hutt | Wellington | Second | 12 December 1860 |
| Isaac Cookson | Kaiapoi | Canterbury | Second | 7 February 1861 |
| Crosbie Ward | Town of Lyttelton | Canterbury | Second | 25 January 1861 |
| John Munro | Marsden | Auckland | First | 20 January 1861 |
| William Butler | Mongonui | Auckland | First | 30 January 1861 |
| Herbert Curtis | Motueka | Nelson | Second | 5 February 1861 |
| Henry Stark | Napier | Hawke's Bay | First | 19 February 1861 |
| Alfred Domett | City of Nelson | Nelson | Second | 27 December 1860 |
| Edward Stafford | City of Nelson | Nelson | Second | 27 December 1860 |
| James Wemyss | Suburbs of Nelson | Nelson | First | 28 January 1861 |
| William Richmond | Town of New Plymouth | Taranaki | Second | 28 December 1860 |
| George Graham | Newton | Auckland | First | 28 January 1861 |
| Thomas Henderson | Northern Division | Auckland | Second | 22 January 1861 |
| James O'Neill | Northern Division | Auckland | Second | 22 January 1861 |
| James Richmond | Omata | Taranaki | First | 30 November 1860 |
| Maurice O'Rorke | Town of Onehunga | Auckland | First | 18 January 1861 |
| Reader Wood | Parnell | Auckland | First | 15 January 1861 |
| William Mason | Pensioner Settlements | Auckland | First | 21 January 1861 |
| David Monro | Picton | Marlborough | Third | 16 February 1861 |
| Alfred Brandon | Porirua | Wellington | Second | 20 December 1860 |
| Charles Taylor | Raglan | Auckland | Third | 11 February 1861 |
| William Fox | Rangitiki | Wellington | Second | 4 February 1861 |
| Francis Jollie | Timaru | Canterbury | First | 25 March 1861 |
| Alfred Saunders | Waimea | Marlborough | First | 1 February 1861 |
| Charles Carter | Wairarapa | Wellington | Second | 12 December 1860 |
| William Eyes | Wairau | Marlborough | First | 15 February 1861 |
| Dillon Bell | Wallace | Otago | Second | 14 March 1861 |
| Walter Mantell | Wallace | Otago | First | 14 March 1861 |
| Henry Harrison | Wanganui | Wellington | First | 1 February 1861 |
| Isaac Featherston | City of Wellington | Wellington | Third | 11 December 1860 |
| William Rhodes | City of Wellington | Wellington | Third | 11 December 1860 |
| William Taylor | City of Wellington | Wellington | First | 11 December 1860 |

## Changes during term

There were numerous changes during the term of the third Parliament.

### List of by-elections

| By-election | Electorate | Date | Incumbent | Reason | Winner |
| 1861 | Grey and Bell | 20 June | William King | Death | Harry Atkinson |
| 1861 | Suburbs of Nelson | 20 June | James Wemyss | Resignation | William Wells |
| 1861 | Napier | 1 July | Henry Stark | Resignation | William Colenso |
| 1861 | Wanganui | 5 July | Henry Harrison | Resignation | Henry Harrison |
| 1862 (1st) | City of Dunedin | 17 March | Thomas Dick | Resignation | Thomas Dick |
| 1862 | Town of New Plymouth | 5 May | William Richmond | Resignation | Isaac Watt |
| 1862 (2nd) | City of Dunedin | 30 May | Edward McGlashan | Resignation | John Richardson |
| 1862 | Ellesmere | 9 June | Thomas Rowley | Resignation | James FitzGerald |
| 1862 | Avon | 11 June | Alfred Creyke | Resignation | William Thomson |
| 1862 | Heathcote | 12 June | George Hall | Resignation | William Moorhouse |
| 1862 | City of Auckland West | 14 June | Josiah Firth | Resignation | James Williamson |
| 1862 | Bruce | 31 July | Charles Kettle | Death | Edward Cargill |
| 1862 (3rd) | City of Dunedin | 15 November | John Richardson | Resignation | James Paterson |
| 1862 | Hampden | 4 December | Thomas Fraser | Absence | John Jones |
| Supplementary election, 1863 ||||||
| Dunedin and Suburbs North | Dunedin and Suburbs North | 28 March 1863 | 28 March 1863 | 28 March 1863 | John Richardson |
| Dunedin and Suburbs South | Dunedin and Suburbs South | 6 April 1863 | 6 April 1863 | 6 April 1863 | William Reynolds |
| Gold Fields | Gold Fields | 14 April 1863 | 14 April 1863 | 14 April 1863 | William Baldwin George Brodie |
| By-election | Electorate | Date | Incumbent | Reason | Winner |
| 3rd Parliament (continued) ||||||
| 1863 | Dunedin and Suburbs South | 20 June | James Paterson | Resignation | James Paterson |
| 1863 | Hampden | 2 July | John Jones | Resignation | Frederick Wayne |
| 1863 | Kaiapoi | 2 September | Isaac Cookson | Resignation | Robert Wilkin |
| 1863 | Dunedin and Suburbs North | 3 September | Thomas Dick | Resignation | Julius Vogel |
| 1863 | Town of New Plymouth | 9 October | Isaac Watt | Resignation | Henry Turton |
| 1863 | Heathcote | 28 October | William Moorhouse | Resignation | Alfred Cox |
| 1863 | Akaroa | 30 October | Augustus White | Resignation | Lancelot Walker |
| 1864 | Franklin | 13 October | Marmaduke Nixon | Death (KIA) | Theodore Haultain |
| 1864 | Town of New Plymouth | 18 November | Henry Turton | Resignation | Charles Brown |
| 1864 | Waimea | 29 November | Alfred Saunders | Resignation | John Miles |
| 1865 (1st) | Bruce | 8 April | Thomas Gillies | Resignation | Arthur Burns |
| 1865 | Raglan | 19 April | Charles Taylor | Resignation | William Buckland |
| 1865 | Parnell | 20 April | Reader Wood | Resignation | Robert Creighton |
| 1865 | Town of New Plymouth | 19 May | Charles Brown | Resignation | Henry Sewell |
| 1865 | Gold Fields | 29 May | William Baldwin | Resignation | Charles Haughton |
| 1865 | Rangitiki | 10 July | William Fox | Resignation | Robert Pharazyn |
| 1865 | Omata | 18 July | James Richmond | Appointed to Legislative Council | Francis Gledhill |
| 1865 (2nd) | Bruce | 26 July | Edward Cargill | Resignation | James Macandrew |
| 1865 | Wairarapa | 29 July | Charles Carter | Resignation | Henry Bunny |

### Existing electorates
#### Akaroa

White resigned in 1863 and was succeeded by Lancelot Walker.

#### Auckland West

Firth resigned on 30 April 1862. He was succeeded by James Williamson.

#### Avon

Creyke resigned on 21 April 1862. He was succeeded by William Thomson.

#### Bruce

Kettle died on 5 June 1862. Edward Cargill succeeded him in the 1862 by-election. In 1865, Edward Cargill resigned. The resulting second by-election in 1865, held on 26 July, was contested by James Macandrew and John Cargill. Macandrew and J. Cargill received 207 and 34 votes, and Macandrew was declared elected.
Gillies resigned and the subsequent first 1865 by-election was won on 8 April 1865 by Arthur John Burns.

#### City of Dunedin

Edward McGlashan resigned in 1861. Successors were John Richardson (1862) and James Paterson (1862–63). Dick resigned in 1863.
The electorate was abolished in 1863 and replaced with the two Dunedin suburb electorates listed below.

#### Ellesmere

Rowley resigned in 1862 and was succeeded by James FitzGerald.

#### Franklin

Nixon was killed in action during the Invasion of Waikato on 27 May 1864. He was succeeded by Theodore Haultain.

#### Grey and Bell

King was killed on 8 February 1861. He was succeeded by Harry Atkinson.

#### Hampden

Fraser was vacated for absence in 1862. He was succeeded by John Richard Jones who resigned in 1863, and was replaced by Frederick Wayne.

#### Heathcote

G. Hall resigned in 1862. He was first succeeded by William Sefton Moorhouse (1862–63), then Alfred Cox (1863–65).

#### Kaiapoi

Cookson resigned in 1863. He was succeeded by Robert Wilkin.

#### Napier

Stark resigned in 1861. He was succeeded by William Colenso.

#### New Plymouth

William Richmond resigned in 1862. He was first succeeded by Isaac Newton Watt (1862–63), then Henry Hanson Turton (1863–64), and then Charles Brown (1864–65).

#### Parnell

Wood resigned in 1865. He was succeeded by Robert James Creighton.

#### Raglan

Charles John Taylor resigned in 1865. He was succeeded by William Buckland.

#### Suburbs of Nelson

Wemyss resigned in 1861. He was succeeded by William Wells.

#### Waimea

Saunders resigned in 1864. He was succeeded by John George Miles.

#### Wairarapa

Carter resigned in 1865. He was succeeded by Henry Bunny.

### New electorates
#### Dunedin and Suburbs South

Dunedin and Suburbs South was established in 1862 as a two-member electorate. It was represented by two MPs: William Reynolds (from 4 December 1862) and James Paterson (from 29 April 1863) until the end of the term.

#### Dunedin and Suburbs North

Dunedin and Suburbs North was established in 1863 as a two-member electorate. It was represented by John Richardson (from 20 April 1863) and Julius Vogel (from 29 September 1863) until the end of the term.

#### Goldfields

The Goldfields electorate was established in 1862, during the term of the third Parliament. This was a reaction to the large influx of people to Otago during the Otago gold rush, and because the franchise had been extended to males aged 21 years and over who had held a miner's right continuously for at least three (or six) months. No electoral rolls were established for these districts, and to vote a miner just presented his miner's licence to the election official. Outside Otago where no special Goldfields electorate existed, miners could register as electors in the ordinary electoral district where they lived.
William Baldwin and George Brodie were elected in the 1863 Goldfields by-election. Baldwin resigned on 27 April 1865. Charles Edward Haughton won the resulting 1865 by-election held on 29 May contested by three candidates.