# 1881 New Zealand general election

The 1881 New Zealand general election was held on 8 and 9 December in the Māori and European electorates, respectively, to elect 95 MPs to the 8th session of the New Zealand Parliament.
1881 was the first time a general election was held under universal male suffrage; all MPs were elected in single-member electorates; and the country quota was introduced, allowing rural electorates to have 25% fewer voters than urban electorates. Beginning with the 1881 election, all elections in European electorates were to be held on the same day, a measure not introduced for Māori electorates until 1951.

## 1881 electoral redistribution

The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of European representatives to 91 (up from 84 since the 1875–76 election). The number of Māori electorates was held at four. The House further decided that electorates should not have more than one representative, which led to 35 new electorates being formed: Ashburton, Auckland North, Awarua, Christchurch North, Christchurch South, Coromandel, Dunedin Central, Dunedin East, Dunedin South, Dunedin West, Foxton, Franklin North, Franklin South, Hawke's Bay, Hokonui, Inangahua, Kumara, Lincoln, Manukau, Moeraki, Peninsula, St Albans, Stanmore, Sydenham, Taranaki, Tauranga, Te Aro, Thorndon, Waimate, Waipawa, Wairarapa North, Wairarapa South, Waitotara, Wakanui, and Wellington South. In addition, two electorates that had previously been abolished were recreated: Bay of Islands and Oamaru.
These changes necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries. Only six electorates remained unchanged: Waikato, Waipa, Bruce, Lyttelton, Nelson, and Picton.
The electoral distribution was the first that formally acknowledged the existence of a country quota, where country electorates contained 25% fewer voters than town electorates.

## The election

The 1881 election was held on Thursday, 8 December, in the Māori electorates and on Friday, 9 December, in the European electorates to elect a total of 95 MPs to the 8th Parliament. A total number of 120,972 (66.5%) voters turned out to vote. In 11 seats there was only one candidate. 36 and 55 seats were in the North Island and South Island, respectively, plus the 4 Māori electorates.
The incumbent government led by John Hall retained office having support from 45 members with 39 "Greyites" (supporters of George Grey) and 11 Independents not affiliated with either faction.

## Results

The following table shows the successful candidate for each electorate.
| Member | Electorate | Affiliation | MP's term |
| William Montgomery | Akaroa | Greyite | Fourth |
| Edward George Wright | Ashburton | Greyite | Second |
| William Fisher Pearson | Ashley | Greyite | First |
| George Grey | Auckland East | Greyite | Fourth |
| Thomas Peacock | Auckland North | Independent | First |
| Joseph Dargaville | Auckland West | Independent | First |
| William Rolleston | Avon | Conservative | Fifth |
| James Parker Joyce | Awarua | Greyite | Second |
| Richard Hobbs | Bay of Islands | Conservative | Second |
| James Rutherford | Bruce | Independent | First |
| John Munro | Buller | Independent Liberal | First |
| William Barron | Caversham | Greyite | Second |
| Hugh McIlraith | Cheviot | Conservative | First |
| Henry Thomson | Christchurch North | Conservative | First |
| John Holmes | Christchurch South | Greyite | First |
| James William Thomson | Clutha | Conservative | Fourth |
| David McMillan | Coleridge | Conservative | First |
| Alfred Cadman | Coromandel | Greyite | First |
| Thomas Bracken | Dunedin Central | Greyite | First |
| Matthew Green | Dunedin East | Independent | First |
| Henry Fish | Dunedin South | Independent | First |
| Thomas Dick | Dunedin West | Conservative | Fourth |
| Vincent Pyke | Dunstan | Greyite | Fourth |
| Allan McDonald | East Coast | Greyite | Second |
| Joseph Tole | Eden | Greyite | Third |
| Harry Atkinson | Egmont | Conservative | Sixth |
| James Wilson | Foxton | Conservative | First |
| Benjamin Harris | Franklin North | Greyite | Second |
| Ebenezer Hamlin | Franklin South | Greyite | Third |
| William Postlethwaite | Geraldine | Conservative | First |
| James Sutter | Gladstone | Independent | First |
| Joseph Petrie | Greymouth | Conservative | First |
| Fred Sutton | Hawkes Bay | Conservative | Third |
| Henry Wynn-Williams | Heathcote | Conservative | First |
| Gerard George Fitzgerald | Hokitika | Conservative | First |
| Henry Driver | Hokonui | Conservative | Fifth |
| Thomas Mason | Hutt | Conservative | Second |
| Thomas S. Weston | Inangahua | Conservative | Second |
| Henry Feldwick | Invercargill | Greyite | Second |
| Isaac Wilson | Kaiapoi | Conservative | First |
| Richard Seddon | Kumara | Greyite | Second |
| Arthur O'Callaghan | Lincoln | Conservative | First |
| Harry Allwright | Lyttelton | Conservative | Second |
| Walter Woods Johnston | Manawatu | Conservative | Fourth |
| Maurice O'Rorke | Manukau | Independent | Sixth |
| Edwin Mitchelson | Marsden | Conservative | First |
| Francis Wallace Mackenzie | Mataura | Greyite | First |
| John McKenzie | Moeraki | Greyite | First |
| Richmond Hursthouse | Motueka | Conservative | Third |
| Cecil de Lautour | Mount Ida | Greyite | Third |
| John Buchanan | Napier | Greyite | First |
| Henry Levestam | Nelson | Greyite | Second |
| Thomas Kelly | New Plymouth | Conservative | Fifth |
| William Swanson | Newton | Conservative | Fourth |
| Samuel Shrimski | Oamaru | Greyite | Third |
| Frederick Moss | Parnell | Greyite | Third |
| James Seaton | Peninsula | Greyite | Second |
| Edward Connoly | Picton | Conservative | First |
| James Macandrew | Port Chalmers | Greyite | Eighth |
| John Stevens | Rangitikei | Independent Liberal | First |
| Seymour Thorne George | Rodney | Greyite | Third |
| John Bathgate | Roslyn | Greyite | Second |
| John Hall | Selwyn | Conservative | Fifth |
| John Evans Brown | St Albans | Greyite | Third |
| Walter Pilliet | Stanmore | Conservative | First |
| William White | Sydenham | Greyite | First |
| James Fulton | Taieri | Conservative | Second |
| Robert Trimble | Taranaki | Conservative | Second |
| George Morris | Tauranga | Conservative | Second |
| Charles John Johnston | Te Aro | Conservative | First |
| John Sheehan | Thames | Independent | Fourth |
| William Levin | Thorndon | Conservative | Second |
| Richard Turnbull | Timaru | Greyite | Third |
| James Clark Brown | Tuapeka | Greyite | Fifth |
| John Blair Whyte | Waikato | Conservative | Second |
| James Green | Waikouaiti | Conservative | Second |
| William Steward | Waimate | Conservative | Second |
| Joseph Shephard | Waimea | Greyite | Third |
| Frederick Alexander Whitaker | Waipa | Conservative | Second |
| William Cowper Smith | Waipawa | Independent Liberal | First |
| George Beetham | Wairarapa North | Conservative | Third |
| Walter Clarke Buchanan | Wairarapa South | Conservative | First |
| Henry Dodson | Wairau | Greyite | First |
| Thomas Young Duncan | Waitaki | Greyite | First |
| William John Hurst | Waitemata | Conservative | Second |
| John Bryce | Waitotara | Conservative | Fifth |
| Cathcart Wason | Wakanui | Conservative | Second |
| Thomas Fergus | Wakatipu | Conservative | First |
| Theophilus Daniel | Wallace | Greyite | First |
| William Hogg Watt | Wanganui | Conservative | Second |
| William Hutchison | Wellington South | Greyite | Second |
| Henare Tomoana | X-01Eastern Maori | Conservative | Third |
| Hone Tawhai | X-02Northern Maori | Greyite | Second |
| Hori Kerei Taiaroa | X-03Southern Maori | Greyite | Fourth |
| Wiremu Te Wheoro | X-04Western Maori | Greyite | Second |