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1862 Bruce by-election

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Turnout	128
Candidate Edward Cargill William Baldwin Party Independent Independent Popular vote 74 54 Percentage 57.81% 42.19%
MP before election Charles Kettle Independent Elected MP Edward Cargill Independent

The Bruce by-election 1862 was a by-election held in the multi-member Bruce electorate during the 3rd New Zealand Parliament, on 31 July 1862. The by-election was caused by the death of incumbent MP Charles Kettle on 5 June, and was won by Edward Cargill.

Background

The Bruce electorate was formed in the 1860 electoral redistribution. It covered the rural area surrounding Dunedin that had previously been part of the Dunedin Country electorate. The Bruce electorate was a two-member constituency. Charles Kettle and Thomas Gillies were the initial representatives. Kettle died on 5 June 1862, and this caused the by-election. The Otago gold rush had started in May 1861 and the wider area experienced a significant increase in population, including the Bruce electorate. The lists of registered electors in several electorate, including Bruce, were revised during July 1862. The Miners' Representation Act, 1860 allowed miners to also vote under certain conditions, and they were not registered in lists; there were approximate 3,000 of them eligible in the Bruce electorate. It is thus not possible to say how many electors were qualified to vote in the by-election. Towards the end of June, it became known that William Baldwin, the gold fields commissioner at Waitahuna, would be a candidate in the by-election.

John Gillies, the father of Thomas Gillies, acted as the returning officer for the by-election, and he set the nomination meeting for Monday, 28 July at 12 noon. At that meeting, F. C. Fulton (a brother of James Fulton) proposed and Otago Provincial Councillor Andrew Todd seconded Baldwin. The second candidate, Edward Cargill, was proposed by William Reynolds and seconded by Johnny Jones, a former business partner of Cargill. The third person to be proposed was John Cargill, the brother of Edward Cargill, but this came as a surprise to the former who stated that he was not available for election. The two candidates then addressed the electors, and the obvious policy difference between them was that Baldwin was a proponent of separation of the South Island from the North Island, whilst Cargill supported one New Zealand. Julius Vogel, himself a strong proponent of the separation question, then put some hard questions to Cargill. The meeting finished with a show of hands in favour of Cargill (42 to 8 hands), and Baldwin demanded a poll.

Results

Polling booths were in Dunedin at the court house, and at the school houses in East Taieri and Tokomairiro (since renamed to Milton), and Warepa (a locality near Balclutha). The election was held on Thursday, 31 July, between 9am and 4 pm. By Saturday, 2 August, the Dunedin newspapers had not received the results from the Warepa booth, but Cargill was leading by 20 votes. The Warepa results were received later that morning, and the returning officer declared the official results that day. There were just two votes at Warepa, with one for each candidate, hence the majority did not change and Cargill was declared elected.

Cargill represented the Bruce electorate until 1865, when he resigned. He was succeeded by James Macandrew in the July 1865 by-election. Baldwin was elected in the 1863 supplementary election in the Gold Fields electorate.

Notes

1. McRobie 1989, pp. 31–35.
2. "Local Intelligence". Otago Witness. No. 481. 16 February 1861. p. 5. Retrieved 14 July 2010 – via Papers Past.
3. Patterson, Brad. "Kettle, Charles Henry". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
4. ^ McRobie 1989, p. 34.
5. Walrond, Carl (13 July 2012). "Gold and gold mining – Otago". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
6. "Page 6 Advertisements Column 1". Otago Daily Times. No. 180. 13 June 1862. p. 6. Retrieved 17 November 2015 – via Papers Past.
7. "Tokomairiro". Otago Witness. No. 552. 28 June 1862. p. 3. Retrieved 17 November 2015 – via Papers Past.
8. "Untitled". Otago Daily Times. No. 181. 26 June 1862. p. 4. Retrieved 17 November 2015 – via Papers Past.
9. ^ "Election Notice". Otago Witness. No. 555. 19 July 1862. p. 4. Retrieved 17 November 2015 – via Papers Past.
10. Entwisle, Rosemary. "Fulton, Catherine Henrietta Elliot". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
11. ^ "The Election for Bruce Country". Otago Witness. No. 557. 2 August 1862. p. 8. Retrieved 16 November 2015 – via Papers Past.
12. Sinclair, Keith; Dalziel, Raewyn. "Vogel, Julius". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
13. "The Otago Witness". No. 557. 2 August 1862. p. 4. Retrieved 17 November 2015 – via Papers Past.
14. "Untitled". Otago Daily Times. No. 203. 2 August 1862. p. 4. Retrieved 17 November 2015 – via Papers Past.
15. "Untitled". Otago Daily Times. No. 204. 4 August 1862. p. 4. Retrieved 17 November 2015 – via Papers Past.
16. ^ "The Election for Bruce". Otago Daily Times. No. 204. 4 August 1862. p. 5. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
17. Wilson 1985, p. 188.
18. Wilson 1985, p. 213.
19. Wilson 1985, p. 181.

References

• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
• Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L (PDF). Vol. I. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
• Scholefield, Guy (1950) . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

v t e By-elections in New Zealand in the pre-party era (1853–1890)   » (1891–1911) »
1st Parliament	Nelson, 1854 Waimea, 1854 City of Auckland, 1854
2nd Parliament	Motueka and Massacre Bay, 1856 Christchurch Country, 1856 Grey and Bell, 1856 Christchurch, 1856 Hutt, 1856 Auckland, 1858 Pensioner Settlements, 1858 Southern Division, 1858 Grey and Bell, 1858 Waimea, 1858 Wairau, 1858 Town of Lyttelton, 1858 Akaroa, 1858 Dunedin Country, 1858 Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay, 1858 Wellington, 1858 Wellington Country, 1858 Hutt, 1858 Dunedin, 1859
Supplementary elections, 1859	Cheviot Marsden Wairarapa Wallace
2nd Parliament (continued)	Waimea, 1859 Christchurch, 1860 Suburbs of Auckland, Jan 1860 Suburbs of Auckland, Apr 1860 Suburbs of Auckland, Aug 1860 Dunedin Country, 1860 Christchurch Country, 1860 Auckland, 1860 Omata, 1860 County of Hawke, 1860 Northern Division, 1860 Grey and Bell, 1860
3rd Parliament	Grey and Bell, 1861 Suburbs of Nelson, 1861 Napier, 1861 Wanganui, 1861 Dunedin, 1862 New Plymouth, 1862 Ellesmere, 1862 Avon, 1862 Heathcote, 1862 Auckland West, 1862 Bruce, 1862 Hampden, 1862
Supplementary elections, 1863	Dunedin and Suburbs North Gold Fields
3rd Parliament (continued)	Dunedin and Suburbs South, 1863 Hampden, 1863 Kaiapoi, 1863 Dunedin and Suburbs North, 1863 New Plymouth, 1863 Heathcote, 1863 Akaroa, 1863 Franklin, 1864 New Plymouth, 1864 Waimea, 1864 Bruce, Apr 1865 Raglan, 1865 Parnell, 1865 New Plymouth, 1865 Bruce, Jul 1865 Gold Fields, 1865 Rangitikei, 1865 Omata, 1865 Wairarapa, 1865
4th Parliament	Mount Herbert, 1866 Port Chalmers, 1866 Dunedin, 1867 City of Christchurch, 1867 Avon, 1867 Manuherikia, 1867 Wanganui, 1867 New Plymouth, 1867 Auckland West, 1867 Raglan, 1867 Parnell, 1867 Port Chalmers, 1867 Waimea, 1867 Lyttelton, 1867 Kaiapoi, 1867 Picton, 1867 Pensioner Settlements, 1867 Ashley, 1867 Omata, 1868 Collingwood, 1868 Westland Boroughs, 1868
Supplementary elections, 1868	Westland North Westland South
First Māori elections	Eastern Maori Northern Maori Southern Maori Western Maori
4th Parliament (continued)	Avon, 1868 Picton, 1868 Rangitikei, 1868 Franklin, 1868 Waikouaiti, 1868 Lyttelton, 1868 Timaru, 1868 Nelson, 1868 Marsden, 1869 Roslyn, 1869 Dunedin, 1869 Newton, 1869 Waikouaiti, 1869 New Plymouth, 1869 Wallace, 1869 Oamaru, 1869 Taieri, 1869 Bruce, 1870 Mongonui, 1870 Caversham, 1870 Omata, 1870 Parnell, 1870 Riverton, 1870 Westland North, 1870 City of Christchurch, 1870
5th Parliament	Auckland West, 1871 Roslyn, 1871 Wairau, 1872 Waikato, 1872 Wakatipu, 1872 Rodney, 1872 Nelson, 1872 Waikouaiti, 1872 Coleridge, 1872 Heathcote, 1872 Caversham, 1872 Egmont 1872 Suburbs of Nelson, 1873 Lyttelton, 1873 Invercargill, 1873 Waikouaiti, 1873 Mongonui and Bay of Islands, 1873 Wakatipu, 1873 Collingwood, 1873 Franklin, 1874 Akaroa, 1874 Dunedin, 1874 Waitemata,1874 Kaiapoi, 1875 Auckland West, 1875 Rangitikei, 1875 Waikouaiti, 1875 Wairau, 1875 Wallace, 1875 Caversham, 1875
6th Parliament	Auckland West, 1876 Wanganui, 1876 Napier, 1877 Wellington, 1877 Totara, 1877 City of Auckland West, 1877 Wairarapa, 1877 Wellington, 1878 Parnell, 1878 Timaru, 1878 Port Chalmers, 1878 Franklin, 1878 Cheviot, 1878 Grey Valley, 1878 Hokitika, 1878 Dunedin, 1878 Taieri, 1878 Invercargill, 1878 Waipa, 1878 Roslyn, 1878 Gladstone, 1879 Mataura, 1879 Nelson, 1879 Auckland West, 1879 Coleridge, 1879 Hutt, 1879 Eastern Maori, 1879 Southern Maori, 1879 Dunedin, 1879
7th Parliament	Rangitikei, 1880 Waitaki, 1880 Waikaia, 1880 Suburbs of Nelson, 1881 Southern Maori, 1881 Nelson, 1881 Grey Valley, 1881
8th Parliament	Franklin North, 1882 Wakanui, 1882 Stanmore, 1882 Peninsula, 1883 Selwyn, 1883 Inangahua, 1883 Bruce, 1883 Selwyn, 1884 Thorndon, 1884 Kaiapoi, 1884 East Coast, 1884
9th Parliament	Oamaru, 1885 Tauranga, 1885 Waimea, 1885 Southern Maori, 1885 Wakanui, 1885 Bruce, 1885 Sydenham, 1886 Dunedin Central, 1886 Waitemata, 1886 Western Maori, 1886 Heathcote, 1887 Port Chalmers, 1887 Te Aro, 1887 Northern Maori, 1887 Avon, 1887
10th Parliament	Ashley, 1888 Lincoln, 1889 Nelson, 1889 Christchurch North, 1889 Oamaru, 1889 Waipa, 1889 East Coast, 1889 Timaru, 1890

• By-elections in New Zealand
• 1862 elections in New Zealand
• Politics of Otago