Ellesmere was a parliamentary electorate

New Zealand electorates

An electorate is a voting district for elections to the Parliament of New Zealand. In informal discussion, electorates are often called seats. The most formal description, electoral district, is rarely seen outside of electoral legislation. Before 1996, all Members of Parliament were directly...

 in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It existed for two periods between 1861 and 1928 and was represented by six Members of Parliament.

Population centres

Ellesmere was a rural electorate. It was located around Lake Ellesmere

Lake Ellesmere

Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora is located in the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is actually a broad, shallow lagoon located directly to the west of Banks Peninsula, separated from the Pacific Ocean by a long narrow sandy spit called Kaitorete Spit, or more correctly Kaitorete...

 and covered parts of Banks Peninsula

Banks Peninsula

Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves...

 and areas further south in the Selwyn District

Selwyn District

The Selwyn District is a predominantly rural area in central Canterbury, on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is named after the Selwyn River, which is in turn named after Bishop George Selwyn, the first Anglican bishop of New Zealand who, in 1843 and 1844, travelled the length of...

.

History

Ellesmere was first established for the 1861 election. At the next election in 1866

New Zealand general election, 1866

The New Zealand general election of 1866 was held between 12 February and 6 April to elect 70 MPs to the fourth term of the New Zealand Parliament. 13,196 votes were cast....

, it was replaced with the Mount Herbert

Mount Herbert (New Zealand electorate)

Mount Herbert was a former parliamentary electorate in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand, from 1866 to 1870.-History:The electorate was formed for the 4th New Zealand Parliament in 1866, replacing the Ellesmere electorate. The general election was held on 22 February 1866...

 electorate. It was re-established for the 1890

New Zealand general election, 1890

The New Zealand general election of 1890 was one of New Zealand's most significant. It marked the beginning of party politics in New Zealand with the formation of the First Liberal government, which was to enact major welfare, labour and electoral reforms, including giving the vote to women.It was...

 election and existed until 1928.

Thomas Rowley

Thomas Rowley (politician)

Thomas Rowley was a 19th century Member of Parliament in Canterbury, New Zealand.He represented the Ellesmere electorate from 1861 to 1862, when he resigned.-References:...

 was elected unopposed on 25 January 1861. He resigned on 25 April 1862. James FitzGerald

James FitzGerald

James Edward FitzGerald was a New Zealand politician. According to some historians, he should be considered the country's first Prime Minister, although a more conventional view is that neither he nor his successor should properly be given that title. He was a notable campaigner for New Zealand...

 won the resulting by-election.

1861 to 1866

From 1861 to 1866, Ellesmere had two representatives.

Election	Winner
1861 election		Thomas Rowley Thomas Rowley (politician) Thomas Rowley was a 19th century Member of Parliament in Canterbury, New Zealand.He represented the Ellesmere electorate from 1861 to 1862, when he resigned.-References:...  (Independent)
1862 by-election		James FitzGerald James FitzGerald James Edward FitzGerald was a New Zealand politician. According to some historians, he should be considered the country's first Prime Minister, although a more conventional view is that neither he nor his successor should properly be given that title. He was a notable campaigner for New Zealand...  (Independent)

1890 to 1928

From 1890 to 1928, Ellesmere had four representatives.

Election	Winner
1890 election New Zealand general election, 1890 The New Zealand general election of 1890 was one of New Zealand's most significant. It marked the beginning of party politics in New Zealand with the formation of the First Liberal government, which was to enact major welfare, labour and electoral reforms, including giving the vote to women.It was...		John Hall (Independent)
1893 election New Zealand general election, 1893 The New Zealand general election of 1893 was held on Tuesday, 28 November in the general electorates, and on Wednesday, 20 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 12th session of the New Zealand Parliament...		William Montgomery (Liberal New Zealand Liberal Party The New Zealand Liberal Party is generally regarded as having been the first real political party in New Zealand. It governed from 1891 until 1912. Out of office, the Liberals gradually found themselves pressed between the conservative Reform Party and the growing Labour Party... )
1896 election New Zealand general election, 1896 The New Zealand general election of 1896 was held on Wednesday, 4 December in the general electorates, and on Thursday, 19 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 13th session of the New Zealand Parliament...
1899 election New Zealand general election, 1899 The New Zealand general election of 1899 was held on Wednesday, 6 December in the general electorates, and on Tuesday, 19 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 14th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 373,744 voters turned out to...		Heaton Rhodes Heaton Rhodes Sir Robert Heaton Rhodes KCVO KBE VD , usually known as Sir Heaton Rhodes, was a New Zealand politician and lawyer....  (Reform New Zealand Reform Party The Reform Party, formally the New Zealand Political Reform League, was New Zealand's second major political party, having been founded as a conservative response to the original Liberal Party... )
1902 election New Zealand general election, 1902 The New Zealand general election of 1902 was held on Tuesday, 25 November in the general electorates, and on Monday, 22 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 15th session of the New Zealand Parliament...
1905 election New Zealand general election, 1905 The New Zealand general election of 1905 was held on Wednesday, 6 December in the general electorates, and on Wednesday, 20 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 16th session of the New Zealand Parliament...
1908 election New Zealand general election, 1908 The New Zealand general election of 1908 was held on Tuesday, 17 November, 24 November and 1 December in the general electorates, and on Wednesday, 2 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 17th session of the New Zealand Parliament...
1911 election New Zealand general election, 1911 The New Zealand general election of 1911 was held on Thursday, 7 and 14 December in the general electorates, and on Tuesday, 19 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 18th session of the New Zealand Parliament...
1914 election New Zealand general election, 1914 The New Zealand general election of 1914 was held on 10 December to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 19th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 616,043 voters were registered, of which 84.7% voters turned out to vote....
1919 election
1922 election New Zealand general election, 1922 The New Zealand general election of 1922 was held on Monday, 6 December in the Māori electorates, and on Tuesday, 7 December in the general electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 21st session of the New Zealand Parliament...
1925 election New Zealand general election, 1925 The New Zealand general election of 1925 was held 4 November to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 22nd session of the New Zealand Parliament...		David Jones David Jones (New Zealand) David Jones was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. From 1931 to 1932 he was Minister of Agriculture and Mines in the Liberal-Reform coalition Government....  (Reform New Zealand Reform Party The Reform Party, formally the New Zealand Political Reform League, was New Zealand's second major political party, having been founded as a conservative response to the original Liberal Party... )