Hokonui (New Zealand electorate)

Hokonui was a parliamentary electorate in the Southland Region of New Zealand, from 1881 to 1890.

The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–76 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, including Hokonui, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries.

The electorate included the Hokonui Hills, the range of hills which rise above the Southland Plains, of which the hills mark a northern extremity.

The Hokonui electorate in the Southland Region of New Zealand was formed for the 1881 election. The 1881 election was contested by Henry Driver, Cuthbert Cowan and Peter Finn, who obtained 527, 431, and 121 votes, respectively. Driver was thus declared elected. Driver had previously represented the Roslyn electorate for four parliamentary terms. Cowan had represented the Wallace in 1869 following a by-election for only a few months. Peter Finn, a supporter of the previous Premier George Grey, was a barrister and solicitor from Invercargill who had previously been a politician in Victoria.

...
Wikipedia