Timaru (New Zealand electorate)

Timaru is a former New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, in the South Island. It existed continuously from 1861 to 1996 and was represented by eleven Members of Parliament.

In the 1860 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of representatives by 12, reflecting the immense population growth since the original electorates were established in 1853. The redistribution created 15 additional electorates with between one and three members, and Timaru was one of the single-member electorates. The electorates were distributed to provinces so that every province had at least two members. Within each province, the number of registered electors by electorate varied greatly. The Timaru electorate had 121 registered electors for the 1861 election.

The electorate is partly urban, and is based on the South Canterbury city of Timaru.

The electorate was formed in 1861 for the 3rd Parliament and existed continuously until the 1996 election.

Francis Jollie was the first representative. In the 1866 election, he successfully stood for Gladstone. Alfred Cox was the next representative, and he resigned in 1868 partway through the term. Edward Stafford won the resulting 1868 by-election. He represented the electorate for a decade and resigned in 1878.

Richard Turnbull won the 1878 by-election and represented Timaru until 1890, when he died on 17 July. He had contested the 1887 election against Edward George Kerr, the proprietor of the The Timaru Herald, and had won with a comfortable majority.

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