1888 Ashley by-election

The 1888 Ashley by-election was a by-election held on 25 July 1888 in the Ashley electorate during the 10th New Zealand Parliament.

The by-election was caused by the death on 3 July of the incumbent MP William Fisher Pearson. The three initial candidates, in the order of them announcing themselves, were John Verrall, John Ollivier, and Marmaduke Dixon. Ollivier resigned from the contest on 17 July and at the same time, it became known that Alfred Saunders would become a candidate.[1] At the nomination meeting, Dixon won the show of hands.[2] The by-election had a close result and was won by John Verrall, with Dixon in third place just nine votes behind.[3]

Results

The following table gives the election result:

1888 Ashley by-election[4][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Verrall	234	33.86	+21.67
	Independent	Alfred Saunders	232	33.57
	Independent	Marmaduke Dixon[5][6]	225	32.56
Majority			2	0.29	−27.21
Turnout			691

Notes

1. "The Ashley seat". Lyttelton Times. Vol. LXX, no. 8537. 18 July 1888. p. 3. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
2. "Ashley election". The Star. No. 6295. 20 July 1888. p. 2. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
3. "Ashley Election". The Press. Vol. XLV, no. 7132. 31 July 1888. p. 5. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
4. "Page 1 Advertisements Column 5". The Press. Vol. XLV, no. 7124. 21 July 1888. p. 1. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
5. Scholefield 1940, pp. 209f.
6. "Marmaduke Dixon – 1828–1895". Waimakariri Libraries. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.

References

• Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L (PDF). Vol. I. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 24 May 2020.