6th New Zealand Parliament

The 6th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand.

Elections for this term were held in 69 European electorates between 20 December 1875 and 29 January 1876. Elections in the four Māori electorates were held on 4 and 15 January 1876. A total of 88 MPs were elected. Parliament was prorogued in August 1879. During the term of this Parliament, five Ministries were in power.

Sessions
The 6th Parliament opened on 15 June 1876, following the 1875–1876 general election. It sat for four sessions, and was prorogued on 15 August 1879.

Historical context
Political parties had not been established yet; this only happened after the 1890 election. Anyone attempting to form an administration thus had to win support directly from individual MPs. This made first forming, and then retaining a government difficult and challenging.

Ministries
Since July 1875, the Pollen Ministry was in power, led by Premier Daniel Pollen. On 15 February 1876, the second Vogel Ministry was established, which lasted until 1 September 1876. This was followed by the Atkinson Ministry, what is known as the beginning of the Continuous Ministry, which lasted from 1 to 13 September 1876. It was reconstituted as the second Atkinson Ministry, which ruled from 13 September 1876 to 13 October 1877. This was succeeded by the Grey Ministry, which was in power from 13 October 1877 to 8 October 1879. This period extended slightly after the period of the 1879 general elections for the 7th Parliament.

Initial composition of the 6th Parliament
88 seats were created across the electorates.

Changes during term
There were numerous changes during the term of the 6th Parliament.

<!--

Existing electorates
Walker resigned in 1867. Henry Tancred won the subsequent 1867 by-election.
 * Ashley

James Williamson resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by Patrick Dignan (politician).
 * Auckland West

Ward resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by William Reeves, who himself resigned in 1868. William Rolleston won the subsequent 1868 by-election.
 * Avon

Cargill resigned in 1870 and was succeeded by James Clark Brown.
 * Bruce

Burns resigned in 1870 and was succeeded by James McIndoe.
 * Caversham

FitzGerald resigned in 1867 and was succeeded by William Travers, who himself resigned in 1870. William Sefton Moorhouse took the seat for the remaining months in 1870.
 * City of Christchurch

Paterson resigned in 1869 and was succeeded by Thomas Birch.
 * City of Dunedin

Stafford resigned in 1868 and was succeeded by Nathaniel Edwards.
 * City of Nelson

Richmond resigned in 1868 and was succeeded by Arthur Shuckburgh Collins.
 * Collingwood

Beswick resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by John Studholme.
 * Kaiapoi

Baldwin resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by David Mervyn.
 * Manuherikia

Hull resigned in 1868. He was succeeded by John Munro.
 * Marsden

Ball resigned in 1870. He was succeeded by Thomas Gillies on 30 March 1870.
 * Mongonui

Moorhouse was elected in the Mount Herbert electorate on 22 February 1866. He also stood in the Westland electorate and was returned 16 March 1866. He chose to represent Westland. A by-election was held on 27 July 1866 and Thomas Henry Potts was returned unopposed.
 * Mount Herbert

Richardson resigned in 1867 and was succeeded by Harry Atkinson, who himself resigned in 1869. Thomas Kelly won the 1869 by-election.
 * New Plymouth

Graham resigned in 1869 and was succeeded by Robert James Creighton.
 * Newton

Henderson resigned in 1867. The 6 July 1867 by-election was won by Thomas Macfarlane.
 * Northern Division

O'Neill resigned in 1869 and was succeeded by Henry Warner Farnall.

Campbell resigned in 1869 and was succeeded by Charles Christie Graham.
 * Oamaru

Atkinson resigned in 1867 and was succeeded in 1868 by Charles Brown, who himself resigned in 1870. Frederic Alonzo Carrington was the successful candidate in the 1870 by-election.
 * Omata

Whitaker resigned in 1867 and was succeeded by Charles Heaphy.
 * Parnell

De Quincey resigned in 1867. The 5 August 1867 by-election was won by John Kerr. A second person, a Mr Jackson, was nominated, but the returning officer would not accept the nomination, as Jackson was not on the electoral roll. Thus, Kerr was declared elected unopposed.
 * Pensioner Settlements

Beauchamp resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by William Adams, who himself resigned in 1868. Courtenay Kenny won the 1868 by-election.
 * Picton

Dick, who was elected on 17 March 1866, resigned on 15 October 1866. He successfully contested the 15 December 1866 by-election, but resigned again on 26 April 1867. David Forsyth Main successfully contested the 1867 by-election.
 * Port Chalmers

Newman resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by James Farmer.
 * Raglan

Watt resigned in 1868. He was succeeded by William Fox, who won the 1868 by-election.
 * Rangitīkei

Hepburn resigned in 1868. He was succeeded by Henry Driver.
 * Roslyn

Reid resigned in 1869. He was succeeded by Henry Howorth.
 * Taieri

Cox resigned in 1868. He was succeeded by Edward Stafford.
 * Timaru

Hargreaves resigned in 1868. He was succeeded by John Thomas Peacock.
 * Town of Lyttelton

Murison resigned in 1868 and was succeeded by Robert Mitchell. Mitchell himself resigned in the following year and was replaced by Francis Rich.
 * Waikouaiti

Oliver resigned in 1867. He was succeeded by Edward Baigent.
 * Waimea

McNeil resigned in 1869 and was succeeded by Cuthbert Cowan. Cowan himself resigned in the same year he got elected and was replaced by George Webster.
 * Wallace

The electorate was abolished in 1867. A new electorate (Westland Boroughs) was established, and Moorhouse was transferred to it.
 * Westland

New electorate
Westland Boroughs was established in 1867, and Moorhouse transferred to it. He resigned in 1868, and William Henry Harrison won the resulting by-election.
 * Westland Boroughs

Māori electorates
The first elections for the new Māori electorates were held in 1868.

Tareha te Moananui was the first representative for the Eastern Māori electorate.
 * Eastern Māori

Frederick Nene Russell was the first representative for the Northern Māori electorate.
 * Northern Māori

John Patterson was the first representative for the Southern Māori electorate.
 * Southern Māori

Mete Paetahi was the first representative for the Western Māori electorate. -->
 * Western Māori