1885 Bruce by-election

New Zealand by-election

The 1885 Bruce by-election was a by-election held on 5 August 1885 in the Bruce electorate during the 9th New Zealand Parliament.

The by-election was held after the resignation of Robert Gillies for health reasons. He had won the seat at the general 1884 election.

He was replaced by Donald Reid.

The runner-up James McDonald had represented Bruce up to the 1884 election. A former representative of the Bruce electorate, William Murray, was invited to contest the by-election but he declined.^[1]

J. C. Anderson was born in Bruce and had farmed there for thirteen years.^[2]

William Hutchison wrote that he had "many pleasant memories" of the electorate ^[3] but another correspondent said it was a "very palpable defeat" and denied that the Kaitangata miners were told how to vote. ^[4]

Results

The following table gives the election result:

1885 Bruce by-election^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Donald Reid	336	31.61
	Independent	James McDonald	327	30.76
	Independent	J. C. Anderson	303	28.50
	Independent	William Hutchison	97	9.13
Majority			9	0.85
Turnout			1063

References

^ "The Oamaru Mail". Vol. X, no. 3007. 3 August 1885. p. 2. Retrieved 30 April 2020 – via Papers Past.
^ "Bruce Election". Clutha Leader. 31 July 1885 – via Papers Past.
^ "Random Notes". Clutha Leader. 14 August 1885 – via Papers Past.
^ "Random Notes". Clutha Leader. 21 August 1885 – via Papers Past.
^ "Bruce Election". Otago Daily Times. 6 August 1885.