1901 Hastings Borough Council election

Election in New Zealand April 2025 April 2025 1901 Hastings Borough Council election New Zealand 1900 Hastings Borough Council election 1900 1902 Hastings Borough Council election 1902 24 April / 15 May 1901 1,162 (71.20%) yes Mayoral election William Dennett William Young Dennett (cropped).png 674 58.00% Independent Cecil Fitzroy 3x4.svg 480 41.31% Independent Mayor William Dennett Independent William Dennett Independent yes yes yes Council election 9 seats on the Hastings Borough Council 5 Independents 9 6 The 1901 Hastings Borough Council election was a local election intended to be held on 24 April in the Borough of Hastings of New Zealand as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. Voters elected the mayor of Hastings a one year term and 9 borough councillors for a two year term. In person voting and the first-past-the-post voting system were used. The date of election of the mayor was rescheduled as both candidates withdrew due to an informality found on the incumbent mayor's nomination form; a nominator of him did not meet the requirements. The council election was held on the initially scheduled date and the mayoral election was held on 15 May. Dennett was re-elected to the mayoralty, defeating former mayor Cecil Fitzroy 58-to-41. Two councillors were re-elected, the other seven being newly elected. Key dates 9 April — Notice of the election publishedJ Collinge 9 April 1901 Borough of Hastings Election of Councillors https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HAST19010409.2.17.3 Hastings Standard 3 1491 18 April — Notice of nominated candidates publishedCollinge J 18 April 1901 Borough of Hastings Annual Election of Mayor https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HAST19010418.2.15.5 Hastings Standard 3 5 1499 24 April — Council election date 26 April — Notice of elected councillors published and notice of the new mayoral election published26 April 1901 Borough of Hastings Election of Nine Councillors https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HAST19010426.2.17.3 Hastings Standard 3 5 1506 1 May — Enrolment period ended27 April 1901 Hastings https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH19010427.2.21 Hawke's Bay Herald 4 36 11830 4 May — Nominations for mayoral election candidacy closed 15 May — Mayoral election date Background Legislation This was the first election in the borough held under the new Municipal Corporations Act 1900.18 May 1901 Hastings Borough Council https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HAST19010518.2.19 Hastings Standard 4 5 1525 Mayoral candidates William Dennett, born in Hobart, Australia, was a Roman Catholic auctioneer and a mason. He had worked in the Victorian and Otago goldfields and in the colonial defense force.Boyd Mary Beatrice City of the Plains A History of Hastings Victoria University Press 1984 9780864730220 167 Cecil Fitzroy was born in Norfolk, England, and was educated at Eton and Cambridge. He immigrated to Australia in 1867 and became a sheep farmer before moving to Canterbury where he served as the member of Parliament for Selwyn. He become a sheep inspector and director of the Heretaunga Co-operative Dairy Company after moving to Hastings. He had been the mayor of the borough from 1894 until being defeated by Dennett in 1899.Boyd Mary Beatrice City of the Plains A History of Hastings Victoria University Press 1984 9780864730220 70 Campaign Mayor Dennett discovered that his nomination as candidate was invalid due to one his nominators being illegible to do so,22 April 1901 Untititled https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH19010422.2.7 Hawke's Bay Herald 2 36 11825 and thus he was forced to withdraw from the race. Fitzroy, not wanting to simply walk into office, also withdrew his candidacy. Thus new rounds of nominations were required.22 April 1901 The Gossip's Diary https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HAST19010418.2.15.5 Hastings Standard 3 5 1502 Their notifications of retirement were published in the Hastings Standard on 22 April.Collinge J 22 April 1901 Borough of Hastings Retirement of Candidate https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HAST19010422.2.14.2 Hastings Standard 3 5 1502 In the period between the council election and the mayoral election, 243 people registered on the burgess list to be able to vote, bringing the number of registered electors to 1,633.2 May 1901 Hastings https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH19010502.2.24 Hawke's Bay Herald 4 36 11834 Voting for the mayoral election took place at the Borough Council Chambers and at the Princess Theatre.7 May 1901 Borough of Hastings Election of Mayor to Fill Extraordinary Vacancy https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HAST19010507.2.17.4 Hastings Standard 3 5 1515 The Hastings Standard said the "vagrant cow question" was an important issue in the election, with the paper seeing the incumbent mayor Dennett as too liberal or weak willed in stopping people from letting their cows graze on the public roads and land of the borough.14 May 1901 The Gossip's Diary https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HAST19010514.2.5 Hastings Standard 2 5 1521 In the same column, the paper praised the mayor for his "unostentatious" and "untiring" work as mayor. The paper, on the other hand, said that Fitzroy "[suffered] considerably in comparison" to Dennett. They criticised his previous stint as mayor. The two candidates addressed an audience at the Princess Theatre on 14 May. Dennett said that he had been elected at the previous election on the "retrenchment ticket" and that in his period as mayor he had been successful in laying 23 miles of drains and 40 miles of roads. He dismissed claims he had let cattle graze freely, and pointed to a reduction in borough debt from £2,203 to £1,864 during his tenure. Fitzroy went through a history of the borough, specifically how debts were occurred during the tenures of the mayors; based on this he implied that the debt rise of £337 during his tenure was low.15 May 1901 Hastings https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH19010515.2.26 Hawke's Bay Herald 4 36 11845 List of candidates Mayor +CandidatePhotoNotesWilliam Dennettframeless|100x100pxIncumbent mayor of Hastings (first elected 1899)Cecil FitzroyFormer mayor of Hastings (1894–1899) Council +CandidateNotesWilliam Arthur BeecroftCharles George CunnoldGeorge EbbettFuture mayor of Hastings.Alfred Amory GeorgeWilliam John GrahamMatthew JohnsonWilliam Baxter JonesWilliam Charles MaddisonEdward NewbiginGeorge RoachFuture mayor of Hastings.David ScannellWilliam Henry SmithThomas ThompsonFuture mayor of Hastings. Results Council Thompson and Beecroft were the only incumbent elected, the seven others were newly elected.25 April 1901 Hastings https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH19010425.2.14 Hawke's Bay Herald 3 36 11828 The results of the borough council election as held on 24 April were: + CandidateVotes% William Charles Maddison 587 70.38 George Roach 489 58.63 Thomas Thompson 484 58.03 William Henry Smith 468 56.12 George Ebbett 459 55.04 William Arthur Beecroft 431 51.68 William Baxter Jones 420 50.36 Edward Newbigin 376 45.08 David Scannell 363 43.53 Alfred Amory George35542.57 Charles George Cunnold27633.09 Matthew Johnson26631.89 William John Graham13816.55Informal141.68Turnout834 Mayor Dennett defeated Fitzroy, being re-elected to a second term of office as mayor.16 May 1901 Mayoral Election https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HAST19010516.2.7 Hastings Standard 2 5 1523 + CandidateVotes%William Dennett67458.00Cecil Fitzroy48041.31Informal80.69Turnout1,162 Aftermath and analysis The Hawke's Bay Herald reported on 27 April that the election had the highest turnout yet for the borough, and expected the mayoral election to be even more so. This would come to fruition, with 1,162 people voting in the election. The result of the mayoral election was received with cheers. Dennett gave a speech thanking everyone for returning him to office. Fitzroy also tried to speak to the crowd, but was met with a "considerable" display of hostility. Eventually he was allowed to speak, and conceded to Dennett and the will of the voters. The mayor was sworn in on 18 May. References Category:Hastings Borough Council (New Zealand) elections Hastings