Fifteen additional South Island electorates were created, including Mount Herbert, and the number of Members of Parliament was increased by 13 to 70.
[1] The electorate is named after the highest peak (Mount Herbert / Te Ahu Pātiki) on Banks Peninsula.
The 1870 electoral redistribution was undertaken by a parliamentary select committee based on population data from the 1867 New Zealand census.
[3] The general election was held on 22 February 1866, and William Sefton Moorhouse was returned unopposed.
[4][5] Moorhouse also stood in the Westland electorate and was returned 16 March 1866 in favour of William Shaw.