The 1861 election in the Wairau electorate was notable in that a later Premier, Frederick Weld, was unexpectedly and narrowly defeated by William Henry Eyes.
[1] The initial area covered the Marlborough Sounds in the north to the Hurunui River in the south.
[3] The Wairau electorate's boundaries were constantly adjusted over the years, but the electorate always covered a large, rural area around the Awatere River, with a long coastal boundary south of Cape Campbell, at times as far south as Kaikōura.
[13] Wells was one of many members of the House of Representatives who resigned in early 1858; he placed a public notice to that effect in the 20 March edition of The Nelson Examiner.
[14] At the opening of the second session of the 2nd Parliament on 10 April 1858,[15] the speaker read out 14 resignations, including that of Wells.
[23] Weld stood two weeks later in the Cheviot electorate, where he decisively beat Charles Hunter Brown.
[24] At the 1866 election, Eyes was returned unopposed; the previous year, he had been chosen Superintendent of Marlborough Province.
[26][27] In December 1871, Eyes was appointed Crown Lands Commissioner for the Marlborough Province and as a public servant, he could no longer hold a seat in parliament and had to resign.
[37] In the 1881 election, Seymour was beaten by Henry Dodson, a former member of the Marlborough Provincial Council and a former Mayor of Blenheim.
[40] The 1887 election saw a three-way contest, with Dodson challenged by George Henderson and Sutherland John Macalister.
[42] Dodson retired in 1890,[43] and three candidates put their name forward: Lindsay Buick, Arthur Seymour, and Sutherland John Macalister.