Waipawa

Waipawa is the second-largest town in Central Hawke's Bay in the east of the North Island of New Zealand. It has a population of 2,070 (June 2015 estimate). At the 2013 census, it had a population of 1,965, a change of 2.2 percent from the 2006 census.

The town is located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) northeast of Waipukurau and 46 km (29 mi) southwest of Hastings, on the northern bank of the Waipawa River, a tributary of the Tukituki River. Waipawa was settled in the early 1860s, and the Settler's Museum exhibits many of these historical collections.

It holds the main office of the Central Hawke's Bay District Council, and holds the distinction of being New Zealand's oldest inland European settlement.

Waipawa was originally called Abbotsford. There was also a children's home in Waipawa named Abbotsford.

Notes

Waipawa (New Zealand electorate)

Waipawa was a parliamentary electorate in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand, from 1881 to 1946.

Population centres

The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–76 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of European representatives to 91 (up from 84 since the 1875–76 election). The number of Māori electorates was held at four. The House further decided that electorates should not have more than one representative, which led to 35 new electorates being formed, including Waipawa, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries.

The legislation defined the area as follows:

History

The Waipawa electorate was established for the 1881 election.

William Cowper Smith was the first representative. He was re-elected in 1884. From 1887 to 1890 Smith represented the Woodville electorate, which only existed for those three years.