In the Masterton electorate, election day 1887 attracted unusual attention. A crowd of men and boys, Māori and Pākehā, gathered in Masterton with effigies of the three candidates: George Beetham (the dandy), R. E. Hawkins (the pirate) and Alexander Hogg (the pig). The effigies were auctioned once the election results were known – Beetham won. Why the effigies were made is not known, but by this time all men could vote and share in the excitement elections sometimes provoked.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Alexander Turnbull Library, Albert E. Winzenberg Collection
Reference: 1/2-011707-F
by Thomas Edward Price
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.