Zieikzee was an electoral district of the House of Representatives in the Netherlands from 1848 to 1918.
Profile
The electoral district of Zierikzee was created in 1848 for the first direct election of the House of Representatives. It comprised the islands of Schouwen-Duiveland, Tholen and Sint Philipsland, all part of the province of Zeeland. Zierikzee was retained as a single member district in 1850, although much of Tholen was transferred to the district of Goes, while the island of Goeree-Overflakkee, part of the province of South Holland, was transferred from Brielle to Zierikzee. In 1864, the remainder of Tholen and Sint Philipsland were also transferred to Goes. In 1888, the eastern portion of Goeree-Overflakkee was transferred back to Brielle. The district was predominantly agricultural.
Over the course of its existence, the district's population increased from 18,870 in 1848 to 46,029 in 1909. A significant majority of the population was Reformed, though this proportion gradually dropped from 90.6% in 1848 to 77.8% in 1909. The proportion of the population identified as Gereformeerd was 1.4% in 1848, but grew rapidly in the 1880s, to 10.2% in 1888, and subsequently grew further to 12.1% in 1909. The proportion of Catholics in the district ranged from 4.4% to 8.4%. The share of "Others" peaked in 1909 at 5.7% of the population.
The district of Zierikzee was abolished upon the introduction of party-list proportional representation in 1918.
Members
Throughout its existence, Zierikzee was mostly represented by liberal deputies. Longest-serving among these was Jacob Johan van Kerkwijk, who was first elected in 1863, and continued to represent Zierikzee in the House of Representatives until his death in 1901. The subsequent by-election was won by the Anti-Revolutionary candidate Jozef Jan Pompe van Meerdervoort, but in 1905 the district was won back by the Liberal Rudolf Patijn, who continued to represent the district until its abolition in 1918.
ElectionMemberPartyRef1848Gerrit Adriaan FokkerInd1850Sebastiaan Hendrik AnemaetInd18521853Jean François Schuurbeque BoeijeInd1854Sebastiaan Hendrik AnemaetInd185818621863Jacob Johan van KerkwijkIndJun 1866Oct 1866186818691873187718811884188618871888Lib1891189418971901Jozef Jan Pompe van MeerdervoortAR19011905Rudolf PatijnLib190919131917
Election results Elections in the 1840s
Elections in the 1850s
Elections in the 1860s
Elections in the 1870s
Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
References