Born in
Orrell near Litherland,
Lancashire, England, in 1865, Hockly emigrated to New Zealand in 1884.
Arthur Remington of the
Liberal Party had held the electorate, but he died on 17 August 1909. The resulting was contested by five candidates, with Hockly as one of the
opposition candidates leading
Robert William Smith for the
government by 1548 votes to 1055. At the time, the
Second Ballot Act 1908 applied and since Hockly had not achieved an absolute majority, a second ballot between the two leading contenders was required. In the second contest, Smith had a majority of 400 votes over Hockly and was thus declared elected. In the , three candidates contested the new electorate: Smith for the Liberal government, Hockly as the opposition candidate, and
Joseph Ivess as an
Independent Liberal. Smith and Hockly progressed to the second ballot, which was won by Smith with a 480 votes majority. Hockly was elected to the
Rotorua electorate in the
1919 general election, but was defeated in
1928. He was
Chairman of Committees from 1926 to 1928. In 1935, he was awarded the
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal. He died in
Auckland in 1936 ==Notes==