On his arrival in New Zealand in 1868 he began work as the manager, and perhaps printer, of the
New Zealand Celt at
Hokitika.
Political career Ivess represented the Inangahua electorate on the
Nelson Provincial Council from 21 January 1873 until the abolition of the Provinces on 31 October 1876. He used his various newspaper interests to increase his name recognition for election purposes. In September 1875, the first hint appeared that he would challenge
Harry Atkinson in the electorate at the next general election, although it was clear that he would not stand a chance against the
Colonial Treasurer. and Atkinson defeated Ivess by 225 votes to 73. Ivess was one of the original nine councillors of the Ashburton Borough Council in September 1878. He was beaten by
Hugo Friedlander for the
Ashburton mayoralty in November 1879. Ivess contested the electorate in
South Canterbury in the against
Cathcart Wason and
Charles Purnell. Ivess petitioned against Wason's election win on numerous grounds. The election petitions court started hearing the case in February 1882. Members were sworn in on 18 May 1882 for the first session of the
8th Parliament. Wason was not present. On the following day, the results of the various election petitions were read out, and the 1881 Wakanui election was declared void. Wason lost his seat in Parliament without having ever taken it. A 16 June
1882 by-election was held, which was contested by
Alfred Saunders and Ivess. Ivess and Saunders received 604 and 541 votes, and Ivess was thus declared elected. In the , Ivess was beaten by
John Grigg. Grigg resigned in mid-1885, and this caused the , at which Ivess was re-elected. Having moved to the North Island, Ivess contested the electorate in the against the incumbent
John Davies Ormond, but was beaten. After that, he lived in
New South Wales for some years. and in , and (every time beaten by
Charles Hardy). He contested the in the electorate as an
Independent Liberal, but was eliminated in the
first ballot.
Death and commemoration Ivess died on 4 September 1919 in Christchurch, New Zealand and was buried at
Linwood Cemetery two days later. In 1994
Ivess Peak was officially named after Joseph Ivess. At , it is the tallest peak in the
Victoria Ranges, between
Reefton,
Springs Junction and
Maruia, in the South Island.
Inangahua Herald, Reefton's first newspaper, was founded by Ivess in 1872. ==References==