1860 East Sydney colonial by-election
By-election in New South Wales, Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of East Sydney on 20 January 1860 because Charles Cowper had resigned from parliament on 26 October 1859,[1][2] but was re-elected at the resulting by-election, having been nominated without his consent.[3][4]
Dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 27 October 1859 | Charles Cowper resigned from parliament.[1] |
| 10 November 1859 | Charles Cowper re-elected.[3] |
| 17 November 1859 | Charles Cowper resigned from Parliament, again.[1][4] |
| 9 January 1860 | Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.[5] |
| 18 January 1860 | Nominations.[6] |
| 20 January 1860 | Polling day |
| 24 January 1860 | Return of writ |
Candidates
- Peter Faucett was a barrister and former member of the Legislative Assembly. He had received the most votes of the unsuccessful candidates at the 1859 East Sydney by-election.[3]
- Robert Stewart was cabinetmaker and undertaking who was nominated by the Reverend John Lang. He had received the most votes of the unsuccessful candidates at the 1859 West Sydney election.[7]
- John West was the conservative editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. Antony Green described his nomination as a joke on the hustings.[8] The Empire gave a detailed account of the nomination of Reverend West,[6] while the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the nominator had spoken in a "facetious strain for some minutes".[9]
Result
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Faucett (elected) | 1,346 | 50.3 | |
| Robert Stewart | 1,315 | 49.2 | |
| John West | 14 | 0.5 | |
| Total formal votes | 2,675 | 100.0 | |
| Informal votes | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Turnout | 2,675 | 30.0 | |