Results of the 1877 New South Wales colonial election

The 1877 New South Wales colonial election was for 73 members representing 61 electoral districts. The election was conducted on the basis of a simple majority or first-past-the-post voting system. In this election there were 8 multi-member districts returning 20 members and 53 single member districts. In the multi-member districts each elector could vote for as many candidates as there were vacancies. 17 districts were uncontested. There was no recognisable party structure at this election.^[1]

New South Wales colonial election, 24 October – 12 November 1877 ^[1] Legislative Assembly << 1874–75–1880 >>
Enrolled voters
Votes cast	98,503		Turnout	48.31	+1.10
Informal votes	680		Informal	1.01	−0.19
Summary of votes by party
Party	Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
Total	98,503			73

There were four districts that did not have a residential or property qualification, Goldfields North (1,200), Goldfields South (1,500), Goldfields West (10,000) and University of Sydney (158). The average number of enrolled voters per seat in the other districts was 2,342 ranging from The Paterson (556) to The Bogan (7,401).^[2] The electoral boundaries were established under the Electoral Act 1858 (NSW).^[3]^[4]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Candidate	Votes	%
William Davies (elected)	890	61.7
Charles Heydon	553	38.3
Total formal votes	1,443	97.5
Informal votes	37	2.5
Turnout	1,480	60.9

Candidate	Votes	%
Colin Simson (elected)	623	79.8
John Smart	158	20.2
Total formal votes	781	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	797	23.2

Candidate	Votes	%
Francis Suttor (re-elected)	551	64.1
David Williamson	308	35.9
Total formal votes	859	98.1
Informal votes	17	1.9
Turnout	876	51.9

Candidate	Votes	%
Walter Coonan (elected)	1,248	51.8
Sir John Robertson	1,020	42.3
Sir Henry Parkes	117	4.9
John Ardill	12	0.5
William Forlonge	7	0.3
Jean Serisier	5	0.2
Total formal votes	2,409	97.1
Informal votes	72	2.9
Turnout	2,481	33.5

Candidate	Votes	%
Thomas Garrett (re-elected 1)	762	41.4
Arthur Onslow (re-elected 2)	683	37.1
Thomas Fisher	397	21.6
Total formal votes	1,842	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	1,255	53.1

Candidate	Votes	%
Sir Henry Parkes (elected 1)	1,841	28.4
John Lucas (re-elected 2)	1,645	25.4
Richard Hill (defeated)	1,443	22.3
George Pile	969	14.9
William Henson	588	9.1
Total formal votes	6,486	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	6,486	49.2

Candidate	Votes	%
Thomas Bawden (re-elected)	1,161	42.2
Charles Fawcett	1,126	41.0
Edward Madgwick	286	10.4
Sir John Robertson	176	6.4
Total formal votes	2,749	98.4
Informal votes	46	1.7
Turnout	2,795	59.7

Candidate		Votes	%
John Lackey (re-elected)		unopposed
Andrew McCulloch (elected)		unopposed

Candidate	Votes	%
Sir John Robertson (elected 1)	781	38.5
William Suttor (re-elected 2)	627	30.9
William Cummings	515	25.4
George Stephen	105	5.2
Total formal votes	2,028	99.0
Informal votes	21	1.0
Turnout	1,307	63.4

Candidate	Votes	%
Stephen Scholey (re-elected)	268	50.2
Alexander Dodds	266	49.8
Total formal votes	534	99.1
Informal votes	5	0.9
Turnout	539	70.2

Candidate	Votes	%
John Macintosh (re-elected 1)	4,112	19.0
John Davies (re-elected 2)	3,761	17.4
James Greenwood (elected 3)	3,493	16.1
Alexander Stuart (re-elected 4)	2,930	13.5
Sir Henry Parkes (defeated)	2,843	13.1
Sedgwick Cowper	1,335	6.2
Francis Dixon	1,302	6.0
Isaac Josephson	1,029	4.8
Ninian Melville	540	2.5
Josiah Mason	173	0.8
William Cover	77	0.4
George Perry	60	0.3
Total formal votes	21,655	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	7,156	54.1

Candidate	Votes	%
Henry Clarke (re-elected)	825	69.6
Sir Henry Parkes	361	30.4
Total formal votes	1,186	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	1,216	54.5

Candidate	Votes	%
George Allen (re-elected)	1,179	64.8
Charles Mossman	641	35.2
Total formal votes	1,820	97.9
Informal votes	39	2.1
Turnout	1,859	55.2

Candidate	Votes	%
Louis Beyers (elected)	476	57.9
David Buchanan (defeated)	346	42.1
Total formal votes	822	97.9
Informal votes	18	2.1
Turnout	840	8.4

Candidate	Votes	%
William Teece (re-elected)	400	62.8
Frederick Horn	237	37.2
Total formal votes	637	97.7
Informal votes	15	2.3
Turnout	652	65.7

1877 New South Wales colonial election: Hartley
Thursday 1 November ^[26]
Candidate	Votes	%
John Hurley (b 1844) (re-elected)	695	57.8
Patrick Higgins	508	42.2
Total formal votes	1,203	97.8
Informal votes	27	2.2
Turnout	1,230	63.0

1877 New South Wales colonial election: Liverpool Plains
Saturday 3 November ^[34]
Candidate	Votes	%
Hanley Bennett (re-elected)	703	42.5
Michael Burke	536	32.4
George Grehan	415	25.1
Total formal votes	1,654	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	1,654	36.4

1877 New South Wales colonial election: The Murray
Monday 5 November ^[39]
Candidate	Votes	%
Robert Barbour (elected)	815	51.9
James Davidson	754	48.1
Total formal votes	1,569	97.4
Informal votes	42	2.6
Turnout	1,611	62.9

1877 New South Wales colonial election: New England
Saturday 3 November ^[43]
Candidate	Votes	%
Samuel Terry (re-elected)	736	58.6
Robert Forster (defeated)	521	41.5
Total formal votes	1,257	96.8
Informal votes	42	3.2
Turnout	1,299	49.2

Candidate	Votes	%
Robert Smith (re-elected)	1,018	94.2
Thomas Amos	63	5.8
Total formal votes	1,081	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	1,093	34.5

Candidate	Votes	%
Alexander Bowman (elected 1)	462	33.0
Henry Moses (re-elected 2)	383	27.3
William Piddington (defeated)	283	20.2
Thomas Primrose	177	12.6
George Davies	96	6.9
Total formal votes	1,401	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	1,401	50.8

Candidate	Votes	%
George Day (re-elected)	461	97.7
Sir Henry Parkes	11	2.3
Total formal votes	472	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	484	15.4

Candidate	Votes	%
John Murphy (elected)	768	59.6
Alexander Montague (defeated)	521	40.4
Total formal votes	1,289	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	1,289	54.0

Candidate	Votes	%
Sir John Robertson (elected)	1,142	53.7
Richard Rouse (defeated)	985	46.3
Total formal votes	2,127	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	2,130	44.4

Candidate	Votes	%
Joseph Leary (re-elected)	531	36.7
Henry Parkes	468	32.4
James Gormly	447	30.9
Total formal votes	1,446	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	1,483	32.3

Candidate	Votes	%
John Hurley (b 1796) (re-elected)	244	57.3
John Kidd	182	42.7
Total formal votes	426	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	426	74.6

Candidate	Votes	%
Thomas Smith (elected)	520	60.9
John Smith (defeated)	334	39.1
Total formal votes	854	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	854	74.0

Candidate	Votes	%
Richard Bowker (elected)	784	54.7
George Lloyd (defeated)	402	28.0
Thomas Hungerford	230	16.0
William Brookes	18	1.3
Total formal votes	1,434	98.4
Informal votes	24	1.7
Turnout	1,458	77.1

Candidate	Votes	%
Stephen Brown (re-elected)	1,083	82.7
James Yeomans	227	17.3
Total formal votes	1,310	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	1,310	39.3

Argyle

Balranald

Bathurst

The Bogan

Braidwood

Camden

Canterbury

Carcoar

The Clarence

Central Cumberland

East Macquarie

East Maitland

East Sydney

Eden

The Glebe

Goldfields South

Goldfields West

Goldfields North

Goulburn

The Gwydir

Hartley

The Hastings

The Hawkesbury

The Hume

The Hunter

Illawarra

Kiama

The Lachlan

Liverpool Plains

The Lower Hunter

Monara

Morpeth

Mudgee

The Murray

The Murrumbidgee

Narellan

The Nepean

New England

Newcastle

Newtown

Northumberland

Orange

Paddington

Parramatta

The Paterson

Patrick's Plains

Queanbeyan

Shoalhaven

St Leonards

Tenterfield

The Tumut

University of Sydney

The Upper Hunter

Wellington

West Macquarie

West Maitland

West Sydney

The Williams

Windsor

Wollombi

Yass Plains

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Candidate	Votes	%
Thomas Hungerford (elected)	1,580	50.7
William Turner (defeated)	1,534	49.3
Total formal votes	3,114	97.7
Informal votes	75	2.4
Turnout	3,189	72.7

Candidate	Votes	%
Hugh Taylor (re-elected 1)	571	33.9
William Long (re-elected 2)	426	25.3
Walter Cooper	370	22.0
George Young	265	15.8
John Bergan	51	3.0
Total formal votes	1,683	98.9
Informal votes	19	1.1
Turnout	988	85.7

Candidate	Votes	%
William Browne (re-elected)	468	63.6
William Durham	268	36.4
Total formal votes	736	97.1
Informal votes	22	2.9
Turnout	758	52.8

Candidate	Votes	%
James Thompson (elected)	446	49.8
Thomas Rutledge	337	37.7
William O'Neill	112	12.5
Total formal votes	895	98.4
Informal votes	15	1.7
Turnout	910	67.4

Candidate	Votes	%
John Roseby (elected)	591	50.5
Thomas Richards	579	49.5
Total formal votes	1,170	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	1,193	76.6

Candidate	Votes	%
John Dillon (elected)	642	40.9
Robert Abbott (defeated)	518	33.0
Alexander Murray	410	26.1
Total formal votes	1,570	97.3
Informal votes	44	2.7
Turnout	1,614	38.3

Candidate	Votes	%
James Hoskins (re-elected)	557	60.6
Sir John Robertson	362	39.4
Total formal votes	919	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	937	42.4

Candidate	Votes	%
John McElhone (re-elected)	1,169	71.9
Sir John Robertson	456	28.1
Total formal votes	1,625	100.0
Informal votes	0	0.0
Turnout	1,651	50.4

Candidate	Votes	%
John Shepherd (elected)	741	50.2
Patrick Jennings	595	40.3
Thomas Wythes	139	9.4
Total formal votes	1,475	99.4
Informal votes	9	0.6
Turnout	1,521	60.9

Candidate	Votes	%
Charles Pilcher (re-elected)	314	59.3
Alexander Rae	216	40.8
Total formal votes	530	98.0
Informal votes	11	2.0
Turnout	541	47.3