1860 East Sydney colonial by-election explained

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.
10 November 1859	Charles Cowper re-elected.
17 November 1859	Charles Cowper resigned from Parliament, again.
9 January 1860	Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.^[5]
18 January 1860	Nominations.
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.^[6]
• John West was the conservative editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. Antony Green described his nomination as a joke on the hustings. The Empire gave a detailed account of the nomination of Reverend West,^[7] while the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the nominator had spoken in a "facetious strain for some minutes".^[8]

Result

Charles Cowper resigned for a second time, having been nominated without his consent.

See also

• Electoral results for the district of East Sydney
• List of New South Wales state by-elections

Notes and References

1. Sir Charles Cowper [1] (1807–1875) . 322 . Yes . 6 September 2020.
2. News: To the electors of East Sydney . Charles . Cowper . Charles Cowper . . 28 October 1859 . 6 September 2020 . 8 . Trove.
3. 1859 East Sydney by-election . 1859 . EastSydney_1 . 6 September 2020.
4. News: To the electors of East Sydney . Charles . Cowper . Charles Cowper . . 14 November 1859 . 6 September 2020 . 1 . Trove.
5. News: Writs of election: East Sydney . . 5 . 9 January 1860 . 6 September 2020 . 39 . Trove.
6. 1859 . West Sydney . 1 May 2020.
7. News: East Sydney: the nomination . . 19 January 1860 . 6 September 2020 . 5 . Trove.
8. News: East Sydney Election . . 19 January 1860 . 6 September 2020 . 4–5 . Trove.