1866 Tumut colonial by-election explained

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of The Tumut on 20 August 1866 because the seat of Charles Cowper Jr. had been declared vacant as he was absent from parliament for an entire session.^[1]

Dates

Date	Event
25 July 1866	Seat of Charles Cowper Jr. declared vacant due to absence
26 July 1866	Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.^[2]
13 August 1866	Nominations.^[3]
20 August 1866	Polling day
10 September 1866	Return of writ

Candidates

• Edward Brown was a well known local who had been a pastoralist in the Tumut region since 1846.
• George Thornton was a merchant from Sydney who had previously been the Mayor of Sydney and a member for East Sydney.

Result

Charles Cowper Jr. had been absent from parliament for an entire session and his seat was declared vacant.

See also

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

Notes and References

1. Mr Charles Cowper (2) (1834-1911) . 677 . Yes . 21 May 2019.
2. News: Writ of election: The Tumut . . 145 . 28 July 1866 . 2020-12-27 . 1733 . Trove.
3. News: Nomination for The Tumut . . 16 August 1866 . 27 December 2020 . 2 . Trove.