Electoral district of Sydney City

Sydney City was an electoral district for the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1856 to 1859, when it was split into the electorates of East Sydney and West Sydney.[1]

Members for Sydney City
Four members (1856–1857)
Member Party Term Member Party Term Member Party Term Member Party Term
  Henry Parkes [2] None 1856–1856   James Wilshire [3] None 1856–1858   Robert Campbell [4] None 1856–1859   Charles Cowper [5] None 1856–1859
  William Dalley [6] None 1856–1858
  Robert Tooth [7] None 1858–1859   George Thornton [8] None 1858–1859

Election results

1856
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1856 New South Wales colonial election § Sydney City[edit]
1856 New South Wales colonial election: Sydney City [9][10]
Candidate Votes %
Charles Cowper (elected 1) 3,073 20.5
Henry Parkes (elected 2) 3,057 20.4
Robert Campbell (elected 3) 3,041 20.33
James Wilshire (elected 4) 2,901 19.4
John Plunkett 2,800 18.7
Thomas Duigan 89 0.6
Total formal votes 14,961 100.0
Informal votes 0 0.0
Turnout 6,007 43.3

Cowper, Parkes, Campbell and Wilshire had been endorsed as a group by a public meeting to be elected to the four vacancies.[11] Parkes, Campbell and Wilshire all represented City of Sydney in the Legislative Council while Cowper represented County of Durham. There were no political parties at the time and the combination of candidates, pejoratively referred to by Plunkett as "The Bunch", was controversial.[12] Plunket, who had been an appointed member of the Council, campaigned on the slogan "plump for Plunket",[13] a reference to voting for a single candidate rather than the four candidates an elector was entitled to vote for.[14]

After his defeat in this seat, Plunkett unsuccessfully contested North Eastern Boroughs, before being elected for both Argyle and Bathurst (County). Plunket chose to represent Argyle and resigned as member for Bathurst (County).

1856 by-election 1

Charles Cowper and Robert Campbell resigned on the formation of the first Cowper ministry, being appointed to the offices of Colonial Secretary and Colonial Treasurer.

Sydney City by-election
4 September 1856 [15]
Candidate Votes %
Charles Cowper (elected 1) 1,993 45.65
Robert Campbell (elected 2) 1,831 41.94
Thomas Russell Duigan 542 12.41
Informal votes 0 0
Turnout 4,366 100
Voter turnout 15.74%

1856 by-election 2

Henry Parkes resigned due to financial difficulties related to his newspaper, The Empire.[2]

Sydney City by-election
4 September 1856 [16]
Candidate Votes %
William Dalley 1,998 57.23
John Fairfax 1,493 42.77
Informal votes 0 0
Turnout 3,491 100
Voter turnout 25.17%

1857

Charles Cowper resigned on the formation of the second Cowper ministry, being appointed to the office of Colonial Secretary.

Sydney City by-election
24 September 1857 [17]
Candidate Votes %
Charles Cowper unopposed  

1858
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1858 New South Wales colonial election § Sydney City[edit]
1858 New South Wales colonial election: Sydney City
15 January [18]
Candidate Votes %
George Thornton (elected 1) 3,666 21.4
Robert Tooth (elected 2) 2,411 14.1
Robert Campbell (re-elected 3) 2,158 12.6
Charles Cowper (re-elected 4) 2,099 12.2
William Dalley (defeated) 2,035 11.9
Frank Fowler 1,762 10.3
James Robert Wilshire (defeated) 1,557 18.7
William Allen 1,474 8.6
Total formal votes 17,164 100.0
Informal votes 0 0.0
Turnout 17,164 39.7
Robert Tooth had unsuccessfully contested Sydney Hamlets.

References
  1. "An Act to amend the Electoral Law (NSW)". Act No. 20 of 24 November 1858 (PDF). Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  2. "Sir Henry Parkes (1815-1896)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  3. "Mr James Thompson Wilshire (1837-1909)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  4. "Mr Robert Campbell [2] (1804-1859)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  5. "Sir Charles Cowper [1] (1807-1875)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  6. "Mr William Bede Dalley (1831–1888)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  7. "Mr Robert Tooth (1821-1893)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  8. "Mr George Thornton (1819-1901)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  9. Green, Antony. "1856 Sydney City". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  10. "This city election". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 March 1856. p. 4. Retrieved 30 September 2019 – via Trove.
  11. "Public meeting: Representation of Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 January 1856. p. 2. Retrieved 30 September 2019 – via Trove.
  12. "Our Sydney "Bunch" of oligarchs". Freeman's Journal. 16 February 1856. p. 2. Retrieved 30 September 2019 – via Trove.
  13. "Representation of Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 January 1856. p. 5. Retrieved 30 September 2019 – via Trove.
  14. Cochrane, Peter (1 January 2006). Colonial Ambition: Foundations of Australian Democracy. Melbourne Univ. Publishing. ISBN 9780522853315.
  15. Green, Antony. "Sydney City by-election 1 1856". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  16. Green, Antony. "Sydney City by-election 2 1856". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  17. Green, Antony. "Sydney City by-election 1857". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  18. Green, Antony. "1858 Sydney City". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
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