1859 East Sydney colonial by-election

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of East Sydney on 10 November 1859 because the Cowper government was defeated, causing Charles Cowper to resign his commission as Premier and Colonial Secretary and he resigned from parliament the following day.^[1][2] The second vacancy was caused because John Black had been appointed Secretary for Lands in the new Forster ministry,^[3]

Dates

Date	Event
26 October 1859	Charles Cowper resigned as Premier and Colonial Secretary.[1]
27 October 1859	Charles Cowper resigned from parliament,[1]
	John Black appointed Secretary for Lands.[4]
	Writs of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.[3][5]
8 November 1859	Nominations
10 November 1859	Polling day
15 November 1859	Return of writ

Result

1859 East Sydney by-election
Thursday 10 November ^[6]

Candidate		Votes	%
Charles Cowper (re-elected 1)		1,282	28.2
John Black (re-elected 2)		1,237	27.2
Peter Faucett		1,000	22.0
Richard Driver		969	21.3
Thomas Duigan		56	1.2
Total formal votes		4,544	100.0
Informal votes		0	0.0
Turnout		2,272	30.0

Aftermath

Charles Cowper was nominated in his absence and resigned after the election, resulting in the 1860 by-election, won by Peter Faucett.^[7]

See also

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

References

1. "Sir Charles Cowper [1] (1807–1875)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
2. Cowper, Charles (28 October 1859). "To the electors of East Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 8. Retrieved 6 September 2020 – via Trove.
3. "Writs of election: Ministerial appointments". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. 220. 27 October 1859. p. 2365. Retrieved 6 September 2020 – via Trove.
4. "Appointment John Black Secretary for Lands". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. 219. 27 October 1859. p. 2363. Retrieved 6 September 2020 – via Trove.
5. "Writ of election: East Sydney". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. 220. 27 October 1859. p. 2365. Retrieved 6 September 2020 – via Trove.
6. Green, Antony. "1859 East Sydney by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
7. Green, Antony. "1860 East Sydney by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 6 September 2020.