1904 Tenterfield state by-election

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Tenterfield on 14 September 1904 because Charles Lee had been appointed Secretary for Public Works in the Carruthers ministry.^[1] Until 1907, members appointed to a ministerial position were required to face a by-election. These were generally uncontested. On this occasion a poll was required in Bingara (Samuel Moore), Glebe (James Hogue) and Tenterfield and all were comfortably re-elected. The four other ministers, Joseph Carruthers (St George), James Ashton (Goulburn), Broughton O'Conor (Sherbrooke) and Charles Wade (Gordon), were re-elected unopposed.^[2]

Robert Pyers (Progressive) was the former member for The Richmond which had been partly absorbed by Tenterfield for the August 1904 election and Pyers had been defeated by Lee.^[3]

Dates

Date	Event
27 August 1904	Charles Lee appointed Secretary for Public Works.[4]
30 August 1904	Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.[5]
8 September 1904	Nominations
14 September 1904	Polling day
20 September 1904	Return of writ

Result

1904 Tenterfield by-election
Wednesday 14 September ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Reform	Charles Lee (re-elected)	2,470	61.7	+5.4
	Progressive	Robert Pyers	1,536	38.3	−5.4
Total formal votes			4,006	100.0	+0.7
Informal votes			0	0.0	−0.7
Turnout			4,006	59.6 [a]	−0.1
	Liberal Reform hold		Swing	+5.4

See also

• Electoral results for the district of Tenterfield

Notes

1. estimate based on an electoral roll of 6,724 at the August 1904 election.^[3]

References

1. "The Hon. Charles Alfred Lee (1842–1926)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
2. Green, Antony. "1904 to 1907 by-elections". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
3. Green, Antony. "1904 Tenterfield". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
4. "Appointment of ministers". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 480. 30 August 1904. p. 6603. Retrieved 10 October 2020 – via Trove.
5. "Writ of election: Tenterfield". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 485. 30 August 1904. p. 6648. Retrieved 10 October 2020 – via Trove.
6. Green, Antony. "1904 Tenterfield by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 October 2020.