1870 The Hastings colonial election re-count

By-election in New South Wales, Australia June 2021 June 2021 In October 1870 the Committee of Elections and Qualifications conducted a re-count of the 1870 The Hastings by-election, in which Horace Dean had been declared elected over Robert Smith.1870 The Hastings by-election 1870 Hastings_1 2020-09-21 The Committee declared that Horace Dean was not qualified to be a member and that Robert Smith had been elected.Anne Twomey Anne Twomey (academic) The Constitution of New South Wales 2004 Federation Press 9781862875166 399 https://books.google.com/books?id=KayCZfZwafwC&pg=PA399 2020-09-21 Dates Date Event 23 December 1869 Horace Dean elected at the 1869 election. 21 February 1870 Petition lodged by Robert Smith with a £100 deposit.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223286610 Petition: district of the Hastings New South Wales Government Gazette 45 23 February 1870 21 September 2020 455 Trove 6 May 1870 Report of the Committee of Elections and Qualifications was tabled and seat declared vacant.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13204768 Legislative Assembly: electorate of the Hastings The Sydney Morning Herald 7 May 1870 2020-09-21 4 Trove 13 June 1870 Nominations 4 July 1870 Polling day 11 August 1870 2nd Petition lodged by Robert Smith.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223530869 The Hastings petition New South Wales Government Gazette 197 16 August 1870 2020-09-21 1755 Trove 18 August 1870 Petition referred to the Elections and Qualifications Committee. 23 September 1870 Elections and Qualifications Committee declared that Robert Smith had been elected. Committee of Elections and Qualifications The 1870 by-election had been held because the Committee had previously set aside Dean's election at the 1869 election because Dean held an office of profit under the crown at the time of his nomination, being the postmaster at Tinonee. The Committee declined to hold that Dean ineligible to sit as an alien. Smith had based his re-election nomination on the basis that Dean was ineligible to be elected as he had not been a resident for 5 years after naturalisation, relying upon legal opinions given by Sir James Martin, Sir William Manning and Joseph Innes.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28419674 The Hastings election (from the Macleay Independent) The Sydney Morning Herald 28 June 1870 21 September 2020 3 Trove The Electoral Act of 1858 distinguished between a natural born subject, a "person born in Her Majesty's dominions or either of whose parents was so born", and a naturalised subject, a "person who in England is or shall be naturalized and every person made a denizen or having received a certificate" under the Aliens Act 1847 (NSW) and taken the required oath.NSW num_act teao1858n23179 Electoral Act of 1858 No 23 also identified as 22 Victoria No 20.NSW num_act aa1847n39102 Aliens Act 1847 No 39, identified as 11 Victoria No 39. The qualification to be a member was in section 8 which provided that:8. Every male subject of Her Majesty of the full age of twenty-one years and absolutely free being natural born or who being a naturalized subject shall have resided in this Colony for five years shall be qualified to be elected a Member of the Assembly for any Electoral District unless disqualified by section seventeen or eighteen of the Constitution Act or unless under section eleven or twelve of this Act he would be disqualified or incapacitated as an Elector. emphasis added Dean had been a resident of the colony at Tinonee for more than 10 years and by the time the writ was issued for the by-election Dean had received a certificate that he was naturalised.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107134910 Late election for the Hastings Evening News 30 July 1870 21 September 2020 2 Trove The petition lodged by Smith raised one substantive allegation, that Dean was a naturalized subject who had not resided in the Colony for five years after naturalization. The issue to be decided by the petition was whether the requirement for residence for five years was independent of naturalisation as Dean contended, or five years after naturalisation as Smith contended. The Committee agreed with Smith's construction of the Electoral Act that the 5 year residence requirement applied after naturalisation and declared that Horace Dean was not qualified to be a member and that as a consequence Robert Smith had been elected. Result [[1870 The Hastings colonial election re-count|1870 The Hastings election re-count]]Friday 23 Septemberhttps://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13221852 The Hastings election The Sydney Morning Herald 24 September 1870 21 September 2020 4 Trove1870 The Hastings election re-count 1869-70 Hastings_2 2020-09-21 Robert Smith (elected) N/A The Elections and Qualifications Committee conducted a re-count of the 1870 The Hastings by-election and declared that Horace Dean was not qualified to be elected. No by-election was conducted, instead the committee declared that Robert Smith had been elected. Aftermath In the Legislative Assembly Charles Cowper, the Premier and Colonial Secretary disagreed with the finding of the Committee that Mr Dean was not qualified and sought to have the Assembly declare that the seat for the Hastings was vacant with a fresh by-election to be called. The vote however was lost by 27 to 23.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13212829 In the Legislative Assembly The Sydney Morning Herald 29 September 1870 22 September 2020 6 Trove Despite the animosity apparent in the election,https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13209179 Macleay River The Sydney Morning Herald 1 August 1870 21 September 2020 2 Trove Smith was returned as the member for the Hastings until 1880.Mr Robert Burdett Smith CMG (1837-1895) 719 Yes 16 April 2019 See also Electoral results for the district of The Hastings (New South Wales) List of New South Wales state by-elections References expanded Category:1870 elections in Australia Category:New South Wales state by-elections Category:1870s in New South Wales