1843 New South Wales colonial election

Colonial election for New South Wales, Australia in 1843 October 2021 October 2021 1843 New South Wales colonial election New South Wales Flag of the United Kingdom.svg parliamentary no 1848 New South Wales colonial election 1848 24 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Council 15 June 1843 – 3 July 1843 1843_New_South_Wales_colonial_election.svg 300px Results of the election, showing winners in each seat. Seats without circles indicate the electorate returned one member. The 1843 New South Wales colonial election was held between 15 June and 3 July 1843 and was Australia's first colonial election. This election was for 24 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Council and it was conducted in 15 single-member constituencies, two 2-member constituencies and one 5-member constituency, all with a first past the post system. This included 6 members in what became the Colony of Victoria and a single member for the coast north of Newcastle.https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/act-1843-1a PDF Electoral Act 1843 No 1a (NSW) NSW Legislation The Legislative Council was a hybrid system with 36 members, 24 elected, 6 appointed by virtue of their office (Colonial Secretary, Colonial Treasurer, Auditor-General, Attorney General, Commander of the forces and Collector of Customs)Flanagan Roderick Roderick Flanagan The History of New South Wales 1862 Sampson Low, Son & Company 60 https://books.google.com/books?id=VSIPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA60 23 April 2019 and 6 nominated. The appointments and elections were for five year terms.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230125687 Elected members of the Legislative Council 58 11 July 1843 27 April 2019 893 Trovehttps://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230125936 Proclamation: appointed members of the Legislative Council New South Wales Government Gazette 62 25 July 1843 23 April 2019 952 TroveFormer Members Members of Parliament Parliament of New South Wales https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/formermembers/pages/former-members-index.aspx 2021-10-293 2021-10-29 The right to vote was limited to men aged over 21 who owned property worth at least £200 or occupied a house at £20 per year.https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/2861171/WP47_Darragh.pdf 175 years of voting: the 175th anniversary of the first parliamentary election on 1843 Sean Darragh Electoral Regulation Research Network and Democratic Audit of Australia working paper No 47 August 2018 There was a higher requirement to be a member of the Council, owning property worth £2,000 or income from real estate of £100 per year. If a man fulfilled these requirements in multiple constituencies, then he was allowed to cast a vote in each.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10974245 Australia's first election— 1843 The Argus 29 September 1934 29 October 2021 6 Trove This was known as plural voting.https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/about/Pages/1856-to-1889-Responsible-Government-and-Colonial-.aspx 1856 to 1889 - Responsible Government and Colonial Development This was the first election held and the first form of representative government in Australia. The Governor retained considerable power, including the power to disallow bills and in appointing 12 of the 36 seats. As government appointments were expected to support the government, it only required the support of 6 of the 24 elected members to pass any bill. Background The British Parliament passed an act in early 1843 which allowed for a "blended" Legislative Council, where 24 members would be elected and 12 members would be appointed by the Governor. News of the act had reached New South Wales prior to its formal adoption in 1842, and people began to consider whether to stand for election or not. However, Governor Sir George Gipps would not take any official action for the campaign before the official act arrived in New South Wales.Michael Hogan Lesley Muir Hilary Golder 2007 The People's Choice: Electoral Politics in Colonial New South Wales The Federation Press 978186287625535 Each electorate would only conduct the poll in the main settlements inside each electoral district. Given the long distance it would take to travel from remote areas to the main settlement, many voters who would otherwise be eligible were effectively disenfranchised because of the distance.35 Key dates Date Event 13 to 27 June 1843 Nominations for candidates for the election.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230104967 Writs for general election 45 30 May 1843 29 October 2021 727 Trove 15 June to 3 July 1843 Polling days. 1 August 1843 Opening of new Legislative Council.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12416805 Legislative Council The Sydney Morning Herald 2 August 1843 29 October 2021 2 Trove Results Six of the eighteen electorates were won by candidates who were unopposed, for two reasons. The first being the overwhelming likelihood that the person standing would easily win the election, so all other candidates would withdraw. One example of this would be Hannibal Macarthur in Parramatta. The other was a much more remote electorate, where multiple candidates were not interested in standing for election.36 Familial ties ran deep in this election, with 6 politically-connected and well known families in the colony contributing 12 members to the Legislative Council, along with marriage connections between candidates.36 There was no party system at this election, and every candidate stood as an independent. This did not mean there weren't sectional and factional interests in the newly elected council, however. In what would become a forerunner of the "Ministerialists", those who supported Governor Gipps during this election were known as "placemen". Another divide during this election was between Protestants and Catholics, where the few Catholic candidates that did stand did not claim they would be defending catholicsm or Catholic sectional interests.36 The election was marked by a riot at Sydney involving 4-500 men,https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12417221 Sydney election The Sydney Morning Herald 16 June 1843 29 October 2021 2 Trove which resulted in a fatality,https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28650199 The riot The Sydney Morning Herald 17 June 1843 29 October 2021 2 Trove and a smaller riot at Windsor.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12419869 Windsor election The Sydney Morning Herald 22 June 1843 29 October 2021 2 Trove The Colonial Observer remarked that the leaders of the riots were "the very dregs of the Irish population."39 Due to the enfranchisement qualifications at the time, it is unlikely that many of these people could vote, which could have been a motivating factor in the riot.39 Results of the 1843 New South Wales colonial election New South Wales colonial election, 15 June 1843 – 3 July 1843 Legislative Council New South Wales colonial election 1848 9,179 0 0.00 9,179 24 |} See also Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council, 1843–1851 Results of the 1843 New South Wales colonial election Wentworth—Bland flag References Category:Elections in New South Wales New South Wales Colonial Election, 1843 New South Wales Colonial Election, 1843 New South Wales Colonial Election, 1843 Category:1840s in New South Wales