1877 East Sydney colonial by-election

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of East Sydney on 15 July 1877 because John Davies was appointed Postmaster-General in the fourth Robertson ministry.[1] Such ministerial by-elections were usually uncontested however on this occasion a poll was required in Central Cumberland (John Lackey and William Long), East Sydney, Orange (Edward Combes) and West Sydney (John Robertson). Each minister was comfortably re-elected. Only Camden (Thomas Garrett) and Goldfields South (Ezekiel Baker) were uncontested.[2]

Dates

Date	Event
17 August 1877	Fourth Robertson ministry appointed.[3]
18 August 1877	Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.[4]
25 August 1877	Nominations
28 August 1877	Polling day
17 September 1877	Return of writ

Result

1877 East Sydney by-election
Tuesday 28 August [5]

Candidate		Votes	%
John Davies (re-elected)		3,137	74.1
Ninian Melville		790	20.1
Total formal votes		3,927	98.5
Informal votes		60	1.5
Turnout		3,987	32.3 [lower-alpha 1]

See also

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

Notes

1. estimate based on an electoral roll of 12,326 at March 1877[6]

References

1. "Mr John Davies CMG (1839-1896)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
2. Green, Antony. "1875 to 1877 by-elections". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
3. "Appointment of ministers". New South Wales Government Gazette (266). New South Wales, Australia. 14 May 1872. p. 3195. Retrieved 7 September 2020 – via Trove.
4. "Writ of election: East Sydney". New South Wales Government Gazette (267). 18 August 1877. p. 3198. Retrieved 7 September 2020 – via Trove.
5. Green, Antony. "August 1877 East Sydney by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
6. Green, Antony. "March 1877 East Sydney by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 8 September 2020.