1856 New South Wales colonial election

1856 New South Wales colonial election
← 1851 11 March 1856 –
19 April 1856		 1858 →
All 54 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
28 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Registered44,451[1]
Turnout48.51%
 
Leader Stuart Donaldson
Leader's seat Sydney Hamlets
Results of the election, showing winners in each seat. Seats without circles indicate the electorate returned one member.
Elected Premier

Stuart Donaldson

The 1856 New South Wales colonial election was held between 11 March and 19 April 1856. This election was for all of the 54 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and it was conducted in 18 single-member constituencies, 13 2-member constituencies, two 3-member constituencies and one 4-member constituency, all with a first past the post system.[2]

This was not a secret ballot and voters were required to write their name and address on the ballot paper.[3]

Only men aged over 21 who owned at least a certain amount of land or had above a certain income, could vote. If a man fulfilled these requirements in multiple constituencies, then he was allowed to cast a vote in each. This was known as plural voting.[4][5][6]

Indigenous men were allowed to vote in theory (there was no specific law against them voting), but in practice they were generally not aware of the process, not encouraged to enrol, and were mostly excluded and unable to participate in the election. In 1856, the Australian frontier wars were ongoing between various Aboriginal First Nations and the NSW government and colonists.

This was the first election held since the introduction of self-government in New South Wales. The resulting parliament, devoid of anything resembling party structure, ran for two weeks before Stuart Donaldson assumed the premiership, and struggled to deliver stable government during its term.

  1. ^ "Totals". 1856 Election Totals. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  2. ^ Green, Antony. "1856 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  3. ^ Green, Antony. "1856 Northumberland Boroughs re-count". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  4. ^ "1856 to 1889 - Responsible Government and Colonial Development".
  5. ^ "Former Members". Members of Parliament. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Part 5B alphabetical list of all electorates and Members since 1856" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 31 October 2021.