A by-election was held for the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
electorate of
South Sydney on 4 June 1887 because
Bernhard Wise
Bernhard Ringrose Wise (10 February 1858 – 19 September 1916), commonly referred to as B. R. Wise, was an Australian politician. He was a social reformer, seen by some as a traitor to his class, but who was not fully accepted by the labor Mov ...
() was appointed
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
in the
fourth Parkes ministry.
Such ministerial by-elections were usually uncontested. Most of the ministry was not required to face a by-election as they had been appointed prior to the
general election in February 1887.
William Foster had been the Attorney General however he resigned on the ground that he had been promised an appointment to the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
and
Henry Stephen had been appointed instead.
Dates
Result
Bernhard Wise
Bernhard Ringrose Wise (10 February 1858 – 19 September 1916), commonly referred to as B. R. Wise, was an Australian politician. He was a social reformer, seen by some as a traitor to his class, but who was not fully accepted by the labor Mov ...
() was appointed Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
in the fourth Parkes ministry.
Aftermath
With a margin of just 40 votes, William Traill challenged the result in the Elections and Qualifications Committee. The Committee consisted of 2 Free Trade members (
William Trickett
William Joseph Trickett (2 September 1843 – 4 July 1916) was a politician, Postmaster-General and solicitor in colonial New South Wales.
Trickett was the son of Elizabeth Backshall and Joseph Trickett, born at Gibraltar, where his father, a ...
and
Charles Garland) and 3 Protectionist members (
James Garvan
James Patrick Garvan (2 May 1843 – 20 November 1896) was an Australian politician, Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales in 1889.
Garvan was born in Cappagh, County Limerick, Ireland, son of Denis Bourke Garvan and Anne, Culhane. Garvan fo ...
,
Thomas Slattery
Thomas Michael Slattery (17 December 1844 – 25 July 1920) was an Irish-born Australian solicitor and politician.
He was born in Greenane in County Tipperary to shoemaker Edward Slattery and Alice Walsh. His family arrived in Sydney in 184 ...
and
Henry Clarke).
The committee scrutinised the ballot papers and held that Wise was properly elected, finding that the true result was Wise 2,611, Traill 2,571, formal 5,182, informal 62, total 5,244.
See also
*
Electoral results for the district of South Sydney
*
List of New South Wales state by-elections
This is a list of by-elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. A by-election may be held when a member's seat becomes vacant through resignation, death or some other reasons. These are referred to as casual vacancies.
*Brackets aro ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:South Sydney 1887
1887 elections in Australia
New South Wales state by-elections
1890s in New South Wales