Stanley was an

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

First incarnation

The first incarnation of the electoral district of Stanley was created in 1851 to elect a single member to the unicameral

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly. It sits in Parli ...

. The seat was abolished in 1857, with

William Younghusband William Younghusband (1819 – 5 May 1863), sometimes known as "William Younghusband junior", was a businessman and politician in the colony of South Australia; one of the promoters of the Murray River Steam Navigation Company, which enabled C ...

having been the sole member for the duration. Created by the state's Legislative Council Act of 1851, the extent was formally defined as the entirety of the cadastral

County of Gawler The County of Gawler is one of the 49 cadastral counties of South Australia. It was proclaimed in 1842 by Governor George Grey and named for the former Governor George Gawler. It is bounded by the Wakefield River in the north, Gulf St Vincent i ...

(excluding the township of

Gawler Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...

) and County of Stanley as well as a huge swathe of sparsely-settled land to the north, but excluding all of the Eyre and

Yorke Peninsula The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the south by Investigator Strai ...

Second incarnation

The second incarnation of the electorate was created by the ''Electoral Act (No. 20)'' of the South Australian parliament in 1861 but it was not until the state election of 1862 election that candidates were first elected to represent Stanley. The extent was formally defined as the entirety of the cadastral counties of

and

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

, the latter being the source of the district name. Thus, at its creation, the electorate stretched from

Gulf St Vincent Gulf St Vincent, sometimes referred to as St Vincent Gulf, St Vincent's Gulf or Gulf of St Vincent, is the eastern of two large inlets of water on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, the other being the larger Sp ...

and the

Hummocks In geology, a hummock is a small knoll or mound above ground.Bates, Robert L. and Julia A. Jackson, ed. (1984). “hummock.” Dictionary of Geological Terms, 3rd Ed. New York: Anchor Books. p. 241. They are typically less than in height and ...

on the west from Port Gawler up to Redhill, spanning the

Adelaide Plains The Adelaide Plains (Kaurna name Tarndanya) is a plain in South Australia lying between the coast (Gulf St Vincent) on the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east. The southernmost tip of the plain is in the southern seaside suburbs of Ade ...

and

Mid North The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains and south of the Far North and the outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the southern ...

to the cadastral counties boundary line in the east – roughly a line passing from

through

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

and Mintaro to Booborowie. In the ten years from 1862, the chief polling place was listed as Clare, with subsidiary polling places at

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, Mudla Wirra (

), and Baker's Springs ( Rhynie). The ''Electoral Districts Act (No. 27)'' in 1872 dramatically changed the boundaries of the district, with the new

electoral district of Wooroora Wooroora was an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian colony (state from 1901) of South Australia. The electorate was created by the Electoral Districts Act 1872 of the South Australian parliament but it was not until ...

being created largely by the excision of Stanley's southernmost half, and the new north western borders for Stanley being significantly extended to include

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South ...

and

Port Broughton Port Broughton is a small South Australian town located at the northern extent of the Yorke Peninsula on the east coast of Spencer Gulf. It is situated about 170 km north-west of Adelaide, and 56 km south of Port Pirie. At the , the t ...

. Townships served by the seat of Stanley from 1875 included Port Pirie, Crystal Brook, Clare, Snowtown and Port Broughton.Parliamentary electorates, Chronicle, 5 April 1902: Trove
/ref>

Members

Election results

References

External links

The 13 electorates from 1902 to 1915: The Adelaide Chronicle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley Former electoral districts of South Australia 1862 establishments in Australia 1956 disestablishments in Australia