1842 Sydney City Council election

1842 Sydney City Council election

1 November 1842 1843 →

Lord Mayor before election

Charles Windeyer

Subsequent Lord Mayor

John Hosking

The 1842 Sydney City Council election was held on 1 November 1842 to elect 24 aldermen for the City of Sydney in the Colony of New South Wales.[1]

This was the first election for Sydney after it was formally established on 20 July 1842. A total of 49 candidates contested the election, with polling open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.[2][3]

Following the election, John Hosking was elected by the aldermen as lord mayor.[4]

In Brisbane Ward, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that some electors chose not to vote because they had promised their votes to five or six candidates, and upon discovering they could only vote for four, decided not to vote at all.[5]

Electoral system

The franchise was granted to individuals who occupied and paid rates on a property; however, if they owned property in multiple wards, they could vote in only one. Women were not eligible to vote.[1]

Six wards—Bourke, Brisbane, Cook, Gipps, Macquarie, and Phillip—were established, each represented by four councillors, covering a total of 3,202 electors.[1]

One councillor from each ward was required to resign their seat annually, resulting in elections being held every year.[1]

Results

Bourke

1842 Sydney City Council election: Bourke Ward[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent John Hosking 344
Independent Foss 305
Independent George Allen 262
Independent Owen 241
Independent Campbell 219
Independent Welch 95

Brisbane

1842 Sydney City Council election: Brisbane Ward[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Smidmore
Independent Holden
Independent Poole
Independent Gosling
Independent Hunt
Independent Manning
Independent Little
Independent Murray
Independent Wilson
Independent Kellick
Total formal votes 520

Cook

1842 Sydney City Council election: Cook Ward[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent David Jones (elected)
Independent F. Mitchell (elected)
Independent H. Hollingshed (elected)
Independent W. Pawley (elected)

Gipps

1842 Sydney City Council election: Gipps Ward[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Chapman 320
Independent Jones 226
Independent Egan 221
Independent Peacock 182
Independent Nicholson 117
Independent Moore 100
Independent Ryan 77
Independent Coyle 58
Independent Taylor 1
Independent Gannon 0

Macquarie

1842 Sydney City Council election: Macquarie Ward[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent George Hill 325
Independent Holt 287
Independent Henry Macdermott 239
Independent Thomas Broughton 238
Independent Bourne 122
Independent Woolley 105
Independent Thompson 95
Independent Wyatt 75

Phillip

1842 Sydney City Council election: Phillip Ward[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Edward Flood 295
Independent James Robert Wilshire 269
Independent Neale 222
Independent Taylor 203
Independent Blackman 187
Independent Wallace 115
Independent Hayes 69
Independent Grose 33

References

  1. ^ a b c d Golder, Hilary. "A short electoral history of the Sydney City Council" (PDF). City of Sydney. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2024.
  2. ^ "City of Sydney - Election of Councillors". Sydney Morning Herald.
  3. ^ "Election of Aldermen and Mayor". The Australian.
  4. ^ "Election of Mayor and Aldermen". The Teetotaller and General Newspaper.
  5. ^ "The Election". Australasian Chronicle. 3 November 1842. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "The Election". Sydney Morning Herald. 3 November 1842.