1857 South Australian colonial election

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1857 South Australian colonial election
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  1855 9 March 1857 1860  

All 36 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly
All 18 seats in the South Australian Legislative Council
 
B. T. Finniss 3.jpeg
Leader Boyle Travers Finniss
Leader's seat City of Adelaide

Premier before election

Boyle Travers Finniss

Elected Premier

Boyle Travers Finniss

The 1857 South Australian colonial election was held on 9 March 1857 to elect members to the 1st Parliament of South Australia. All 36 seats in the House of Assembly (the lower house), and all 18 seats in the Legislative Council (the upper house) were up for re-election. Prior to the election, Boyle Travers Finniss led a government which was formed to administer the election and to establish the first responsible government.

Contents

The election used non-compulsory plurality block voting, in which electors deleted the names of candidates they did not support. Members of the House of Assembly were elected to 17 multi-member districts; most districts had two members, with the exception of City of Adelaide (6 members), The Burra and Clare (3), Flinders (1), The Murray (1), and Victoria (1). Members of the Legislative Council were elected in a single 18-member district. Suffrage extended to men (including Aboriginals) over 21 years of age, unless they were "attainted or convicted of treason or felony".

No parties or solid groupings would be formed until after the 1890 election, which resulted in frequent changes of the Premier. If the incumbent Premier lost sufficient support through a successful motion of no confidence at any time, he would tender his resignation to the Governor, which would result in another member being elected and sworn in by the Governor as the next Premier.

Results

House of Assembly

House of Assembly (BV) – Turnout 56.5% (Non-CV)
South Australia House of Assembly 1856-1861.svg
PartyVotesSeats
Votes %Swing (pp)SeatsChange
  Independent 16,115100.00New36Increase2.svg 36
Total16,115100.0036Increase2.svg 36
Turnout6,91356.50+56.50
Registered voters12,235
Source: ECSA [1]

Legislative Council

Legislative Council (BV) – Turnout 56.7% (Non-CV)
South Australia Legislative Council 1856-1881.svg
PartyVotesSeats
Votes %Swing (pp)SeatsChange
  Independent 66,842100.000.0018Steady2.svg 0
Total66,842100.000.0018
Informal77513.56+13.56
Turnout5,71756.65+56.65
Registered voters10,092
Source: ECSA [2]

See also

References

  1. Jaencsh, Dean (March 2007). "History of South Australian Elections, 1857–2006, House of Assembly, Volume 1" (PDF). pp. 26–27 via Internet Archive.
  2. Jaencsh, Dean (March 2007). "History of South Australian Elections, 1857–2006, Legislative Council, Volume 2" (PDF). p. 25 via Internet Archive.