Results of the 1891 New South Wales colonial election

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New South Wales colonial election, 3 July 1891

The election for the Legislative Assembly selected 141 members from 74 districts. Voting used a simple first-past-the-post system. There were 39 multi-member districts returning 106 members; in these districts electors could vote for as many candidates as there were vacancies. Seven of the 35 single-member districts were uncontested.

Key facts
- Average enrolment per seat: about 2,166 voters (range 1,023 in Wilcannia to 8,306 in Sturt). Sturt’s numbers were unusually high, up by 5,376 since 1889; Canterbury was the next largest with 4,676.
- One sitting member, William Alison of the Protectionist party, did not contest.
- A September 1891 recount by the Elections and Qualifications Committee overturned John Wheeler’s election and declared James Eve the winner.

Notable outcomes and party positions
- In East Sydney, Walter Bradley (Protectionist) won a by-election; Edmund Barton (Protectionist) held the seat at the general election.
- George Reid, though a Free Trader, did not support the Free Trade government of Sir Henry Parkes.
- Sitting Free Trader Jonathan Seaver, who had represented Gloucester, contested St Leonards due to his opposition to Parkes’ leadership.
- Otho Dangar (Protectionist) supported Parkes’ Free Trade government.
- John Haynes and Robert Jones (Free Traders) did not support the government.
- James Curley (Free Trade) had won a seat from William Grahame (Protectionist) at the 1889 by-election; Grahame re-took the seat in the 1891 by-election after the death of James Fletcher (Protectionist).
- Jack Want (Free Trader) did not support the government.
- William Schey (Protectionist) won a seat in a 1889 by-election and retained it in 1891.
- Thomas Ewing, Bruce Nicoll and John Perry (Protectionists) supported the Free Trade government.
- Jonathan Seaver (Gloucester) remained a staunch Free Trader and opposed Parkes’ leadership.
- The sitting Sturt member, Wyman Brown (Protectionist), did not contest.
- Joseph Palmer Abbott had been elected as a Protectionist but, on becoming Speaker in 1890, was listed as Independent.
- Adolphus Taylor (Independent) did not contest.