August 1877 Orange colonial by-election

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Orange on 30 August 1877. The by-election was triggered because Edward Combes had been appointed Secretary for Public Works in the fourth Robertson ministry.[1][2] Such ministerial by-elections were usually uncontested however on this occasion, only Thomas Garrett (Camden) and Ezekiel Baker (Goldfields South) were unopposed. While the other ministers, John Robertson (West Sydney), John Davies (East Sydney), John Lackey and William Long (both Central Cumberland) were opposed, all were re-elected.[3]

Dates

Date	Event
17 August 1877	Edward Combes appointed Secretary for Public Works.[1]
18 August 1877	Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.[4]
27 August 1877	Nominations
30 August 1877	Polling day
17 September 1877	Return of writ

Results

1877 Orange by-election
Thursday 30 August [2]

Candidate		Votes	%
Edward Combes (elected)		571	76.64
John Ardill		174	23.36
Total formal votes		745	97.5
Informal votes		11	1.5
Turnout		756	32.8 [lower-alpha 1]

See also

• Electoral results for the district of Orange
• List of New South Wales state by-elections

Notes

1. estimate based on a roll of 2,305 as at February 1877.[5]

References

1. "Mr Edward Combes CMG (1830-1895)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
2. Green, Antony. "August 1877 Orange by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
3. Green, Antony. "1874-5 by-elections". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
4. "Writ of election: Orange". New South Wales Government Gazette (267). 18 August 1877. p. 3198. Retrieved 16 November 2019 – via Trove.
5. Green, Antony. "February 1877 Orange by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 November 2019.