Electoral results for the district of Durham

Durham, an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, was created in 1856 and abolished in 1859. It was recreated in 1880 and abolished in 1920.[1][2][3]

Election	Member		Party	Member		Party	Member		Party
1856		Richard Jones	None		William Arnold	None		Samuel Gordon	None
1858
Election	Member		Party
1880		Herbert Brown	None
1882
1885
1887			Free Trade
1889
1891
1894			Ind. Free Trade
1895			Protectionist
1898		Walter Bennett	Ind. Protectionist
1901			Progressive
1904
1907		William Brown	Independent Liberal
1910			Liberal Reform
1913
1917		Walter Bennett	Independent

Election results

1917

1917 New South Wales state election: Durham [4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	William Brown	2,767	45.0	-5.4
	Independent	Walter Bennett	1,872	30.5	-11.8
	Labor	Walter O'Hearn	1,029	16.8	+9.5
	Independent	Daniel Ferry	475	7.7	+7.7
Total formal votes			6,143	98.7	+0.9
Informal votes			78	1.3	-0.9
Turnout			6,221	65.9	-8.0

1917 New South Wales state election: Durham - Second Round [4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Walter Bennett	3,021	50.1
	Nationalist	William Brown	3,005	49.9
Total formal votes			6,026	99.4	+0.7
Informal votes			39	0.6	-0.7
Turnout			6,065	64.3	-1.6
	Independent gain from Nationalist

1913

1913 New South Wales state election: Durham [5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Farmers and Settlers	William Brown [lower-alpha 1]	3,509	50.4
	Country Party Association	Walter Bennett	2,944	42.3
	Labor	William Walton	505	7.3
Total formal votes			6,958	97.8
Informal votes			158	2.2
Turnout			7,116	73.9
	Member changed to Farmers and Settlers from Liberal Reform [lower-alpha 1]

1910

1910 New South Wales state election: Durham [6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Reform	William Brown	2,726	48.30
	Independent Liberal	Walter Bennett	2,155	38.18
	Labour	Robert Elkin	763	13.52
Total formal votes			5,644	98.16
Informal votes			106	1.84
Turnout			7,750	71.36

1910 New South Wales state election: Durham - Second Round[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Reform	William Brown	3,169	50.50
	Independent Liberal	Walter Bennett	3,106	49.50
Total formal votes			6,275	98.99
Informal votes			64	1.01
Turnout			6,339	78.67
	Member changed to Liberal Reform from Independent Liberal

1907

1907 New South Wales state election: Durham [7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal	William Brown	2,221	50.6
	Former Progressive	Walter Bennett	2,166	49.4
Total formal votes			4,387	97.6
Informal votes			108	2.4
Turnout			4,495	68.5
	Independent Liberal gain from Progressive [lower-alpha 2]

1904

1904 New South Wales state election: Durham [9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive	Walter Bennett	2,196	46.4
	Liberal Reform	Herbert Brown	1,617	34.2
	Independent	William Brown	919	19.4
	Independent Liberal	Richard Price	3	0.1
Total formal votes			4,735	98.9
Informal votes			51	1.1
Turnout			4,786	69.1
	Progressive hold

Durham was expanded to include part of Gloucester. The member for Durham was Walter Bennett (Progressive). The member for Gloucester was Richard Price (Independent) who nominated to contest Durham however he withdrew from the contest.

1901

1901 New South Wales state election: Durham [10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive	Walter Bennett	unopposed
	Member changed to Progressive from Independent Progressive

1898

1898 New South Wales colonial election: Durham [11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Federalist	Walter Bennett	929	53.1
	National Federal	Herbert Brown	820	46.9
Total formal votes			1,749	98.8
Informal votes			21	1.2
Turnout			1,770	76.6
	Independent Federalist gain from National Federal

1895

1895 New South Wales colonial election: Durham [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Protectionist	Herbert Brown	781	77.6
	Ind. Protectionist	Erskine Smith	226	22.4
Total formal votes			1,007	99.2
Informal votes			8	0.8
Turnout			1,015	48.1
	Member changed to Protectionist from Ind. Free Trade

1894

1894 New South Wales colonial election: Durham [13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Free Trade	Herbert Brown	962	59.7
	Ind. Protectionist	John Wade	607	37.7
	Ind. Protectionist	Charles Duffy	42	2.6
Total formal votes			1,611	98.2
Informal votes			30	1.8
Turnout			1,641	76.8
	Member changed to Ind. Free Trade from Free Trade

1891

1891 New South Wales colonial election: Durham
Saturday 27 June [14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Free Trade	Herbert Brown (re-elected)	662	56.3
	Protectionist	William Donnelly	289	24.6
	Protectionist	James Boydell	224	19.1
Total formal votes			1,175	97.8
Informal votes			26	2.2
Turnout			1,201	68.6
	Free Trade hold

1889

1889 New South Wales colonial election: Durham
Saturday 16 February [15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Free Trade	Herbert Brown (elected)	626	56.5
	Protectionist	John Wade	482	43.5
Total formal votes			1,108	97.5
Informal votes			29	2.6
Turnout			1,137	72.1
	Free Trade hold

1887

1887 New South Wales colonial election: Durham
Saturday 26 February [16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Free Trade	Herbert Brown (re-elected)	591	57.9
	Ind. Free Trade	John Wade	429	42.1
Total formal votes			1,020	97.1
Informal votes			30	2.9
Turnout			1,050	70.4

1885

1885 New South Wales colonial election: Durham
Monday 26 October [17]

Candidate		Votes	%
Herbert Brown (re-elected)		737	72.6
William Johnston		278	27.4
Total formal votes		1,015	97.9
Informal votes		22	2.1
Turnout		1,037	72.4

1882

1882 New South Wales colonial election: Durham
Monday 4 December [18]

Candidate		Votes	%
Herbert Brown (re-elected)		unopposed

1880

1880 New South Wales colonial election: Durham
Monday 22 November [19]

Candidate		Votes	%
Herbert Brown (re-elected)		660	63.2
William Johnston (defeated)		385	36.8
Total formal votes		1,045	98.5
Informal votes		16	1.5
Turnout		1,061	72.1
		(new seat)

Durham replaced all of the abolished district of The Paterson and part of the abolished district of The Williams. Herbert Brown was the member for The Paterson and William Johnston was the member for The Williams.

District re-created

1859 - 1880

District abolished

1858

1858 New South Wales colonial election: Durham
5 February [20]

Candidate		Votes	%
Samuel Gordon (re-elected 1)		416	33.0
William Arnold (re-elected 2)		408	32.4
Richard Jones (re-elected 3)		355	28.2
Edward Hargraves		79	6.3
Total formal votes		1,258	100.0
Informal votes		0	0.0
Turnout		1,258	28.8

1856

1856 New South Wales colonial election: Durham [21]

Candidate		Votes	%
Richard Jones (elected 1)		660	30.7
Samuel Gordon (elected 2)		550	25.6
William Arnold (elected 3)		380	17.7
Andrew Lang		349	16.3
Alexander Park		209	9.7
Total formal votes		2,148	100.0
Informal votes		0	0.0
Turnout		842	58.51

Polling was conducted on 7 April 1856. Park had represented County of Durham in the old Legislative Council, while another representative in Charles Cowper contested Sydney City.

Notes

1. Also endorsed by Liberal Reform.
2. William Brown had the support of some local Liberal Reform branches but was not endorsed by the central executive. The Sydney Morning Herald said both candidates were generally favourable to the Government policy.[8]

References

1. Green, Antony. "Elections for the District of Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
2. "Part 5B alphabetical list of all electorates and Members since 1856" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
3. "Former Members". Members of Parliament. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
4. Green, Antony. "1917 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
5. Green, Antony. "1913 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
6. Green, Antony. "1910 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
7. Green, Antony. "1907 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
8. "The party lists. For the Liberal cause". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 September 1907. p. 4. Retrieved 25 October 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
9. Green, Antony. "1904 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
10. Green, Antony. "1901 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
11. Green, Antony. "1898 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
12. Green, Antony. "1895 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
13. Green, Antony. "1894 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
14. Green, Antony. "1891 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
15. Green, Antony. "1889 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
16. Green, Antony. "1887 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
17. Green, Antony. "1885 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
18. Green, Antony. "1882 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
19. Green, Antony. "1880 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
20. Green, Antony. "1858 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
21. Green, Antony. "1856 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 21 March 2015.