Pastoral Districts of New England and Macleay
New South Wales—Legislative Council
StateNew South Wales
Created1851
Abolished1856
NamesakeNew England region & Macleay River

The Electoral district of Pastoral Districts of New England and Macleay was an electorate of the New South Wales Legislative Council at a time when some of its members were elected and the balance were appointed by the Governor. It was a new electorate created in 1851 by the expansion of the Legislative Council to 54, 18 to be appointed and 36 elected.[1] The district is located in the north of the state and covered the Northern Tablelands region of New England and part of the Mid North Coast region, including the area to the north of the Macleay River, but excluding the area south of the Macleay River which was included in the Counties of Gloucester and Macquarie. To the north was the Pastoral Districts of Clarence and Darling Downs and to the west the Pastoral Districts of Liverpool Plains and Gwydir. Polling took place in the towns of Wellingrove, Armidale, Tenterfield, Walcha and Kempsey.[1]

In 1856 the unicameral Legislative Council was abolished and replaced with an elected Legislative Assembly and an appointed Legislative Council. The district was represented by the Legislative Assembly electorate of New England and Macleay.

Members

Member Term
Matthew Marsh [2] Sep 1851 – Mar 1855
Robert Massie [3] May 1855 – Jul 1855
Thomas Rusden [4] Aug 1855 – Feb 1856
Thomas Rusden went on to represent New England and Macleay in the Legislative Assembly from 1856.

Election results

1851

1851 New South Wales colonial election, 20 September:
Pastoral Districts of New England and Macleay [5]
Candidate Votes %
Matthew Henry Marsh unopposed  

1855 (1)

Matthew Marsh resigned in March 1855.[2]

New England and Macleay by-election
26 April 1855 [6]
Candidate Votes %
Robert Massie 64 54.24
Richard Jones 54 45.76
Total votes 118 100.00

1855 (2)

The election of Robert Massie was declared void.[7]

New England and Macleay by-election
27 August 1855 [8]
Candidate Votes %
Thomas Rusden 58 59.18
Robert Massie 40 40.82
Total votes 98 100.00

References

  1. ^ a b "An Act to provide for the division of the Colony of New South Wales after the separation of the District of Port Phillip therefrom into Electoral Districts and for the Election of Members to serve in the Legislative Council.". Act No. 48 of 2 May 1851 (PDF). Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Mr Matthew Henry Marsh (1801-1881)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  3. ^ "Mr Robert George Massie (1815-1883)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Mr Thomas George Rusden (1817-1882)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Election for New England and the Macleay". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. 17 September 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 30 May 2019 – via Trove.
  6. ^ "Armidale". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. 19 May 1855. p. 2. Retrieved 5 June 2019 – via Trove.
  7. ^ "Part 3 Members of the Legislative Council" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  8. ^ "New England and Macleay election". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. 15 September 1855. p. 2. Retrieved 5 June 2019 – via Trove.
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