Electoral district of Port Phillip

The Electoral district of Port Phillip was an electorate of the New South Wales Legislative Council before it became the separate colony of Victoria (Australia) on 1 July 1851. At the time, some members of the Council were elected and the balance were appointed by the Governor. The Town of Melbourne returned one member while the Port Phillip district, which covered the rest of what became Victoria after its separation in 1851, returned five members.^[1]

Port Phillip New South Wales—Legislative Council
Location of the District in 1843. Same as current-day Victoria.
State	New South Wales
Created	1843
Abolished	1851
Namesake	Port Phillip
Electors	1,157 (1843)
Coordinates	37°S 144°E

History

Settlers of the Port Phillip District had wanted representation in the New South Wales Legislative Council for some time. In 1843 representatives were elected; "But the colonists were not satisfied with government from and by Sydney".^[2]

On 1 July 1851, the District was separated from New South Wales under provisions of the Australian Colonies Government Act 1850, and became the Colony of Victoria and the Victorian Legislative Council was created.

Members

Member 1	Term	Member 2	Term	Member 3	Term	Member 4	Term	Member 5	Term
Charles Ebden [3]	1 Jun 1843 – 31 Mar 1844	Thomas Walker [4]	1 Jun 1843 – 31 Jul 1845	Charles Nicholson[5]	1 June 1843 – 20 Jun 1848	Alexander Thomson [6]	1 Jun 1843 – 31 Mar 1844	John Lang [7]	1 June 1843 – 1 Nov 1847
Adolphus Young [8]	1 Apr 1844 – 31 Jul 1845					Sir Thomas Mitchell [9]	1 Apr 1844 – 31 Aug 1844
						Benjamin Boyd [10]	1 Sep 1844 – 1 Aug 1845
Thomas Boyd [11]	1 Aug 1845 – 11 Dec 1845	Maurice O'Connell [12]	1 Aug 1845 – 20 Jun 1848			Edward Curr [13]	1 Sep 1845 – 31 May 1846
Edward Brewster [14]	1 Jan 1846 – 1 Feb 1848					John Foster [15]	1 Jun 1846 – 20 Jun 1848
Charles Ebden [3]	1 Mar 1848 – 20 Jun 1848							John Airey [16]	22 Dec 1847 – 20 Jun 1848
Lauchlan Mackinnon [17]	1 Sep 1848 – 31 May 1850	James Williamson [18]	1 Sep 1848 – 31 Jan 1849	John Dickson [19]	1 Sep 1848 – 30 Jun 1851	Edward Curr [13]	1 Sep 1848 – 31 May 1849	James Palmer [20]	1 Sep 1848 – 31 May 1849
		William Macarthur [21]	1 Feb 1849 – 30 Jun 1851			John Foster [15]	1 Jun 1849 – 31 May 1850	Henry Moor [22]	1 Jul 1849 – 30 Jun 1851
Charles Ebden [3]	1 Jun 1850 – 30 Jun 1851					William Mercer [23]	1 Jun 1850 – 30 Jun 1851

Election results

1843

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1843 New South Wales colonial election § Port Phillip.[edit]

1843 New South Wales colonial election, 20 June:
Port Phillip ^[24][25]

Candidate		Votes	%
Charles Ebden		228	19.69
Thomas Walker		217	18.74
Charles Nicholson		206	17.79
Alexander Thomson		184	15.89
John Dunmore Lang		166	14.34
Sir Thomas Mitchell		157	13.56
Total votes		1,158	100.00

1844 (1)

Charles Ebden and Alexander Thomson resigned in March 1844.

Port Phillip by-election
23 April 1844 ^[26]

Candidate		Votes	%
Sir Thomas Mitchell		195	44.10
Adolphus Young		134	31.68
Maurice O'Connell		94	22.22
Total votes		423	100

1844 (2)

Sir Thomas Mitchell, while an elected member was also the Surveyor General. He was criticised by Governor Sir George Gipps for not supporting the government by absenting himself from the Legislative Council when he did not agree with government measures. Mitchell chose to resign his seat.^[27]

Port Phillip by-election
17 September 1844 ^[28]

Candidate		Votes	%
Benjamin Boyd		unopposed

1845 (1)

Thomas Walker resigned on 31 July 1845.

Port Phillip by-election
7 August 1845 ^[29]

Candidate		Votes	%
Maurice O'Connell		show of hands
Archibald Boyd

1845 (2)

Adolphus Young resigned on 31 July 1845.

Port Phillip by-election
7 August 1845 ^[29]

Candidate		Votes	%
Thomas Boyd		unopposed

1845 (3)

Benjamin Boyd resigned on 1 August 1845.

Port Phillip by-election
26 September 1845 ^[30]

Candidate		Votes	%
Edward Curr		50	81.97
Neil Black		11	8.03
Total votes		61	100

1846 (1)

Thomas Boyd resigned in December 1845.

Port Phillip by-election
23 January 1846 ^[31]

Candidate		Votes	%
Edward Brewster		unopposed

1846 (2)

Edward Curr resigned in May 1846.

Port Phillip by-election
29 June 1846 ^[32]

Candidate		Votes	%
John Foster		unopposed

1847

John Lang was absent for two successive sessions of the Council and his seat was declared vacant in November 1847.

Port Phillip by-election
22 December 1847 ^[33]

Candidate		Votes	%
John Airey		unopposed

1848 By-election

Edward Brewster resigned in February 1848.

Port Phillip by-election
15 March 1848 ^[34]

Candidate		Votes	%
Charles Ebden		unopposed

1848

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1848 New South Wales colonial election § Port Phillip.[edit]

1848 New South Wales colonial election, 3 October:
Port Phillip ^[35]

Candidate		Votes	%
Lauchlan Mackinnon (elected 1)		239	17
James Williamson (elected 2)		234	16
John Dickson (elected 3)		232	16
James Palmer (elected 4)		226	16
Edward Curr (elected 5)		189	13
The Duke of Wellington, Lord Palmerston, Lord Brougham, Lord John Russell, Sir Robert Peel		58	4
William Macarthur		25	1
Total votes		1,435	100

The original polling day was 27 July;^[36] however, no candidates were nominated for Port Phillip as a result of the campaign for independence from New South Wales.^[37] A further writ was issued on 25 August.^[38]

1849 (1)

James Williamson resigned in January 1849.

Port Phillip by-election
27 February 1849 ^[39]

Candidate		Votes	%
William Macarthur		97	90.65
The Duke of Wellington		9	8.41
John Fawkner		1	0.93
Total votes		107	100

1849 (2)

Edward Curr resigned in May 1849.

Port Phillip by-election
23 June 1849 ^[40]

Candidate		Votes	%
John Foster		unopposed

1849 (3)

James Palmer resigned in May 1849.

Port Phillip by-election
17 July 1849 ^[41]

Candidate		Votes	%
Henry Moor		unopposed

1850

Lauchlan Mackinnon and John Foster resigned in May 1850.

Port Phillip by-election
11 June 1850 ^[42]

Candidate		Votes	%
Charles Ebden		421	31.94
William Mercer		401	30.42
John Lang		386	29.29
Lachlan McAlister		110	8.35
Total votes		1,318	100

See also

• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council, 1843–1851