1877 Northumberland colonial by-election
# 1877 Northumberland colonial by-election

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Northumberland on 12 February 1877 because Charles Stevens was insolvent. Stevens had left the colony on an expedition to recover valuable property, including 2,576 ounces of gold from the General Grant, which wrecked off Auckland Island.

## Dates

| Date | Event |
| - | - |
| 26 June 1877 | Charles Stevens declared insolvent. |
| 6 July 1877 | Charles Steven's seat of Northumberland was declared vacant by reason of insolvency. |
| 7 July 1877 | Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. |
| 18 July 1877 | Nominations |
| 20 July 1877 | Polling day |
| 27 July 1877 | Return of writ |

## Candidates

* Thomas Hungerford was a pastoralist and a former member for Upper Hunter however his election was overturned by the Election and Qualifications Committee and he was defeated in the resulting by-election.
* William Turner was a mining foreman at Wallsend. Members of parliament were unpaid at the time and Turner was supported by the local miners under the banner of the political reform league with funds raised by a subscription, said to be £0.08 per person.

## Result

1877 Northumberland by-election Friday 20 July :

| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - |
| William Turner (elected) | William Turner (elected) | 1,558 | 63.9 |
| Thomas Hungerford | Thomas Hungerford | 481 | 19.7 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 2,439 | 98.1 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 48 | 1.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 2,487 | 80.4 |
