1866 Tumut colonial by-election
# 1866 Tumut colonial by-election

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of The Tumut on 20 August 1866 because the seat of Charles Cowper Jr. had been declared vacant as he was absent from parliament for an entire session.

## Dates

| Date | Event |
| - | - |
| 25 July 1866 | Seat of Charles Cowper Jr. declared vacant due to absence |
| 26 July 1866 | Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. |
| 13 August 1866 | Nominations. |
| 20 August 1866 | Polling day |
| 10 September 1866 | Return of writ |

## Candidates

* Edward Brown was a well known local who had been a pastoralist in the Tumut region since 1846.
* George Thornton was a merchant from Sydney who had previously been the Mayor of Sydney and a member for East Sydney.

## Result

1866 The Tumut by-election Monday 20 August :

| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - |
| Edward Brown (elected) | Edward Brown (elected) | 286 | 51.9 |
| George Thornton | George Thornton | 265 | 48.1 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 551 | 100.0 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 0 | 0.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 551 | 43.5 |
