Electoral district of Moreton, Wide Bay, Burnett and Maranoa

The United pastoral districts of Moreton, Wide Bay, Burnett and Maranoa,^[1] and from 1857 Moreton, Wide Bay, Burnett, Maranoa, Leichhardt and Port Curtis,^[2][3] was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales created in 1856 and consisted of the pastoral districts around the early settlements of Moreton Bay; Wide Bay, near Maryborough; the Burnett River, near Bundaberg; and the Maranoa region of South-western Queensland. In September 1856 the pastoral districts around the Leichhardt River in the Gulf of Carpentaria region and Port Curtis (Gladstone) were added to the electorate.^[4] The district was abolished for the 1859 election and replaced by the separate districts of East Moreton, West Moreton, Burnett (which included Wide Bay) and Leichhardt (which included Port Curtis), while Maranoa became part of Darling Downs.^[5][6][7] All of these districts became part of Queensland when it was established as a separate colony in late 1859.

Moreton, Wide Bay, Burnett and Maranoa New South Wales—Legislative Assembly
State	New South Wales
Created	1856
Abolished	1859

Members

Moreton, Wide Bay, Burnett and Maranoa
Member		Party	Term
	Gordon Sandeman ^[8]	None	1856–1857
Moreton, Wide Bay, Burnett, Maranoa, Leichhardt and Port Curtis
	Patrick Leslie ^[9]	None	1857–1858
	William Tooth ^[10]	None	1858–1859

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Moreton, Wide Bay, Burnett and Maranoa

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1858 New South Wales colonial election § Moreton, Wide Bay, Burnett, Maranoa, Leichhardt and Port Curtis.[edit]

1858 New South Wales colonial election: Moreton, Wide Bay, Burnett, Maranoa, Leichhardt and Port Curtis 12 February ^[11]

Candidate		Votes	%
William Tooth (elected)		56	51.9
Arthur Macalister		52	48.2
Total formal votes		108	100.0
Informal votes		0	0.0
Turnout		108	39.3

The sitting member Patrick Leslie did not contest the election. The returning officer stated that the lack of a mail service to northern parts of the district, being Gladstone, Rannes and Surat meant that no polling had occurred in those places. The Legislative Assembly directed him to return the writ.^[12] William Tooth was subsequently proclaimed to have been elected,^[13] and Tooth was sworn in on 22 June 1858.^[14]

References

1. "Writs of election". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. 37. 1 March 1856. p. 773. Retrieved 25 June 2019 – via Trove.
2. "Proclamation: polling places". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. 4. 13 January 1857. p. 41. Retrieved 20 June 2019 – via Trove.
3. "Legislative Assembly: writ of election". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. 156. 23 October 1857. p. 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2019 – via Trove.
4. "Proclamation". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. 140. 12 September 1856. p. 2440. Retrieved 25 June 2019 – via Trove.
5. "An Act to amend the Electoral Law.". Act No. 20 of 24 November 1858 (PDF). Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
6. "Part 5B alphabetical list of all electorates and Members since 1856" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
7. "Former Members". Members of Parliament. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
8. "Mr Gordon Sandeman (1810-1897)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
9. "Mr Patrick Leslie (1815-1881)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
10. "Mr William Butler Tooth (1823-1876)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
11. Green, Antony. "1858 Moreton Wide Bay Burnett and Maranoa". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
12. "Legislative Assembly". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 May 1858. p. 5. Retrieved 12 June 2019 – via Trove.
13. "Proclamation: validity of election". New South Wales Government Gazette. 22 June 1858. p. 965. Retrieved 12 June 2019 – via Trove.
14. "New Member". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 June 1858. p. 4. Retrieved 12 June 2019 – via Trove.