The Electoral Atlas of New South Wales

Although NSW has been mapped since the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 there is no existing atlas that gives an opportunity to explore the development of responsible government since its inception in NSW in 1856. Therefore, the purpose of this Atlas is to enable citizens, students and scholars the opportunity to compare the development of political aspirations and discern social movements over the last 150 years with maps of each of the 21 redistributions and 53 elections held in that time.

There are many ways to tell the story of responsible government in New South Wales. The approach taken in The Electoral Atlas of New South Wales is to tell the story through the history of the State's electoral boundaries, electoral systems and election results. The Atlas illuminates 150 years of Responsible Government by examining the historical and political geography of the State and illustrates our changing political State and demonstrates the linkages between traditional politics, social movements and historical events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. An easy to follow format, consistent map presentation and the use of simple colouring schemes will allow the casual reader to quickly understand the ebbs and flows of the State's politics since 1856.

This foundation Atlas covers such topics as:

Editors: Eamonn Clifford, Antony Green & David Clune.
Cartographers: Warwick Smith, Roger Hine, Chris Orme & Celia Murphy.
Authors: David Clune, Antony Green & Michael Hogan
Graphic Designer: Damien Bennett
Published and distributed by the New South Wales Department of Lands.

The first two elections in 1856 and 1858 were contested under the franchise arrangements that had applied for the old Legislative Council. The right of electoral enrolment was granted to any person holding freehold property to the value of £100, leasehold property to the annual value of £10, possessing a pastoral licence, having a salary of £100 per year, paying board or lodgings to the value of £40 per year, or just lodging to £10 per year. Potential electors had to have met these requirements for six months prior to their name being placed on the electoral roll. Rolls were compiled once a year by an officer appointed by the local Magistrate’s Court. Special hearings were held after each compilation at which objections to a name appearing or being rejected from the roll could be lodged.

The 1856 Census allows analysis of the proportion of the population entitled to vote, and published roll data also specifies the qualification under which electors were granted their right to appear on the roll.

The 1858 Electoral Act made residency the sole qualifying criterion, the vote being extended to all males aged 21 and over who were resident natural-born or naturalised British subjects. However, the six months residency requirement remained, which disenfranchised many people in itinerant occupations. The property qualifications remained for non-resident voters, allowing plural voting for those who held property in several seats. The property vote probably explains the high rate of enrolment in Sydney districts at the table of 1856 data. As late as 1891, more than one in ten names on the roll in inner Sydney districts qualified on the basis of the property vote.

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