Town of Dunedin by-election, 1859

The 1859 Town of Dunedin by-election was a New Zealand by-election held in the single-member electorate of Town of Dunedin during the 2nd New Zealand Parliament on 14 January 1859, after the resignation of James Macandrew. The election was won by Macandrew, who had resigned from his seat on 2 November 1858 as a result of not attending a parliamentary session earlier in his term.

Macandrew had forfeited his seat on 2 November 1858 after his not attending of a session of parliament earlier in his term. It was said by the Otago Witness to be a remarkable fact that out of all the Members of Parliament that didn't attend that session of parliament, Macandrew was the only one to have resigned from his seat due to that.

A nomination meeting was held in the Mechanics' Institute on 12 January 1859. The Returning Officer gave a speech reminding the electors of the duty they were to perform. Mr. Shaw proposed Mr. James G. S. Grant, a nomination seconded by Mr. Carnegie. However, the proposal of Grant was not unanimous, with Mr. G. Smith, seconded by James Kilgour, proposing Mr. James Macandrew for the role. Mr. Shaw also proposed William John Dyer, although since at the time it was considered unusual for an elector to propose multiple candidates for the same office at the same election, Dr. Williams, pro forma, proposed Dyer. Mr. W. Iles seconded that nomination. No other candidate was proposed.

The Returning Officer then called upon the candidates to address the electors in the order of which they proposed. Mr. Grant was therefore the first person to speak.

In an account in the 15 January 1859 issue of the Otago Witness, Mr. Grant was said to have delivered a long speech in which he alluded to Macandrew's absence from the General Assembly, and that he would push for the General Assembly to allocate funds for the establishment of a university in Wellington or Nelson.

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