Elections were held in the

Colony of Western Australia The human history of Western Australia commenced "over 50,000 years ago and possibly as much as 70,000 years ago" with the arrival of Aboriginal Australians on the northwest coast. The first inhabitants expanded across the east and south of the ...

in December 1890 to elect 30 members to the Legislative Assembly. They were the first elections to be held for the Legislative Assembly, which had been created earlier in the year by a new constitution that granted Western Australia responsible self-government.

Background

Historian Brian De Garis describes the 1890 election as "a rather quiet affair". There were no organised political parties (or even factions), and no government to be voted in or out of office. The Legislative Assembly had been established by Western Australia's new constitution, which was enacted by the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

on 21 August 1890 and proclaimed in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

on 21 October 1890. Prior to that, the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

, an only partially elective body, had been the sole chamber of parliament.

Timeline

Close of nominations * 27 November: East Kimberley,

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gascoyne has about of ...

Irwin Irwin may refer to: Places ;United States * Irwin, California * Irwin, Idaho * Irwin, Illinois * Irwin, Iowa * Irwin, Nebraska * Irwin, Ohio * Irwin, Pennsylvania * Irwin, South Carolina * Irwin County, Georgia * Irwin Township, Venango Co ...

West Kimberley West Kimberley is a sub region of the Kimberley region of Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern T ...

* 28 November:

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, Roebourne * 29 November: Ashburton, Greenough,

Moore Moore may refer to: Language * Mooré language, spoken in West Africa People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior ...

, Murchison,

Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet ( /plænˈtædʒənət/ ''plan-TAJ-ə-nət'') was a royal house which originated from the French county of Anjou. The name Plantagenet is used by modern historians to identify four distinct royal houses: the Angev ...

* 2 December: Albany,

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri language, Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu language, Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldt ...

, Northam,

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, Williams,

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

* 3 December: Bunbury, Murray,

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

Swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

* 4 December:

Beverley Beverley is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located north-west of Hull city centre. At the 2021 census the built-up area of the town had a population of 30,930, and the smaller civil parish had ...

, De Grey,

East Perth East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

, Toodyay, West Perth * 5 December:

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

, North Fremantle, South Fremantle Polling day * 5 December: Nelson * 6 December: Ashburton, Irwin, Plantagenet * 8 December: Greenough, Roebourne * 9 December: Albany, Gascoyne, Moore, Murchison, Williams * 10 December: Beverley, East Perth, Geraldton, Murray, Perth, Wellington, West Perth * 11 December: Bunbury, Fremantle, North Fremantle, South Fremantle * 12 December: De Grey, East Kimberley, Northam, Sussex, Swan, Toodyay, West Kimberley, York

Results

Only 11 out of the 30 seats were contested at the election, and only two were contested by more than two candidates. Prior to the election, there had been some doubts expressed (notably by

Septimus Burt The Hon Septimus Burt KC (25 October 1847 – 15 May 1919) was a Western Australian lawyer, politician and grazier, the son of Sir Archibald Burt. Burt was born on 25 October 1847 at St Kitts in the West Indies, and educated at a private schoo ...

) as to whether enough suitable candidates would come forward.De Garis, p. 65. In several uncontested electorates, an informal election was held before the official polling day, in which members of local organisations determined their preferred representative.

Aftermath

The

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch, King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional, ceremonial and commun ...

, Sir William Robinson, decided that he would not commission a government until the elections had been held. It had initially been assumed that

Stephen Henry Parker Sir Stephen Henry Parker (7 November 1846 – 13 December 1927) was a lawyer and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia from 1906 to 1914. Biography Early life Stephen Henry Parker was the second son of Stephen Stanley Park ...

would be chosen as Western Australia's first

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

, but

John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister in ...

actively sought the position, arguing that he was the only candidate with prior governmental experience (as a former Surveyor-General). Governor Robinson asked Forrest to form a government on 22 December 1890, and he and the rest of his new ministry were sworn in on 29 December.De Garis, p. 64.

References

{{Western Australian elections December 1890 1890 elections in Australia Elections in Western Australia 1890s in Western Australia