Central Province (Victoria)

Central Province Victoria—Legislative Council
Central Province, 1855 map
State	Victoria
Created	1856
Abolished	1882
Electors	7506 (in 1856)[1]
Demographic	Metropolitan

Central Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council.^[2][3] Coordinates: 37°48′S 144°55′E / 37.800°S 144.917°E

Creation

Central was one of the six original upper house Provinces of the bi-cameral Victorian Parliament created in November 1856.^[2] The area of the province, centered on Melbourne was defined in the Victoria Constitution Act 1855.^[4] Central Province included the Electoral Districts of Melbourne, St Kilda, Collingwood, South Melbourne, Richmond and Williamstown as well as parts of other adjoining districts.^[5]

Abolition

Central Province was abolished in the redistribution of provinces in 1882. James Lorimer and William Edward Hearn transferred from Central to Melbourne Province; Theodotus Sumner transferred to North Yarra Province; James MacBain and James Graham transferred to South Yarra Province that year.^[3]

Members for Central Province

These were members of the upper house province of the Victorian Legislative Council.^[2]

Member 1	Member 2	Member 3	Member 4	Member 5	Term
John Hodgson	John Pascoe Fawkner	Henry Miller[6]	John Hood ^[r]	Nehemiah Guthridge	Nov 1856 – Apr 1858
		Thomas Fellows ^[r]			May 1858 – Aug 1858
				Thomas à Beckett[7]	Sep 1858 – Sep 1859
			George Cole ^[d]		Oct 1859 – Aug 1860
William Henry Hull^[b]					Nov 1860 – Aug 1866
James Graham[8]					Sep 1866 – Feb 1868
		Sir John O'Shanassy ^[r]			Mar 1868 – Sep 1869
	Henry Walsh ^[b] ^[r]				Sep 1869 – May 1871
	Archibald Michie [9] ^[r]				Jun 1871 – Mar 1873
	Theodotus Sumner[10] ^[b]				Mar 1873 – Apr 1874
		Frederick Sargood ^[b]			May 1874 – Aug 1878
				William Edward Hearn	Sep 1878 – Apr 1879
			James Lorimer [11]^[b]		May 1879 – Mar 1880
		James MacBain ^[b]			May 1880 – Nov 1882

^b = elected in a by-election

^d = died in office

^r = resigned from seat

1856 election results

Candidate[1]	Votes[1]
Hodgson*	1204
Fawkner*	1196
Miller*	863
Hood*	736
Guthridge*	689
Smith	688
a'Beckett	598
Fellows	577
Wiklie	516
Mayne	439
Total	7506

First five elected.

References

1. "Election for the Central Province". South Australian Register. 3 September 1856. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
2. Edward Sweetman (1920). Constitutional Development of Victoria, 1851-6. Whitcombe & Tombs Limited. p. 182. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
3. "Re-Member (Former Members)". State Government of Victoria. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
4. "Victoria Constitution Act 1855" (PDF). p. 444. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
5. "Central Province and Electoral Districts of Melbourne, St Kilda, Collingwood, South Melbourne, Richmond and Williamstown." (map). State Library of Victoria. 27 November 1855. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
6. Mellor, Suzanne G. "Miller, Henry (1809–1888)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
7. "Victoria". Freeman's Journal. Sydney. 29 September 1858. p. 2. à Beckett won the September by-election, sworn-in in October
8. "The Central Province election". The Argus. Melbourne. 20 September 1866. p. 4. Graham was elected unopposed on 20 Sep 1866, sworn-in Jan 1867
9. "Central Province Election". The Argus. Melbourne. 22 June 1871. Michie was elected in June, sworn-in in August
10. "Central Province Election". The Argus. Melbourne. 1 April 1873. p. 5. Sumner won the 31 March by-election, sworn-in in May
11. "Central Province Election". The Argus. Melbourne. 12 May 1879. p. 8. Lorimer elected unopposed 12 May, sworn-in July