Central District (South Australian Legislative Council)

Central District was an electoral district for the Legislative Council of South Australia from 1882 until 1912. Prior to the passing of the Constitution Act Further Amendment Act 1881, the Legislative Council had been 18 members elected by people from across the entire Province.

At its creation in 1882, the Central District consisted of six electoral districts for the South Australian House of Assembly - East Adelaide, West Adelaide, North Adelaide, West Torrens, Sturt, Port Adelaide.[1] It covered the area of the City of Adelaide and the surrounding areas on the south, west and northwest.

Members

When created, the district was to elect six members to the Legislative Council which had been increased to 24 members, six from each of four districts. Transitional arrangements meant that members were only to be elected from the new districts as the terms of the existing members expired.[1] From 1891, all members of the Council were elected by districts.

The Constitution Act Amendment Act 1901 reduced the size of the parliament, but Central District was the only one to continue to elect six members, from a slightly larger area including some of the Adelaide Hills.[2] The Constitution Act Further Amendment Act 1913 (No. 1148) increased the size of the Council (among other changes), by dividing the Central District into Central District No. 1 and Central District No. 2, each of which elected four members.[3]

Date of change Member Member member Member Member Member
28 February 1884 William Knox Simms (ret 1891)
15 May 1885 John Crozier Henry Scott
25 June 1887 John Howard Angas Alfred Muller Simpson
5 May 1888 George Witherage Cotton Sylvanus James Magarey
23 May 1891 Robert Storrie Guthrie (reelected 1897, 1902) David Morley Charleston (United Labor Party)
15 April 1893 William Alfred Robinson
19 May 1894 Henry Robert Fuller Henry Adams
22 May 1897 Samuel Tomkinson
11 September 1897 David Morley Charleston (independent)
19 May 1900 Andrew Alexander Kirkpatrick (re-elected 1902, 1905) Joseph Vardon (re-elected 1902)
22 September 1900 Charles Cameron Kingston
9 February 1901 John Langdon Parsons
1 June 1901 George Brookman (re-elected 1902)
3 May 1902 Henry William Thompson (re-elected 1905)
19 September 1903 Hugo Carl Emil Muecke
19 December 1903 Beaumont Arnold Moulden (re-elected 1905)
27 May 1905
20 October 1906 David Jelley
3 November 1906 James Phillips Wilson (re-elected 1910)
2 March 1907 Frederick Samuel Wallis (re-elected 1912)
15 May 1909 Theodore Bruce
2 April 1910 Ernest Leopold William Klauer Alfred William Styles
5 August 1911 Charles Richard Morris
10 February 1912 John Howard Vaughan James Jelley

Central district was divided into Central District No. 1 and Central District No. 2 by the Constitution Act Further Amendment Act 1913 (No. 1148), each of which would have four representatives.[3] The act provided that the sitting members should decide amongst themselves which three represented each of the two new districts. Their decision was[4]

  • Central District No. 1 — Jelley, Vaughan, and Wilson
  • Central District No. 2 — Klauer, Styles, Wallis

References

  1. ^ a b Constitution Act Further Amendment Act 1881 (SA)
  2. ^ "Statistical Record of the Legislature 1836-2007: SA Parliament" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  3. ^ a b The Constitution Further Amendment Act 1913 (SA)
  4. ^ "LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL". The Register (Adelaide). Vol. LXXIX, no. 20, 958. South Australia. 13 January 1914. p. 7. Retrieved 14 December 2018 – via National Library of Australia.

34°56′S 138°36′E / 34.933°S 138.600°E / -34.933; 138.600