Stanley was an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia.

First incarnation The first incarnation of the electoral district of Stanley was created in 1851 to elect a single member to the unicameral South Australian Legislative Council. The seat was abolished in 1857, with William Younghusband having been the sole member for the duration.

Created by the state's Legislative Council Act of 1851, the extent was formally defined as the entirety of the cadastral County of Gawler (excluding the township of Gawler) and County of Stanley as well as a huge swathe of sparsely settled land to the north, but excluding all of the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas.

Second incarnation The second incarnation of the electorate was created by the Electoral Act (No. 20) of the South Australian parliament in 1861 but it was not until the state election of 1862 election that candidates were first elected to represent Stanley. The extent was formally defined as the entirety of the cadastral counties of Gawler and Stanley, the latter being the source of the district name. Thus, at its creation, the electorate stretched from Gulf St Vincent and the Hummocks on the west from Port Gawler up to Redhill, spanning the Adelaide Plains and Mid North to the cadastral counties boundary line in the east – roughly a line passing from Gawler through Stockport and Mintaro to Booborowie.

In the ten years from 1862, the chief polling place was listed as Clare, with subsidiary polling places at Auburn, Mudla Wirra (Gawler), and Baker's Springs (Rhynie).

The Electoral Districts Act (No. 27) in 1872 dramatically changed the boundaries of the district, with the new electoral district of Wooroora being created largely by the excision of Stanley's southernmost half, and the new north western borders for Stanley being significantly extended to include Port Pirie and Port Broughton.

Townships served by the seat of Stanley from 1875 included Port Pirie, Crystal Brook, Clare, Snowtown and Port Broughton.Parliamentary electorates, Chronicle, 5 April 1902: Trove

Members

Two members (1862–1902)MemberPartyTermMemberPartyTerm G. S. Kingston 1862–1880  George Young 1862–1865  H. E. Bright 1865–1875  Charles Mann 1875–1881  Alfred Catt 1881–1884  J. H. Howe 1881–1884 E. W. Hawker1884–1889  John Miller 1884–1885  John Darling Sr. 1885–1887  Charles Kimber 1887–1890  P. P. Gillen 1889–1896  John Miller 1890–1893  E. W. Hawker Defence League 1893–1896  W. P. Cummins 1896–1902  John Miller 1896–1902

Three members (1902–1915)MemberPartyTermMemberPartyTermMemberPartyTerm W. P. CumminsNational League1902–1906 Alfred Catt 1902–1904  F. W. Young National League 1902–1905  Farmers and Producers 1904–1906 Clarence GoodeLabor1905–1915  Liberal and Democratic 1906–1907 Harry JacksonLabor1906–1915  K. W. Duncan Farmers and Producers 1907–1910  William Cole Labor 1910–1915

Two members (1915–1938)MemberPartyTermMemberPartyTerm Robert Nicholls Liberal Union 1915–1923 Henry Barwell Liberal Union 1915–1923 Liberal Federation1923–1932  Liberal Federation 1923–1925 John Lyons Liberal Federation 1925–1932  Liberal and Country 1932–1938  Liberal and Country 1932–1938

Single-member (1938–1956)MemberPartyTerm  Alexander Melrose Liberal and Country 1938–1941 Percy Quirke Labor 1941–1948  Independent 1948–1956

Election results

References

External links The 13 electorates from 1902 to 1915: The Adelaide Chronicle