1858–59 Cape Colony parliamentary election

The 1858–59 Cape Colony parliamentary election was conducted between September 1858 and early March 1859. This was the second election for the Cape parliament, which had been established in 1854.

Despite the election, the parliament was weak and executive power remained firmly in the hands of the Governor, Sir George Grey, who was appointed from London. Rawson W. Rawson continued as the colony's Colonial Secretary. As Colonial Secretary, Rawson could speak in both the Assembly and Council, but held no voting rights.

In the Eastern Province, the assembly elections saw little excitement, with some constituencies had difficulty even finding willing candidates. In the Assembly constituency of Albany, which returned 2 members of the Assembly, only 4 people voted.The Cape Parliament, 1854-1910 by J. L. McCracken, pg.33-34 Andries Stockenström and Robert Godlonton, both representatives for the Eastern Division in the council, chose not to seek re-election.

Constituencies For elections to the House of Assembly, the Cape was divided into 22 electoral divisions, returning a total of 46 members. The electoral division boundaries corresponded with the existing Cape Colony fiscal divisions. The only exceptions to this were for Albany, and the urban areas of Cape Town-Green Point and Grahamstown, (which were not included in the Cape electoral division), which had their own electoral divisions.Alan John Charrington Smith (1980) General Elections in the Cape Colony, p159

Members elected Assembly

ConstituencyMemberPartyAlbany Henry CalderwoodAlbany SLATERAlbert KRUGER Albert HOPLEYBeaufort WestJohn Charles MoltenoBeaufort WestDr James ChristieCaledonCaledonCape TownJ. D. ThompsonCape TownM. J. LouwCape TownSaul SolomonCape TownPetrus KotzéCape DivisionBLAKECape DivisionJohan Conrad SilberbauerClanwilliamClanwilliamColesburgColesburgCradock Charles Scanlen Cradock CALDECOTTFort BeaufortFort BeaufortGeorge PRINCE George WALTERSGraaff-ReinetMEINTJES Graaff-ReinetJeremias ZiervogelGrahams TownGrahams TownMalmesburyLEEDOLFFMalmesburyDUCKITTPaarlJ. J. ProctorPaarlHAUPTPort ElizabethJohn Ross PhilipPort ElizabethSomerset BOWKER Somerset KRUGERStellenboschChristoffel BrandStellenboschBOSMANSwellendamJohn FairbairnSwellendamWHITEWorcesterMINNIK WorcesterLE SUEURUitenhage BILLINGHAM Uitenhage KROGVictoria EastVictoria East Cape and Natal News 2 March 1859

Council

ConstituencyMemberPartyEastern ProvinceJoseph CawoodEastern ProvinceCharles PoteEastern ProvinceJohn PatersonEastern ProvinceWilliam SoutheyEastern ProvinceJulius MosenthalEastern ProvinceLudwig Johan Frederick von MaltitzEastern ProvinceJames Henry GreatheadWestern ProvinceJoseph BarryWestern ProvinceJohn SteinWestern ProvincePetrus Emanuel RoubaixWestern ProvinceJan de Wet, LLDWestern ProvinceHercules Crosse JarvisWestern ProvinceJohan Hendrik WichtWestern ProvinceDirk Gysbert van BredaWestern ProvinceFrancis William Reitz Cape and Natal News 31 January 1859

References