# Candidates of the 1903 Australian federal election

This article provides information on candidates who stood for the 1903 Australian federal election. The election was held on 16 December 1903.

## By-elections, appointments and defections
### By-elections and appointments

* On 14 September 1901, Littleton Groom (Protectionist) was elected to replace William Henry Groom (Protectionist) as the member for Darling Downs.
* On 26 March 1902, William Hartnoll (Free Trade) was elected to replace Frederick Piesse (Free Trade) as one of the five members for Tasmania.
* On 21 January 1903, Robert Reid (Free Trade) was appointed as a Victorian Senator to replace Sir Frederick Sargood (Free Trade).
* On 20 May 1903, Henry Saunders (Free Trade) was appointed as a Western Australian Senator to replace Norman Ewing (Free Trade).
* On 4 September 1903, George Reid (Free Trade) won the seat of East Sydney, which he had re-contested to assert his leadership.
* On 8 October 1903, Charles Mackellar (Protectionist) was appointed as a New South Wales Senator to replace Richard O'Connor (Protectionist).

### Defections

* In 1902, Free Trade MP Alexander Poynton (Grey) joined the Labour Party.
* South Australian Free Trade MP Sir Frederick Holder had resigned from the party by the 1903 election after being elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1901. He contested the election as an Independent, but was unopposed by the other parties.
* Queensland Protectionist MP Thomas Macdonald-Paterson (Brisbane) lost pre-selection and contested the election as an Independent.
* Tasmanian Free Trade Senator Henry Dobson contested the election as a member of the Tariff Reform Party.
* Queensland Protectionist Senator Thomas Glassey lost pre-selection, and contested the election as an Independent.

## Redistributions and seat changes

* South Australia and Tasmania, which for the first federal election were contested as single electorates for the House of Representatives:
** South Australia was divided into seven electorates: Adelaide, Angas, Barker, Boothby, Grey, Hindmarsh and Wakefield. Of the seven members elected for the division of South Australia in 1901, Charles Kingston (Protectionist) contested Adelaide, Paddy Glynn (Free Trade) contested Angas, Sir Langdon Bonython (Protectionist) contested Barker, Lee Batchelor (Labour) and Vaiben Louis Solomon (Free Trade) contested Boothby, Alexander Poynton (Labour) contested Grey, Sir Frederick Holder (the Speaker) contested Wakefield, and no sitting members contested Hindmarsh.
** Tasmania was divided into five electorates: Bass, Darwin, Denison, Franklin and Wilmot. Of the five members elected for the division of Tasmania in 1901, William Hartnoll (Free Trade) contested Bass, King O'Malley (Labour) contested Darwin, Sir Philip Fysh (Protectionist) and Norman Cameron (Free Trade) contested Denison, Sir Edward Braddon (Free Trade) contested Wilmot, and no sitting members contested Franklin.
* The Free Trade MP for Lang, Francis McLean, contested Hume.

## Retiring Members and Senators
### Protectionist

* Sir Edmund Barton MP (Hunter, NSW)
* George Cruickshank MP (Gwydir, NSW)
* Chester Manifold MP (Corangamite, Vic)
* Senator Sir John Downer (SA)
* Senator Charles Mackellar (NSW)

### Free Trade

* Samuel Cooke MP (Wannon, Vic)
* Arthur Groom MP (Flinders, Vic)
* Sir William McMillan MP (Wentworth, NSW)
* Senator John Ferguson (Qld) — seat declared vacant prior to election due to lack of attendance
* Senator Edward Harney (WA)
* Senator Robert Reid (Vic)

### Independent

* Alexander Paterson MP (Capricornia, Qld)

## House of Representatives

Sitting members at the time of the election are shown in bold text. Successful candidates are highlighted in the relevant colour. Where there is possible confusion, an asterisk (*) is also used.

### New South Wales

| Electorate | Held by | Protectionist candidate | Free Trade candidate | Labour candidate | Other candidates |
| Barrier | Labour | | | Josiah Thomas | John Dunstan (Ind Prot) |
| Bland | Labour | | John Longmuir | Chris Watson | |
| Canobolas | Labour | | | Thomas Brown | |
| Cowper | Protectionist | Francis Clarke | Henry Lee | | |
| Dalley | Free Trade | | Bill Wilks | | Selina Anderson (Ind Prot) William Burns (Ind Prot) |
| Darling | Labour | | Denis Acton | William Spence | |
| East Sydney | Free Trade | Robert Peel | George Reid | Thomas Thrower | |
| Eden-Monaro | Protectionist | Austin Chapman | | | |
| Gwydir | Protectionist | | James Macarthur-Onslow | William Webster | Robert Barton (Ind Prot) |
| Hume | Protectionist | Sir William Lyne | Francis McLean | | |
| Hunter | Protectionist | | Frank Liddell | Arthur Rae | James Waller (Ind Prot) |
| Illawarra | Free Trade | | George Fuller | | |
| Lang | Free Trade | Thomas Roseby | Elliot Johnson | Tom Keegan | William Cullam (Ind FT) |
| Macquarie | Free Trade | William Sandford | Sydney Smith | | |
| Newcastle | Labour | | Richard Bowles | David Watkins | |
| New England | Protectionist | William Sawers | Edmund Lonsdale | | |
| North Sydney | Free Trade | | Dugald Thomson | | |
| Parkes | Free Trade | | Bruce Smith | Charles Dyer | Edward Beeby (Ind FT) Varney Parkes (Ind FT) Hampton Slatyer (Ind FT) |
| Parramatta | Free Trade | | Joseph Cook | | John Strachan (Ind Prot) |
| Richmond | Protectionist | Thomas Ewing | Reginald Atkinson | | |
| Riverina | Protectionist | John Chanter | Robert Blackwood | | |
| Robertson | Free Trade | | Henry Willis | | William Wall (Ind Prot) |
| South Sydney | Free Trade | | George Edwards | Edward Riley | |
| Wentworth | Free Trade | John Dalley | Willie Kelly | | |
| Werriwa | Free Trade | | Alfred Conroy | Arthur Barrett | |
| West Sydney | Labour | | Edward Warren | Billy Hughes | |

### Queensland

| Electorate | Held by | Protectionist candidate | Labour candidate | Other candidates |
| Brisbane | Protectionist | William Morse | Millice Culpin | Thomas Macdonald-Paterson (Ind Prot) |
| Capricornia | Ind. Free Trade | George Curtis | David Thomson | Thomas Ryan (Ind Prot) |
| Darling Downs | Protectionist | Littleton Groom | | |
| Herbert | Labour | William White | Fred Bamford | |
| Kennedy | Labour | Frederick Johnson | Charles McDonald | |
| Maranoa | Labour | Daniel Leahy | Jim Page |
| Moreton | Ind. Labour | George Harrison | | James Wilkinson (Ind Lab) |
| Oxley | Protectionist | Richard Edwards | William Reinhold | |
| Wide Bay | Labour | George Stupart | Andrew Fisher | |

### South Australia

| Electorate | Protectionist candidate | Free Trade candidate | Labour candidate | Independent candidate(s) |
| Adelaide | Charles Kingston | | | |
| Angas | | Paddy Glynn | | |
| Barker | Sir Langdon Bonython | | | |
| Boothby | | Vaiben Louis Solomon | Lee Batchelor | |
| Grey | | | Alexander Poynton | |
| Hindmarsh | James Shaw | | James Hutchison | |
| Wakefield | | | | Sir Frederick Holder |

### Tasmania

| Electorate | Protectionist candidate | Free Trade candidate | Labour candidate | Other candidates |
| Bass | David Storrer | William Hartnoll | | |
| Darwin | James Brickhill | | King O'Malley | James Gaffney (Ind) |
| Denison | Sir Philip Fysh | Norman Cameron | Andrew Kirk | |
| Franklin | | Russell Macnaghten | | William Clifford (RT) Wentworth Hardy (Ind) William McWilliams* (RT) Henry Tinning (RT) |
| Wilmot | John Cheek | Sir Edward Braddon | | |

### Victoria

| Electorate | Held by | Protectionist candidate | Free Trade candidate | Labour candidate | Other candidates |
| Balaclava | Protectionist | Sir George Turner | | | |
| Ballaarat | Protectionist | Alfred Deakin | | | |
| Bendigo | Protectionist | Sir John Quick | Cyril James | David Smith | |
| Bourke | Protectionist | James Hume Cook | | Martin Hannah | Rothwell Grundy (Ind Prot) |
| Corangamite | Protectionist | Agar Wynne | Gratton Wilson | | Desmond Dunne (Ind Prot) John Woods (Ind Prot) |
| Corinella | Protectionist | James McCay | | | |
| Corio | Protectionist | Richard Crouch | Donald Macdonald | John Reed | |
| Echuca | Protectionist | James McColl | Henry Williams | | |
| Flinders | Free Trade | Arthur Nichols | James Gibb | Arthur Wilson | Louis Smith (Ind Prot) |
| Gippsland | Protectionist | Allan McLean | | | |
| Grampians | Free Trade | Archibald Ritchie | Thomas Skene | Patrick McGrath | Albert Andrews (Ind Lab) |
| Indi | Protectionist | Isaac Isaacs | | | |
| Kooyong | Free Trade | Robert Barbour | William Knox | | |
| Laanecoorie | Protectionist | Carty Salmon | David Bevan | | |
| Melbourne | Protectionist | Sir Malcolm McEacharn | | William Maloney | |
| Melbourne Ports | Protectionist | Samuel Mauger | | James Mathews | Harry Foran (Ind Lab) |
| Mernda | Protectionist | Robert Harper | Frederick Hickford | | Edward Hodges (Ind Prot) |
| Moira | Protectionist | Thomas Kennedy | Albert Palmer | | |
| Northern Melbourne | Protectionist | Henry Higgins | | | Samuel Painter (Ind Prot) |
| Southern Melbourne | Labour | | | James Ronald | Ernest Joske (Ind Prot) Charles Monteith (Ind Prot) John Sloss (Ind Prot) |
| Wannon | Free Trade | Patrick Hogan | Arthur Robinson | Thomas White | |
| Wimmera | Protectionist | Pharez Phillips | Max Hirsch | | John Gray (Ind Prot) |
| Yarra | Labour | William Wilson | | Frank Tudor | |

### Western Australia

| Electorate | Held by | Protectionist candidate | Free Trade candidate | Labour candidate |
| Coolgardie | Labour | | | Hugh Mahon |
| Fremantle | Free Trade | | Elias Solomon | William Carpenter |
| Kalgoorlie | Free Trade | | John Kirwan | Charlie Frazer |
| Perth | Labour | | Harry Venn | James Fowler |
| Swan | Protectionist | Sir John Forrest | | |

## Senate

Sitting Senators are listed in bold. Tickets that elected at least one Senator are highlighted in the relevant colour. Successful candidates are identified by an asterisk (*).

### New South Wales

Three seats were up for election. The Protectionist Party was defending one seat. The Free Trade Party was defending two seats. Free Trade Senators Albert Gould, Edward Millen and James Walker were not up for re-election.
| Protectionist candidates | Free Trade candidates | Labour candidates | Socialist Labor candidates | Other candidates |
| Nathaniel Collins John Cunneen | John Gray* John Neild* Edward Pulsford* | Arthur Griffith | Herbert Drake James Moroney Andrew Thomson | Mary Moore-Bentley (Ind) Henry Fletcher (Ind) Nellie Martel (Ind FT) |

### Queensland

Three seats were up for election. The Protectionist Party was defending one seat. The Free Trade Party was defending one seat. The Labour Party was defending one seat. Protectionist Senator James Drake and Labour Senators Anderson Dawson and William Higgs were not up for re-election.
| Protectionist candidates | Labour candidates | Independent candidates |
| John Bartholomew John Murray Walter Tunbridge | Thomas Givens* James Stewart* Harry Turley* | Thomas Glassey |

### South Australia

Three seats were up for election. The Protectionist Party was defending one seat. The Free Trade Party was defending one seat. The Labour Party was defending one seat. Protectionist Senator Thomas Playford and Free Trade Senators Sir Richard Baker and Sir Josiah Symon were not up for re-election.
| Free Trade candidates | Labour candidates | Independent candidates |
| Robert Caldwell David Charleston William Copley | Robert Guthrie* Gregor McGregor* William Story* | William Grasby Crawford Vaughan |

### Tasmania

Three seats were up for election. The Protectionist Party was defending one seat. The Free Trade Party was defending two seats. Protectionist Senator John Keating, Free Trade Senator John Clemons and Labour Senator David O'Keefe were not up for re-election.
| Protectionist candidates | Free Trade candidates | Labour candidates | Revenue Tariff candidates |
| Cyril Cameron Edward Mulcahy* | James Macfarlane* Edward Miles James Waldron | Milner Macmaster James Mahoney Charles Metz | Stafford Bird Henry Dobson* |

### Victoria

Four seats were up for election, one of which was for the short-term vacancy caused by Free Trade Senator Sir Frederick Sargood's death which had been filled in the interim by Free Trader Robert Reid. The Protectionist Party was defending two seats. The Free Trade Party was defending one seat. The Labour Party was defending one seat, although Senator John Barrett had been denied Labour endorsement and instead ran on the Protectionist ticket. Protectionist Senators Simon Fraser and Sir William Zeal were not up for re-election.
| Protectionist candidates | Free Trade candidates | Labour candidates | Other candidates |
| John Barrett Robert Best* John Dow James Styles* | Frederick Derham Sir John McIntyre Edmund Smith John Templeton | Stephen Barker Edward Findley* John Lemmon Robert Solly | Vida Goldstein (Ind Prot) William McCulloch (Ind Prot) Sir Bryan O'Loghlen (Ind Prot) William Trenwith* (Ind Lab) Henry Williams (Ind FT) George Wise (Ind Prot) |

### Western Australia

Three seats were up for election. The Free Trade Party was defending two seats. The Labor Party was defending one seat. Free Trade Senators Alexander Matheson and Staniforth Smith and Labour Senator George Pearce were not up for re-election.
| Protectionist candidates | Free Trade candidates | Labour candidates |
| Michael Cavanagh Samuel Moore | William Martin Herbert Preston Henry Saunders | John Croft* Hugh de Largie* George Henderson* |