The by-election was caused by the resignation of incumbent MP Henry Sewell and was won by Richard Packer.

[5] Sewell left at the end of October from Auckland on the William Denny for England via Sydney, i.e. he did not return to Canterbury first.

[8] The lack of reporting of the voting suggests that Packer was elected unopposed; an advertised writ would confirm whether nomination day was the same as the date recorded for the election (the two only fall on the same day if there is only one candidate), but no writ appears in the Lyttelton Times.

It is likely that the writ was advertised in Joseph Brittan's Canterbury Standard, as that newspaper was printed in Christchurch.

[7] The resulting by-election was contested by the publican and political novice Michael Hart, and by Sewell, who had returned from England.