[1] The Committee declared that Horace Dean was not qualified to be a member and that Robert Smith had been elected.
Smith had based his re-election nomination on the basis that Dean was ineligible to be elected as he had not been a resident for 5 years after naturalisation, relying upon legal opinions given by Sir James Martin, Sir William Manning and Joseph Innes.
Every male subject of Her Majesty of the full age of twenty-one years and absolutely free being natural born or who being a naturalized subject shall have resided in this Colony for five years shall be qualified to be elected a Member of the Assembly for any Electoral District unless disqualified by section seventeen or eighteen of the Constitution Act or unless under section eleven or twelve of this Act he would be disqualified or incapacitated as an Elector.
[8] emphasis addedDean had been a resident of the colony at Tinonee for more than 10 years and by the time the writ was issued for the by-election Dean had received a certificate that he was naturalised.
[2] In the Legislative Assembly Charles Cowper, the Premier and Colonial Secretary disagreed with the finding of the Committee that Mr Dean was not qualified and sought to have the Assembly declare that the seat for the Hastings was vacant with a fresh by-election to be called.