A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Paddington on 12 January 1888 because William Trickett (Free Trade) was appointed to the Legislative Council.
[1] With a margin of just 14 votes, Charles Hellmrich challenged the result in the Elections and Qualifications Committee.
[9] The Committee consisted of 2 Free Trade members (Jacob Garrard and Albert Gould) and 3 Protectionist members (Joseph Palmer Abbott, Robert Smith and John See).
The committee scrutinised the ballot papers and held that Allen was properly elected, finding that the true result was Allen 1,689, Hellmrich 1,653, Knapp 608 and Cansdell 191, formal 4,141, informal 114, total 4,255.
[8][10]