It was triggered on 9 January that year by the resignation of separationist Thomas Gillies and won by prominent settler Arthur John Burns.

The more liberal businessman William John Dyer was the sole other contester of the by-election, finishing with 43.33% of the vote.

Both rejected nominees had nominated other electors earlier in the meeting; the Returning Officer believed this behaviour was childish and contrary to the "serious duty" of candidacy.

[4] He was a strong advocate of the separation of the North and South islands, but did not get majority support in the ministries or from parliament as a whole, and he resigned his parliamentary seat in early 1865 as he could not achieve his goal.

On the day prior to the nomination meeting, still no candidates had come forward, despite discussions of Frederick Moss as a suitable representative.

[9][14] Finally, John Hardy gave a speech in which he expressed his astonishment that despite Bruce being one of the most developed parliamentary constituencies, no candidate had yet been nominated by the electors.

He then announced his nomination of Henry Clapcott, the Treasurer of Otago Province at the time, as a person who he thought would be a suitable representative for the electorate.

[9] No other candidates were proposed and the Returning Officer called for Dyer to give a speech to the electors regarding what he would advocate for and his goals if he became the Member of Parliament for Bruce.

However, before Dyer made his speech John Hardy stepped in and asked if he could say some words as Henry Clapcott's representative, an action opposed by other electors.

During his speech, Dyer explained that he was a separationist, though not to the extremes as some of the Separation League, a supporter of the elimination of the House of Representatives, and could see no reason why the Chinese could not come to New Zealand like any other people.

Clapcott placed an advertisement on 5 April in the Otago Daily Times stating that he had withdrawn from the contest for the seat.

[25][26] As the candidate who got a plurality of the votes, Burns was officially declared by the Returning Officer John Dewe as the new Member of Parliament for the electorate on 12 April 1865.

[7] The new booths were located at three school houses, in Waihola, Lawrence, and Inch Clutha, at the station of Captain Francis Wallace Mackenzie in Pomahaka, and at the courthouse in Dunedin.

[7][b] The polling booths that remained the same as at the 1862 by-election were the Court House at Tokomairiro (the place where the nomination meeting was held), and at the schoolhouses in Warepa and East Taieri.