A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Goldfields South on 12 December 1870 as a result of the Legislative Assembly declaring the election of Ezekiel Baker was void.
[1] Baker had been appointed to conduct a Royal Commission to inquire into the laws and regulations of the goldfields and for securing a permanent water supply.
[2] The Committee of Elections and Qualifications held that this appointment was an office of profit under the crown which meant he was incapable of being elected, or of sitting, or voting, as a member of the Assembly.
[3]