[1] The district took in the south-east corner of the state, south of Brisbane and Ipswich.
On 17 February 1870, Arthur Francis, member for East Moreton, resigned due to insolvency, and a by-election was called.
In his nomination speech, Atkin made accusations against Cribb, who replied vigorously defending himself.
The somewhat unexpected outcome of this verbal exchange was that Cribb announced he would withdraw his nomination.
However, Atkin did not complete his term, as he resigned on 7 March 1872 due to serious ill health (pulmonary tuberculosis) from which he died a few months later on.