This is a list of candidates for the 1885 New South Wales colonial election. The election was held from 16 October to 31 October 1885.
This was the last election at which there was no recognisable party structure.
Sitting members are shown in bold text. Successful candidates are highlighted.
Electorates are arranged chronologically from the day the poll was held. Because of the sequence of polling, some sitting members who were defeated in their constituencies were then able to contest other constituencies later in the polling period. On the second occasion, these members are shown in italic text.
| Electorate | Successful candidates | Unsuccessful candidates |
|---|
| Friday 16 October 1885 |
|---|
| Albury | George Day | Luke Gulson |
| Balmain | Jacob Garrard
John Hawthorne
Solomon Hyam | Edward Buchanan
Samuel Davison
Maurice Fitzharding |
| Canterbury | Mark Hammond
William Henson
William Judd
Septimus Stephen | Alexander Hutchison
Richard McCoy
Alban Riley
Thomas Robertson |
| East Maitland | James Brunker |
| East Sydney | Edmund Barton
Sydney Burdekin
Henry Copeland
George Reid | George Brown
George Griffiths
Samuel Lees |
| Glebe | John Meeks
William Wilkinson | William Bailey
Michael Chapman |
| Hartley | Walter Targett | Brisbane Doyle |
| Kiama | Harman Tarrant | P R Holdsworth |
| Nepean | Thomas Smith | Thomas Cross |
| Newcastle | James Fletcher
George Lloyd | James Ellis |
| Newtown | William Foster
Frederick Gibbes
James Smith | Richard Bellemey
Nicholas Hawken
Joseph Mitchell |
| Northumberland | Joseph Creer
Ninian Melville | Joseph Gorrick
Richard Luscombe
George Perry
Thomas Walker |
| Paddington | Robert Butcher
John Neild
William Trickett | Alfred Allen
Charles Cansdell
Charles Hellmrich
John McLaughlin |
| Parramatta | Hugh Taylor | William Ferris |
| Redfern | Arthur Renwick
John Sutherland
Thomas Williamson | John Martin
William Stephen
Francis Wright |
| St Leonards | Isaac Ives
Sir Henry Parkes | Edward Clark
George Dibbs |
| South Sydney | John Davies
Archibald Forsyth
Joseph Olliffe
James Toohey | Alfred Miller
Edward O'Sullivan
William Poole
William Richardson
George Withers |
| West Maitland | Richard Thompson | Walter Edmunds |
| West Sydney | Francis Abigail
Alexander Kethel
Daniel O'Connor
John Young | Angus Cameron
George Merriman |
| Saturday 17 October 1885 |
|---|
| Orange | William Clarke
Thomas Dalton | Valentine Heaton |
| Monday 19 October 1885 |
|---|
| Boorowa | Thomas Slattery | Argyle McCallum |
| Camden | Thomas Garrett
John Kidd | Henry Badgery |
| Glen Innes | William Fergusson | Alexander Hutchison
W O Pomeroy |
| Gunnedah | Joseph Abbott | Ethelbert Clemesha |
| Hawkesbury | Alexander Bowman | Henry McQuade |
| Illawarra | Andrew Lysaght | William Wiley
Francis Woodward |
| Inverell | Samuel Moore | Richard Murray |
| Macleay | Robert Smith | Otho Dangar |
| Shoalhaven | Frederick Humphery |
| Yass Plains | Louis Heydon | Richard Colonna-Close |
| Tuesday 20 October 1885 |
|---|
| Clarence | John Purves | Allen Cameron
Richard Stevenson |
| Grafton | John See |
| Hastings and Manning | Charles Roberts
James Young | Hugh McKinnon
G W Tait |
| Wellington | David Ferguson | E Bennett
Paddy Crick |
| Wednesday 21 October 1885 |
|---|
| Tamworth | Michael Burke
Robert Levien | William Dowel
John Gill
A H Sampson |
| Thursday 22 October 1885 |
|---|
| Argyle | William Holborow
Francis Tait | Edward Ball |
| Forbes | Walter Coonan
Alfred Stokes | Henry Cooke |
| Grenfell | Robert Vaughn | E B Whelan |
| Gundagai | John Want | Gerard Phillips |
| Morpeth | Robert Wisdom | Robert Pierce |
| West Macquarie | Lewis Lloyd | James Fitzpatrick |
| Young | Gerald Spring
William Watson | James Mackinnon |
| Friday 23 October 1885 |
|---|
| Bathurst | Francis Suttor | John Meagher |
| Braidwood | Alexander Ryrie | Angus Cameron |
| Carcoar | Ezekiel Baker
Charles Garland | Francis Freehill |
| Gwydir | William Campbell | Thomas Dangar |
| Hume | James Hayes
William Lyne | Edmund Bond
John Gale |
| Hunter | John Burns |
| Mudgee | Thomas Browne
Sir John Robertson
Adolphus Taylor | Hugo Beyers
John Hurley |
| Queanbeyan | Edward O'Sullivan | William Affleck
Percy Hodgkinson
William O'Neill
John Wright |
| Saturday 24 October 1885 |
|---|
| Gloucester | Robert White |
| Monday 26 October 1885 |
|---|
| Bogan | George Cass
Sir Patrick Jennings | John Kelly |
| Bourke | Russell Barton
William Sawers | Richard Machattie
Austin O'Grady |
| Durham | Herbert Brown | William Johnston |
| East Macquarie | Sydney Smith
John Shepherd | John Hughes
James Tonkin |
| Namoi | Charles Collins | William Wright |
| Upper Hunter | Robert Fitzgerald
Thomas Hungerford | John McElhone |
| Tuesday 27 October 1885 |
|---|
| Goulburn | William Teece |
| Wednesday 28 October 1885 |
|---|
| Balranald | John Cramsie
Robert Wilkinson | Allen Lakeman |
| Patrick's Plains | Albert Gould | William Browne |
| Richmond | Thomas Ewing
Patrick Hogan | Frederick Crouch
George Dibbs |
| Thursday 29 October 1885 |
|---|
| Central Cumberland | Nathaniel Bull
Andrew McCulloch
Varney Parkes | Frank Farnell
Cyrus Fuller
Charles Scrivener
Henry Statham |
| Eden | Henry Clarke
James Garvan | Henry Walker |
| Molong | Andrew Ross | Fergus Smith |
| Murray | Robert Barbour
John Chanter | Alexander Wilson |
| Friday 30 October 1885 |
|---|
| Monaro | Henry Dawson
Harold Stephen | H M Joseph
Henry Merrett
Thomas O'Mara |
| Tenterfield | Charles Lee |
| Tumut | Travers Jones | Nathaniel Emanuel
James Hoskins |
| Saturday 31 October 1885 |
|---|
| Murrumbidgee | Alexander Bolton
George Dibbs
James Gormly | Frank Cowley
James Douglas |
| New England | James Inglis
William Proctor | William Dowel
William Drew
Charles Givney |
| Wentworth | William MacGregor
Edward Quin |
| Wollombi | Lyall Scott | George Anderson
A S Jaques
Walter Vivian |