1836 Newfoundland general election

1836 Newfoundland general election

←  1832 October 24 – November 15, 1836 1837  →
←  outgoing members members  →
15 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly 8 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Party Liberal Conservative Last election 5 10 Seats won 12 3 Seat change 7 7 Popular vote 295 [a] 7 [a] Percentage 97.68% 2.32%

The 1836 Newfoundland general election was held from October 24 to November 15, 1836 in the Colony of Newfoundland. The Liberal reformers secured control of the government and defeated the governing Conservative party. However, the results of the election were later set aside by Chief Justice Henry John Boulton after he discovered some of the writs from the election had not been marked with the official seal. Some felt that this was a pretext used to justify holding another election because Liberal reformers had dominated the assembly.

Results

	Party	1832	Candidates	Seats won	Seat change	% of seats (% change)	Popular vote [a]	% of vote (% change)
	Liberal	5	13	12	7	80.00% ( 46.67%)	295 [b]	97.68%
	Conservative	10	7	3	7	20.00% ( 46.67%)	7 [c]	2.32%
Totals		15	20	15		100%	302	100%

Results by district

• † indicates that the incumbent did not run again.
• ‡ indicates that the incumbent ran in a different district.
• $ indicates that the incumbent initially ran for re-election, but they later chose to withdraw

St. John's

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Conservative (historical)
St. John's		John Kent Won by acclamation		[d]		John Kent
		William Carson Won by acclamation				William Carson
		Patrick Morris Won by acclamation				Patrick Kough$

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Conservative (historical)
Conception Bay		Peter Brown 76 25.17%		Thomas Ridley 5 1.66% [e]		Robert Pack
		Anthony Godfrey 73 24.17%		Robert Prowse 2 0.66% [e]		Charles Cozens†
		Robert Pack 73 24.17%		[f]		James Power
		James Power 73 24.17%				Peter Brown
Ferryland		Patrick Morris [g] Won by acclamation				Robert Carter†
Placentia and St. Mary's		Patrick Doyle Won by acclamation				John Martin†
		John Nugent Won by acclamation				Roger Sweetman†

Eastern and Southern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Conservative (historical)		Other
Bonavista Bay [h]		? Douglas [4]		Robert Job		Hugh Emerson (Independent Conservative)		William Brown†
Burin		John Shea Won by acclamation						William Hooper†
Fortune Bay				William B. Row Won by acclamation				Newman Hoyles
Trinity Bay [4] [i]		Thomas Moore At least 98 votes		Archibald Graham At least 97 votes				William Row‡ (ran in Fortune Bay)
Twillingate and Fogo				Thomas Bennett Won by acclamation				Thomas Bennett

Notes

1. Full results are only available for the district of Conception Bay, where voting was interrupted by violence on the first day of polling.
2. Given that the unsuccessful Conservative candidate in Trinity received 97 votes on the first day of polling, it is evident that the Liberal candidate there received at least 98 votes, meaning that at least 393 votes were cast for the opposition candidates in this election.
3. Given that the Conservative candidate in Trinity received 97 votes on the first day of polling, it is evident that at least 104 votes were cast for the government candidates in this election.
4. Kough, Nicholas Gill, and James Grieve ^[1] all initially ran as Conservative candidates in the district of St. John's, but they all withdrew prior to election day due to threats of violence.
5. Prowse and Ridley both withdrew from the race shortly after voting commenced due to violence at the polls on the first day of voting. ^[2]
6. Thomas Newell initially ran as a Conservative candidate, but he withdrew prior to the first day of polling. ^[3]
7. Morris was elected for both the districts of Ferryland and St. John's. No by-election was held as the House of Assembly did not meet before the next election was called in 1837, but Morris evidently chose to remain in St. John's as he did not run for re-election in Ferryland.
8. Returns are not available for this district.
9. Full results are not available for this district.

References

1. "To the Independent Electors of the District of St. John's". Times and General Commercial Gazette. October 19, 1836. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
2. "The Elections". Public Ledger. November 4, 1836. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
3. "To the Free and independent Electors of the District of Conception Bay". Star and Conception Bay Journal. October 26, 1836. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
4. "The Elections". Times and General Commercial Gazette. November 2, 1836. Retrieved July 4, 2025.

Further reading

• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #2A: November 1836". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved July 7, 2025.