1837 Newfoundland general election

1837 Newfoundland general election

←  1836 May 8–25, 1837 1842  →
←  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 12 3 Seats won 13 2 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 0 [a] 0 [a] Percentage 0.00% 0.00%

The 1837 Newfoundland general election was held from May 8 to May 25, 1837 to elect members of the 2nd General Assembly of Newfoundland in the Newfoundland Colony. The results of the previous election had been set aside by Chief Justice Henry John Boulton after he discovered some of the writs from the previous election had not been marked with the official seal. Most of the incumbents ran for re-election and the Liberal reformers retained their control over the government. All of the candidates appear to have won by acclamation.

Results

	Party	1836	Candidates	Seats won	Seat change	% of seats (% change)	Popular vote	% of vote
	Liberal	12	13	13	1	86.67% ( 6.67%)	0	0.00%
	Conservative	3	2	2	1	13.33% ( 6.67%)	0	0.00%
Totals		15	15	15		100%	0	100%

Results by district

• † indicates that the incumbent did not run again.
• ‡ indicates that the incumbent ran in a different district.

St. John's

Electoral district	Candidates		Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)
St. John's		William Carson Won by acclamation		William Carson
		John Kent Won by acclamation		John Kent
		Patrick Morris Won by acclamation		Patrick Morris

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates		Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)
Conception Bay		John McCarthy Won by acclamation [1]		Robert Pack†
		James Power Won by acclamation [1]		James Power
		Peter Brown Won by acclamation [1]		Peter Brown
		Anthony Godfrey Won by acclamation [1]		Anthony Godfrey
Ferryland		Peter Winser Won by acclamation		Patrick Morris‡ [b] (ran in St. John's)
Placentia and St. Mary's		Patrick Doyle Won by acclamation		Patrick Doyle
		John Nugent Won by acclamation		John Nugent

Eastern and Southern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Conservative (historical)
Bonavista Bay				Hugh Emerson Won by acclamation		Robert Job†
Burin		Henry Butler Won by acclamation				John Shea†
Fortune Bay				William B. Row Won by acclamation		William B. Row
Trinity Bay		Thomas Moore Won by acclamation [2]				Thomas Moore
Twillingate and Fogo		Edward Dwyer Won by acclamation [3]				Thomas Bennett†

Notes

1. All of the candidates won by acclamation, and no votes were cast in this election as a result.
2. Morris had been elected for both of the districts of Ferryland and St. John's in 1836.

References

1. "The election for the rotten borough of Conception-Bay". Times and General Commercial Gazette. May 10, 1837. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
2. "To the Editor of the Public Ledger". Public Ledger. June 27, 1837. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
3. "Some man of the name Edward James Dwyer". Public Ledger. June 20, 1837. Retrieved July 3, 2025.

Further reading

• Prowse, D W (1972) [first published 1895]. A History of Newfoundland from the English, Colonial, and foreign records . ISBN   0-919302-44-0.
• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #2: May 1837". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved July 3, 2025.