1842 Newfoundland general election

1842 Newfoundland general election

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15 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly 8 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Party Liberal Conservative Last election 13 2 Seats won 8 7 Seat change 5 5 Popular vote 9,800 [a] 6,558 [a] Percentage 59.91% 40.09% Swing 37.77% [b] 37.77% [b]

The 1842 Newfoundland general election was held on December 20, 1842 to elect the members of the 3rd General Assembly of Newfoundland in the Newfoundland Colony. The original constitution was suspended following conflict between the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council, and Governor John Harvey combined the two legislatures into an amalgamated assembly. ^[1]

Results

	Party	1837	Candidates	Seats won	Seat change	% of seats (% change)	Popular vote [a]	% of vote (% change)
	Liberal	13	13	8	5	53.33% (33.33%)	9,800 [c]	59.91% (37.77%)
	Conservative	2	11	7	5	46.67% (33.33%)	6,558 [d]	40.09% (37.77%)
Totals		15	24	15		100%	16,358 [e]	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)		Conservative (historical)
St. John's		Laurence O'Brien 1,629 20.23%		Walter R. Grieve 1,161 14.42%		William Carson
		John Nugent 1,571 19.51%		Thomas Bennett 1,127 13.99%		John Kent†
		William Carson 1,539 19.11%		Patrick Kough 1,027 12.75%		Laurence O'Brien

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Conservative (historical)		Other
Conception Bay		James Prendergast 1,344 17.50%		Thomas Ridley 1,425 18.56%		Daniel O'Connell [2] (Independent Liberal) 227 2.96%		Peter Brown
		Edmund Hanrahan 1,325 17.25%		John Munn 1,405 18.30%				Vacant [f]
		John McCarthy 1,015 13.22%						John McCarthy
		Peter Brown 938 12.22%						James Power†
Ferryland		Peter Winser 258 47.34%		Thomas Glen 287 52.66%				Peter Winser
Placentia and St. Mary's [3] [g]		John Dillon 336		John Barron [4] 140				Patrick Doyle†
		Simon Morris Total unknown						John Nugent‡ (ran in St. John's)

Eastern and Southern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Conservative (historical)
Bonavista Bay				Robert Carter Won by acclamation		Hugh Emerson†
Burin [5] [h]		Clement Benning 241 65.67%		Henry Winton 126 34.33%		Henry Butler†
Fortune Bay				Bryan Robinson Won by acclamation		William B. Row†
Trinity Bay				Richard Barnes Won by acclamation		Thomas Moore†
Twillingate and Fogo				John Slade Won by acclamation		Edward Dwyer†

Notes

1. Note that this does not include the vote totals for the district of Placentia and St. Mary's, as the full results of those contests are not available.
2. Based on incomplete figures from the 1836 election, as no votes were known to have been cast in the 1837 election.
3. Given that 336 votes were cast for the leading Liberal candidate in the district of Placentia and St. Mary's and that the Conservative candidate in said district was not elected, it is evident that between 9,941 and 10,136 votes were cast for the government candidates in this election.
4. Including the 140 votes for the Conservative candidate in the district of Placentia and St. Mary's, a total of 6,698 votes were cast for the opposition candidates in this election.
5. Given that at least 617 votes were cast in the district of Placentia and St. Mary's, it is evident that a minimum of 16,975 votes were cast in this election.
6. Anthony Godfrey had been elected in 1837, but he died while in office in 1840.
7. Full results for this district are not available.
8. These figures are according to a controverted elections application made by the Conservative candidate Winton, which claimed that over a hundred voters had been prevented from going to the polls due to threats of violence.

References

1. "Representative Government, 1832-1855". Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage. Memorial University. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
2. "Returns". Public Ledger. December 23, 1842. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
3. "Conservatives vs. the Rals". Public Ledger. January 31, 1843. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
4. Burch, Hannibal (November 18, 1842). "To the Natives of the District of Placentia and St. Mary's". Public Ledger. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
5. Winton, Henry (January 13, 1843). "The District of Burin Election". Public Ledger. Retrieved July 1, 2025.

Further reading

• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #3: December 1842". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved July 1, 2025.