1852 Newfoundland general election

1852 Newfoundland general election

←  1848 November 18, 1852 1855  →
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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 9 6 Seats won 9 6 Seat change 0 0 Popular vote 5,572 [a] 3,499 [a] Percentage 61.43% 38.57% Swing 23.43% [b] 23.43% [b]

The 1852 Newfoundland general election was held on November 18, 1852 to elect members of the 5th General Assembly of Newfoundland in the Newfoundland Colony. The Liberal Party maintained control of the House of Assembly. This was the last election to be held in Newfoundland prior to the introduction of responsible government in 1855.

Results

	Party	1848	Candidates	Seats won	Seat change	% of seats (% change)	Popular vote [a]	% of vote (% change)
	Liberal	9	13	9		60.00% ()	5,572	61.43% ( 23.43%)
	Conservative	6	9	6		40.00% ()	3,499 [c]	38.57% ( 23.43%)
Totals		15	22	15		100%	9,071 [d]	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		John Kent [1] Won by acclamation		John Kent
		Philip Little [1] Won by acclamation		Philip Little
		Robert John Parsons [1] Won by acclamation		Robert Parsons

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Conservative (historical)		Other
Conception Bay [2]		Edmund Hanrahan 1,479 22.23%		John Bemister 1,455 21.87%		James Prendergast (Independent Liberal) 778 11.69%		James Prendergast
		William Talbot 846 12.71%		John Hayward 1,300 19.54%				Edmund Hanrahan
		? Power [3] 796 11.96%						Nicholas Molloy†
								Richard Rankin†
Ferryland [4]		Peter Winser Total unknown		? Carter 49				Peter Winser
Placentia and St. Mary's [5]		Ambrose Shea 472 39.80%				John Delaney (Independent Liberal) 259 21.18%		Ambrose Shea
		George Hogsett 455 38.36%						John Delaney

Eastern and Southern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Conservative (historical)		Other
Bonavista Bay [6]		James Douglas [7] [8] 212 29.69%		John Warren 299 41.88%		Bryan Robinson (Independent Conservative) [9] 203 28.43%		Robert Carter†
Burin [e] [11]		Clement Benning 275 53.19%		? Evans 242 46.81%				Joshua Falle†
Fortune Bay				Hugh Hoyles Won by acclamation [12]				Hugh Hoyles
Trinity Bay				Stephen March Won by acclamation [13]				Thomas Job†
Twillingate and Fogo				George Emerson Won by acclamation [12]				George Emerson

Notes

1. Note that this does not include the vote totals for the district of Ferryland as the full results of that contest are not available.
2. Based on incomplete figures from the previous election
3. Including the 49 votes cast for the Conservative candidate in Ferryland, a total of 3,548 votes were cast for the Conservative candidates in this election.
4. Given that at least 49 votes were cast in the district of Ferryland, it is evident that a minimum of 9,120 votes were cast in this election.
5. These figures include the purported results from the poll in Lamaline that were reportedly destroyed. ^[10]

References

1. "The Nomination of the Candidates". Newfoundland Express. November 11, 1852. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
2. "Triumph of Responsible Government: Conception Bay Election". The Pilot. November 20, 1852. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
3. "From the Harbour Grace Herald Nov. 24". Newfoundland Express. November 27, 1852. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
4. "By private letters from Ferryland". Newfoundland Express. November 27, 1852. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
5. "Triumph of Responsible Government: Declared State of the Poll at the District of St. Mary's and Placentia". The Pilot. November 20, 1852. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
6. "Declared state of the Poll at the Election for the District of Bonavista". Pilot. December 4, 1852. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
7. "From Our Bonavista Correspondent". Times and General Commercial Gazette. November 24, 1852. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
8. "The Old Saw". Times and General Commercial Gazette. October 16, 1852. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
9. Robinson, Bryan (October 16, 1852). "To the Freeholders and Electors of Bonavista Bay!". Times and General Commercial Gazette. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
10. "Election Returns". Newfoundland Express. December 14, 1852. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
11. "State of the Poll, at the close of the Eection [sic], for the District of Burin". Pilot. December 4, 1852. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
12. "As the time fixed for the general election approaches". Newfoundland Express. October 30, 1852. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
13. "The nomination of Candidates". Times and General Commercial Gazette. November 13, 1852. Retrieved June 25, 2025.

Further reading

• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #5: November 1852". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved June 25, 2025.