1859 Newfoundland general election

1859 Newfoundland general election

←  1855 November 7, 1859 1861  →
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30 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly 16 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader John Kent Hugh Hoyles Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 1858 1855 Leader's seat St. John's East Fortune Bay Ran in Burin (lost) Last election 18 12 Seats won 18 12 Seat change 0 0 Popular vote 7,249 3,129 Percentage 69.85% 30.15% Swing 7.17% [a] 7.17% [a]
Premier before election John Kent Liberal Premier after election John Kent Liberal

The 1859 Newfoundland general election was held on November 7, 1859 to elect members of the 7th General Assembly of Newfoundland in Newfoundland Colony. 18 Liberals and 12 Conservatives were elected. The Liberal Party led by John Kent formed the government.

Results by party

	Party	Leader	1855	Candidates	Seats won	Seat change	% of seats (% change)	Popular vote	% of vote (% change)
	Liberal	John Kent	18	22	18		60.00% ()	7,249	69.85% (7.17%)
	Conservative	Hugh Hoyles	12	17	12		40.00% ()	3,129 [b]	30.15% (7.17%)
Totals			30	39	30		100%	10,378 [c]	100%

Elected members

• Names in boldface type represent party leaders.
• † 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)		Other
St. John's East [1]		John Kent Won by acclamation				John Kent
		John Kavanagh Won by acclamation				John Kavanagh
		Robert Parsons Won by acclamation				Robert Parsons
St. John's West [2]		Pierce Barron 1,020 22.22%		J. J. Gearin (Independent Liberal) [d] 729 15.88%		John Casey
		John Casey 941 20.50%		Henry Renouf (Independent Liberal) [d] 648 14.12%		Ambrose Shea‡ (ran in Burin)
		Thomas Dwyer 825 17.97%		Thomas Talbot (Independent Liberal) [d] 427 9.30%		J. J. Gearin

Conception Bay

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Conservative (historical)
Bay de Verde				John Bemister Won by acclamation		John Bemister
Carbonear		Edmund Hanrahan Won by acclamation				Edmund Hanrahan
Harbour Grace [4]		John Hayward 482 50.05%		Robert Walsh 272 28.25% [e]		James Prendergast
		James Prendergast 209 21.70%				John Hayward
Harbour Main [2]		Patrick Nowlan 535 40.07%		John Dearin 178 13.33%		Thomas Byrne†
		Charles Furey 488 36.55%		J. Woodford 134 10.04%		William Talbot†
Port de Grave				John Leamon Won by acclamation		Robert Brown†

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates		Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)
Ferryland		Thomas Glen Won by acclamation		Thomas Glen
		Edward Shea Won by acclamation		Edward Shea
Placentia and St. Mary's		George Hogsett Won by acclamation		George Hogsett
		John English Won by acclamation		Michael Kelly†
		John Delaney Won by acclamation		John Delaney

Eastern and Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Conservative (historical)
Bonavista Bay				Stephen March Won by acclamation		Robert Carter‡ (ran in Fortune Bay)
				John Warren Won by acclamation		John Warren
				Matthew Walbank Won by acclamation		Matthew Walbank
Trinity Bay [5]		F. Taylor 140 6.33%		Stephen Rendell 710 32.08%		Stephen March‡ (ran in Bonavista Bay)
				John Winter 708 31.99%		John Winter
				Frederick Carter 655 29.60%		Frederick Carter
Twillingate and Fogo				William Whiteway Won by acclamation		William Whiteway
				Thomas Knight Won by acclamation		Thomas Knight

Southern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Conservative (historical)
Burgeo and LaPoile				James Seaton Won by acclamation		Robert Henry Prowse†
Burin [6]		Ambrose Shea 404 26.08%		Edward Evans 374 24.14%		Patrick Morris†
		James Rogerson 401 25.89%		Hugh Hoyles 370 23.89%		Clement Benning†
Fortune Bay				Robert Carter Won by acclamation		Hugh Hoyles ‡ (ran in Burin)

Notes

1. Based on incomplete figures from the previous election
2. Including the votes for the Conservative candidate in the district of Harbour Grace who withdrew his candidacy following voting, a total of 3,401 votes were cast for Hoyles' Conservative candidates.
3. Including the additional votes in Harbour Grace, a total of 10,650 votes were cast in this election.
4. Gearin, Renouf, and Talbot appear to have run as a ticket despite also being supporters of the Kent administration. They published a joint letter on November 5, 1859 expressing anxiety that their voters would be prevented from going to the polls. ^[3]
5. Walsh withdrew the day following the election due to mob violence, and Prendergast was elected as the only remaining candidate.

References

1. "Nomination of Candidates". Morning Courier. November 2, 1859. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
2. "The Elections". Morning Courier. November 9, 1859. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
3. "We the undersigned Candidates for the Western District of St. John's". Telegraph. November 9, 1859. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
4. "To the Editor of the Standard". Newfoundland Express. November 26, 1859. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
5. "Return for Trinity". Newfoundland Express. November 19, 1859. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
6. "In the matter of the Election for the District of Burin". Newfoundland Express. November 12, 1859. Retrieved June 15, 2025.

Further reading

• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #7: November 7, 1859". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved June 15, 2025.