1882 Newfoundland general election

1882 Newfoundland general election

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33 seats of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly 17 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader William Whiteway James Rogerson and Walter Grieve Party Conservative New Leader since 1878 1882 / 1882 Leader's seat Trinity Bay Burin [a] / Bonavista Bay [b] Last election 21 10 [c] Seats won 26 5 Seat change 5 5 Popular vote 25,873 11,298 Percentage 65.52% 28.61% Swing 9.66% [d] 15.53% [d]
Premier before election William Whiteway Conservative Premier after election William Whiteway Conservative

The 1882 Newfoundland general election was held on November 6, 1882 to elect the members of the 14th General Assembly of Newfoundland in the Newfoundland Colony. The Conservative Party led by William Whiteway was re-elected on a platform promising the continued development of the Newfoundland Railway. Much of the Opposition Party from the previous election had disintegrated, but Whiteway's remaining opponents coalesced around James J. Rogerson, the former Receiver General, and formed the New Party.

Results

	Party	Leader(s)	1878	Candidates	Seats won	Seat change	% of seats (% change)	Popular vote	% of vote (% change) [d]
	Conservative	William Whiteway	21	31	26	5	78.79% (11.05%)	25,873	65.52% (9.66%)
	New	James Rogerson and Walter Grieve	10 [c]	27	5	5	15.15% (17.11%)	11,298	28.61% (15.53%)
	Other		0	7	2	2	6.06% (6.06%)	2,320	5.87% (5.87%)
Totals			31	65	33	2	100%	39,491	100%

Results by district

• 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
	Conservative (historical)		Liberal (historical)
St. John's East		Robert Kent 1,094 22.42%		Michael O'Mara 891 18.26%		Michael O'Mara
		John Dearin 1,060 21.72%		J. Callanan [1] 823 16.86%		Robert Kent
		Robert Parsons Jr. 1,012 20.74%				Robert Parsons Jr.
St. John's West		Patrick Scott 1,206 31.20%		Garret Dooley [2] 653 16.89%		Lewis Tessier†
		Philip White 1,061 27.44%				Patrick Scott
		James Callanan 946 24.47%				Vacant [e]

Conception Bay

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Conservative (historical)		Liberal (historical)		Other
Bay de Verde [3]		Michael Knight 218 23.22%		James Rogerson 359 38.23%		Levi Garland (Independent) 362 38.55%		Alfred Penney‡ (ran in Carbonear)
Carbonear		Alfred Penney 470 77.81%		William Giles 40 6.62%		Patrick Hogan (Independent) 94 15.56%		John Rorke†
Harbour Grace		Charles Dawe 1,749 46.97%		Thomas Alcock 165 4.43%				Ambrose Shea
		Ambrose Shea 1,683 45.19%		George Emerson 127 3.41%				Charles Dawe
Harbour Main		Joseph Little 945 44.68%		Charles Furey 300 14.18%				Joseph Little
		Richard MacDonnell 870 41.13%						Patrick Nowlan†
Port de Grave [3]		Nathan Norman 146 14.36%		James Goodfellow 245 24.09%		John Bartlett (Independent) 611 60.08%		Nathan Norman
						? Barnes (Independent) 15 1.47%

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Conservative (historical)		Liberal (historical)
Ferryland				Augustus Goodridge Won by acclamation		Augustus Goodridge
				Daniel Greene Won by acclamation		Daniel Greene
Placentia and St. Mary's		William Donnelly 876 26.49%		Albert Bradshaw 672 20.32%		William Donnelly
		Michael Tobin 609 18.42%		Richard McGrath 369 11.16%		James Collins†
		Michael Dwyer 595 17.99%		David Sclater 186 5.62%		Michael Dwyer

Eastern and Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Conservative (historical)		Liberal (historical)		Other
Bonavista Bay [f]		George Skelton 704 18.75%		Walter Grieve 739 19.68%				Francis Winton
		Francis Winton 695 18.51%		James Noonan 619 16.48%				George Skelton
		James Saint 553 14.73%		Henry Woods [4] 445 11.85%				James Saint
Trinity Bay		William Whiteway 1,176 26.73%		Stephen March 744 16.91%		James Watson (Independent) 733 16.66%		William Whiteway
		Joseph Boyd 849 19.30%		Jacob Morris [5] 507 11.53%				James Watson
		Robert Bond 812 18.46%		Richard Penny [6] 311 7.07%				John Rendell†
Twillingate and Fogo		Smith McKay 1,357 24.96%		? Herbert 680 12.51%				A. J. W. McNeilly
		Richard Rice 1,190 21.89%		A. J. W. McNeilly 591 10.87%				Stanley Carter†
		Jabez Thompson 1,108 20.38%		? Winton 510 9.38%				Richard Rice

Southern and Western Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Conservative (historical)		Liberal (historical)		Other
Burgeo and LaPoile		Alexander Mackay 473 57.54%				James Murray (Independent) 346 42.09%		Alexander Mackay
Burin		James Winter 450 25.85%		John Peters 441 25.33%				James Winter
		George Forsey 435 24.99%		E. McGhee 415 23.84%				James Rogerson ‡ (ran in Bay de Verde)
Fortune Bay [3]		James Fraser 467 60.57%		Charles Bowring 304 39.43%				James Fraser
St. George's [g]		Michael Carty 422 72.63%				? Walsh (Independent) 159 27.37%		New district
White Bay [g]		John Boone 642 79.85%		Ellis Watson 162 20.15%				New district

Notes

1. Ran in Bay de Verde and lost.
2. Not the incumbent, but ran in this district and won.
3. As the Opposition Party
4. Based on incomplete figures from the previous election
5. Maurice Fenelon had been elected in 1878, but he resigned his seat later that year and became the Roman Catholic inspector of schools.
6. Following the election, Noonan submitted a petition to the House of Assembly arguing that Grieve was ineligible for office as he had been employed by the government at the time. The House heeded Noonan's petition, and he was declared elected on February 26, 1883. ^[4]
7. The election in this district was held on October 21, 1882.

References

1. "Close of the Campaign: The Great Battle Fought and Won". Evening Telegram. November 4, 1882. Retrieved June 1, 2025.
2. "Last Night's Meeting in the Star of the Sea Hall". Evening Telegram. October 5, 1882. Retrieved June 1, 2025.
3. "Results of the Polling in the Electoral Districts". Evening Mercury. November 15, 1882. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
4. Journal of the Newfoundland House of Assembly 1883. St. John's, NL: Newfoundland House of Assembly. pp. 19–21, 26.
5. "Correspondence". Evening Mercury. November 1, 1882. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
6. "From Carbonear: The Campaign Fairly Commenced". Evening Telegram. October 19, 1882. Retrieved June 3, 2025.

Further reading

• Gemmill, J A (1883). "The Canadian parliamentary companion, 1883". pp. 346–347. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
• Hiller, James (2018). "James Murray and the 1882 Newfoundland General Election". Newfoundland and Labrador Studies. 33 (1). Retrieved June 4, 2025.
• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #14: November 6, 1882". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved June 3, 2025.