1889 Newfoundland general election

1889 Newfoundland general election

←  1885 November 6, 1889 1893  →
←  Outgoing members Elected members  →
36 seats of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly 19 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader William Whiteway Robert Thorburn Party Liberal Reform Leader since 1885 1885 Leader's seat Trinity Bay [a] Trinity Bay (lost re-election) Last election 13 21 Seats won 28 7 Seat change 15 14 Popular vote 37,123 22,292 Percentage 60.86% 36.54% Swing 21.83% 3.24%
Premier before election Robert Thorburn Reform Premier after election William Whiteway Liberal

The 1889 Newfoundland general election was held on 6 November 1889 to elect members of the 16th General Assembly of Newfoundland in Newfoundland Colony. The Reform Party administration of Robert Thorburn was defeated in favour of the Liberal Party led by William Whiteway formed the government. Reform soon disappeared and was replaced by the Orange Order based Tory Party. This was the first general election held in Newfoundland using the secret ballot.

Results

	Party	Leader	1885	Candidates	Seats won	Seat change	% of seats (% change)	Popular vote	% of vote (% change)
	Liberal	William Whiteway	13	32	28	15	77.78% (41.67%)	37,123	60.86% (21.83%)
	Reform	Robert Thorburn	21	34	7	14	19.44% (38.89%)	22,292	36.54% (3.24%)
	Other		2	6	1	1	2.78% (2.78%)	1,586	2.60% (18.59%)
Totals			36	72	36		100%	61,001	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
	Liberal (historical)		Reform		Other
St. John's East		Thomas Murphy 1,747 23.46%		Michael O'Mara 854 11.47%		Robert Parsons Jr.(Independent) 233 3.13%		Thomas Murphy
		John Dearin 1,716 23.04%		Lawrence Furlong 819 11.00%				Robert Parsons Jr.
		Jeremiah Halleran 1,469 19.73%		Francis St. John 609 8.18%				Michael O'Mara
St. John's West		Edward Morris 1,566 26.55%		Patrick Scott 957 16.23%		John Shea [1] (Independent) 137 2.32%		Edward Morris
		James Day 1,326 22.48%		James Callanan 741 12.56%		Pierce Brien [2] (Independent) 117 1.98%		James Day†
		Lawrence Gearin 1,054 17.87%						Lawrence Gearin†

Conception Bay

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Reform		Other
Bay de Verde		Edward White 820 33.23%		Stephen March 476 19.29%				Stephen March
		Henry Woods 773 31.32%		Aubrey Crocker [3] 399 16.17%				A. J. W. McNeilly†
Carbonear		William Duff 486 58.06%		Alfred Penney 284 33.93%		Robert Moore [4] (Independent) 67 8.00%		Alfred Penney
Harbour Grace		William Whiteley 1,367 26.00%		Robert Munn 1,259 23.95%				James Winter
		Eli Dawe 1,342 25.53%		Charles Dawe 685 13.03%				Charles Dawe
				James Winter 604 11.49%				Joseph Godden†
Harbour Main		Frank Morris 1,448 48.46%		Maurice Fenelon 180 6.02%				John Veitch†
		William Woodford 1,360 45.52%						Richard MacDonnell†
Port de Grave		James Clift 638 53.08%		William Horwood 564 46.92%				George Hutchings†

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Reform		Other
Ferryland		Maurice Furlong [5] 425 21.08%		George Shea [6] [7] 727 36.06%		Michael Condon (Independent) 373 18.50%		Daniel Greene
				Daniel Greene [6] [7] 491 24.36%				George Shea
Placentia and St. Mary's		George Emerson 1,077 21.30%		William Donnelly 897 17.74%				James McGrath
		Richard O'Dwyer 1,018 20.13%		William Siteman [8] 555 10.98%				William Donnelly
		James McGrath 994 19.66%		J. Tobin 515 10.19%				George Emerson

Eastern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Reform
Bonavista Bay		Samuel Blandford 1,382 17.72%		Donald Morison 1,429 18.32%		Alfred Morine
		George Johnson [9] 1,283 16.45%		Alfred Morine 1,333 17.09%		Abram Kean†
		William Davis [10] 1,144 14.67%		Alfred Vincent [11] 1,228 15.75%		Frederick White†
Trinity Bay		William Whiteway 2,094 26.19%		Walter Grieve 789 9.87%		Robert Thorburn
		Robert Bond 1,908 23.86%		Ellis Watson 746 9.33%		Walter Grieve
		David Webber 1,760 22.01%		Robert Thorburn 698 8.73%		Ellis Watson

Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Reform
Fogo		George Skelton 313 36.10%		James Rolls 554 63.90%		James Rolls
Twillingate		Edward Burgess 1,174 20.88%		Michael Knight 769 13.68%		Augustus Goodridge
		Jabez P. Thompson 1,140 20.27%		Smith McKay 732 13.02%		Smith McKay
		Thomas Peyton 1,088 19.35%		Augustus Goodridge 720 12.80%		Michael Knight

Southern and Western Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Reform		Other
Burgeo and LaPoile				Henry Mott 164 19.92%		James Murray 659 80.07%		Alexander Mackay†
Burin		Edward Rothwell 684 27.44%		Henry LeMessurier 579 23.23%				John Peters†
		James Tait 678 27.20%		Robert McNeily [12] 552 22.14%				Henry LeMessurier
Fortune Bay		John Studdy 693 72.64%		James Fraser Jr. 261 27.36%				Robert Bond‡ (ran in Trinity Bay)
St. Barbe		George Fearn 616 83.47%		Albert Bradshaw 122 16.53%				Albert Bradshaw
St. George's				Michael Carty Won by acclamation				Michael Carty

Notes

1. Not the incumbent, but ran in this district and won.

References

1. "To the Free and Independent Electors of the District of St. John's West". The Colonist. November 5, 1889. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
2. "Address of P. J. Brien to the Free and Independent Voters of St. John's West". The Colonist. November 5, 1889. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
3. "Political Memoranda". Evening Mercury. September 4, 1889. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
4. "The Political Fight in Carbonear District: Few Interesting Facts About the Nominations of Candidates". Evening Telegram. November 4, 1889. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
5. "The Young Patriot, Furlong, at Ferryland". Evening Telegram. October 9, 1889. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
6. "The Government's One and Only Success". Evening Telegram. November 8, 1889. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
7. "Political Campaign". The Colonist. November 15, 1889. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
8. "Card: To the Free and Independent Electors of Placentia and St. Mary's". The Colonist. September 20, 1889. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
9. "A Contrast". Evening Mercury. September 27, 1889. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
10. "James Ryan Diary, 1889" (9 November 1889). James Ryan Ltd. Diaries. St. John's: Maritime History Archive.
11. "Political Memoranda". Evening Mercury. October 1, 1889. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
12. "Very Much Exercised: The Rev. Editor of the "Mercury" on the Bait Act". Evening Mercury. September 2, 1889. Retrieved May 29, 2025.

Further reading

• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #16: November 6, 1889". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved May 29, 2025.