1919 Newfoundland general election

1919 Newfoundland general election

←  1913 November 3, 1919 1923  →
←  outgoing members members  →
36 seats of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly 19 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Richard Squires and William Coaker Michael Cashin Party Liberal Reform Liberal-Progressive Leader since 1919 / 1908 1919 Leader's seat St. John's West [a] / Bonavista Bay [a] Ferryland Last election 15 [b] 21 [c] Seats won 24 12 Seat change 9 9 Popular vote 70,207 43,250 Percentage 59.64% 36.70% Swing 5.32% 8.85%
Prime Minister before election Michael Cashin People's Prime Minister after election Richard Squires Liberal Reform

The 1919 Newfoundland general election was held on 3 November 1919 to elect members of the 24th General Assembly of Newfoundland in the Dominion of Newfoundland. The Liberal Reform Party, an alliance between the Liberals led by Richard Squires and the Fishermen's Protective Union of William Coaker, formed the government. The People's Party, became the Liberal-Labour-Progressive party following the election and formed the opposition. Squires served as Newfoundland prime minister.

Results

	Party	Leader	1913	Candidates	Seats won	Seat change	% of seats (% change)	Popular vote	% of vote (% change)
	Liberal Reform	Richard Squires	15 [b]	36 Liberal 24 FPU 12	24 Liberal 13 FPU 11	9	66.67% (25.00%)	70,207 FPU 36,329 Liberal 33,878	59.64% (5.32%)
	Fishermen's Protective Union [1]	William Coaker
	Liberal-Progressive	Michael Cashin	21 [c]	36	12	9	33.33% (25.00%)	43,520	36.70% (8.85%)
	Labour [d]	N/A	–	3	0		0.00% ()	2,835	2.41% (2.41%)
	Other		0	3	0		0.00% ()	1,157	0.98% (0.84%)
Totals			36	78	36		100%	117,719	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 Reform		People's		Labour		Other
St. John's East		Henry Bartlett [2] 2,410 14.92%		William Higgins 2,925 18.11%				Thomas Murphy [2] (Independent) 635 3.93%		James Kent†
		Leo Carter [2] 2,379 14.73%		Cyril Fox 2,775 17.18%						William Higgins
		Daniel Curtin [2] 2,321 14.36%		Nicholas Vinnicombe 2,707 16.76%						Vacant [e]
St. John's West		Richard Squires 1,954 14.38%		John R. Bennett 1,808 13.30%		William Linegar 1,025 7.54%		J. Sinclair Tait (Independent) 102 0.75%		Edward Morris†
		Henry Brownrigg 1,839 13.53%		James Martin [3] 1,749 12.87%		John Caldwell [4] 933 6.86%				John R. Bennett
		Alexander Campbell 1,658 12.20%		J. J. Mullaly 1,646 12.11%		Michael Foley [4] 877 6.45%				Vacant [f]

Conception Bay

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal Reform		People's		Other
Bay de Verde [g]		Frederick LeGrow 1,207 25.85%		Albert Hickman 1,193 25.55%				Albert Hickman
		William Cave 1,198 25.66%		Jesse Whiteway 1,071 22.94%				John Crosbie‡ (ran in Port de Grave)
Carbonear		William Penney 609 65.77%		James Moore 317 34.23%				Vacant [h]
Harbour Grace		George Gosse 1,388 21.20%		Archibald Piccott 821 12.54%		Charles Russell (Independent) 419 6.40%		Archibald Piccott
		Arthur Barnes 1,385 21.15%		Edward Parsons 626 9.56%				Edward Parsons
		Frank Archibald 1,347 20.57%		Josiah Gosse [5] 561 8.57%				Moses Young†
Harbour Main		John Meaney [6] 866 22.68%		William Jones 1,101 28.83%				William Woodford
		Walter Kennedy [7] 813 21.29%		William Woodford 1,039 27.21%				George Kennedy†
Port de Grave		George Grimes (FPU) 668 44.39%		John Crosbie 837 55.61%				George Grimes

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal Reform		People's
Ferryland		Michael Hartery [8] 436 14.77%		Michael Cashin 1,190 40.33%		Michael Cashin
		Arthur English [9] 313 10.61%		Philip Moore 1,012 34.29%		Philip Moore
Placentia and St. Mary's		John M. Devine 1,376 13.03%		William Walsh 2,258 21.39%		Richard Devereaux†
		William Jackman 1,370 12.98%		Michael Sullivan 2,146 20.33%		Frank Morris†
		Philip Brown [10] 1,278 12.11%		Edward Sinnott 2,129 20.17%		William Walsh

Eastern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	FPU		People's
Bonavista Bay		William Coaker 3,732 24.21%		William C. Winsor 1,550 10.06%		Alfred Morine
		John Abbott 3,611 23.43%		Chesley Forbes 1,485 9.63%		Robert G. Winsor
		Robert G. Winsor 3,582 23.24%		Alfred Morine 1,455 9.44%		John Abbott
Trinity Bay		William Halfyard 3,768 27.12%		John Stone 1,185 8.53%		John Stone
		John Guppy 3,576 25.75%		Robert Matthews [11] 962 6.93%		Archibald Targett
		Archibald Targett 3,539 25.48%		Andrew Carnell 859 6.18%		William F. Lloyd†

Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	FPU		People's
Fogo		Richard Hibbs 1,508 85.68%		Jesse Oake [12] 252 14.32%		William Halfyard‡ (ran in Trinity Bay)
Twillingate		Walter Jennings 3,718 34.37%		William Mackay 922 8.52%		William Coaker‡ (ran in Bonavista Bay)
		George Jones 3,683 34.05%		Lorenzo Moore 881 8.14%		James Clift†
		Solomon Samson 3,417 31.59%		Kenneth Short 656 6.06%		Walter Jennings

Southern and Western Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal Reform		People's
Burgeo and LaPoile		Harvey Small 1,428 86.08%		Charlie James [13] 231 13.92%		Robert Moulton†
Burin		John Cheeseman 1,568 35.09%		George Bartlett [14] 680 15.22%		John Currie
		Samuel Foote 1,542 34.50%		John Currie 679 15.19%		Thomas LeFeuvre†
Fortune Bay		William Warren 1,782 79.80%		Henry Elliott [15] 451 20.20%		Vacant [i]
St. Barbe		J. H. Scammell (FPU) 1,507 69.54%		Abram Kean 660 30.46%		William Clapp†
St. George's		James MacDonnell 1,431 67.12%		Joseph Downey 701 32.88%		Joseph Downey

Notes

1. Not the incumbent, but stood in this district and won
2. As the Liberal Party
3. As the People's Party
4. Also known as the Workingmen's Party
5. John Dwyer had been elected in 1913, but he had died while in office on January 23, 1917.
6. Michael Kennedy had been elected in 1913, but he had died while in office on January 21, 1917.
7. Hickman later charged Cave with electoral irregularities, and in return, Cave alleged that Hickman had received bribes from public officials. The Supreme Court of Newfoundland declared both men guilty and voided their results. A by-election was held which affirmed Cave's victory.
8. John Goodison had been elected in 1913, but he had resigned his seat in 1918 to become the government purchasing agent.
9. Charles Emerson had been elected in 1913, but he had resigned his seat in November 1917 to become the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland.

References

1. ""Dad - Centre Front. Government of the Day. Names on Border."" (1919). The Camilla Coaker Albums, File: VA 82-20.2. St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador: Maritime History Archive.
2. "Nomination Day". Evening Advocate. October 24, 1919. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
3. "James T. Martin". Who's Who In and From Newfoundland 1927. St. John's: Richard Hibbs. 1927. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
4. "Workmen! Read This!! The "Daily Star" and the Workingmen's Party". The Daily News. November 1, 1919. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
5. "Nominations at Hr. Grace". The Daily News. October 29, 1919. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
6. "Ha! Ha!! Ha!!!". Evening Telegram. October 7, 1919. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
7. "Rowdyism at Holyrood, Low Tactics of Heelers". Morning Post. October 18, 1919. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
8. "A Straight Challenge to Cashin". Evening Advocate. October 7, 1919. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
9. "Arthur English for Ferryland". Morning Post. October 6, 1919. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
10. "Placentia Team for Liberal Reform". Evening Advocate. October 1, 1919. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
11. "Vote for Stone, Matthews, and Carnell". The Daily News. October 6, 1919. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
12. "Oake for Fogo". Evening Telegram. October 2, 1919. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
13. "Timely Topics". Morning Post. October 27, 1919. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
14. "In the Field". Evening Telegram. October 1, 1919. Retrieved May 14, 2025.
15. "Victory Messages: Elliott Confident of Victory". Evening Telegram. October 13, 1919. Retrieved May 14, 2025.

Further reading

• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #24: November 3, 1919". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved May 14, 2025.