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
	People's		Liberal Reform		Labour		Other
St. John's East		William Higgins 2,925 18.11%		Henry Bartlett [2] 2,410 14.92%				Thomas Murphy [2] (Independent) 635 3.93%		James Kent†
		Cyril Fox 2,775 17.18%		Leo Carter [2] 2,379 14.73%						William Higgins
		Nicholas Vinnicombe 2,707 16.76%		Daniel Curtin [2] 2,321 14.36%						Vacant [e]
St. John's West		John R. Bennett 1,808 13.30%		Richard Squires 1,954 14.38%		William Linegar 1,025 7.54%		J. Sinclair Tait (Independent) 102 0.75%		Edward Morris†
		James Martin [3] 1,749 12.87%		Henry Brownrigg 1,839 13.53%		John Caldwell [4] 933 6.86%				John R. Bennett
		J. J. Mullaly 1,646 12.11%		Alexander Campbell 1,658 12.20%		Michael Foley [4] 877 6.45%				Vacant [f]

Conception Bay

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

Avalon Peninsula

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

Eastern Newfoundland

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

Central Newfoundland

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

Southern and Western Newfoundland

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