1st General Assembly of Newfoundland

1st General Assembly of Newfoundland
History
Founded	1832
Disbanded	1836
Preceded by	Created
Succeeded by	2nd General Assembly of Newfoundland
Leadership
Speaker	John Bingley Garland (1833) Thomas Bennett (from 1834)
Elections
Last election	1832 Newfoundland general election
Next election	1837 Newfoundland general election

The members of the 1st General Assembly of Newfoundland were elected in the Newfoundland general election held in November 1832, the first general election for the colony. ^[1] The general assembly sat from January 1, 1833 ^[2] until 1836.

John Bingley Garland was chosen as speaker. Thomas Bennett replaced Garland as speaker in 1834. ^[3]

The first session of the general assembly met in a tavern and lodging house in St. John's operated by a Mary Travers; the elected assembly met on the ground floor and the appointed Board of Council met on the upper floor. A different location, the Old Court House, was used for the second and subsequent sessions. ^[4]

In 1833, the assembly passed a Revenue Bill which would provide much-needed funds to support the operation of the colony. The bill was subsequently rejected by the Legislative Council. The governor and British Government intervened in support of the legislation, which was submitted again and this time approved by the council. ^[5]

Sir Thomas John Cochrane, although he had been opposed to the concept of representative government in the colony, became its first civil governor and was responsible for the implementation of the new system of government. The governor's support was required on any new legislation and he had the power to prorogue the assembly. Cochrane was removed from office in 1834 ^[6] and replaced by Sir Henry Prescott. ^[7]

A Newfoundland general election was held in 1836 but the results were set aside by Chief Justice Henry John Boulton because the writs for the election did not bear the required Great Seal. A new election was called for the following year. ^[5]

Members of the Assembly

The following members were elected to the assembly in 1832: ^[2]

Member	Electoral district	Affiliation [nb 1] [8]
William Brown	Bonavista Bay	Conservative
William Hooper	Burin	Conservative
Robert Pack	Conception Bay	Liberal
Peter Brown		Liberal
Charles Cozens		Conservative
James Power		Liberal
Robert Carter	Ferryland	Conservative
Thomas Bennett	Fogo	Conservative
Newman Wright Hoyles	Fortune Bay	Conservative
Roger Forstall Sweetman	Placentia and St. Mary's	Liberal
John Wills Martin		Conservative
John Kent	St. John's	Liberal
William Thomas		Conservative
Patrick Kough		Conservative
John Bingley Garland	Trinity Bay	Conservative

Notes:

1. Indicates political orientation rather than party membership

By-elections

By-elections were held to replace members for various reasons:

Electoral district	Member elected	Affiliation	Election date	Reason
St. John's	William Carson [nb 1]	liberal	1833	W Thomas named to Executive Council [8]
Trinity Bay	William Bickford Row [nb 1]	conservative	1833	JB Garland named to Executive Council [8]

Notes:

1. Acclaimed

References

1. "Electoral Districts and the Vote". Memorial University.
2. Journal of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland : anno tertio regis Gulielmi IV : first session of the first General Assembly. John Shea. 1833.
3. "The Speaker of the House of Assembly". House of Assembly. Archived from the original on 2009-10-13.
4. "The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly". Canadian Parliamentary Review. 34 (3). 2011.
5. "Government Structure, 1832–1855". Newfoundland Heritage. Memorial University.
6. Hayne, David, ed. (1972). "Cochrane, Sir Thomas John". Dictionary of Canadian Biography . Vol. X (1871–1880) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
7. Hayne, David, ed. (1972). "Prescott, Sir Henry". Dictionary of Canadian Biography . Vol. X (1871–1880) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
8. "Elections". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador . pp. 681–82.