8th General Assembly of Newfoundland

8th General Assembly of Newfoundland
Colonial Building seat of the Newfoundland government and the House of Assembly from January 28, 1850, to July 28, 1959.
History
Founded	1861
Disbanded	1865
Preceded by	7th General Assembly of Newfoundland
Succeeded by	9th General Assembly of Newfoundland
Leadership
Premier	Hugh Hoyles
Premier	Frederick Carter since 1865
Elections
Last election	1861 Newfoundland general election

The members of the 8th General Assembly of Newfoundland were elected in the Newfoundland general election held in May 1861. The general assembly sat from 1861 to 1865.

Hugh Hoyles, leader of the Conservative Party, had been appointed premier and invited to form a government in March after his predecessor was dismissed by the governor. Hoyle's government was defeated in a non-confidence vote prompting a general election in May which Hoyles and his party won, allowing Hoyles to continue as Newfoundland's premier ^[1] until March 1865, when he accepted a post on the Newfoundland Supreme Court. Frederick Carter succeeded Hoyles as party leader and premier. Carter formed a coalition government with Liberals Ambrose Shea and John Kent. ^[2]

Frederick Carter was chosen as speaker, ^[3] serving until April 1865, when William Whiteway became speaker. ^[4]

Sir Alexander Bannerman served as colonial governor of Newfoundland until 1864. ^[5] Sir Anthony Musgrave succeeded Bannerman as governor. ^[6]

Frederick Carter and Ambrose Shea represented Newfoundland at the 1864 Quebec Conference on Canadian Confederation. ^[7]

Members of the Assembly

The following members were elected to the assembly in 1861: ^[7]

Member	Electoral district	Affiliation	First elected / previously elected
John Bemister	Bay de Verde	Conservative	1855
Stephen March	Bonavista Bay	Conservative	1852
John Henry Warren		Conservative	1852
Matthew W. Walbank		Conservative	1855
Frederick J. Wyatt		Conservative	1864
Daniel W. Prowse	Burgeo-La Poile	Conservative	1861
Edward Evans	Burin	Conservative	1861
Hugh Hoyles		Conservative	1855, 1860
Edmund Hanrahan	Carbonear	Liberal	1855
John Rorke		Conservative	1863
Thomas Glen	Ferryland	Liberal	1855
Edward Dalton Shea		Liberal	1855
Robert Carter	Fortune Bay	Conservative	1859
John Hayward	Harbour Grace [nb 1]	Liberal	1855
Henry J. Moore		Liberal	1861
Thomas Byrne	Harbour Main [nb 2]	Liberal	1861
Patrick Nowlan		Liberal	1859
Ambrose Shea	Placentia and St. Mary's	Liberal	1848
W. G. Flood		Liberal	1861
Richard McGrath		Liberal	1860
Pierce M. Barron		Liberal	1861
John Leamon	Port de Grave	Conservative	1859
John Kent	St. John's East	Liberal	1832, 1848
Robert John Parsons		Liberal	1843
John Kavanagh		Liberal	1857
John Casey	St. John's West	Liberal	1859
Thomas Talbot		Liberal	1861
Henry Renouf		Liberal	1861
Stephen Rendell	Trinity Bay	Conservative	1859
John Winter		Conservative	1859
F.B.T. Carter		Conservative	1859
William Whiteway	Twillingate and Fogo	Conservative	1859
Thomas Knight		Conservative	1859

Notes:

1. No result; by-election held November 1861
2. Invalid return; result decided by assembly committee

By-elections

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

Electoral district	Member elected	Affiliation	Election date	Reason
Placentia and St. Mary's	Pierce M. Barron	Liberal	1861	W G Flood resigned seat in 1861 [7]
Carbonear	John Rorke	Conservative	1863	E Hanrahan resigned seat in 1863 [7]
Bonavista Bay	Frederick J. Wyatt	Conservative	1864	M W Walbank resigned seat in 1864 [7]

Notes:

References

1. Jones, Frederick (1982). "Hoyles, Hugh William". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography . Vol. XI (1881–1890) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
2. Baker, Melvin. "The Rejection of Confederation with Canada, 1865-1874". Memorial University.
3. "The Speaker of the House of Assembly". House of Assembly. Archived from the original on 2009-10-13.
4. Hiller, J.K. (1994). "Whiteway, Sir William Vallance". In Cook, Ramsay; Hamelin, Jean (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography . Vol. XIII (1901–1910) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
5. "Bannerman, Sir Alexander". Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage. Memorial University.
6. "Musgrave, Sir Anthony". Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage. Memorial University.
7. "Elections". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador . p. 687.