By-elections to the 1st Canadian Parliament

Main article: 1st Canadian Parliament

1st Canadian Parliament
Majority parliament
Sep. 24, 1867 – Jul. 8, 1872

By-elections to the 1st Canadian Parliament were held to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada between the 1867 federal election and the 1872 federal election. The Conservative Party of Canada held a majority government throughout the term of the 1st Canadian Parliament. From 1867 to 1871, there were thirty-seven by-elections: seventeen in Quebec, nine in Ontario, seven in Nova Scotia, and four in New Brunswick.

The list includes Ministerial by-elections which occurred due to the requirement that Members of Parliament recontest their seats upon being appointed to Cabinet. These by-elections were almost always uncontested.

In addition to the by-elections, there were also elections for the new provinces of Manitoba and British Columbia, which joined Confederation in 1870 and 1871. These were new elections, to fill the positions created by the terms of union for each of the new provinces. Six were elected in British Columbia. Although there were four contested ridings in Manitoba, only three members were elected, because a tie was declared in one riding. The outcome of the disputed election was not resolved prior to the 1872 election, so neither candidate was allowed to take the seat in the House of Commons.

New Brunswick

Date	Riding	Incumbent		Party	Elected		Party	Reason for by-election
March 13, 1868	Restigouche		John McMillan	Liberal		William Murray Caldwell	Liberal	McMillan appointed Inspector of Post Offices in New Brunswick, February 15, 1868
October 28, 1868	York		Charles Fisher	Liberal		John Pickard	Independent Liberal	Fisher appointed to New Brunswick Supreme Court, October 3, 1868
December 24, 1868	Northumberland		John Mercer Johnson	Liberal		Richard Hutchison	Liberal	Johnson's death, November 8, 1868
November 29, 1870	Restigouche		William Murray Caldwell	Liberal		George Moffat, Sr.	Conservative	Caldwell appointed inspector of post offices in New Brunswick, September 29, 1870

Nova Scotia

Date	Riding	Incumbent		Party	Elected		Party	Reason for by-election
April 20, 1869	Richmond		William Joseph Croke	Anti-Confederate		Isaac LeVesconte	Conservative	Croke's death, March 11, 1869
April 20, 1869	Yarmouth		Thomas Killam	Anti-Confederate		Frank Killam	Liberal	Thomas Killam's death, December 15, 1868
April 24, 1869	Hants		Joseph Howe	Anti-Confederate		Joseph Howe	Liberal-Conservative	Ministerial by-election upon Howe's appointment as President of the Privy Council, January 30, 1869
September 9, 1869	Colchester		Archibald McLelan	Anti-Confederate		Adams George Archibald	Liberal-Conservative	McLelan called to the Senate, June 21, 1869
June 15, 1870	Cumberland		Charles Tupper	Conservative		Charles Tupper	Conservative	Ministerial by-election upon Tupper's appointment as President of the Privy Council
June 23, 1870	Kings		William Henry Chipman	Anti-Confederate		Leverett de Veber Chipman	Liberal	William Chipman's death, April 10, 1870
November 8, 1870	Colchester		Adams George Archibald	Liberal-Conservative		Frederick M. Pearson	Liberal	Archibald appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba and Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories, May 20, 1870

Ontario

Date	Riding	Incumbent		Party	Elected		Party	Reason for by-election
April 13, 1868	Lincoln		James Rea Benson	Liberal-Conservative		Thomas Rodman Merritt	Liberal	Benson called to the Senate, March 14, 1868
August 14, 1868	York West		William Pearce Howland	Liberal-Conservative		Amos Wright	Liberal	Howland appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, July 15, 1868
July 12, 1869	Wellington Centre		Thomas Sutherland Parker	Liberal		James Ross	Liberal	Parker's death, October 24, 1868
November 13, 1869	Renfrew North		John Rankin	Liberal-Conservative		Francis Hincks	Conservative	Rankin resigned to provide a seat for Hincks, October 12, 1869
November 29, 1869	Renfrew South		Daniel McLachlin	Liberal		John Lorn McDougall	Liberal	McLachlin resigned June 3, 1869, taking retirement
November 29, 1869	Lanark South		Alexander Morris	Conservative		Alexander Morris	Conservative	Ministerial by-election upon Morris's appointment as Minister of Inland Revenue, November 15, 1869
April 27, 1870	Frontenac		Thomas Kirkpatrick	Conservative		George Airey Kirkpatrick	Conservative	Kirkpatrick's death, March 26, 1870
March 20, 1871	Hastings East		Robert Read	Conservative		John White	Conservative	Read called to the Senate, February 24, 1871
June 30, 1871	Algoma		Wemyss Mackenzie Simpson	Conservative		Frederick William Cumberland	Conservative	Simpson appointed Indian Commissioner for Rupert's Land, April 26, 1871

Quebec

Date	Riding	Incumbent		Party	Elected		Party	Reason for by-election
November 28, 1867	Huntingdon		Sir John Rose	Liberal-Conservative		Sir John Rose	Liberal-Conservative	Ministerial by-election upon Rose's appointment as Minister of Finance, November 18, 1867
December 11, 1867	Montmorency		Joseph-Édouard Cauchon	Conservative		Jean Langlois	Conservative	Cauchon called to the Senate, November 2, 1867
April 20, 1868	Montreal West		Thomas D'Arcy McGee	Liberal-Conservative		Michael Patrick Ryan	Liberal-Conservative	McGee assassinated, April 7, 1868
October 17, 1868	Three Rivers		Louis-Charles Boucher de Niverville	Conservative		William McDougall	Conservative	Boucher de Niverville appointed sheriff for the district of Trois-Rivières, September 30, 1868
October 30, 1868	Saint Maurice		Louis-Léon Lesieur Desaulniers	Conservative		Élie Lacerte	Conservative	Desaulniers appointed inspector of prisons and asylums in Quebec, September 29, 1868
February 17, 1869	Kamouraska	Vacant				Charles Alphonse Pantaléon Pelletier	Liberal	No election held in 1867 due to riots
July 14, 1869	L'Islet		Barthélemy Pouliot	Conservative		Barthélemy Pouliot	Conservative	Previous election annulled, June 9, 1869
October 30, 1869	Huntingdon		Sir John Rose	Liberal-Conservative		Julius Scriver	Liberal	Rose resigned September 29, 1869 and moved to London where he acted as the government's representative to the UK.
November 29, 1869	Brome		Christopher Dunkin	Conservative		Christopher Dunkin	Conservative	Ministerial by-election upon Dunkin's appointment as Minister of Agriculture, November 15, 1869
July 5, 1870	Missisquoi		Brown Chamberlin	Conservative		George Barnard Baker	Liberal-Conservative	Chamberlin resigned on appointment as Queen's Printer, June 6, 1870
July 18, 1870	Quebec East		Pierre-Gabriel Huot	Liberal		Adolphe Guillet dit Tourangeau	Conservative	Huot resigned on appointment as postmaster at Quebec, June 14, 1870
August 15, 1870	Bellechasse		Louis-Napoléon Casault	Conservative		Télesphore Fournier	Liberal	Casault resigned on appointment to the Superior Court of Quebec, May 26, 1870
September 1, 1870	St. Hyacinthe		Alexandre-Édouard Kierzkowski	Liberal		Louis Delorme	Liberal	Kierzkowski's death, August 4, 1870
November 18, 1870	Richelieu		Thomas McCarthy	Conservative		Georges Isidore Barthe	Independent Conservative	McCarthy's death, September 23, 1870
September 15, 1871	Montcalm		Joseph Dufresne	Conservative		Firmin Dugas	Conservative	Dufresne was appointed Sheriff of Saint-Jean County, July 13, 1871
November 11, 1871	Compton		John Henry Pope	Conservative		John Henry Pope	Conservative	Ministerial by-election upon appointment as Minister of Agriculture, October 25, 1871
November 17, 1871	Brome		Christopher Dunkin	Conservative		Edward Carter	Conservative	Dunkin resigned on appointment to the Superior Court of Quebec, October 24, 1871

New elections

Manitoba 1870

Date	District	Elected	Party
March 2, 1871	Lisgar	John Christian Schultz		Independent Liberal
March 2, 1871	Marquette	James S. Lynch and Angus McKay	Lynch (Liberal) and McKay (Conservative) were both declared elected due to a tie vote. Neither one took the seat in the Commons. The issue was not determined prior to the 1872 federal election.
March 2, 1871	Selkirk	Donald Alexander Smith		Independent Conservative
March 3, 1871	Provencher	Pierre Delorme		Conservative

British Columbia 1871

Date	District	Elected	Party
November 24, 1871	Victoria (two members)	Henry Nathan, Jr.		Liberal
		Amor De Cosmos		Liberal
December 13, 1871	New Westminster	Hugh Nelson		Liberal-Conservative
December 15, 1871	Vancouver Island	Robert Wallace		Conservative
December 19, 1871	Cariboo	Joshua Spencer Thompson		Liberal-Conservative
December 19, 1871	Yale District	Charles Frederick Houghton		Liberal

See also

• List of federal by-elections in Canada

Sources

• Parliament of Canada–Elected in By-Elections Archived 2012-11-19 at the Wayback Machine