Colchester (provincial electoral district)

Last updated January 25, 2026

Colchester was a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elected two members to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It existed from 1867 to 1978 and included all of Colchester County. In 1978, Colchester was divided into three electoral districts, Colchester North, Colchester South, and Truro-Bible Hill.^[1]

Election results

1867

1867 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Thomas Fletcher Morrison	1,641	28.59%
	Liberal	Robert Chambers	1,625	28.32%
	Liberal–Conservative	Samuel Rettie	1,311	22.84%
	Liberal–Conservative	W. McKim	1,162	20.25%
Total			5,739	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1871

1871 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Thomas Fletcher Morrison	Acclaimed	–
	Liberal–Conservative	Samuel Rettie	Acclaimed	–
Total			–	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1874

1874 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	William Albert Patterson	1,718	30.81%
	Liberal	John Barnhill Dickie	1,687	30.25%
	Liberal–Conservative	Robert Putman	1,126	20.19%
	Liberal	Thomas Fletcher Morrison	1,046	18.76%
Total			5,577	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1878

1878 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	William Blair	1,885	29.27%
	Liberal–Conservative	William Albert Patterson	1,846	28.66%
	Liberal	C. N. Cummings	1,402	21.77%
	Liberal	Fred. Tupper	1,308	20.31%
Total			6,441	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1882

1882 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	William Blair	1,507	24.64%
	Liberal–Conservative	William Albert Patterson	1,497	24.48%
	Liberal	S. D. McLellan	1,387	22.68%
	Liberal	W. H. Guild	1,251	20.45%
	Independent	Samuel Rettie	474	7.75%
Total			6,116	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1886

1886 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	George Clarke	2,053	27.47%
	Liberal	Frederick Andrew Laurence	1,938	25.93%
	Liberal–Conservative	William Albert Patterson	1,782	23.85%
	Liberal–Conservative	S. E. Gourley	1,700	22.75%
Total			7,473	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1890

1890 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Frederick Andrew Laurence	1,904	25.71%
	Liberal	George Clarke	1,868	25.22%
	Liberal–Conservative	I. Longworth	1,842	24.87%
	Liberal–Conservative	William Albert Patterson	1,793	24.21%
Total			7,407	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1894

1894 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	Wilbert David Dimock	1,985	26.66%
	Liberal	Frederick Andrew Laurence	1,826	24.53%
	Liberal–Conservative	I. Longworth	1,820	24.45%
	Liberal	Alfred Dickie	1,814	24.37%
Total			7,445	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1897

1897 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	Thomas McMullen	2,363	25.55%
	Liberal	Frederick Andrew Laurence	2,358	25.50%
	Liberal–Conservative	Wilbert David Dimock	2,286	24.72%
	Liberal	Alfred Dickie	2,240	24.22%
Total			9,247	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1901

1901 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Frederick Andrew Laurence	2,185	25.53%
	Liberal	Benjamin Franklin Pearson	2,169	25.34%
	Liberal–Conservative	A. S. Black	2,151	25.13%
	Liberal–Conservative	John Fitzwilliam Stairs	2,054	24.00%
Total			8,559	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1906

1906 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	William Davison Hill	2,567	28.76%
	Liberal	Benjamin Franklin Pearson	2,386	26.73%
	Liberal–Conservative	J. M. McCleave	2,177	24.39%
	Liberal–Conservative	John Suckling	1,795	20.11%
Total			8,925	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1911

1911 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	Frank Stanfield	2,592	26.53%
	Liberal–Conservative	Robert H. Kennedy	2,522	25.82%
	Liberal	William Davison Hill	2,449	25.07%
	Liberal	Benjamin Franklin Pearson	2,206	22.58%
Total			9,769	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1916

1916 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	Frank Stanfield	2,745	28.07%
	Liberal–Conservative	Robert H. Kennedy	2,665	27.25%
	Liberal	Gilbert H. Vernon	2,212	22.62%
	Liberal	Frederick B. Schurman	2,158	22.07%
Total			9,780	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1920

1920 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	United Farmers	Robert Hunter Smith	3,533	26.62%
	United Farmers	Harry L. Taggart	3,430	25.84%
	Liberal–Conservative	William R. Dunbar	3,213	24.21%
	Liberal–Conservative	Robert H. Kennedy	3,096	23.33%
Total			13,272	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1925

1925 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	William Boardman Armstrong	6,733	36.86%
	Liberal–Conservative	Frank Stanfield	6,439	35.25%
	Liberal	Maynard B. Archibald	2,634	14.42%
	Liberal	Frank A. Reynolds	2,461	13.47%
Total			18,267	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1928

1928 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	Frank Stanfield	5,298	30.10%
	Liberal–Conservative	William A. Flemming	4,882	27.74%
	Liberal	Daniel H. MacKinnon	3,839	21.81%
	Liberal	William R. Dunbar	3,583	20.36%
Total			17,602	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1933

1933 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	William A. Flemming	6,748	27.04%
	Liberal–Conservative	George Y. Thomas	6,398	25.64%
	Liberal	Thomas R. Johnson	6,043	24.21%
	Liberal	R. Edgar McLeod	5,769	23.11%
Total			24,958	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1937

1937 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	Frederick Murray Blois	6,698	27.13%
	Liberal–Conservative	George Y. Thomas	6,587	26.68%
	Liberal	Harry B. Havey	5,791	23.45%
	Liberal	Edward G. McColough	5,614	22.74%
Total			24,690	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1941

1941 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	Frederick Murray Blois	5,842	26.88%
	Liberal–Conservative	George Scott Dickey	5,432	24.99%
	Liberal	Robert F. McLellan	5,301	24.39%
	Liberal	Alexander Murdoch Sutherland	5,160	23.74%
Total			21,735	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1945

1945 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Gordon Purdy	7,714	29.18%
	Liberal	Robert F. McLellan	6,631	25.09%
	Liberal–Conservative	Frederick Murray Blois	5,515	20.86%
	Liberal–Conservative	William A. Flemming	5,383	20.37%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Sidney Mansfield Parker	642	2.43%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Clarence Vincent Fleury	547	2.07%
Total			26,432	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1949

1949 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	Robert Stanfield	8,081	26.94%
	Liberal–Conservative	George Isaac Smith	7,580	25.27%
	Liberal	W. J. MacDonald	6,968	23.23%
	Liberal	Robert F. McLellan	6,857	22.86%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	A. L. Lynds	513	1.71%
Total			29,999	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1953

1953 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Stanfield	7,677	25.61%
	Progressive Conservative	George Isaac Smith	7,435	24.80%
	Liberal	Gordon Purdy	7,255	24.20%
	Liberal	Hector Hill	6,963	23.23%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Sydney Parker	326	1.09%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Harvey T. Curtis	324	1.08%
Total			29,980	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1956

1956 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Stanfield	8,476	27.86%
	Progressive Conservative	George Isaac Smith	8,057	26.48%
	Liberal	Hector Hill	6,733	22.13%
	Liberal	Margaret Norrie	6,664	21.91%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Arnold Lynds	251	0.83%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	William Wright	240	0.79%
Total			30,421	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1960

1960 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Stanfield	8,574	28.82%
	Progressive Conservative	George Isaac Smith	8,219	27.62%
	Liberal	Gordon Purdy	6,127	20.59%
	Liberal	Hugh Charles MacKinnon	5,439	18.28%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Harvey T. Curtis	704	2.37%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Helen K. Wright	692	2.33%
Total			29,755	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1963

1963 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Stanfield	9,606	32.42%
	Progressive Conservative	George Isaac Smith	9,147	30.87%
	Liberal	Gordon Purdy	5,515	18.61%
	Liberal	Charles K. Sutherland	4,746	16.02%
	New Democratic	Harvey T. Curtis	382	1.29%
	New Democratic	Helen K. Wright	233	0.79%
Total			29,629	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1967

1967 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Stanfield	9,091	31.04%
	Progressive Conservative	George Isaac Smith	8,485	28.97%
	Liberal	Charles K. Sutherland	5,348	18.26%
	Liberal	George Pulsifer	5,344	18.25%
	New Democratic	Cecil Delaney	509	1.74%
	New Democratic	Arthur William Benedict	507	1.73%
Total			29,284	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1970

1970 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	George Isaac Smith	9,398	28.81%
	Progressive Conservative	Gerald Ritcey	8,012	24.56%
	Liberal	George Norrie	7,901	24.22%
	Liberal	Ross Hill	7,313	22.42%
Total			32,624	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Colchester" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1974

1974 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Liberal	Melinda MacLean	9,514	25.87	Y
	Liberal	J. Floyd Tucker	8,662	23.55	Y
	Progressive Conservative	Ronald C. Giffin	7,974	21.68
	Progressive Conservative	Gerald Ritcey	7,182	19.53
	New Democratic	Allan Marchbank	1,771	4.82
	New Democratic	Eda Forsythe	1,515	4.12
	Independent	Robert Kirk	159	0.43
Total number of valid votes			36,777	100.00
Rejected ballots			144	0.74
Number of electors who cast votes/Turnout			19,340	75.60
Eligible voters			25,582

References

↑ Riding History Archived 2017-08-23 at the Wayback Machine NS Legislature

Elections Nova Scotia - Summary Results from 1867 to 2011 (PDF) Archived 2017-01-11 at the Wayback Machine

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[1] Riding History Archived 2017-08-23 at the Wayback Machine NS Legislature

[1]