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1869 Newfoundland general election

The 1869 Newfoundland general election was held on November 13, 1869 to elect members of the 10th General Assembly of Newfoundland in the Newfoundland Colony. The Anti-Confederates led by Charles Fox Bennett formed the government.

The election was dominated by the issue of Newfoundland's potential union with the new Dominion of Canada. The incumbent Conservative coalition administration, led by Frederick Carter, supported Confederation. Terms of union were drafted by local confederates and they were passed after much debate within the Newfoundland House of Assembly. When the terms were ratified by the Canadian Parliament, Carter thought it best to put the decisive issue to a vote through a general election. Those opposed to Newfoundland's union with Canada coalesced under Bennett, a St. John's merchant who argued that Confederation would bring about increased taxation.

The Anti-Confederate campaign was vigorous and hard-fought. Bennett conducted a colony-wide tour across many outport communities, alleging that Newfoundlanders would be drafted into the Canadian Army if they voted for the incumbent government. By contrast, the Conservative opposition was unprepared to deal with the campaign, countering that Bennett was primarily concerned in protecting his personal interests rather than the well-being of the public. With the decisive Anti-Confederate victory, the Conservatives thereafter abandoned the issue of Confederation, and the debate was settled for the moment.

Henry Renouf ran in both St. John's West and Placentia and St. Mary's. After this election, no person ran in more than one seat until the 2025 Newfoundland and Labrador general election.

Results

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

|- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=3|St. John's East |rowspan=3| |rowspan=3|W. T. Parsons<br>412<br>9.45% || |William Walsh<br>1,327<br>30.42% || |John Kavanagh†|- || |James Jordan<br>1,325<br>30.38% || |John Kent†|- || |Robert Parsons Sr.<br>1,298<br>29.76% || |Robert Parsons Sr. |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=3|St. John's West | | || |Peter Brennan<br>Won by acclamation || |Peter Brennan |- | | || |Thomas Talbot<br>Won by acclamation || |Thomas Talbot |- | | || |Henry Renouf<br>Won by acclamation || |Henry Renouf |-

Conception Bay

|- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Bay de Verde || |John Bemister<br>Majority of 400 votes | |Robert Reader<br>At least 29 votes || |John Bemister |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Carbonear || |John Rorke | |Francis Taylor || |John Rorke |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=2|Harbour Grace || |John Munn | |James Prendergast || |Vacant |- || |William Green | |Robert Dawe || |William Green |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=2|Harbour Main | | || |Joseph Little<br>Won by acclamation || |Joseph Little |- | | || |John Kennedy<br>Won by acclamation || |Charles Furey†|- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=2|Port de Grave | |Robert Pinsent<br>101<br>12.11% || |James Woods<br>733<br>87.89% || |Robert Pinsent |-

Avalon Peninsula

|- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=2|Ferryland | | || |Thomas Glen<br>Won by acclamation || |Thomas Glen |- | | || |Thomas Battcock<br>Won by acclamation || |Michael Kearney†|- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=3|Placentia and St. Mary's | |Thomas O'Reilly<br>103<br>3.54% || |Charles Fox Bennett<br>882<br>30.34% || |Ambrose Shea |- | |Ambrose Shea<br>100<br>3.44% || |Henry Renouf<br>872<br>30.00% || |Pierce Barron |- | |Pierce Barron<br>90<br>3.10% || |Robert Parsons Jr.<br>860<br>29.58% || |Thomas O'Reilly

Eastern and Central Newfoundland

|- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=3|Bonavista Bay | |John Warren<br>539<br>14.99% || |James Noonan<br>697<br>19.39% || |John Warren |- | |John Burton<br>537<br>14.94% || |Francis Winton<br>657<br>18.28% || |John Burton |- | |Michael Carroll<br>515<br>14.33% || |William Barnes<br>650<br>18.08% || |John Oakley†|- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=3|Trinity Bay || |Stephen Rendell || |Robert Alsop<br>Won by 22 votes || |Stephen Rendell |- || |Thomas H. Ridley |rowspan=2| |rowspan=2|Stephen March || |Robert Alsop |- | |Ellis Watson || |Frederick Wyatt†|- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=3|Twillingate and Fogo | |William Whiteway<br>208<br>8.74% || |Smith McKay<br>1,063<br>44.68% || |William Whiteway |- | |Thomas Knight<br>83<br>3.49% || |Charles Duder<br>1,025<br>43.09% || |Thomas Knight

Southern Newfoundland

|- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Burgeo and LaPoile || |Prescott Emerson<br>Won by acclamation | | || |D. W. Prowse†|- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=2|Burin || |Frederick Carter<br>Majority of 2 or 3 votes | |Henry LeMessurier || |Frederick Carter |- || |Edward Evans<br>Majority of 2 or 3 votes | |John Woods || |Edward Evans |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Fortune Bay | | || |Thomas Bennett<br>Won by acclamation || |Thomas Bennett

Notes

References

Further reading

  • Blake, Raymond B. “Newfoundland and Canada: Confederation and the Search for Stability.” in Reconsidering Confederation: Canada’s Founding Debates, 1864-1999, edited by Daniel Heidt, (U of Calgary Press, 2018), pp. 237–62. online
  • Blake, Raymond B., and Melvin Baker, Where Once They Stood: Newfoundland's Rocky Road to Confederation (U of Regina Press, 2019) ch. 1.
  • Cadigan, Sean. Newfoundland and Labrador: A History (2009) pp. 131–136.
  • Killer, James. “Confederation Defeated: The Newfoundland Election of 1869.” in Newfoundland in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Essays in Interpretation, edited by James Killer and Peter Neary, (University of Toronto Press, 1980, pp). 67–94 online
  • Mayo, H. B. “Newfoundland and Confederation in the Eighteen-Sixties,” Canadian Historical Review 29#2 (1948): 125–42. online