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
Party Leader 1865CandidatesSeats wonSeat change% of seats(% change)Popular vote% of vote(% change)Anti-ConfederationCharles Fox Bennett828211370.00%(43.33%)11,28980.77%(36.19%)Conservative (Confederation)Frederick Carter222091330.00%(43.33%)2,68819.23%(36.19%)Totals304830100%13,977100%
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. Parsons4129.45% || |William Walsh1,32730.42% || |John Kavanagh†
|James Jordan1,32530.38% || |John Kent†
|Robert Parsons Sr.1,29829.76% || |Robert Parsons Sr. |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=3|St. John's West
|Peter BrennanWon by acclamation || |Peter Brennan
|Thomas TalbotWon by acclamation || |Thomas Talbot
|Henry RenoufWon by acclamation || |Henry Renouf
Conception Bay
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Bay de Verde || |John BemisterMajority of 400 votes | |Robert ReaderAt 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 LittleWon by acclamation || |Joseph Little
|John KennedyWon by acclamation || |George Hogsett† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=2|Port de Grave | |Robert Pinsent10112.11% || |James Woods73387.89% || |Robert Pinsent
Avalon Peninsula
|bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=2|Ferryland
|Thomas GlenWon by acclamation || |Thomas Glen
|Thomas BattcockWon by acclamation || |Michael Kearney† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=3|Placentia and St. Mary's | |Thomas O'Reilly1033.54% || |Charles Fox Bennett88230.34% || |Ambrose Shea
|Ambrose Shea1003.44% || |Henry Renouf87230.00% || |Pierce Barron
|Pierce Barron903.10% || |Robert Parsons Jr.86029.58% || |Thomas O'Reilly
Eastern and Central Newfoundland
|bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=3|Bonavista Bay | |John Warren53914.99% || |James Noonan69719.39% || |John Warren
|John Burton53714.94% || |Francis Winton65718.28% || |John Burton
|Michael Carroll51514.33% || |William Barnes65018.08% || |John Oakley† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=3|Trinity Bay || |Stephen Rendell || |Robert AlsopWon 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 Whiteway2088.74% || |Smith McKay1,06344.68% || |William Whiteway
|Thomas Knight833.49% || |Charles Duder1,02543.09% || |Thomas Knight
Southern Newfoundland
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Burgeo and LaPoile || |Prescott EmersonWon by acclamation
|D. W. Prowse† |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=2|Burin || |Frederick CarterMajority of 2 or 3 votes | |Henry LeMessurier || |Frederick Carter
|Edward EvansMajority of 2 or 3 votes | |John Woods || |Edward Evans |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Fortune Bay
|Thomas BennettWon 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
"The Debate: Confederation Rejected, 1864–1869" Heritage Newfoundland & Labrador (1997) online with attached video