1885 Newfoundland general election

1885 Newfoundland general election

October 31, 1885
36 seats of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly 19 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Robert Thorburn Ambrose Shea Party Reform Liberal Leader since 1885 1885 Leader's seat Trinity Bay St. John's West Last election 5 26 Seats won 21 13 Seat change 16 13 Popular vote 12,213 11,983 Percentage 39.78% 39.03% Swing 11.17% 26.49%
Premier before election Robert Thorburn Reform Premier after election Robert Thorburn Reform

The 1885 Newfoundland general election was held on October 31, 1885 to elect members of the 15th General Assembly of Newfoundland in the Newfoundland Colony. The denominationally unified Whiteway government had fallen as supporters of the Orange Order abandoned him following the Harbour Grace Affray. Members of the opposition New Party aligned themselves with Protestant members of Whiteway's administration to create the Reform Party. Led by Robert Thorburn, a former member of the Legislative Council, the Reform Party ran on a platform of "Protestant rights." The Roman Catholic caucus within Whiteway's administration formed the Liberal led by Ambrose Shea, who had also turned against the Whiteway government. Many candidates who continued to support Whiteway ran as independents, which provided the opposition in some of the most denominationally skewed districts. Thorburn's new party swept to power, but it soon turned away from its sectarian agenda by inviting Catholic Liberals into the Executive Council.

Results

	Party	Leader	1882	Candidates	Seats won	Seat change	% of seats (% change)	Popular vote	% of vote (% change)
	Reform	Robert Thorburn	5	22	21	16	58.33% (43.18%)	12,213	39.78% (11.17%)
	Liberal	Ambrose Shea	26	14	13	13	36.11% (42.68%)	11,983	39.03% (26.49%)
	Other		2	14	2		5.56% (0.50%)	6,506	21.19% (15.32%)
Totals			33	50	36	3	100%	30,702	100%

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

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal (historical)		Other
St. John's East		Robert Kent 1,738 28.70%		Robert Parsons Jr. (Independent) 635 10.49%		Robert Kent
		Ambrose Shea 1,711 28.26%		John Dearin (Independent) 437 7.22%		John Dearin
		Michael O'Mara 1,498 24.74%		Thomas Mitchell (Independent) 36 0.59%		Robert Parsons Jr.
St. John's West		Patrick Scott 1,250 26.44%		Edward Morris (Independent) 1,651 34.92%		Patrick Scott
		James Callanan 1,013 21.43%				Philip White†
		James Furlong 814 17.22%				James Callanan

Conception Bay

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Reform		Liberal (historical)		Other
Bay de Verde		Stephen March 850 40.81%				Levi Garland (Independent) 350 16.80%		Levi Garland
		A. J. W. McNeilly 765 36.73%				Beverly Somerville (Independent) 118 5.66%		New seat
Carbonear		Alfred Penney Won by acclamation						Alfred Penney
Harbour Grace		James Winter 1,183 31.33%				Joseph Russell (Independent) 276 7.31%		Ambrose Shea‡ (ran in St. John's East)
		Charles Dawe 1,077 28.52%				William Butt (Independent) 232 6.14%		Charles Dawe
		Joseph Godden 1,008 26.69%						New seat
Harbour Main				John Veitch 711 42.91%		Thomas Murphy (Independent) 291 17.56%		Joseph Little†
				Richard MacDonnell 655 39.53%				Richard MacDonnell
Port de Grave		George Hutchings Won by acclamation						John Bartlett†

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Reform		Liberal (historical)
Ferryland				Daniel Greene Won by acclamation		Daniel Greene
				George Shea Won by acclamation		Augustus Goodridge‡ (ran in Twillingate)
Placentia and St. Mary's		William Siteman 504 16.27%		James McGrath 940 30.35%		William Donnelly
				William Donnelly 922 29.77%		Albert Bradshaw‡ (ran in St. Barbe)
				George Emerson 731 23.60%		Michael Tobin†

Eastern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Reform		Other
Bonavista Bay		James Noonan 1,064 23.88%		George Skelton (Independent) 770 17.28%		James Noonan
		Abram Kean 957 21.48%		Alfred Morine (Independent) 724 16.25%		George Skelton
		Frederick White 941 21.12%				Francis Winton†
Trinity Bay		Robert Thorburn Won by acclamation				William Whiteway†
		Walter Grieve Won by acclamation				Joseph Boyd†
		Ellis Watson Won by acclamation				Robert Bond‡ (ran in Fortune Bay)

Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Reform		Other
Fogo		James Rolls Won by acclamation				New district
Twillingate		Augustus Goodridge 1,095 32.78%		Jabez Thompson (Independent) 577 17.28%		Smith McKay Twillingate and Fogo
		Smith McKay 1,058 31.68%				Richard Rice† Twillingate and Fogo
		Michael Knight 610 18.26%				Jabez Thompson Twillingate and Fogo

Southern and Western Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Reform		Liberal (historical)		Other
Burgeo and LaPoile		Alexander Mackay Won by acclamation						Alexander Mackay
Burin		John Peters 574 38.01%				J. Brien (Independent) 409 27.09%		James Winter‡ (ran in Harbour Grace)
		Henry LeMessurier 527 34.90%						John Peters
Fortune Bay						Robert Bond (Independent) Won by acclamation		James Fraser†
St. Barbe		Albert Bradshaw Won by acclamation						Vacant White Bay
St. George's				Michael Carty Won by acclamation				Michael Carty

Further reading

• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #15: October 31, 1889". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved May 29, 2025.