British Columbia general election, 1886
Encyclopedia
This was the fourth election held after British Columbia
became a province of Canada
on July 20, 1871. The number of members was increased for this election from 25 to 27, and the number of ridings increased to 13.
who had assumed power from the failure of Robert Beaven's government in January 1883. In May 1887 Smithe died in office and Alexander Edmund Batson Davie
assumed power, although due to his own illness he was unable to attend the opening of the Legislature. When Davie died in 1889 a further change of government saw newspaperman John Robson
became Premier that year, receiving a mandate in the 1890 election
only to die himself in 1892 of blood poisoning from a cut suffered from the door of a carriage. He was succeed by Theodore Davie
, who was Premier going into the 1894 election
, although both Liberal
and Labour allegiance were on display by some candidates).
These ridings were:
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|align="center"|Robert McLeese
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Cariboo
Government
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|align="center" |Cariboo
Opposition
|align="center"|George Cowan
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|align="center"|Joseph Mason
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|align="center" |Cassiar
Opposition
|align="center"|John Grant
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|align="center"|Henry Croft
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Cowichan
Government
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|align="center" |Comox
Opposition
|align="center"|Anthony Maitland Stenhouse
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|align="center"|William Smithe
1
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|align="center" rowspan=2 |New Westminster
Opposition
|align="center"|William Henry Ladner
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|align="center"|David Williams Higgins
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Esquimalt
Government
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|align="center"|James Orr
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|align="center"|Charles Edward Pooley
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|align="center" |New Westminster City
Opposition
|align="center"|William Norman Bole
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|align="center"|James Baker
|align="center" |Kootenay
Government
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|align="center" |Victoria City
Opposition
|align="center"|Robert Beaven
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|align="center"|Edward Allen
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Lillooet
Government
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|align="center" |Yale
Opposition
|align="center"|Charles Augustus Semlin
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|align="center"|Alexander Edmund Batson Davie
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|align="center"|Robert Dunsmuir
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Nanaimo
Government
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|align="center"|William Raybould
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|align="center"|John Robson
|align="center" rowspan= |New Westminster
Government
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|align="center"|George William Anderson
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Victoria
Government
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|align="center"|Robert Franklin John
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|align="center"|Theodore Davie
|align="center" rowspan=3 |Victoria City
Government
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|align="center"|Edward Gawler Prior
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|align="center"|John Herbert Turner
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|align="center"|George Bohun Martin
|align="center" rowspan=3 |Yale
Government
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|align="center"|Forbes George Vernon
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|align-left"|1 Premier-Elect and Incumbent Premier
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| align="center" colspan="10"|Source: Elections BC
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British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
became a province of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on July 20, 1871. The number of members was increased for this election from 25 to 27, and the number of ridings increased to 13.
Non-party system
There were to be no political parties in the new province. The designations "Government" and "Opposition" and "Independent" (and variations on these) functioned in place of parties, but they were very loose and do not represent formal coalitions, more alignments of support during the campaign. "Government" meant in support of the current Premier; "Opposition" meant campaigning against him, and often enough the Opposition would win and immediately become the Government.The Smithe, A.E.B. Davie, Robson and T. Davie governments
The election mandated the government of William SmitheWilliam Smithe
William Smithe was a British Columbia politician.Smithe was born William Smith in England and moved to Canada in his youth, settling on Vancouver Island in 1862 as a farmer. In 1871, he ran in BC's first election and won a seat in the new provincial legislature...
who had assumed power from the failure of Robert Beaven's government in January 1883. In May 1887 Smithe died in office and Alexander Edmund Batson Davie
Alexander Edmund Batson Davie
Alexander Edmund Batson Davie, QC who is usually referred to as A. E. B. Davie, was a British Columbia politician and lawyer, and was premier of British Columbia from 1887 until his death.Called to the bar in 1873 he was the first person to receive his entire law education in British...
assumed power, although due to his own illness he was unable to attend the opening of the Legislature. When Davie died in 1889 a further change of government saw newspaperman John Robson
John Robson
John Robson was a Canadian journalist and politician, who served as the ninth Premier of the Province of British Columbia.-Journalist and activist:...
became Premier that year, receiving a mandate in the 1890 election
British Columbia general election, 1890
This was the sixth election held after British Columbia became a province of Canada on July 20, 1871. The number of members was increased for this election from 27 in the previous election to 33, although the number of ridings was decreased to 18....
only to die himself in 1892 of blood poisoning from a cut suffered from the door of a carriage. He was succeed by Theodore Davie
Theodore Davie
Theodore Davie was a British Columbia lawyer, politician and jurist. He practiced law in Cassiar and Nanaimo before settling in Victoria and becoming a leading criminal lawyer. He was the brother of Alexander Edmund Batson Davie. Theodore Davie was first elected to the provincial legislature in...
, who was Premier going into the 1894 election
British Columbia general election, 1894
This was the seventh election held after British Columbia became a province of Canada on July 20, 1871. The number of members remained at 33 with the number of ridings increased to 26 as a result of the partition of the Yale and Westminster ridings....
Byelections not shown
Any changes due to byelections are shown below the main table showing the theoretical composition of the House after the election. A final table showing the composition of the House at the dissolution of the Legislature at the end of this Parliament can be found below the byelections. The main table represents the immediate results of the election only, not changes in governing coalitions or eventual changes due to byelections.List of ridings
The original ridings were thirteen in number, and Cowichan was restored to a two-member seat while New Westminster was increased to three, with the new total being 27 members. There were no political parties were not acceptable in the House by convention, though some members were openly partisan at the federal level (usually ConservativeBritish Columbia Conservative Party
The British Columbia Conservative Party is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected as the government in 1903, the party went into decline after 1933...
, although both Liberal
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
and Labour allegiance were on display by some candidates).
These ridings were:
- CaribooCariboo (provincial electoral district)Cariboo was one of the twelve original electoral districts created when British Columbia became a Canadian province in 1871. Roughly corresponding to the old colonial electoral administrative district of the same name, it was a three-member riding until the 1894 election, when it was reduced...
(three members) - Cassiar
- ComoxComox (electoral district)Comox was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was one of the first twelve ridings representing that province upon its joining Confederation, and was a one-member constituency...
- CowichanCowichan (electoral district)Cowichan was one of the first twelve electoral districts created when British Columbia became a Canadian province in 1871. It was located on southern Vancouver Island. It was a one-member riding only . Its last appearance on the husting was in 1920...
(two members) - EsquimaltEsquimalt (electoral district)Esquimalt was a provincial electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It was one of the province's first twelve ridings upon its entry into Confederation. It was originally a two-member riding...
(two members) - KootenayKootenay (provincial electoral district)Kootenay was a provincial electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, from 1871 to 1890. It was originally a two-member riding until the 1875 election; from 1878, it was a one-member seat until its partition for the 1890 election into East Kootenay and West Kootenay...
(two members) - LillooetLillooet (electoral district)The Lillooet electoral district was a riding in the Canadian province of British Columbia, centred on the town of the same name and with various boundaries...
(two members) - Nanaimo
- New Westminster (three members)
- New Westminster CityNew Westminster CityNew Westminster City was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from 1871 to 1912. For other electoral districts in New Westminster, please see New Westminster .- Demographics :- Electoral history :...
- VictoriaVictoria (British Columbia electoral district)Victoria was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, and was one of the first twelve ridings at the time of that province's joining Confederation in 1871 and stayed on the hustings until 1890. From 1894 to 1963 it did not appear on the electoral map...
(two members) - Victoria CityVictoria City (provincial electoral district)Victoria City was one of the first twelve provincial electoral districts in the province of British Columbia, Canada, upon its entry into Confederation that year. It was originally a four-member riding, and elected to the Legislature several prominent Members of the Legislative Assembly and...
(four members) - YaleYale (provincial electoral district)Yale was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from the province's joining Confederation in 1871. It was a 3-member constituency and retained the name Yale until the 1894 election, at which time it was split into three ridings, Yale-East, Yale-North and...
(three members)
Polling conditions
Natives (First Nations) and Chinese were disallowed from voting, although naturalized Kanakas (Hawaiian colonists) and American and West Indian blacks and certain others participated. The requirement that knowledge of English be spoken for balloting was discussed but not applied.Results by riding
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|align="center"|Robert McLeese
Robert McLeese
Robert McLeese was an Irish-born hotel keeper, store owner, owner of a sternwheel river boat and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Cariboo in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1882 to 1888.He was born near Coleraine, the son of John McLeese and Jennie McArthur,...
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Cariboo
Cariboo (electoral district)
Cariboo was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1871 to 1892.This riding was first created as Cariboo District following British Columbia's admission into the Canadian Confederation in 1871...
Government
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|align="center" |Cariboo
Cariboo (electoral district)
Cariboo was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1871 to 1892.This riding was first created as Cariboo District following British Columbia's admission into the Canadian Confederation in 1871...
Opposition
|align="center"|George Cowan
George Cowan (politician)
George Cowan was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada, for the riding of Cariboo. He was first elected in a byelection in 1877 at the encouragement of George Walkem, the former and, at the time, future Premier. Cowan defeated the incumbent A.E.B...
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|align="center"|Joseph Mason
Joseph Mason (Canadian politician)
Joseph Mason was an English-born general merchant, miner and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Cariboo in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1886 to 1890....
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|align="center" |Cassiar
Opposition
|align="center"|John Grant
John Grant (Canadian politician)
John Grant was a Scottish-born merchant and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Cassiar from 1882 to 1890 and Victoria City from 1890 to 1898 in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia....
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|align="center"|Henry Croft
Henry Croft
Henry Croft was an Australian-born lumber and mining magnate on Vancouver Island in the early 1900s. He founded the town of Crofton, British Columbia in 1902 as a place to house the smelter for his coal mine on Mount Sicker....
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Cowichan
Cowichan (electoral district)
Cowichan was one of the first twelve electoral districts created when British Columbia became a Canadian province in 1871. It was located on southern Vancouver Island. It was a one-member riding only . Its last appearance on the husting was in 1920...
Government
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|align="center" |Comox
Comox (electoral district)
Comox was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was one of the first twelve ridings representing that province upon its joining Confederation, and was a one-member constituency...
Opposition
|align="center"|Anthony Maitland Stenhouse
Anthony Maitland Stenhouse
Anthony Maitland Stenhouse was a Scottish-born political figure in British Columbia. He represented Comox in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1886 to 1887....
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|align="center"|William Smithe
William Smithe
William Smithe was a British Columbia politician.Smithe was born William Smith in England and moved to Canada in his youth, settling on Vancouver Island in 1862 as a farmer. In 1871, he ran in BC's first election and won a seat in the new provincial legislature...
1
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|align="center" rowspan=2 |New Westminster
Opposition
|align="center"|William Henry Ladner
William Henry Ladner
William Henry Ladner was an English-born miner, farmer and political figure in British Columbia. He represented New Westminster from 1886 to 1890 in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia....
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|align="center"|David Williams Higgins
David Williams Higgins
David Williams Higgins was a Canadian journalist, politician, and author.Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the son of William B. Higgins and Mary Anne Williams, Higgins moved to Brooklyn with his parents and was educated there...
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Esquimalt
Esquimalt (electoral district)
Esquimalt was a provincial electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It was one of the province's first twelve ridings upon its entry into Confederation. It was originally a two-member riding...
Government
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|align="center"|James Orr
James Orr (Canadian politician)
James Orr was an English-born political figure in British Columbia. He represented New Westminster in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1882 to 1890....
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|align="center"|Charles Edward Pooley
Charles Edward Pooley
Charles Edward Pooley was a lawyer and political figure in British Columbia, Canada. He represented Esquimalt in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1882 to 1906 as a Conservative....
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|align="center" |New Westminster City
New Westminster City
New Westminster City was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from 1871 to 1912. For other electoral districts in New Westminster, please see New Westminster .- Demographics :- Electoral history :...
Opposition
|align="center"|William Norman Bole
William Norman Bole
William Norman Bole was an Irish-born lawyer, judge and political figure in British Columbia. He represented New Westminster City in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1886 to 1889....
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|align="center"|James Baker
James Baker (Canadian politician)
James Baker was an English-born soldier and British Columbia political figure. He represented Kootenay from 1886 to 1890, East Kootenay from 1890 to 1898 and East Kootenay South from 1898 to 1900 in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.He was born in London, the son of Samuel Baker, and...
|align="center" |Kootenay
Kootenay (electoral district)
Kootenay was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1917.This riding was created in 1903 from parts of Yale—Cariboo riding....
Government
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|align="center" |Victoria City
Victoria City (provincial electoral district)
Victoria City was one of the first twelve provincial electoral districts in the province of British Columbia, Canada, upon its entry into Confederation that year. It was originally a four-member riding, and elected to the Legislature several prominent Members of the Legislative Assembly and...
Opposition
|align="center"|Robert Beaven
Robert Beaven
Robert Beaven , son of James Beaven, was a British Columbia politician and businessman. Beaven moved to British Columbia from Toronto, where he had been educated at Upper Canada College, because of the gold rush. He entered business in Victoria, which was then the capital of the Colony of Vancouver...
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|align="center"|Edward Allen
Edward Allen (Canadian politician)
Edward "Ned" Allen was an English-born farmer and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Lillooet in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1882 to 1890....
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Lillooet
Lillooet (electoral district)
The Lillooet electoral district was a riding in the Canadian province of British Columbia, centred on the town of the same name and with various boundaries...
Government
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|align="center" |Yale
Yale (provincial electoral district)
Yale was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from the province's joining Confederation in 1871. It was a 3-member constituency and retained the name Yale until the 1894 election, at which time it was split into three ridings, Yale-East, Yale-North and...
Opposition
|align="center"|Charles Augustus Semlin
Charles Augustus Semlin
Charles Augustus Semlin was a British Columbia politician.Born near Barrie, Upper Canada, Semlin worked there as a schoolteacher until 1862 when he moved to British Columbia during the gold rush to become a prospector. In 1869 he purchased the Dominion Ranch and became a rancher...
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|align="center"|Alexander Edmund Batson Davie
Alexander Edmund Batson Davie
Alexander Edmund Batson Davie, QC who is usually referred to as A. E. B. Davie, was a British Columbia politician and lawyer, and was premier of British Columbia from 1887 until his death.Called to the bar in 1873 he was the first person to receive his entire law education in British...
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|align="center"|Robert Dunsmuir
Robert Dunsmuir
Robert Dunsmuir was a Scottish-Canadian coal miner, railway developer, industrialist and politician. -Origins in Scotland:...
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Nanaimo
Government
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|align="center"|William Raybould
William Raybould
William Raybould was a miner, merchant and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Nanaimo in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1882 to 1886....
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|align="center"|John Robson
John Robson
John Robson was a Canadian journalist and politician, who served as the ninth Premier of the Province of British Columbia.-Journalist and activist:...
|align="center" rowspan= |New Westminster
Government
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|align="center"|George William Anderson
George William Anderson (Canadian politician)
George William Anderson was an English-born farmer, baker and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Victoria in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1886 to 1890....
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Victoria
Victoria (British Columbia electoral district)
Victoria was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, and was one of the first twelve ridings at the time of that province's joining Confederation in 1871 and stayed on the hustings until 1890. From 1894 to 1963 it did not appear on the electoral map...
Government
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|align="center"|Robert Franklin John
Robert Franklin John
Robert Franklin John was a Welsh-born farmer and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Victoria in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1882 to 1888. His name also appears as Robert Franklyn John.He was born in Glamorganshire but received much of his education in...
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|align="center"|Theodore Davie
Theodore Davie
Theodore Davie was a British Columbia lawyer, politician and jurist. He practiced law in Cassiar and Nanaimo before settling in Victoria and becoming a leading criminal lawyer. He was the brother of Alexander Edmund Batson Davie. Theodore Davie was first elected to the provincial legislature in...
|align="center" rowspan=3 |Victoria City
Victoria City (provincial electoral district)
Victoria City was one of the first twelve provincial electoral districts in the province of British Columbia, Canada, upon its entry into Confederation that year. It was originally a four-member riding, and elected to the Legislature several prominent Members of the Legislative Assembly and...
Government
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|align="center"|Edward Gawler Prior
Edward Gawler Prior
Edward Gawler Prior, PC was a mining engineer and politician in British Columbia. Prior worked as a mining engineer in England until 1873 when he moved to the province where he settled in Nanaimo and took employment as assistant manager of the Vancouver Coal Mining & Land Co., Ltd...
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|align="center"|John Herbert Turner
John Herbert Turner
John Herbert Turner was a British Columbia politician. Born in Claydon, Suffolk, England, Turner moved to British North America and worked as a merchant in Halifax and Charlottetown. In 1862 he moved to Victoria, British Columbia and founded Turner, Beeton and Co...
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|align="center"|George Bohun Martin
George Bohun Martin
George Bohun Martin was an English-born farmer, rancher and political figure in British Columbia, Canada...
|align="center" rowspan=3 |Yale
Yale (provincial electoral district)
Yale was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from the province's joining Confederation in 1871. It was a 3-member constituency and retained the name Yale until the 1894 election, at which time it was split into three ridings, Yale-East, Yale-North and...
Government
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|align="center"|Forbes George Vernon
Forbes George Vernon
Forbes George Vernon , Lieutenant British Army, was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Canadian province of British Columbia from 1875 to 1882, and from 1886 to 1894, representing the riding of Yale...
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|align-left"|1 Premier-Elect and Incumbent Premier
|-
| align="center" colspan="10"|Source: Elections BC
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See also
- List of British Columbia political parties
Further reading & references
- In the Sea of Sterile Mountains: The Chinese in British Columbia, Joseph Morton, J.J. Douglas, Vancouver (1974). Despite its title, a fairly thorough account of the politicians and electoral politics in early BC.