1890 British Columbia general election

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox election The 1890 British Columbia general election was held in 1890. 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.

Political context

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.

Although Labour as a party had run candidates in previous election, this election saw the first victories by Labour candidates (in Nanaimo and Nanaimo City), and a "Farmer" candidate (in the second Nanaimo seat). There were five successful independents.

The Robson Government

The government of newspaperman John Robson received a mandate after assuming power the year before. Robson died in office in 1892, yielding to Theodore Davie.

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 33 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 Conservative, although both Liberal and Labour allegiance were on display by some candidates).

These ridings were:

• Alberni
• Cariboo (three members)
• Cassiar
• Comox
• Cowichan (two members)
• East Kootenay
• Esquimalt (two members)
• The Islands (formerly part of Nanaimo
• Lillooet (two members)
• Nanaimo
• Nanaimo City
• New Westminster City
• Vancouver City (two members)
• Victoria (two members)
• Victoria City (four members)
• East Kootenay
• Westminster (three members, formerly New Westminster
• Yale (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

Results of British Columbia general election, 1890
Government				Opposition
	Member	Riding & party		Riding & party		Member
Template:Canadian party colour|	Thomas Fletcher	Alberni Government	Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour rowspan=2|	Cariboo Independent	George Cowan	Template:Canadian party colour rowspan=2|
Template:Canadian party colour|	Joseph Mason	Cariboo Government	Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	John Robson 1		Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour rowspan=2|	Esquimalt Opposition	David Williams Higgins	Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	Samuel Augustus Rogers		Template:Canadian party colour|	Charles Edward Pooley		Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	Robert Hanley Hall	Cassiar Government	Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour|	Lillooet Opposition	David Alexander Stoddart	Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	Joseph Hunter	Comox Government	Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour|	New Westminster Opposition	William Henry Ladner	Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	Henry Croft	Cowichan Government	Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour|		James Orr	Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	Theodore Davie		Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour|	New Westminster City Independent	John Cunningham Brown	Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	James Baker	East Kootenay Government	Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour|	Vancouver City Opposition Independent	Francis Lovett Carter-Cotton	Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	Alfred Wellington Smith	Lillooet Government	Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour|		James Welton Horne	Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	George William Anderson	Victoria Gov	Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour|	Victoria City Opposition	Robert Beaven	Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	David McEwen Eberts		Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour|		John Grant	Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	John Herbert Turner	Victoria City Gov	Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour|		George Lawson Milne	Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	John Robson	Westminster Gov	Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour|	Yale Opposition	Charles Augustus Semlin	Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	George Bohun Martin	Yale Government	Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour|	Nanaimo Labour Farmer	Thomas William Forster	Template:Canadian party colour|
Template:Canadian party colour|	Forbes George Vernon		Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour|		Colin Campbell McKenzie	Template:Canadian party colour|
				Template:Canadian party colour|	Nanaimo City Labour	Thomas Keith	Template:Canadian party colour|
				Template:Canadian party colour|	West Kootenay Independent	James M. Kellie	Template:Canadian party colour|
				Template:Canadian party colour|	Westminster Opposition Independent	James Punch	Template:Canadian party colour|
				Template:Canadian party colour|		Thomas Edwin Kitchen	Template:Canadian party colour|
	1 Premier-Elect and Incumbent Premier
Source: Elections BC

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.