Newfoundland general election, 1885

The 16th Newfoundland general election was held on 31 October 1885 to elect members of the 15th General Assembly of Newfoundland in the Dominion of Newfoundland. The Reform Party had been created by Robert Thorburn on a platform of "Protestant Rights" after supporters of the Orange Order abandoned the Whiteway government after sectarian riots in 1885 against the government's 'denominational compromise'. Whiteway's Conservative Party was destroyed as a result and Whiteway founded a new Liberal Party. Thorburn's new party swept to power but soon turned away from its sectarian agenda by inviting Catholic Liberals into the Cabinet.

Results by party

Elected members

• Bay de Verde
  • Stephen R. March Reform
  • A.J.W. McNeilly Reform (speaker)
• Bonavista Bay
  • James L. Noonan Reform
    • Alfred B. Morine elected in 1886
  • Abraham Kean Reform
  • Frederick White Reform
• Burgeo-LaPoile
  • Alexander M. Mackay Reform
• Burin
  • John E. Peters Reform
  • Henry LeMessurier Reform
• Carbonear
  • Alfred Penney Liberal
• Ferryland
  • Daniel Joseph Greene Liberal
  • George Shea Liberal
• Fortune Bay
  • Robert Bond Independent
• Harbour Grace
  • James S. Winter Reform
  • Charles Dawe Reform
  • Joseph Godden Reform
• Harbour Main
  • John Veitch Liberal
  • Richard MacDonnell Liberal
• Placentia and St. Mary's
  • James McGrath Liberal
  • W. J. S. Donnelly Liberal
  • George Emerson Liberal
• Port de Grave
  • George A. Hutchings Reform
• St. Barbe
  • Albert Bradshaw Reform
• St. George's
  • Michael H. Carty Liberal
• St. John's East
  • Robert J. Kent Liberal
    • Thomas J. Murphy Liberal, elected in 1886
  • Ambrose Shea Liberal
    • Robert J. Parsons Liberal, elected in 1887
  • Michael J. O'Mara Liberal
• St. John's West
  • Edward Morris Liberal
  • Patrick J. Scott Liberal
  • James J. Callanan Liberal
• Trinity Bay
  • Robert Thorburn Reform
  • Walter B. Grieve Reform
• Twillingate-Fogo
  • Augustus F. Goodridge Reform
  • Smith McKay Reform
  • Michael T. Knight Reform

References

• Smallwood, Joseph R (1981). Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador. v. 1. ISBN 0-920508-14-6. 

Elections and referendums in Newfoundland and Labrador
General elections	Pre-Confederation: 1832 1836 1837 1842 1848 1852 1855 1859 1861 1865 1869 1873 1874 1878 1882 1885 1889 1893 1897 1900 1904 1908 1909 1913 1919 1923 1924 1928 1932 Post-Confederation: 1949 1951 1956 1959 1962 1966 1971 1972 1975 1979 1982 1985 1989 1993 1996 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 next
Referendums	1915 1948
See also: List of Newfoundland and Labrador by-elections