Lillooet (electoral district)

The Lillooet electoral district was a riding (provincial constituency) in the Canadian province of British Columbia, centred on the town of the same name and with various boundaries. Originally with two members, the constituency was split into Lillooet West and Lillooet East in the 1894, 1898, and 1900 elections, with Lillooet West being recomprised as one riding (with only one member) in the 1903 election.

Political geography

The riding was one of the first created in British Columbia, and at the time the town of Lillooet was one of the largest in the province (it is now one of the smallest). It was originally a two-member riding. It was an essentially rural riding, spanning the southern Cariboo and the mountain country west of Lillooet and the northern part of the Fraser Canyon. It was succeeded by the Yale-Lillooet riding, which has been succeeded by Fraser-Nicola.

Members of the Legislative Assembly

• Thomas Basil Humphreys - 1871-1875
• Andrew Thomas Jamieson - 1871-1875
• William M. Brown - 1875-1882 (Reform slate and from 1878 Opposition)
• William Morrison - 1875-1878 (Reform slate)
• William Saul - 1878-1882 (Opposition and from 1886 Government)
• Edward Allen - 1882-1890 (Opposition and from 1886 Government)
• Alexander Edmund Batson Davie - 1882-1890 (ran as Opposition, but from 1887-1889 sat as Premier)
• Alfred Wellington Smith 1890-1894 (Government)
• David Alexander Stoddart 1890-1894 (Opposition)
• see Lillooet West and Lillooet East for elections in 1894, 1898, and 1900
• Archibald McDonald 1903-1907 (Conservative)
• Mark Robert Eagleson 1907-1909 (Liberal)
• Archibald McDonald 1909-1924 (Conservative)
• Albert Edward Munn 1924-1928 (Liberal)
• Ernest Crawford Carson 1928-1933 (Conservative)
• George Matheson Murray 1933-1941 (Liberal)
• Ernest Crawford Carson 1941-1953 (Conservative)
• James Gordon Gibson 1953-1956 (Liberal)
• Donald Frederick Robinson 1956-1966 (Social Credit)

Election results

Note: Winners of each election are in bold.

1st British Columbia election, 1871

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	Thomas Basil Humphreys^1	45	44.12%		unknown
	Independent	Andrew Thomas Jamieson	36	35.29%		unknown
	Independent	William Saul	21	20.59%		unknown
Total valid votes			102	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			79.69%
^1 Often spelled "Humphries" in many contemporary histories.

British Columbia byelection: Lillooet, November 27, 1871 ²

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	William Chadwick	(2)^3	(6.06%)		unknown
	Independent	Edward Kelly	(1)^3	(3.03%)		unknown
	Independent	William Saul	(30)^3	(90.91%)		unknown
Total valid votes			(33)	(100.00%)
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
^2 To fill the seat-vacancy caused by the death of A.T. Jamieson 31 October 1872.
^3 Incomplete returns. Numbers cited are from Cariboo Sentinel 28 December 1872.

British Columbia byelection: Lillooet, November 17, 1874 ⁴

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	William M. Brown	51	32.90%		unknown
	Independent	Thomas Basil Humphreys	56	36.13%		unknown
	Independent	William Saul	48	30.97%		unknown
Total valid votes			155	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
^4 Resignations 26 September 1874 of T.B. Humphreys and W. Saul over a "dispute between the two gentlemen as to which represents the popular feeling of the district" (Victoria Colonist, September 29, 1874).

1875 British Columbia general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Reform caucus	William M. Brown	53	26.37	Y
	Reform caucus	William Morrison	48	23.88	Y
	Government	William Saul	46	22.88
	Reform caucus	John Martley ^5	33	16.42
	Reform caucus	George Dunne	21	10.45
Total valid votes			201	100.00
Turnout			85.90
^5 Captain Martley homesteaded at Pavilion around 1861/62. Ernest Crawford Carson and Robert Henry Carson, his neighbours, became MLAs and cabinet ministers in the 1930s in Lillooet and Kamloops respectively.

3rd British Columbia election, 1878

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	William M. Brown	78	32.37%	–	unknown
	Government	John Martley	39	16.18%	–	unknown
	Government	William Morrison	47	19.50%	–	unknown
	Opposition	William Saul	48	23.88%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			241	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			78.01%

4th British Columbia election, 1882

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	Edward Allen	55	23.21%	–	unknown
	Government	William M. Brown	28	11.81%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Alexander Edmund Batson Davie	69	29.11%	–	unknown
	Government	Charles Nelson McLellan	40	16.88%	–	unknown
	Opposition	William Morrison	45	18.99%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			237	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			63.37%

British Columbia byelection: Lillooet, March 13, 1883 ²

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	Alexander Edmund Batson Davie	Acclaimed	-.- %	–	unknown
Total valid votes			n/a	-.- %
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
^2 Byelection caused by resignation of A.E.B. Davie upon his appointment to the Executive Council January 29, 1883. Date given is day of return of writs, as polling day was not necessary.

1886 British Columbia general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Reform caucus	William M. Brown	65	21.03	Y
	Reform caucus	Alexander Edmund Batson Davie	93	30.10	Y
	Unknown	William Livingstone	45	14.56
	Opposition	William Saul	49	15.86
Total valid votes			309	100.00
Turnout			77.25

6th British Columbia election, 1890

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	William Morrison	60	22.39%	–	unknown
	Government	Alfred Wellington Smith	89	33.21%	–	unknown
	Opposition	David Alexander Stoddart	119	44.40%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			268	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			55.37%

7th General Election 1894

split to two ridings:

• Lillooet East
• Lillooet West

8th General Election 1898

• Lillooet East
• Lillooet West

9th General Election 1900

• Lillooet East
• Lillooet West

10th British Columbia election, 1903

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Conservative	Archibald McDonald	Accl.	--%		unknown
Total valid votes			--	--%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

11th British Columbia election, 1907

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Mark Robert Eagleson	123	51.68%		unknown
	Conservative	Archibald McDonald	115	48.32%		unknown
Total valid votes			238	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			60.10%

12th British Columbia election, 1909

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Mark Robert Eagleson	117	41.20%		unknown
	Conservative	Archibald McDonald	167	58.80%		unknown
Total valid votes			284	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			79.11%

13th British Columbia election, 1912

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Stuart Alexander Henderson	82	28.83%		unknown
	Conservative	Archibald McDonald	200	71.17%		unknown
Total valid votes			281	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			71.98%

14th British Columbia election, 1916

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	John Bates Bryson	269	47.61%		unknown
	Conservative	Archibald McDonald	296	52.39%		unknown
Total valid votes			565	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			66.27%

1920 British Columbia general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Archibald McDonald	339	47.48
	Liberal	John Bates Bryson	213	21.83
	Soldier–Farmer	Ernest Crawford Carson ^6	162	22.69
Total valid votes			714	100.00
Turnout			76.94
^6 Brother of Robert Henry Carson, Liberal MLA for Kamloops. Both became cabinet ministers in their respective governments. Their father Robert Carson left Scotland at an early age, came west via the Oregon Trail came north for the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, then wound up homesteading in 1863 on Pavilion Mountain in the wake of the gold rush, founding one of BC's earliest ranches.

16th British Columbia election, 1924

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Albert Edward Munn	626	42.56%		unknown
	Provincial	Norman Joseph Paul	522	35.49%	–	unknown
	Conservative	Archibald McDonald	323	21.96%		unknown
Total valid votes			1,471	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			56.43%

17th British Columbia election, 1928

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Conservative	Ernest Crawford Carson	1,237	54.61%		unknown
	Liberal	Albert Edward Munn	1,028	45.39%		unknown
Total valid votes			2,265	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			56
Turnout			80.28%

18th British Columbia election, 1933

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Non-Partisan Independent Group	Ernest Crawford Carson	705	33.51%	–	unknown
	Liberal	George Matheson Murray^7	927	44.06%		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	John Morrison Smith	472	22.43%		unknown
Total valid votes			2,104	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			96
Turnout			66.29%
^7 Publisher of Bridge River-Lillooet News and husband of Margaret Lally "Ma" Murray.

19th British Columbia election, 1937

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Robert Purvis Armstrong	855	28.92%		unknown
	Conservative	Ernest Crawford Carson	925	31.29%		unknown
	Liberal	George Matheson Murray	1,176	39.78%		unknown
Total valid votes			2956	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			57
Turnout			76.12%

20th British Columbia election, 1941

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Harry Grenfell Archibald	841	31.75%		unknown
	Conservative	Ernest Crawford Carson	1,017	38.39%		unknown
	Liberal	George Matheson Murray	791	29.86%		unknown
Total valid votes			2,649	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			29
Turnout			67.02%

1945 British Columbia general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Coalition	Ernest Crawford Carson	1,143	51.42
	Social Credit Alliance	John Fossmark Jacobsen	296	8.82
	Progressive Liberal	George Matheson Murray	61	2.74
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Charles Radcliffe	823	37.02
Total valid votes			2,223	100.00
Total rejected ballots			21
Turnout			63.19

22nd British Columbia election, 1949

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Coalition	Ernest Crawford Carson	2,339	62.83%	–	unknown
	Social Credit Alliance	George Willis Lyons	1,180	31.69%	–	unknown
	Independent	William Wallace O'Keefe	204	5.48%		unknown
Total valid votes			3,723	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			125
Turnout			77.94%

23rd British Columbia election, 1952^8
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ernest Crawford Carson	1,301	35.68%	1,847	56.60%		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Gordon Hudson Dowding	1,074	29.46%	1,416	43.40%		unknown
	Independent	James Coleman Finch	96	2.63%	-	-%		unknown
	Liberal	William Henry Okell	725	19.88%	-	-%		unknown
	Social Credit League	Donald Frederick Robinson	450	12.34%
Total valid votes			3,646	%	3,263	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			254
Turnout			77.94%
^8 Preferential ballot; final count is between top two candidates from first count; intermediary counts (of 4) not shown

24th British Columbia election, 1953 ^9
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Herbert Ashby	452	11.32 %	-	-%		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Gordon Hudson Dowding	1,372	34.37%	1,694	48.07%		unknown
	Liberal	Gordon Gibson, Sr.	1,103	27.63%	1,830	51.93%		unknown
	Social Credit	Frank Conrad Olafsen	1,065	26.68%
Total valid votes			3,992	100.00%	3,524	%
Total rejected ballots			170
Total Registered Voters			5,933 (1952 list)
Turnout			70.15%
^9 Preferential ballot; final count is between top two candidates from first count; intermediary counts (of 3) not shown

analysis of preferential ballot - preferential ballot - 1st, 2nd, 3rd choices, respectively:

• Ashby, Herbert PC 452 - -
• Gordon Hudson CCF 1,372 1,420 1,694
• GIBSON, James Gordon LIB. 1,103 1,335 1,830
• Olafson, Frank Conrad SC 1,065 1,138 -

25th British Columbia election, 1956

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Austin Kenneth Greenway	907	23.13		unknown
	Social Credit	Donald Frederick Robinson	2,055	52.41%	–	unknown
	Liberal	James Smith	959	24.46%		unknown
Total valid votes			3921	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			58
Turnout			72.97%

26th British Columbia election, 1960

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	George M. Behrner	336	7.84%		unknown
	Liberal	Cyril Clyde Keyes	923	21.54%		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	John Kendrick Macey	1,331	31.06%		unknown
	Social Credit	Donald Frederick Robinson	1,695	39.56%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			4,285	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			282
Turnout			66.77%

27th British Columbia election, 1963

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Henry Greer Castillou	977	23.15%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Thomas William Meagher	702	16.64%		unknown
	Social Credit	Donald Frederick Robinson	1,425	33.77%	–	unknown
	New Democratic	Clare Skatfeld	1331	31.06%		unknown
Total valid votes			4,220	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			53
Turnout			65.33%

In the 28th General Election in 1966, parts of the former riding of Lillooet became incorporated into the new riding of Yale-Lillooet, which has since been replaced by Fraser-Nicola

Sources

Elections BC website - historical election data