6th General Assembly of Newfoundland

The members of the 6th General Assembly of Newfoundland were elected in the Newfoundland general election held in May 1855. The general assembly sat from 1855 to 1859.

6th General Assembly of Newfoundland
Colonial Building seat of the Newfoundland government and the House of Assembly from January 28, 1850, to July 28, 1959.
History
Founded	1855
Disbanded	1859
Preceded by	5th General Assembly of Newfoundland
Succeeded by	7th General Assembly of Newfoundland
Leadership
Premier	Philip Francis Little (1855-1858)
Premier	John Kent (from 1858)
Elections
Last election	1855 Newfoundland general election

This was the first election held after responsible government was granted to the colony. The Liberal Party led by Philip Francis Little won the election and Little became Newfoundland's first premier.^[1] After Little resigned as leader in 1858, John Kent served as premier.^[2]

Ambrose Shea was chosen as speaker.^[3]

Sir Charles Henry Darling served as colonial governor of Newfoundland until February 1857, when he was named governor of Jamaica.^[4] Later that year, Darling was succeeded by Sir Alexander Bannerman,^[5]

Members of the Assembly

The following members were elected to the assembly in 1855:^[6][7]

	Member	Electoral district	Affiliation	First elected / previously elected
	John Bemister	Bay de Verde	Conservative	1855
	Robert Carter	Bonavista Bay	Conservative	1855
	John Henry Warren		Conservative	1852
	Matthew W. Walbank	Conservative	1855
	Robert Henry Prowse	Burgeo-La Poile	Conservative	1855
	Clement Benning	Burin	Liberal	1852
	Patrick Morris	Liberal	1855
	Edmund Hanrahan	Carbonear	Liberal	1855
	Thomas Glen	Ferryland	Conservative	1855
	Edward Dalton Shea	Liberal	1855
	Hugh William Hoyles	Fortune Bay	Conservative	1855
	James Luke Prendergast	Harbour Grace	Liberal	1855
	John Hayward	Conservative	1855
	Thomas Byrne	Harbour Main	Liberal	1855
	William Talbot	Liberal	1855
	George James Hogsett	Placentia and St. Mary's	Liberal	1852
	Michael John Kelly		Liberal	1855
	John Delaney	Liberal	1848, 1855
	Robert Brown	Port de Grave	Conservative	1855
	John Kent	St. John's East	Liberal	1832, 1848
	Robert John Parsons		Liberal	1843
	Peter Winser	Liberal	1855
	John Kavanagh (1857)	Liberal	1857
	John Fox	St. John's West	Liberal	1855
	Ambrose Shea		Liberal	1848
	Philip Francis Little		Liberal	1850
	John Casey (1857)	Liberal	1857
	J. J. Gearin (1858)	Liberal	1858
	Stephen March	Trinity Bay	Conservative	1852
	John Winter		Conservative	1855
	F.B.T. Carter	Conservative	1855
	William Henry Ellis	Twillingate and Fogo	Conservative	1855
	Thomas Knight		Conservative	1855
	William Whiteway (1858)	Conservative	1858

By-elections

By-elections were held to replace members for various reasons:

Electoral district	Member elected	Affiliation	Election date	Reason
St. John's East	John Kavanagh	Liberal	1857	P Winser resigned in 1857[6]
St. John's West	John Casey	Liberal	1857	J Fox named to Legislative Council in 1857[6]
Twillingate and Fogo	William Whiteway	Conservative	1858	J H Ellis died March 28, 1858[6]
St. John's West	J. J. Gearin	Liberal	1858	P F Little resigned seat in 1858[6]