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 (unlike other early ridings). Its last appearance on the husting was in 1920. It was then superseded by Cowichan-Newcastle, which appeared in provincial elections from 1924 to 1963, after which a revised riding is named Cowichan-Malahat.

Demographics

Population, 2001
Population change 1996-2001	%
Area (km²)
Population density (people per km²)

Notable MLAs

• William Smithe—served as seventh Premier of BC from 1883 to 1887.

Election results

1st British Columbia election, 1871

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	John Paton Booth	47	23.98%		unknown
	Independent	Archibald Dods	38	19.39%		unknown
	Independent	Henry Fry	10	5.10%		unknown
	Independent	Edwin Pimbury	24	12.24%		unknown
	Independent	Thomas J. Skinner	10	9.69%		unknown
	Independent	William Smithe	58	29.59%		unknown
Total valid votes			195	100.00%

1875 British Columbia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Reform caucus	William Smithe	78	31.71	Y
	Reform caucus	Edwin Pimbury	72	29.27	Y
	Independent Government	William Henry Lomas	54	21.95
	Government	John Paton Booth	42	17.07
Total valid votes			246	100.00

3rd British Columbia election, 1878

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	William Beaumont	45	15.41%	–	unknown
	Opposition	John Paton Booth	66	22.60%	–	unknown
	Government	Edwin Pimbury	84	28.77%	–	unknown
	Government	William Smithe	97	33.22%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			292	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

4th British Columbia election, 1882 ¹

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	Frederick Foord	41	28.67%	–	unknown
	Opposition	William Smithe	102	71.33%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			143	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
1 Reduced to one member from two

British Columbia Byelection: Cowichan March 31, 1883 ²

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	William Smithe	Acclaimed	-.- %	–	unknown
Total valid votes			n/a	-.- %
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
2 Reason for byelection was the resignation of William Smithe upon his appointment to the Executive Council (cabinet) January 29, 1883. Date of election is date of return of writs, as no polling day was required.

5th British Columbia election, 1886

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	Henry Croft	Accl.	--%	–	unknown
	Government	William Smithe	Accl.	--%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			309	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			77.25%

6th British Columbia election, 1890

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	Henry Croft	146	34.27%	–	unknown
	Government	Theodore Davie	178	41.78%	–	unknown
	Government	Joseph Macdonald	102	23.94%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			426	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

7th General Election, 1894

For the 1894 election, the Cowichan area was part of the Cowichan-Alberni electoral district. It resumed by the name Cowichan the next election after that, in 1898:

8th British Columbia election, 1898

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	William Herd	112	38.49%	–	unknown
	Government	Theodore Davie	179	61.51%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			291	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

9th British Columbia election, 1900

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	Charles Herbert Dickie	224	67.67%	–	unknown
	Government	Walter Ford	107	32.33%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			331	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

10th British Columbia election, 1903

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	John Newell Evans	225	51.14%	–	unknown
	Government	Ernest Meeson Skinner	215	48.84%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			440	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

11th British Columbia election, 1907

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	John Newell Evans	105	46.05%	–	unknown
	Conservative	William Henry Hayward	123	53.95%		unknown
Total valid votes			228	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

12th British Columbia election, 1909

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	John Newell Evans	175	32.41%	–	unknown
	Conservative	William Henry Hayward	365	67.59%		unknown
Total valid votes			540	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

13th British Columbia election, 1912

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Conservative	William Henry Hayward	441	80.04%		unknown
	Liberal	Alexander Agnew Belford Herd	110	19.96%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			551	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

14th British Columbia election, 1916

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Kenneth Forrest Duncan	408	43.08%	–	unknown
	Independent	William Henry Hayward	539	56.92%		unknown
Total valid votes			947	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout

15th British Columbia election, 1920

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Conservative	George Alfred Mosley Cheeke	1,032	47.40%		unknown
	Independent	Kenneth Forrest Duncan	1,145	52.60%		unknown
Total valid votes			2,177	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

16th General Election, 1924

In the 1924 election, the Cowichan area became part of the new Cowichan-Newcastle riding.

Sources

Elections BC website - historical election data