Carmarthenshire County Council election, 1889

The first election to the Carmarthenshire County Council was held in January 1889.^[1] It was followed by the 1892 election.

Overview of the Result

1889 was one of those landmark years in the history of Welsh Liberalism, a coming of age symbolized by the triumph across Wales of Liberal candidates in the inaugural county council elections.

Contested Elections

There were a large number of contested elections and the majorities were small in most instances.

Summary of Results

This section summarises the detailed results which are noted in the following sections. This was the inaugural county election and therefore no comparison can be made with the previous elections. In some cases there is an ambiguity in the sources over the party affiliations and this is explained below where relevant.

This table summarises the result of the elections in all wards. 48 councillors were elected.

Carmarthesnhire County Council 1889: elected members
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal
	Conservative
	Liberal Unionist
	Independent

Carmarthenshire County Council 1889 : following election of new aldermen
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal
	Conservative
	Liberal Unionist
	Independent

Carmarthenshire County Council 1889 : following election of new aldermen and by-elections
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal
	Conservative
	Liberal Unionist
	Independent

Results

Abergwili

Abergwili 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	D.L. Jones	226
	Liberal	John Lloyd	221
Majority			5
	Liberal win (new seat)

Bettws

Bettws 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Nathaniel Jones	277
	Liberal	James Rees	230
Majority			46
	Liberal win (new seat)

Caio

Caio 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	C. Lewis Davies	240
	Conservative	Sir James Hills-Johnes	200
Majority			40
	Liberal win (new seat)

Carmarthen Eastern Ward (Lower Division)

Carmarthen Eastern Ward (Lower Division) 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Jenkins	235
	Conservative	H. Brunel White	230
Majority			5
	Liberal win (new seat)

Carmarthen Eastern Ward (Upper Division)

Carmarthen Eastern Ward (Upper Division) 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	H. Norton	213
	Liberal	Thomas Davies	192
Majority			21
	Liberal Unionist win (new seat)

Carmarthen Western Ward (Lower Division)

Carmarthen Western Ward (Lower Division) 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D.H. Thomas	170
	Liberal	W. de G. Warren	132
Majority			38
	Conservative win (new seat)

Carmarthen Western Ward (Upper Division)

Carmarthen Eastern Ward (Lower Division) 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	D. Rixon Morgan	251
	Conservative	James Phillips	182
Majority			69
	Liberal win (new seat)

Cenarth

Cenarth 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Davies	239
	Conservative	H.W.T. Howell	165
Majority
	Liberal win (new seat)

Cilycwm

Cilycwm 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rev Thomas Evans	156
	Conservative	R. Campbell-Davys	137
	Liberal Unionist	D.G. Vaughan	63
Majority			19
	Liberal win (new seat)

Conwil

Conwil 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Jones	265
	Conservative	Thomas Davies	121
Majority			144
	Liberal win (new seat)

Kidwelly

Kidwelly 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Daniel Stephens	135
	Liberal Unionist	T.W.A. Evans	85
	Conservative	D.J. John	28
Majority			50
	Liberal win (new seat)

Laugharne

Laugharne 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John D. Morse	145
	Conservative	E. Falkener	128
Majority			17
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llanarthney

Llanarthney 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	T. Davies	217
	Liberal	Rev D.S. Davies	159
	Conservative	Rev R.G. Lawrence	62
Majority			58
	Conservative win (new seat)

Llandebie

Llandebie 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lord Dynevor	260
	Liberal	David Richards	186
Majority			74
	Conservative win (new seat)

Llandilo Rural

Llandilo Rural 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Powell	351
	Conservative	Herbert Peel	202
Majority			149
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llandilo Urban

Llandilo Urban 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	J.W. Gwynne Hughes	174
	Conservative	John Thomas	120
Majority			54
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llandovery

Llandovery 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Col. D.E. Jones	unopposed
	Conservative win (new seat)

Llanedy

Llanedy 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Evan Evans	unopposed
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llanegwad

Llanegwad 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	H.J. Thomas	330
	Conservative	Henry Davies	109
	Conservative	A.W. Stokes	62
Majority			221
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llanelly Rural and Ward No.1 (six seats)

Llanelly Rural and Ward No.1 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gwilym Evans	1,402
	Liberal	Joseph Mayberry	1,332
	Liberal	Henry Wilkins	1,330
	Liberal	Owen Bonville	1,234
	Liberal	Thomas Jenkins	1,212
	Liberal	Rev P. Phillips	1,139
	Independent	Hugh Nevill	776
	Conservative	James Buckley	756
	Conservative	Ernest Trubshaw	722
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llanelly Ward No.2 (three seats)

Llanelly Ward No.2 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Phillips	774
	Liberal	W.J. Wilson	715
	Liberal	D.C. Parry	659
	Conservative	Dr Henry J. Buckley	553
	Liberal Unionist	John A. Williams	483
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llanelly Ward No.3 (two seats)

Llanelly Ward No.3 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Bourne	unopposed
	Conservative	J.S. Tregoning	unopposed
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Llanfihangel Aberbythick

Llanfihangel Aberbythick 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Viscount Emlyn	unopposed
	Conservative win (new seat)

Llanfihangel-ar-Arth

Llanfihangel-ar-Arth 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Evan Harries	unopposed
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llangadock

Llangadock 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Jenkins	270
	Liberal	W.N. Lewis	213
Majority			57
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llangeler

Llangeler 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Lewis	268
	Conservative	Arthur Howell Jones	260
Majority			8
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llangendeirne

Llangendeirne 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Evans	unopposed
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llangennech

Llangennech 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	J. Glyn Thomas	202
	Conservative	Rev E.A. Davies	111
Majority			91
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llangunnor

Llangunnor 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	C.E. Morris	190
	Conservative	D.E. Stephens	169
Majority			21
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llanon

Llanon 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rev W.E. Evans	146
	Conservative	Major Edward Riley	90
Majority			56
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llansawel

Llansawel 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir J.H.W. Drummond, Bart.	unopposed
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llanstephan

Llanstephan 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Thomas Morris	197
	Liberal	John Johns	157
Majority			40
	Liberal Unionist win (new seat)

Llanybyther

Llanybyther 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Col. H. Davies-Evans	267
	Liberal	D.H. James	246
Majority			21
	Conservative win (new seat)

Mothvey

Mothvey 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Jones	176
	Liberal	John Lewis	136
Majority			40
	Liberal win (new seat)

Pembrey (two seats)

Pembrey 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal	W.J. Buckley	176
	Liberal	William Howell	460
	Liberal	Rev D. Evans	397
	Conservative	Williams	394
	Independent Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)

Quarter Bach

Quarter Bach 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Dr Howell Rees	unopposed
	Liberal win (new seat)

Rhydcymmerai

Rhydcymmerai 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Daniel Evans	165
	Liberal	Thomas Price	143
Majority			22
	Liberal win (new seat)

St Clears

St Clears 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal
Majority
	Liberal win (new seat)

St Ishmael

St Ishmael 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Lewis Phillips	203
	Liberal	Evan Stephens	180
Majority			23
	Liberal win (new seat)

Trelech

Trelech 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	J. Davies	245
	Liberal	W. Phillips	181
	Conservative	D. Jones	108
Majority			40
	Liberal win (new seat)

Election of Aldermen

In addition to the 51 councillors the council consisted of 17 county aldermen. Aldermen were elected by the council, and served a six-year term. Following the election of the initial sixteen aldermen, half of the aldermanic bench would be elected every three years following the triennial council election. As in Cardiganshire the Liberals agreed that the Conservatives be allocated three aldermanic seats only.^[2] After the initial elections, there were eighteen Aldermanic vacancies and the following Alderman were appointed by the newly elected council:

Elected for six years

• John James, Llandovery
• W.O. Brigstocke JP
• David Randell MP
• Dr J.A. Jones, Llanelly
• H. Nevill, Llanelli
• T. Williams, Llwynhendy
• D. Richards, Ammanford
• Joseph Joseph
• W.R. Edwards, Carmarthen

Elected for three years

• Col. Gwynnne Hughes JP
• J. Lewis Phillips, Carmarthen
• Sir James Hills-Johnes
• W. de G. Warren, Tenby
• Robert Scourfield, Llanstephan
• D. Bowen, Llandeilo
• J. Bagnall Evans JP
• D. James, Bailibedw

Initially, Lewis Morris had been elected an alderman but he declined on the basis that he had no sufficient time at his disposal. He was then replaced by W.R. Edwards at the second meeting of the Council.

References

Bibliography

• Morgan, Kenneth O. (1967). "Cardiganshire Politics: The Liberal Ascendancy 1885-1923". Ceredigion 5 (4): 311–346. 
• Palmer, Caroline (2004). "Matthew Lewis Vaughan Davies - ambitious cad or assiduous politician?". Ceredigion 14 (4): 73–104. 

Council elections in the preserved county of Dyfed Carmarthenshire County Council 1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1995 1999 2004 2008 2012 Ceredigion County Council 1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2004 2008 2012 Pembrokeshire County Council 1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1995 1999 2004 2008 2012 Dyfed County Council 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 Abolished Carmarthen District Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished Dinefwr Borough Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished Llanelli Borough Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished Preseli Pembrokeshire District Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished South Pembrokeshire District Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished

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