1889 Pembrokeshire County Council election

The first election to Pembrokeshire County Council, was held in January 1889. It was followed by the 1892 election. The county was divided into numerous single member wards with two or more councillors elected to represent Tenby and Pembroke Dock.

Overview of the result

1889 was a landmark year 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. The Liberal triumph in Pembrokeshire was not as complete as in other Welsh counties but was nevertheless significant. In the north of the county a number of landed gentry were defeated including James Bevan Bowen of Llwyngwair, former MP for the county of Pembrokeshire. There were only nine unopposed returns, most of whom were Liberals.

Ward Results

Ambleston

Ambleston 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	David Morris	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Liberal win (new seat)

Amroth

Amroth 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sackville Herbert Owen	191
	Liberal	R. Phillips	87
Majority			104
Turnout			277
	Conservative win (new seat)

Begelly

Begelly 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Seymour Allen	161
	Conservative	R. H. Buckby	78
Majority			83
Turnout			239
	Liberal win (new seat)

Burton

Burton 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Owen H. P. Scourfield, Bart	287
	Liberal	James James	97
Majority			190
Turnout			384
	Conservative win (new seat)

Camrose

Camrose 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	W.J. Owen	152
	Conservative	R.P.L. Penn	111
Majority			41
Turnout			263
	Liberal win (new seat)

Carew

Carew 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	H. G. Allen, Q.C.	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Liberal win (new seat)

Clydey

Clydey 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lemuel Jones	174
	Conservative	J. Vaughan Colby	72
Majority			102
Turnout			246
	Liberal win (new seat)

Castlemartin

Castlemartin 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Earl Cawdor	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

Eglwyswrw

Eglwyswrw 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	T. Williams	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Liberal win (new seat)

Fishguard

Fishguard 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Worthington	218
	Liberal	William James	77
Majority			142
Turnout			295
	Conservative win (new seat)

Haverfordwest St Mary's

Haverfordwest St Mary's 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	S. Thomas	275
	Conservative	E. White	133
Majority			142
Turnout			408
	Liberal win (new seat)

Haverfordwest, Prendergast and Uzmaston

Haverfordwest, Prendergast and Uzmaston 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas James	123
	Liberal	Rev J. Jenkins	121
	Independent	Henry Davies	6
Majority			2
Turnout			250
	Conservative win (new seat)

Haverfordwest, St Thomas and Furzy Park

Haverfordwest, St Thomas and Furzy Park 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. T. P. Williams	204
	Liberal	William Williams	86
Majority			118
Turnout			290
	Conservative win (new seat)

Haverfordwest St Martin's

St Martin's 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	J. Thomas	101
	Conservative	E. Vaughan	95
Majority			6
Turnout			196
	Liberal win (new seat)

Kilgerran

Kilgerran 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Evans	158
	Conservative	E. Gower	149
Majority			9
Turnout			307
	Liberal win (new seat)

Lampeter Velfrey

Lampeter Velfrey 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rev Lewis James	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llanfyrnach

Llanfyrnach 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	E.H. James	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llanwnda

Llanwnda 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	W. Williams	187
	Conservative	E. Perkins	57
	Conservative	C. Mathias	25
Majority			130
Turnout			269
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llawhaden

Llawhaden 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Jones	175
	Liberal	Richard John	133
Majority			42
Turnout			308
	Independent win (new seat)

Llangwm

Llangwm 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	R. Carrow	171
	Conservative	W.J. Avery	33
Majority			138
Turnout			204
	Liberal win (new seat)

Llanstadwell

Llanstadwell 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	J.H. Coram	232
	Liberal	D. A. L. M'AIpin	133
Majority			99
Turnout			365
	Independent win (new seat)

Maenclochog

Maenclochog 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rev W. Griffiths	175
	Independent	J. P. Bushell	85
	Liberal	David Davies	49
Majority			90
Turnout			309
	Liberal win (new seat)

Manorbier

Manorbier 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. W. R. Stokes	159
	Liberal	W. Gibbs	111
Majority			48
Turnout			270
	Conservative win (new seat)

Mathry

Mathry 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	T. E. Thomas	208
	Conservative	J. Reynolds	48
Majority			160
Turnout			256
	Liberal win (new seat)

Milford

Milford 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Dr Griffith	237
	Liberal	J. Ll. Davies	132
Majority			105
Turnout			369
	Liberal win (new seat)

Monkton

Monkton 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Col. Morgan J. Saurin	175
	Liberal	W. Carey Rees	89
Majority			86
Turnout			261
	Conservative win (new seat)

Nevern

Nevern 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	J. Griffiths	192
	Conservative	James Bevan Bowen	167
Majority			25
Turnout			359
	Liberal win (new seat)

Newport

Newport 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Dr D. Havard	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Liberal win (new seat)

Narberth North

Narberth North 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	R. Ward	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Liberal win (new seat)

Pembroke (two seats)

Pembroke 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. George	347
	Liberal	Dr W.J. Morrison	293
	Liberal	H. Mathias	261
	Conservative	Rev D.P. Davies	143
Turnout			1,044
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)

Pembroke Dock (five seats)

None of the candidates were said to have openly run on political lines and no meetings took place during the campaign.

Pembroke Dock 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	D. Hughes Brown	926
	Liberal	W. E. Seccombe	865
	Liberal	J. Williams	824
	Liberal	Isaac Smedley	706
	Conservative	Dr J.F. Stamper	595
	Liberal	J. Davie	529
	Liberal	S. Jenkins	426
	Conservative	Rev J.S. Allen	323
	Liberal	A.E. Owen	263
Turnout			5,457
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

St David's

St David's 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	D. P. Williams	204
	Conservative	W. D. Propert	135
Majority			69
Turnout			369
	Liberal win (new seat)

St Dogmaels

St Dogmaels 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	J. Rees	159
	Conservative	E. C. Phillips	154
Majority			5
Turnout			314
	Liberal win (new seat)

St Ishmaels

St Ishmaels 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lord Kensington	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Liberal win (new seat)

St Issels

St Issels 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. R. Vickerman	236
	Conservative	Major J. Birtwhistle	27
Majority			209
Turnout			263
	Conservative win (new seat)

Slebech and Martletwy

Slebech and Martletwy 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Charles Philipps	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

Staynton

Staynton 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J.T. Fisher	156
	Liberal	J. George	85
Majority			71
Turnout			241
	Conservative win (new seat)

Tenby (two seats)

Tenby 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. H. Richards	250
	Liberal	Mathias Thomas	236
	Conservative	N.A. Roch	157
		J.A. Jenkins	126
	Conservative	B.G. Gifford	52
Turnout			821
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)

Walwyn's Castle

Walwyn's Castle 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	W. Howell Walters	150
	Conservative	Capt. Goldwyer	80
Majority			70
Turnout			230
	Independent win (new seat)

Whitchurch

Whitchurch 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Thomas	205
	Conservative	G. D. Harries	120
Majority			85
Turnout			325
	Liberal win (new seat)

Wiston

Wiston 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Captain Higgon	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

Election of Aldermen

In addition to the 51 councillors the council consisted of 16 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. After the initial elections, there were sixteen aldermanic vacancies and the following Alderman were appointed by the newly elected council (with the number of votes cast recorded in each case). A second vote was held to determine which aldermen should retire in three years.

Elected for six years

• H. Allen, Liberal (elected councillor for Carew) 42
• Lord Kensington, Liberal (elected councillor for St Ishmaels) 42
• J. Bevan Bowen, Conservative (defeated candidate at Nevern) 31
• Jno Thomas, Llether 30, Liberal
• W. Gibbs, Hodgeston 29, Liberal
• W. Williams, Haverfordwest 27, Liberal
• N.A. Roch, Tenby, Conservative (defeated candidate at Tenby) 24
• Captain Higgon 23, Conservative (elected councillor for Wiston)

Elected for three years

• W.E. Seccombe, Liberal (elected councillor for Pembroke Dock) 32
• G.P. Brewer, Narberth 29, Liberal
• R, Thomas, Trebover 29, Liberal
• W. Evans, Bletherston 28, Liberal
• Ben Rees, Granant 28, Liberal
• H. Jno Thomas, Lochturfin 28, Liberal
• W. Watts Williams, St David's 28, Liberal
• Sir Charles Philipps, Conservative (elected councillor for Slebech and Martletwy) 22

By-elections

Five vacancies were caused by the election of aldermen.

Pembroke Dock by-election

The election to replace the Mayor of Pembroke was fought on political lines.

Pembroke Dock by-election 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas George Seccombe	751
	Conservative	William Henry Gibby	587
	Liberal	Albert Edward Owen	27

St Ishmaels by-election

The election which followed the elevation of Lord Kensington was not fought on political lines.

St Ishmaels by-election 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Thomas	173
	Liberal	John George	66