1894 Carmarthen Rural District Council election

The first election to the Carmarthen Rural District Council in Carmarthenshire, Wales was held in December 1894.^[1] It was followed by the 1898 election. The successful candidates were also elected to the Carmarthen Board of Guardians. In rural parishes, many councillors were returned unopposed.^[2]

The rural district included the parishes of Abergwili, Abernant, Cynwyl Elfed, Laugharne, Llanarthney, Llanddarog, Llandyfaelog, Llanddowror, Llanfihangel Abercowyn, Llangain, Llangyndeyrn, Llangynog (with Llandeilo Abercywyn), Llangynin, Llangunnor, Llanllawddog, Llanpumsaint, Llansteffan, Llanwinio, Merthyr, Meidrym, Newchurch, St Clears, St Ishmaels, and Trelech a'r Betws.

Outcome

The majority of those elected to the first Rural District Council were farmers. Women were eligible to stand in contests for district councils, and in St Ishmaels, Elizabeth Mary Gwyn was successful by a small majority. Political affiliations were generally not declared during the election.

Due to "a curious blunder" no councillor was elected to represent the Llandawke and Llansadurnen ward.^[3]

The 1894-98 Council

The first meeting of the authority took place at the Shire Hall, Carmarthen on 29 December 1894. A vote was taken to elect a chairman, and John Phillips of Caerlleon, Llanwinio defeated David E. Stephens by sixteen votes to ten.^[3] Phillips was a prominent Liberal who was also a member of Carmarthenshire County Council.^[4] Stephens, in contrast, had stood unsuccessfully in county elections at Llangunnor in 1889 and Cynwyl Elfed in 1892.

Ward Results

Abergwili (two seats)

Abergwili 1894
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	John Griffiths	195
Independent	David Davies	146
Independent	David Harries Davies	122
Independent	E.H. Francis	111
Independent win (new seat)
Independent win (new seat)

Abernant (one seat)

Abernant 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Bowen	Unopposed
	Independent win (new seat)

Conwil (two seats)

Conwil 1894
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	David Griffiths	Unopposed
Independent	David Thomas	Unopposed
Independent win (new seat)
Independent win (new seat)

Laugharne Parish (one seat)

Laugharne Parish 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Rees John	Unopposed
	Independent win (new seat)

Laugharne Township (one seat)

Morse withdrew too late to avoid a poll.^[1]

Laugharne Township 1894
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	William Thomas	120
Independent	John D. Morse	8
Independent win (new seat)

Llanarthney (two seats)

Llanarthney 1894
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	Stephen Stephens	Unopposed
Independent	William Thomas	Unopposed
Independent win (new seat)
Independent win (new seat)

Llandawke and Llansadurnen (one seat)

No nominations were received.^[3]

Llanddarog (one seat)

Llanddarog 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Davies	Unopposed
	Independent win (new seat)

Llandeilo Abercowyn and Llangynog (one seat)

Llandeilo Abercowyn and Llangynog 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Harries	Unopposed
	Independent win (new seat)

Llanddowror (one seat)

Llanddowror 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Rev Thomas Jones	Unopposed
	Independent win (new seat)

Llandyfaelog (one seat)

It was reported that the contest had been instigated after Rees defeated the local Independent minister, Evan Powell, at a parish meeting.^[1]

Llandyfaelog 1894
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	Thomas Rees	127
Independent	John Jones	49
Independent hold		Swing

Llanfihangel Abercowin (one seat)

Llanfihangel Abercowin 1894
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	David Thomas	65
Independent	David Walters	48
Independent win (new seat)

Llangain (one seat)

Llangain 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Lloyd Thomas	Unopposed
	Independent win (new seat)

Llangendeirne (two seats)

Llangendeirne 1894
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	William Thomas	Unopposed
Independent	Thomas Williams	Unopposed
Independent win (new seat)
Independent win (new seat)

Llangunnor (one seat)

Llangunnor 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Prosser	Unopposed
	Independent win (new seat)

Llangynin (one seat)

Llangynin 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Roger Davies
	Independent	John Thomas Williams
	Independent win (new seat)

Llanllawddog (one seat)

Llanllawddog 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Evan Daniel	Unopposed
	Independent win (new seat)

Llanpumsaint (one seat)

Llanpumsaint 1894
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	David Evans	87
Independent	Henry Harries
Independent	John Richards
Independent win (new seat)

Llanstephan (one seat)

Llanstephan 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Griffith Barrett Evans	Unopposed
	Independent win (new seat)

Llanwinio (one seat)

Llanwinio 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Phillips	Unopposed
	Independent win (new seat)

Merthyr (one seat)

Merthyr 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Evans	Unopposed
	Independent win (new seat)

Mydrim (one seat)

Mydrim 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Howell Davies	Unopposed
	Independent win (new seat)

Newchurch (one seat)

Newchurch 1894
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Evan Stephens	Unopposed
	Independent win (new seat)

St Clears (one seat)

St Clears 1894
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	Philip Thomas	114
Independent	Thomas Beynon	55
Independent win (new seat)

St Ishmaels (one seat)

St Ishmaels 1894
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	Elizabeth Mary Gwyn	98
Independent	William Thomas	95
Independent win (new seat)

Carmarthen Board of Guardians

All members of the District Council also served as members of Carmarthen Board of Guardians. In addition, six members were elected to represent the borough of Carmarthen.^[1] Edith Hancock was a member of a prominent Carmarthen family, being the daughter of David Archard Williams, incumbent of St David's Church for 37 years until his death in 1879

Carmarthen (six seats)

Carmarthen 1894
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	Edith Mary Hancock	892
Independent	Jonah Davies	752
Independent	Jonathan Phillips	705
Independent	Isobel Gertrude Anne Thomas	692
Independent	William Thomas	596
Independent	Thomas Thomas	550
Independent	Edward Lewis	550
Independent	John Patagonia Lewis	509
Independent	D. Parcell Rees	489
Independent	James Phillips	396
Independent	John Lewis	371
Independent	Walter Jenkin Evans	274
Independent	Andrew Fuller-Mills	269
Independent	John Jeremy	135
Independent hold		Swing
Independent hold		Swing
Independent hold		Swing
Independent hold		Swing
Independent hold		Swing
Independent hold		Swing

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The Contested Elections". Carmarthen Journal. 21 December 1894. p. 8. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
^ "Parish and District Councils. Further Lists of Nominations". South Wales Daily News. 10 December 1894. p. 6. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Carmarthen Rural District Council". Welshman. 4 January 1895. p. 8. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
^ "Mr John Phillips, Caerlleon". Carmarthen Weekly Reporter. 28 March 1913. p. 5. Retrieved 30 June 2019.

[CJ_21-12-94-1] "The Contested Elections". Carmarthen Journal. 21 December 1894. p. 8. Retrieved 21 May 2021.

[SWDN_10-12-94_noms-2] "Parish and District Councils. Further Lists of Nominations". South Wales Daily News. 10 December 1894. p. 6. Retrieved 16 May 2019.

[W_4-1-95-3] "Carmarthen Rural District Council". Welshman. 4 January 1895. p. 8. Retrieved 27 June 2019.

[CWR_28-3-13-4] "Mr John Phillips, Caerlleon". Carmarthen Weekly Reporter. 28 March 1913. p. 5. Retrieved 30 June 2019.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Council elections in Carmarthenshire
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 2017 2022
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
Ammanford Urban District	1903 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
Burry Port Urban District	1903 1906 1907 1909
Carmarthen Rural District Council	1894 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1935 Abolished
Llandeilo Rural District Council	1894 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1935 Abolished

v t e (1893 ←) 1894 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1895)
Borough Councils	Liverpool
Rural District Councils (Wales)	Aberystwyth Llandeilo
Urban District Councils (Wales)	Aberdare Ogmore and Garw Ystradyfodwg
Urban District Councils (England)	Harrow on the Hill Wealdstone
Rural District Councils (England)	Hendon
Municipal Councils (Scotland)	Edinburgh Glasgow Leith