Pictou (provincial electoral district)

Pictou was a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that, at the time of its dissolution, elected two members to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It existed from 1867 to 1949, at which time Pictou County was divided into the three electoral districts of: Pictou East, Pictou West, and Pictou Centre.^[1]

Pictou elected the following members to the Legislature:^[1]

Legislature	Years	Member		Party	Member		Party
43rd	1947–1949	seat declared vacant				Alfred B. DeWolfe	Liberal
	1945–1947		Josiah H. MacQuarrie	Liberal
42nd	1941–1945					Ernest G. Irish	Progressive Conservative
41st	1937–1941					Newton G. Munro	Liberal
40th	1933–1937					Donald F. Fraser	Liberal

Prior to 1933, Pictou elected three members to the Nova Scotia Legislature:^[1]

Legislature	Years	Member		Party	Member		Party	Member		Party
39th	1928–1933		John Doull	Liberal Conservative		Hugh A. MacQuarrie	Liberal Conservative		Robert A. Douglas	Liberal Conservative
38th	1925–1928
37th	1920–1925		Robert M. McGregor	Liberal		John W. Macdonald	Liberal		Robert Henry Graham	Liberal
36th	1916–1920					Robert Hugh MacKay	Liberal
35th	1911–1916								Charles E. Tanner	Liberal Conservative
34th	1909–1911								John M. Baillie	Liberal Conservative
	1906–1909					Charles E. Tanner	Liberal Conservative
33rd	1904–1906								Edward M. Macdonald	Liberal
	1901–1904		George Patterson	Liberal
32nd	1900–1901		Matthew Fitzpatrick	Liberal Conservative
	1897–1900					James D. McGregor	Liberal
31st	1894–1897		William Cameron	Liberal Conservative		Charles E. Tanner	Liberal Conservative		Alexander Grant	Liberal Conservative
30th	1890–1894					James D. McGregor	Liberal
29th	1887–1890					Jeffrey McColl	Liberal		Charles H. Munro	Liberal Conservative
	1886–1887		Adam Carr Bell	Liberal Conservative
28th	1882–1886					Robert Hockin	Liberal Conservative
27th	1878–1882					Simon Hugh Holmes	Liberal Conservative		Alexander MacKay	Liberal Conservative
26th	1874–1878		Hugh J. Cameron	Liberal Conservative
25th	1872–1874
	1871–1872								James McDonald	Liberal Conservative
24th	1867–1871		Robert S. Copeland	Anti-Confederation		George Murray	Anti-Confederation		Martin Isaac Wilkins	Anti-Confederation

1867 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	George Murray	2,019	18.45%
	Liberal	Robert S. Copeland	1,977	18.06%
	Liberal	Martin Isaac Wilkins	1,968	17.98%
	Liberal–Conservative	Simon Hugh Holmes	1,684	15.38%
	Liberal–Conservative	Donald Fraser	1,649	15.06%
	Liberal–Conservative	Alexander McKay	1,649	15.06%
Total			10,946	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1871 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	James McDonald	2,270	18.21%
	Liberal–Conservative	Simon Hugh Holmes	2,242	17.98%
	Liberal–Conservative	Hugh J. Campbell	2,188	17.55%
	Liberal	George Murray	1,955	15.68%
	Liberal	John D. McLeod	1,927	15.46%
	Liberal	Robert S. Copeland	1,884	15.11%
Total			12,466	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1874 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	Hugh J. Cameron	Acclaimed
	Liberal–Conservative	Simon Hugh Holmes	Acclaimed
	Liberal–Conservative	Alexander MacKay	Acclaimed
Total				–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1878 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	Simon Hugh Holmes	2,752	18.57%
	Liberal–Conservative	Adam Carr Bell	2,694	18.18%
	Liberal–Conservative	Alexander MacKay	2,592	17.49%
	Liberal	George Murray	2,349	15.85%
	Liberal	John D. McLeod	2,250	15.18%
	Liberal	Robert McNeil	2,183	14.73%
Total			14,820	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1882 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	Robert Hockin	2,492	17.41%
	Liberal–Conservative	Charles H. Munro	2,489	17.39%
	Liberal–Conservative	Adam Carr Bell	2,473	17.28%
	Liberal	Jeffrey McColl	2,411	16.84%
	Liberal	Rodney MacDonald	2,250	15.72%
	Liberal	Cornelius Dwyer	2,200	15.37%
Total			14,315	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1886 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	Adam Carr Bell	2,844	18.22%
	Liberal	Jeffrey McColl	2,606	16.70%
	Liberal–Conservative	Charles H. Munro	2,578	16.52%
	Liberal–Conservative	Robert Hockin	2,565	16.44%
	Liberal	John D. McLeod	2,514	16.11%
	Liberal	Robert Drummond	2,498	16.01%
Total			15,605	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1890 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	William Cameron	2,897	17.05%
	Liberal	James Drummond McGregor	2,885	16.98%
	Liberal–Conservative	Alexander Grant	2,883	16.97%
	Liberal–Conservative	Charles Elliott Tanner	2,835	16.68%
	Liberal	Robert Drummond	2,764	16.27%
	Liberal	John Yorston	2,728	16.05%
Total			16,992	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1894 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	William Cameron	3,254	17.93%
	Liberal–Conservative	Charles Elliott Tanner	3,236	17.83%
	Liberal–Conservative	Alexander Grant	3,109	17.13%
	Liberal	James Drummond McGregor	2,992	16.49%
	Liberal	Edward Mortimer Macdonald	2,797	15.41%
	Liberal	J. F. Oliver	2,759	15.20%
Total			18,147	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1897 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	James Drummond McGregor	3,456	17.24%
	Liberal	Edward Mortimer Macdonald	3,422	17.07%
	Liberal–Conservative	Matthew Henry Fitzpatrick	3,314	16.53%
	Liberal–Conservative	Charles Elliott Tanner	3,299	16.46%
	Liberal	John McIntosh	3,290	16.41%
	Liberal–Conservative	William Cameron	3,262	16.28%
Total			20,043	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1901 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Edward Mortimer Macdonald	3,703	20.61%
	Liberal	George Patterson	3,534	19.67%
	Liberal–Conservative	Charles Elliott Tanner	3,186	17.73%
	Liberal	Robert Dewar	3,157	17.57%
	Liberal–Conservative	George E. Munro	3,011	16.76%
	Liberal–Conservative	William Cameron	1,377	7.66%
Total			17,968	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1906 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	Charles Elliott Tanner	3,983	18.19%
	Liberal	Robert M. McGregor	3,832	17.50%
	Liberal–Conservative	John M. Baillie	3,617	16.52%
	Liberal	Robert Hugh MacKay	3,546	16.19%
	Liberal	George Patterson	3,546	16.19%
	Liberal–Conservative	George E. Munro	3,372	15.40%
Total			21,896	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1911 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Robert M. McGregor	3,929	17.39%
	Liberal–Conservative	Charles Elliott Tanner	3,788	16.76%
	Liberal	Robert Hugh MacKay	3,725	16.49%
	Liberal–Conservative	John M. Baillie	3,591	15.89%
	Liberal–Conservative	S. G. Robertson	3,428	15.17%
	Liberal	Arthur W. MacKenzie	3,299	14.60%
	Labour	P. P. Cosgrove	835	3.70%
Total			22,595	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1916 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Robert M. McGregor	4,555	17.68%
	Liberal	Robert Henry Graham	4,512	17.52%
	Liberal	Robert Hugh MacKay	4,309	16.73%
	Liberal–Conservative	John W. McKay	4,210	16.34%
	Liberal–Conservative	Charles Elliott Tanner	4,165	16.17%
	Liberal–Conservative	J. William Sutherland	3,557	13.81%
	Labour	John B. Strickland	450	1.75%
Total			25,758	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1920 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Robert Henry Graham	6,696	17.45%
	Liberal	John Welsford MacDonald	6,287	16.38%
	Liberal	Robert M. McGregor	6,056	15.78%
	Labour	Hyland Fraser	6,012	15.66%
	United Farmers	Alexander D. MacKay	5,984	15.59%
	Liberal–Conservative	John Bell	4,416	11.51%
	Labour	Bertha A. Donaldson	2,930	7.63%
Total			38,381	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1925 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	John Doull	9,432	20.55%
	Liberal–Conservative	Robert Albert Douglas	9,053	19.73%
	Liberal–Conservative	Hugh Allan MacQuarrie	9,043	19.71%
	Liberal	Archibald McColl	5,591	12.18%
	Liberal	John Welsford MacDonald	5,464	11.91%
	Liberal	George W. Whitman	5,332	11.62%
	Labour	William Murray	695	1.51%
	Labour	J. Gordon Calkin	668	1.46%
	Labour	Joseph White	610	1.33%
Total			45,888	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1928 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal–Conservative	John Doull	7,836	18.21%
	Liberal–Conservative	Robert Albert Douglas	7,572	17.59%
	Liberal–Conservative	Hugh Allan MacQuarrie	7,249	16.84%
	Liberal	Donald F. Fraser	7,052	16.38%
	Liberal	A. T. Logan	6,836	15.88%
	Liberal	Clifford E. Carruthers	6,498	15.10%
Total			43,043	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1933 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Josiah H. MacQuarrie	10,887	28.15%
	Liberal	Donald F. Fraser	10,377	26.83%
	Liberal–Conservative	John W. MacLeod	8,861	22.91%
	Liberal–Conservative	John Doull	8,546	22.10%
Total			38,671	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia Legislature (1933). Legislature of Nova Scotia Election Returns (PDF). Queen's Printer.

1937 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Josiah H. MacQuarrie	10,149	27.34%	-27.64%
	Liberal	Newton G. Munro	9,637	25.96%	-29.02%
	Liberal–Conservative	John A. MacGregor	8,890	23.95%	-21.06%
	Liberal–Conservative	Rod H. MacLeod	8,441	22.74%	-22.27%
Total			37,117	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia Legislature (1937). Legislature of Nova Scotia Election Returns (PDF). Queen's Printer.

1941 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Josiah H. MacQuarrie	8,780	26.89%	-26.42%
	Liberal–Conservative	Ernest G. Irish	8,256	25.28%	-21.41%
	Liberal–Conservative	W. Thomas Hayden	8,055	24.67%	-22.02%
	Liberal	Newton G. Munro	7,562	23.16%	-30.15%
Total			32,653	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia Legislature (1941). Legislature of Nova Scotia Election Returns (PDF). Queen's Printer.

1945 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Josiah H. MacQuarrie	10,031	27.61%	-22.43%
	Liberal	Alfred B. DeWolfe	9,020	24.83%	-25.22%
	Liberal–Conservative	Ernest G. Irish	7,061	19.44%	-30.51%
	Liberal–Conservative	John A. MacGregor	6,704	18.46%	-31.50%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Donald L. Nicholson	1,688	4.65%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	G. Miller Dick	1,576	4.34%	–
	Independent	George J. White	245	0.67%	–
Total			36,325	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Pictou County" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia Legislature (1945). Legislature of Nova Scotia Election Returns (PDF). Queen's Printer.