Cape Breton (federal electoral district)

Cape Breton was a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1904. It was created as part of the British North America Act, 1867.

The district consisted of the county of Cape Breton and initially returned one member, but returned two members from 1872 until its dissolution. It was abolished when it was redistributed into Cape Breton South and North Cape Breton and Victoria ridings in 1903.

Geography

The Cape Breton riding was set by the British North America Act, 1867 to consist of Cape Breton County. The county was legally defined in 1852 as:

all that part of the late county of Cape Breton to the southward of a line commencing at the entrance of a large stream that falls into the sea, about three miles to the westward of Point Ancomi, at the eastern extremity of the Island of Boularderie, and following the middle of the stream upwards, until it intersects the present highway between the great and little Bras d'Or; thence running parallel to the rear line of the front lot, on the north side of Boularderie, until it comes to the southwestern corner of the Reverend James Fraser's lot, on the north side thence south twenty degrees east, to the southeastern shore of Boularderie, and to continue on the same course to the middle of the Bras d'Or lake thence up the middle thereof westerly, to the middle of the strait of Barra thence following the mid channel thereof to the western end of the Strait thence in a direct line to the line at or near Point MalagawactchktTemplate:Sic that separates the county of Cape Breton from the County of Inverness.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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The boundaries were not changed during the 1872 electoral redistribution, but now the riding would return two members to Parliament. No changes occurred during the electoral redistributions of 1882 or 1892. This riding was dissolved and redistributed into the ridings of Cape Breton South and North Cape Breton and Victoria in the 1903 electoral redistribution.

Members of Parliament

Parliament	Years	Member		Party	Member		Party
Cape Breton
1st	1867 – 1869<ref group="nb">The Anti-Confederation Party dissolved in 1869, and James McKeagney joined the Liberal-Conservative Party.</ref>	Template:Canadian party colour |	James Charles McKeagney	Anti-Confederate
	1869 – 1872	Template:Canadian party colour |		Liberal–Conservative
2nd	1872 – 1873<ref group="nb">Newton LeGayet Mackay crossed the floor to the Liberals in 1873 in the aftermath of the Pacific Scandal.</ref>	Template:Canadian party colour |	Newton LeGayet Mackay	Conservative	rowspan="6" Template:Canadian party colour |	William McDonald	Conservative
	1873 – 1874	rowspan="2" Template:Canadian party colour |		Liberal
3rd	1874 – 1878
4th	1878 – 1879<ref group="nb">Hugh McLeod died in office on 5 August 1879. His successor was determined in a by-election held on 23 October.</ref>	rowspan="2" Template:Canadian party colour |	Hugh McLeod	Liberal–Conservative
	1879 – 1882	William Mackenzie McLeod
5th	1882 – 1884<ref group="nb">William McDonald was appointed to the Senate in 1884. His successor was determined in a by-election held on 3 July.</ref>	rowspan="6" Template:Canadian party colour |	Murray Dodd	Conservative
	1884 – 1887	rowspan="5" Template:Canadian party colour |			Hector Francis McDougall	Liberal–Conservative
6th	1887 – 1891	David MacKeen
7th	1891 – 1895<ref group="nb">David MacKeen resigned his seat on 18 December 1895 to provide a seat for Charles Tupper, who was acclaimed in a by-election on 4 February 1896.</ref>
	1896 – 1896	Charles Tupper
8th	1896 – 1900
9th	1900 – 1904	Template:Canadian party colour |	Alexander Johnston	Liberal	Template:Canadian party colour |	Arthur Samuel Kendall	Liberal
Riding dissolved into Cape Breton South and Cape Breton North and Victoria

Election results

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See also

• List of Canadian electoral districts
• Historical federal electoral districts of Canada

External links

• Riding history for Cape Breton (1867–1903) from the Library of Parliament