1894 Carmarthen Rural District Council election

The first election to the Carmarthen Rural District Council in Carmarthenshire, Wales was held in December 1894. 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.

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.

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. Phillips was a prominent Liberal who was also a member of Carmarthenshire County Council. 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

Party		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

Party		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.

Laugharne Township 1894

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Thomas	120
	Independent	John D. Morse	8
	Independent win (new seat)

Llanarthney (two seats)

Llanarthney 1894

Party		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.

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.

Llandyfaelog 1894

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Thomas Rees	127
	Independent	John Jones	49
	Independent hold		Swing

Llanfihangel Abercowin (one seat)

Llanfihangel Abercowin 1894

Party		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

Party		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

Party		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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Philip Thomas	114
	Independent	Thomas Beynon	55
	Independent win (new seat)

St Ishmaels (one seat)

St Ishmaels 1894

Party		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. 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

Party		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