# 1891 Cardiff County Borough Council election

The 1891 Cardiff County Borough Council election was held on Monday 2 November 1891 to elect councillors to Cardiff County Borough Council in Cardiff, Wales. These were the third all-Cardiff elections since the creation of the county borough. The previous elections were in November 1890 and the next elections were in November 1892
The result of the election saw no overall change in composition of the council.

## Background

Cardiff had become a county borough in April 1889. In July 1890 the town's ward boundaries were redrawn, increasing the number of electoral wards from five to ten. On 25 July the General Purposes Committee of the council had redistributed the existing councillors over the ten wards. Not all council seats were included in each contest, because the three councillors in each ward stood down for election in three-yearly rotation.
Elections normally took place on 1 November each year. Because 1 November 1891 fell on a Sunday, the 1891 elections took place on 2 November.
The council consisted of 30 councillors who were elected by the town's voters and ten aldermen who were elected by the councillors. Ten seats were up for election in November 1891.

## Overview of the result

Contests took place in seven of the ten electoral wards, namely Canton, Cathays, Central, Grangetown, Riverside, Roath and South. In three wards - Adamsdown, Park and Splott - the (Liberal) councillors were elected unopposed.
Prior to the election, three of the seven contested seats were held by the Liberal Party and four by the Conservatives. This remained the case after the results were announced. In comparison with 1890, the Liberals had an overall increase in votes of 299, in comparison with 127 for the Conservatives.
The Conservatives concentrated their campaigning in the Central and South wards, though in the South ward the retiring Conservative councillor only won by one vote.

### Council composition

Following these elections, the council's Liberal majority remained, with 26 Liberal members, 13 Conservatives and one Liberal Unionist.

## Ward results
### Adamsdown

Adamsdown ward 1891 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | James Munn | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | | |

### Canton

Canton ward 1891 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes |
| Liberal | William Lewis * | 592 |
| Conservative | R. Worthy Blake | 503 |
| Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing |

### Cathays

Cathays ward 1891 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes |
| Conservative | Henry White | 569 |
| Liberal | Charles Merrett | 511 |
| Labour | Alfred Good | 306 |
| Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing |

### Central

Central ward 1891 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes |
| Conservative | W. Evans | 627 |
| Liberal | F. H. Jotham * | 623 |
| Conservative gain from Liberal | Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing |

### Grangetown

Grangetown ward 1891 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes |
| Conservative | Samuel A. Brain * | 544 |
| Lib-Lab | John Gardner | 286 |
| Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |
Fireworks were let off after the result was announced, celebrating Brain's re-election.

### Park

Park ward 1891 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Ebenezer Beavan * | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | | |

### Riverside

Riverside ward 1891 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes |
| Liberal | Frank J. Beavan | 767 |
| Conservative | Dr Morgan Williams | 459 |
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing |
Beavan had previously lost his council seat in the South ward in November 1890.

### Roath

Roath ward 1891 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes |
| Liberal | Augustus Lewis | 625 |
| Conservative | Mr Waring | 510 |
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing |

### South

South ward 1891 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes |
| Conservative | Thomas Morel * | 529 |
| Liberal | Dr Alfred Rees | 528 |
| Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |
Morel, a ship owner, had been the sitting councillor for six years. There was more than one recount and the results were not announced until 10 p.m. The winning candidate was not present at the count, being ill with pleurisy.

### Splott

Splott ward 1891 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Jacob Comley | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | | |
* = 'retiring' ward councillor for re-election