Sam Drover

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Samuel Drover (1911–2005) was a Newfoundland politician who founded the Newfoundland Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), a social democratic party. He was born in Hodge's Cove and educated there and at Memorial University. He taught school from 1929 to 1938, then joined the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and later the Newfoundland Ranger Force, serving until 1949. Elected as a Liberal to Newfoundland’s House of Assembly in 1949 and re-elected in 1951, he supported Newfoundland joining Canada. Frustrated by Premier Joey Smallwood’s government, he crossed the floor to the CCF in 1955, becoming the party’s founder and leader. In 1956 the CCF ran ten candidates but won no seats, and Drover lost his Trinity North seat. It would be decades before the CCF’s successor, the New Democratic Party, won a seat in the legislature. After his defeat, Drover started a business in Hodge's Cove. He later ran for federal office as an independent Liberal—first in 1965 in Trinity—Conception and then in 1972 in Bonavista—Trinity—Conception—finishing fourth both times.