Durham or County Durham was a county constituency in northern England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, which elected two Members of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MPs) to the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 from 1675 until 1832.

History

The constituency consisted of the whole county of Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

 (including the enclaves of Norhamshire

Norhamshire

Norhamshire was an exclave of County Durham in England. It was first mentioned in 995, when it formed part of the lands of the priory at Lindisfarne...

, Islandshire

Islandshire

Islandshire was an area of Northumberland, England, comprising Lindisfarne or Holy Island, plus five parishes on the mainland.It is historically associated with the Bishop of Durham, and was administratively an exclave of County Palatinate of Durham...

 and Bedlington

Bedlington

Bedlington is a town in Northumberland, to the north of the Tyne and Wear urban area. It lies north of Newcastle and southeast of the county town of Morpeth. Other nearby places include Ashington to the north northeast, Blyth to the east and Cramlington to the south.The parish of Bedlington...

, all situated within the boundaries of Northumberland

Northumberland

Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

 and now part of that county, and of Crayke

Crayke

Crayke is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England, about two miles east of Easingwold.The parish was formerly a detached part of County Durham , due to its connection with St Cuthbert and the Bishop of Durham, who had a castle at Crayke.The seventh-century...

, now in North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

).

Because of its semi-autonomous status as a county palatine

County palatine

A county palatine or palatinate is an area ruled by an hereditary nobleman possessing special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom or empire. The name derives from the Latin adjective palatinus, "relating to the palace", from the noun palatium, "palace"...

, Durham had not been represented in Parliament during the medieval period; by the 17th century it was the only part of England which elected no MPs. In 1621, Parliament passed a bill to enfranchise the county, but James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

 refused it the royal assent

Royal Assent

The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...

, as he considered that the House of Commons already had too many members and that some decayed boroughs

Rotten borough

A "rotten", "decayed" or pocket borough was a parliamentary borough or constituency in the United Kingdom that had a very small electorate and could be used by a patron to gain undue and unrepresentative influence within Parliament....

 should be abolished first; a similar bill in 1624 failed to pass the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

. During the Commonwealth, County Durham was allowed to send members to the First

First Protectorate Parliament

The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....

 and Second

Second Protectorate Parliament

The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...

 Parliaments of the Protectorate, though the privilege was not maintained when Parliament reverted to its earlier electoral arrangements from 1658. After the Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

, Durham's right to return MPs was recognised in 1661, and finally confirmed by statute which came into effect in 1675; the county was to return two members, and the same Act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 also established Durham City as a parliamentary borough

Parliamentary borough

Parliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament...

 with its own two members.

As in other county constituencies the franchise between 1430 and 1832 was defined by the Forty Shilling Freeholder Act

Forty Shilling Freeholders

Forty shilling freeholders were a group of landowners who had the Parliamentary franchise to vote in county constituencies in various parts of the British Isles. In England it was the only such qualification from 1430 until 1832...

, which gave the right to vote to every man who possessed freehold property within the county valued at £2 or more per year for the purposes of land tax; it was not necessary for the freeholder to occupy his land, nor even in later years to be resident in the county at all.

By the time of the Reform Act, the county had a population of just over 250,000, although this was slightly reduced by the boundary changes which severed the enclaves and made them part of Northumberland or the North Riding of Yorkshire for parliamentary purposes. The electorate was only a fraction of this number: at the general election of 1790, 5,578 voted, and in 1820 the number was only 3,741. Although nobody could exert the degree of control over the voters that was common in many boroughs, several of the major local landowners had significant influence, in particular the Vane Earls of Darlington

Earl of Darlington

Earl of Darlington is a title that has been created twice, each time in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first time was in 1722 for the Baroness von Kielmansegg, half-sister1 of King George I. She was created Baroness Brentford at the same time...

.

In 1832 the county's representation was doubled, and the constituency divided into two new two-member constituencies, North Durham

North Durham (UK Parliament constituency)

North Durham is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

 and South Durham

South Durham (UK Parliament constituency)

South Durham, formally the Southern Division of Durham and often referred to as Durham Southern, was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

.

Members of Parliament

Election	First member	Second member
1654 First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....	George Lilburne George Lilburne George Lilburne was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1654. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War....	Robert Lilburne Robert Lilburne thumb|right|Robert LilburneColonel Robert Lilburne was the older brother of John Lilburne, the well known Leveller, but unlike his brother who severed his relationship with Oliver Cromwell, Robert Lilburne remained in the army...
1656 Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...	Thomas Lilburne Thomas Lilburne Thomas Lilburne was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1656 and 1659. He fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War....	James Clavering, Bt Sir James Clavering, 1st Baronet Sir James Clavering, 1st Baronet was an English landowner.He was the grandson of James Clavering , a merchant adventurer, Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1607, who bought an estate at Axwell House, near Blaydon on Tyne in 1629...

Election		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
June 1675		John Tempest			Thomas Vane
October 1675					Christopher Vane Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard was an English peer. He is known for his treatment of his heirs, and his employment as steward of Peter Smart, father of the poet Christopher Smart.-Biography:...
February 1679					Sir Robert Eden, Bt
August 1679		William Bowes			Thomas Fetherstonhalgh
1685		Robert Byerley			William Lambton
1690		Sir Robert Eden, Bt
1695		Sir William Bowes
1698		Sir Robert Eden, Bt			Lionel Vane
1701		William Lambton
1702		Sir Robert Eden, Bt			Sir William Bowes
1707					John Tempest
1708					William Vane, of West Auckland
1710					William Lambton
1713		Sir John Eden			John Hedworth
1727 British general election, 1727 The British general election, 1727 returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was triggered by the death of George I; at the time elections...		George Bowes George Bowes Sir George Bowes was an English Member of Parliament and coal proprietor.George Bowes was baptized on 4 September 1701, the youngest son of Sir William Bowes, MP, and Elizabeth Bowes...
1747 British general election, 1747 The British general election, 1747 returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw Henry Pelham's Whig government increase its majority and...					Hon. Henry Vane Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington PC was an English peer, the son of Gilbert Vane, 2nd Baron Barnard.On 2 September 1725, he married Lady Grace Fitzroy, daughter of Charles Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Southampton and they had seven children.Vane was Whig MP for Launceston from 1726 to 1727, St Mawes...	Whig
1753 by-election					Hon. Henry Vane Henry Vane, 2nd Earl of Darlington Henry Vane, 2nd Earl of Darlington was a British peer, the son of the 1st Earl of Darlington.He married Margaret Lowther, a daughter of Robert Lowther, the Governor of Barbados, on 19 March 1757 in London. They had three children:*Lady Grace Vane Henry Vane, 2nd Earl of Darlington (1726 – 8...	Whig
1758 by-election					Captain the Hon. Raby Vane
1760 by-election		Robert Shafto Bobby Shafto Robert Shafto was an 18th-century British Member of Parliament , who was the likeliest subject of a famous North East English folk song and nursery rhyme "Bobby Shafto's Gone to Sea".-Biography:...
1761 British general election, 1761 The British general election, 1761 returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707...					Hon. Frederick Vane
1768 British general election, 1768 The British general election, 1768 returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 13th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707.-Summary of the Constituencies:...		Sir Thomas Clavering, Bt Sir Thomas Clavering, 7th Baronet Sir Thomas Clavering, 7th Baronet succeeded to the Baronetcy of Axwell and to the family estates on the death of his father in 1748....	Whig
1774 British general election, 1774 The British general election, 1774 returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 14th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707.-Summary of the Constituencies:...					Sir John Eden, Bt	Whig
1790 British general election, 1790 The British general election, 1790 returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 17th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707.-Political Situation:...		Rowland Burdon Rowland Burdon (died 1838) Rowland Burdon was an English landowner and Tory politician from Castle Eden in County Durham.He was elected at the 1790 general election as one of the two Members of Parliament for County Durham, and held the seat until the 1806 general election, which he did not contest.The Castle Eden Vase ...	Tory		Captain Ralph Milbanke	Whig
1806 United Kingdom general election, 1806 The United Kingdom general election, 1806 was the election of members to the 3rd Parliament of the United Kingdom. This was the second general election to be held after the Union of Great Britain and Ireland....		Sir Thomas Liddell, Bt Thomas Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth Thomas Henry Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth , known as Sir Thomas Liddell, 6th Baronet, from 1791 to 1821, was a British peer and Tory politician.-Life account:...	Tory
1807 United Kingdom general election, 1807 The election to the 4th Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1807 was the third general election to be held after the Union of Great Britain and Ireland....		Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, Bt	Tory
1812 United Kingdom general election, 1812 The election to the 5th Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1812 was the fourth general election to be held after the Union of Great Britain and Ireland....					Viscount Barnard Henry Vane, 2nd Duke of Cleveland General Henry Vane, 2nd Duke of Cleveland, KG was a British peer, politician and army officer.Born The Honourable Henry Vane, he was the eldest son of William Vane, Viscount Barnard and his first wife, Katherine, the second daughter of Harry Powlett, 6th Duke of Bolton...	Whig
1813 by-election		John George Lambton John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham GCB, PC , also known as "Radical Jack" and commonly referred to in history texts simply as Lord Durham, was a British Whig statesman, colonial administrator, Governor General and high commissioner of British North America...	Radical
1815 by-election					Hon. William Powlett William Vane, 3rd Duke of Cleveland William John Frederick Vane, 3rd Duke of Cleveland , styled The Hon. William Vane from 1792 to 1813, The Hon...	Whig
1828 by-election		William Russell William Russell (1798–1850) William Russell of Brancepeth Castle in County Durham was a British Whig politician. He sat in the House of Commons between 1822 and 1832....	Whig
1831 United Kingdom general election, 1831 The 1831 general election in the United Kingdom saw a landslide win by supporters of electoral reform, which was the major election issue. As a result it was the last unreformed election, as the Parliament which resulted ensured the passage of the Reform Act 1832. Polling was held from 28 April to...					Sir Hedworth Williamson, Bt Sir Hedworth Williamson, 7th Baronet Sir Hedworth Williamson, 7th Baronet was an English Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1831 and 1852.Williamson was the son of Sir Hedworth Williamson, 6th Baronet...	Whig
1832 United Kingdom general election, 1832 -Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807....	Constituency divided. See North Durham North Durham (UK Parliament constituency) North Durham is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....  and South Durham South Durham (UK Parliament constituency) South Durham, formally the Southern Division of Durham and often referred to as Durham Southern, was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

Notes

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.