Liskeard (UK Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
Liskeard was 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...

 in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, 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 1295 until 1832, and then one member from 1832 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.

History

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

 was based upon the community of Liskeard
Liskeard
Liskeard is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in south east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Liskeard is situated approximately 20 miles west of Plymouth, west of the River Tamar and the border with Devon, and 12 miles east of Bodmin...

 in the south-eastern part of Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

.

Sedgwick estimated the electorate at 30 in 1740. Namier and Brooke considered it was about 50 in the 1754-1790 period. The right of election before 1832 was in the freemen of the borough. This constituency was under the patronage of the Eliot family, which acquired the preponderent interest by 1722.

There were no contested elections between at least 1715 and 1802. In the early 19th century the Whigs attempted to expand the electorate to include householders. During the 1802 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1802
The United Kingdom general election, 1802 was the election to the 2nd Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was the first to be held after the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...

, 48 householders claimed the right to vote but their ballots were rejected by the Mayor (see the note to the 1802 election result below). The Eliot family continued to control the borough in the Tory interest, for another thirty years.

The Reform Act 1832
Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...

 augmented the freemen voters (who retained their ancient right votes), with the beneficiaries of a new householder franchise. The number of voters registered in 1832 was 218. The political effect of the change was that a Whig was elected unopposed to the one remaining seat in 1832, whereas the two Tory candidates had been elected unopposed at the previous seven general elections. Only Whig or Liberal candidates were returned from 1832 until the constituency was abolished.

The Reform Act 1867
Reform Act 1867
The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised the urban male working class in England and Wales....

 preserved the borough constituency but slightly expanded the electorate (from 434 in 1865 to 881 in 1868). Liskeard was one of the smallest boroughs to retain individual representation in the 1868-1885 period. However the constituency was finally abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...

, when the borough became part of the Bodmin
Bodmin (UK Parliament constituency)
Bodmin was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall from 1295 until 1983. Initially, it was a parliamentary borough, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England and later the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until the 1868 general...

 or South East division of Cornwall.

1295-1629

  • Constituency created (1295)

ParliamentFirst memberSecond member
1386 John Bodilly Stephen Bant
1388 (Feb) Simon Lowys John Helligan
1388 (Sep) Simon Lowys Walter Bloyowe
1390 (Jan) Simon Lowys John Cokeworthy I
1390 (Nov)
1391 Robert Brewys John Goly
1393 Simon Lowys Robert Combe
1394
1395 Ralph Cokeworthy Ralph Trenewith II
1397 (Jan) Simon Lowys John Tregoose
1397 (Sep) John Gryk Robert Syteston
1399 Walter Gosham Thomas Forster
1401
1402 Simon Lowys John Price
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406 John Treffridowe Williard Hamond
1407 William Aston Thomas Gybbe
1410 Simon (Lowys] John Clink
1411 Simon Lowys John Penrose
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May) Simon Lowys Walter Lowys
1414 (Apr)
1414 (Nov) Simon Lowys William Bodrugan II
1415
1416 (Mar) Oto Trenewith John Trewoofe
1416 (Oct)
1417 John But Robert Treage
1419 Philip Motty John Calwe
1420 John Fursdon John Cork
1421 (May) Nicholas Aysshton Richard Tredinney
1421 (Dec) John Trelawny III Robert Trenerth
1510-1523 No names known
1529 James Trewynnard Henry Pyne
1536 ?
1539 ?
1542 ?
1545 John Roscarock Richard Halfacre
1547 Robert Becket Ambrose Gilberd
First Parliament of 1553 John Trelawny
John Trelawny (died 1563)
John Trelawny , of Pool in Menheniot, Cornwall, was an English Member of Parliament, who represented Liskeard in the first Parliament of 1553. He was also High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1547...

John Gayer
Second Parliament of 1553 William Morice Thomas Roscarock
First Parliament of 1554 James Kemp Francis Roscarock
Second Parliament of 1554 John Connock
John Connock
John Connock was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1554 and 1571.Connock was a tanner from Wiltshire. He was appointed receiver of the Duchy of Cornwall and acquired extensive properties at Liskeard at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries.In...

John Pethbridge
Parliament of 1555 John Cruys William Lowre
Parliament of 1558 William Coryton John Gayer
Parliament of 1559 George Bromley Renald Muschamp
Parliament of 1563-1567 Reginald Mohun
Parliament of 1571 John Connock
John Connock
John Connock was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1554 and 1571.Connock was a tanner from Wiltshire. He was appointed receiver of the Duchy of Cornwall and acquired extensive properties at Liskeard at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries.In...

Basil Johnson
Parliament of 1572-1581 Henry Macwilliam Paul Wentworth
Paul Wentworth
Paul Wentworth , a prominent English member of parliament in the reign of Elizabeth, was a member of the Lillingstone Lovell branch of the family.His father Sir Nicholas Wentworth was chief porter of Calais...

Parliament of 1584-1585 Peter Edgcumbe
Peter Edgcumbe
Peter Edgcumbe was an English politician.He was Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall 8 August 1586 – 7 December 1587, High Sheriff of Cornwall 1498–1499 and Custos Rotulorum of Cornwall bef. 1573–1597...

Edward Denny
Parliament of 1586-1587 Richard Edgecumbe Jonathan Trelawny
Jonathan Trelawny (1568-1604)
Sir Jonathan Trelawny , of Pool in Menheniot, Cornwall, was an English Member of Parliament. Trelawny was the posthumous younger son of John Trelawny of Pool ; his elder brother died in infancy and he inherited the estate...

Parliament of 1588-1589 John Jackson
Parliament of 1593 George Wray
Parliament of 1597-1598 Henry Neville Edward Trelawny
Parliament of 1601 Thomas Edmunds Sampson Lennard
Sampson Lennard
Sampson Lennard , of Chevening in Kent, was an English Member of Parliament who represented an unusually large number of different constituencies during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I....

Parliament of 1604-1611 Sir William Killigrew
William Killigrew (Chamberlain of the Exchequer)
Sir William Killigrew was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1571 and 1614. He was chamberlain of the exchequer between 1605 and 1608....

Reginald Nicholas
Addled Parliament (1614)
Addled Parliament
The Addled Parliament was the second Parliament of England of the reign of James I of England , which sat between 5 April and 7 June 1614...

Richard Connock John Glanville
John Glanville
Sir John Glanville the younger , of Broad Hinton in Wiltshire, was a Speaker of the English House of Commons during the Short Parliament....

Parliament of 1621-1622 Sir Edward Coke
Edward Coke
Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and politician considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the...

Nicholas Hele
Happy Parliament (1624-1625)
Happy Parliament
The Happy Parliament was the fourth and last Parliament of England of the reign of King James I, sitting from 19 February 1624 to 24 May 1624 and then from 2 November 1624 to 16 February 1625...

William Wrey
Useless Parliament (1625)
Useless Parliament
The Useless Parliament was the first Parliament of England of the reign of King Charles I, sitting only from June until August 1625. It gained its name because it transacted no significant business, making it 'useless' from the king's point of view...

William Coryton
William Coryton
William Coryton was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1641. He was expelled from parliament for falsyfying returns....

Parliament of 1625-1626 Sir Francis Steward Joseph Jane
Joseph Jane
-Life:He was born into an old family which had long been influential in Liskeard, Cornwall. His father was mayor there in 1621, and 1625 he was himself mayor of Liskeard, and in 1640 was again returned to represent the borough in the Long Parliament....

Parliament of 1628-1629 John Harris
John Harris (Royalist)
John Harris was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1628 and 1644. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War....

No Parliament summoned 1629-1640


1640-1832

Year|Second memberSecond party
April 1640
Short Parliament
The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

John Harris
John Harris (Royalist)
John Harris was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1628 and 1644. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War....

Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

George Kekewich Parliamentarian
Parliamentarian
Parliamentarian can refer to a member or supporter of a Parliament, as in:*Member of Parliament*Roundheads, supporters of the parliamentary cause in the English Civil War...

November 1640
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

Joseph Jane
Joseph Jane
-Life:He was born into an old family which had long been influential in Liskeard, Cornwall. His father was mayor there in 1621, and 1625 he was himself mayor of Liskeard, and in 1640 was again returned to represent the borough in the Long Parliament....

Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

January 1644 Harris and Jane disabled from sitting - both seats vacant
1647 Thomas Povey
Thomas Povey
Thomas Povey FRS, was a London merchant-politician who was active in colonial affairs from the 1650s, but neutral enough in his politics to be named a member from 1660 of Charles II's Council for Foreign Plantations, making him a powerful figure in the not-yet professionalized First English...

George Kekewich Parliamentarian
Parliamentarian
Parliamentarian can refer to a member or supporter of a Parliament, as in:*Member of Parliament*Roundheads, supporters of the parliamentary cause in the English Civil War...

December 1648 Povey and Kekewich excluded in Pride's Purge
Pride's Purge
Pride’s Purge is an event in December 1648, during the Second English Civil War, when troops under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed from the Long Parliament all those who were not supporters of the Grandees in the New Model Army and the Independents...

 - both seats vacant
1653 Liskeard was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
Barebones Parliament
Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector...

 and 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
January 1659
Third Protectorate Parliament
The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons...

Thomas Noell Hunt Greenwood
May 1659
Rump Parliament
The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....

Not represennted in the restored Rump
Rump Parliament
The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....

April 1660 John Connock
John Connock (born 1631)
John Connock was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660.Connock was the son of Nicholas Connock of St Cleer and his wife Joan Vivian, daughter of Hannibal Vivian of Trelowarren, Cornwall. He was a descendent of John Connock MP for Liskeard in 1554. He was educated at Middle...

John Robinson
John Robinson (born 1620)
John Robinson was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660.Robinson was the second surviving son of William Robinson of Helston, Cornwall and his wife Catherine Penrose, daughter of Thomas Penrose of Sithney, Cornwall...

April 1661 John Harris
John Harris (died 1677)
John Harris was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1661 to 1677.Harris was the son of John Harris of Lanrest in Cornwall, and of Radford by Plymstock in Devon, and his wife Elizabeth Johnson of Bonham in Wiltshire who died giving birth to him. His father was MP for...

Peter Prideaux 
May 1661 Bernard Granville
1678 Sir Bourchier Wrey
February 1679 John Connock John Buller
John Buller (died 1716)
John Buller was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1656 and 1695.Buller was the son of Francis Buller of Shillingham Cornwall, and his wife Thomasine Honeywood...

August 1679 Sir Jonathan Trelawny
Sir Jonathan Trelawny, 2nd Baronet
Sir Jonathan Trelawny, 2nd Baronet , of Trelawny in Cornwall, was an English Member of Parliament.He was the fourth child and eldest son of Sir John Trelawny, 1st Baronet, High Sheriff of Cornwall, and succeeded to the baronetcy on 16 February 1664.He entered Parliament in 1660 as member for East...

1685 Chichester Wrey John Connock
1689 Sir Bourchier Wrey John Buller
John Buller (died 1716)
John Buller was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1656 and 1695.Buller was the son of Francis Buller of Shillingham Cornwall, and his wife Thomasine Honeywood...

1690 Emanuel Pyper
1695 William Bridges
William Bridges (MP)
William Bridges was a British politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Liskeard, Cornwall 26 Oct 1695-1714 and member of the Board of Ordnance.He was the son of Robert Bridges and his wife Mary...

1696 Henry Darell
1701 Thomas Dodson
1707 John Dolben
John Dolben (politician)
John Dolben was an English barrister and politician.-Life:Dolben was the son of John Dolben, Archbishop of York.He studied at Christ Church, Oxford.He was a barrister of the Temple, London....

1710 Philip Rashleigh Tory
1715 Sir John Trelawny
Sir John Trelawny, 4th Baronet
Sir John Trelawny, 4th Baronet , of Trelawny in Cornwall, was an English Member of Parliament.He was the eldest son of Jonathan Trelawny, 3rd Baronet and Bishop of Bristol, Exeter and Chichester, and succeeded to the baronetcy on 19 July 1721.He entered Parliament in 1713 as member for West Looe,...

April 1722 Edward Eliot John Lansdell
November 1722 Thomas Clutterbuck
1727 Sir John Cope
1734 Richard Eliot George Dennis
1740 Charles Trelawny
1747 Sir George Lee
George Lee (English politician)
Sir George Lee, PC was a politician in the Parliament of Great Britain.He was Member of Parliament for Brackley 1733–1742, for Devizes 1742–1747, for Liskeard 1747–1754, and for Launceston 1754–1758.From 1742 to 1744, Lee was a Lord of the Admiralty, and he was knighted...

1754 Edmund Nugent Philip Stanhope
Philip Stanhope (1732-1768)
Philip Stanhope was the illegitimate son of Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield to whom the famous Letters to His Son were addressed...

1759 Philip Stephens
1761 Anthony Champion
1768 Edward Eliot
Edward Craggs-Eliot, 1st Baron Eliot
Edward Craggs-Eliot, 1st Baron Eliot was born to Richard Eliot and Harriot Craggs , the illegitimate daughter of the Privy Counsellor and Secretary of State, James Craggs and Hester Santlow, the noted...

Samuel Salt
1774 Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...

Whig
1780 Wilbraham Tollemache
Wilbraham Tollemache, 6th Earl of Dysart
Wilbraham Tollemache, 6th Earl of Dysart FRS , known from 1739 to 1799 as Hon. Wilbraham Tollemache, was a British politician, a younger son of Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart....

1784 Edward James Eliot
Edward James Eliot
The Honourable Edward James Eliot was an English Member of Parliament.Eliot was born in Cornwall, the son of Edward Craggs-Eliot , politician, created Baron Eliot in 1784....

John Eliot
John Eliot, 1st Earl of St Germans
John Eliot, 1st Earl of St Germans , known as the Lord Eliot from 1804 to 1815, was a British politician....

Tory
1797 The Earl of Inchiquin
Murrough O'Brien, 1st Marquess of Thomond
Murrough O'Brien, 1st Marquess of Thomond KP, PC , known from 1777 to 1800 as the 5th Earl of Inchiquin, was an Irish peer, soldier and politician.-Life:Murrough O'Brien was born in 1726 to Hon...

1800 Lord Fincastle
George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore
George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore , known as Viscount of Fincastle until 1809, was a Scottish peer....

1802 William Eliot
William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans
William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans , known as William Elliot until 1823, was a British diplomat and politician....

Tory
1804 William Huskisson
William Huskisson
William Huskisson PC was a British statesman, financier, and Member of Parliament for several constituencies, including Liverpool...

Tory
1807 Viscount Hamilton
James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton
James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton was a British nobleman and politician, the eldest son of John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn....

Tory
1812 Charles Philip Yorke
Charles Philip Yorke
Charles Philip Yorke PC, FRS, FSA , was a British politician. He notably served as Home Secretary from 1803 to 1804.-Background:...

Tory
1818 Sir William Pringle
William Henry Pringle
Lieutenant-General Sir William Henry Pringle GCB was a politician in the United Kingdom who served as a Member of Parliament for two constituencies in Cornwall. He was MP for St Germans from 1812 to 1818, and then for Liskeard from 1818 to 1832.-References:...

Tory
1826 Lord Eliot
Edward Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans
Edward Granville Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans GCB , DL, LL.D, PC , styled Lord Elliot from 1823 to 1845, was a British politician and diplomat.-Background and education:...

Tory
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....

Representation reduced to one Member

1832-1885

Year Charles Buller
Charles Buller
Charles Buller , was a British barrister, politician and reformer.-Background and education:Born in Calcutta, British India, Buller was the son of Charles Buller , a member of a well-known Cornish family, and Barbara Isabella Kirkpatrick, daughter of General William Kirkpatrick, considered an...

Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...

1849 Richard Budden Crowder Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...

1854 Ralph William Grey
Ralph William Grey
Ralph William Grey was a British Whig politician.At the 1847 general election he was elected unopposed as the Member of Parliament for Tynemouth and North Shields, but in 1852 he narrowly lost the seat to his Conservative opponent,...

Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...

1859 Ralph Bernal Osborne
Ralph Bernal Osborne
Ralph Bernal Osborne, MP , born and baptised with the name of Ralph Bernal, Jr., was a British Liberal politician.-Life:...

Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

1865 Sir Arthur Buller
Arthur William Buller
Sir Arthur William Buller was a British Liberal Party Member of Parliament, who in his early career served as head of a commission of inquiry into education reform in Lower Canada....

Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

1869 Edward Horsman
Edward Horsman
Edward Horsman PC, PC , was a British politician.-Background and education:Horsman was the son of William Horsman, a well-to-do gentleman of Stirling, Scotland, who died 22 March 1845, aged 86. His mother was Jane, third daughter of Sir John Dalrymple, 4th Baronet, and sister of the seventh and...

Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

1876 Leonard Courtney Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

1885
United Kingdom general election, 1885
-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...

Constituency abolished


Notes

Election results

Note on sources: The information for the election results given below is taken from Sedgwick 1715-1754, Namier and Brooke 1754-1790 and Stooks Smith 1790-1832. From 1832 the principal source was Craig, with additional or different information from Stooks Smith included. Candidates classified by Craig as Liberal before 1859, are labeled as Whig or Radical (following Stooks Smith) or Liberal if their exact allegiance is uncertain. Similarly candidates classified by Craig as Conservative but by Stooks Smith as Tory are listed below as Tory.

Note on percentage change calculations: Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party percentage vote. Where there was more than one candidate for a party, in one or both successive contested elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual candidates percentage vote.

Note on party allegiance of candidates: A party label is only used when the source used quotes one. Other candidates are labelled Non Partisan, but may have associated themselves with a tendency or faction in Parliament.

Elections before 1715

Dates of Parliaments 1660-1715
Summoned Elected Opened Dismissed
16 March 1660 1660 25 April 1660 29 December 1660
18 February 1661 1661 8 May 1661 24 January 1679
25 January 1679 1679 6 March 1679 12 July 1679
24 July 1679 1679–1680 21 October 1680 18 January 1681
20 January 1681 1681 21 March 1681 28 March 1681
14 February 1685 1685 19 May 1685 2 July 1687
29 December 1688 1688–1689 22 January 1689 6 February 1690
6 February 1690 1690 20 March 1690 11 October 1695
12 October 1695 1695 22 November 1695 6 July 1698
13 July 1698 1698 24 August 1698 19 December 1700
26 December 1700 1700–1701 6 February 1701 11 November 1701
3 November 1701 1701 30 December 1701 2 July 1702
2 July 1702 1702 20 August 1702 5 April 1705
1705 7 May-6 June 1705 14 June 1705 see Note
1707 see Note 23 October 1707 3 April 1708
1708 30 April-7 July 1708 8 July 1708 21 September 1710
1710 2 October-16 November 1710 25 November 1710 8 August 1713
1713 22 August-12 November 1713 12 November 1713 15 January 1715


Note:-
  • The MPs of the Parliament of England (elected 1705) and 45 members co-opted from the former Parliament of Scotland
    Parliament of Scotland
    The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...

    , became the House of Commons of the 1st Parliament of Great Britain in 1707.

Index to Election results 1715-1799


1710s –
1720s –
1730s –
1740s –
1750s –
1760s –
1770s –
1780s –
1790s

Index to Election results 1800-1885


1800s –
1810s –
1820s –
1830s –
1840s –
1850s –
1860s –
1870s –
1880s

Elections in the 1710s

Elections in the 1720s

  • Trelawny became a Baronet in 1721

  • Death of Eliot

Elections in the 1730s

  • Seat vacated on Clutterbuck being appointed a Lord of the Admiralty

  • Death of Dennis


Elections in the 1740s

Elections in the 1750s

  • Seat vacated on the appointment of Trelawny as Assay-Master of Tin for the Duchy of Cornwall


  • Seat vacated on the appointment of Nugent to an office


Elections in the 1760s

Elections in the 1770s

  • Seat vacated on the appointment of Gibbon to an office


Elections in the 1780s

  • Seat vacated on the appointment of E.J. Eliot as Remembrancer
    Remembrancer
    The Remembrancer was originally one of certain subordinate officers of the English Exchequer. The office itself is of great antiquity, the holder having been termed remembrancer, memorator, rememorator, registrar, keeper of the register, despatcher of business...

     of the Court of Exchequer
    Exchequer of pleas
    The Exchequer of Pleas or Court of Exchequer was a court that followed equity, a set of legal principles based on natural law, and common law, in England and Wales. Originally part of the curia regis, or King's Council, the Exchequer of Pleas split from the curia during the 1190s, to sit as an...



Elections in the 1790s

  • Seat vacated on the appointment of E.J. Eliot as a Commissioner for India


  • Death of E.J. Eliot

  • Inchiquin was a peer of Ireland

Elections in the 1800s

  • Resignation of Inchiquin

  • Note (1800): Stooks Smith recorded that William Huskisson was returned unopposed at this by-election, but this appears to be an error.

  • Note (1802): 48 householders claimed the right to vote. The ballots they tendered were rejected by the Mayor. 44 wanted to vote for Sheridan and Ogilvie, 3 for the Eliots and 1 for John Eliot and Sheridan.
  • Succession of John Eliot as the 2nd Lord Eliot

  • Note (1806): Stooks Smith does not give the votes for the elected candidates.


Elections in the 1810s

Elections in the 1820s

Elections in the 1830s

  • Electorate expanded and constituency reduced to one seat, by the Reform Act 1832
    Reform Act 1832
    The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...


  • Note (1835): Stooks Smith recorded 211 registered electors, but the turnout is calculated on Craig's figure above


  • Note (1837): Stooks Smith recorded 250 registered electors, but the turnout is calculated on Craig's figure above

Elections in the 1840s

  • Note (1841): Stooks Smith recorded 285 registered electors, but the turnout is calculated on Craig's figure above
  • Seat vacated on the appointment of Buller as Judge-Advocate General

  • Note (1847): Stooks Smith recorded 333 registered electors, but the turnout is calculated on Craig's figure above
  • Seat vacated on the appointment of Buller as President of the Poor Law Board

  • Death of Buller


Elections in the 1850s

  • Seat vacated on the appointment of Crowder as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas
    Court of Common Pleas (England)
    The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...



  • Trelawny and Reed are classified as Liberals (following Craig), as it is undetermined which wing of liberalism they belonged to. The list of MPs above refers to Grey as a Whig, so he is classified as such in this result.


  • Gordon is classified as Liberal (following Craig), as it is undetermined which wing of liberalism he belonged to. The list of MPs above refers to Grey as a Whig, so he is classified as such in this result.


  • The Whig Party is regarded as having merged into a new Liberal Party, which was formed at a meeting of the supporters of Lord Palmerston on 6 July 1859; although Whigs and Radicals had been informally referred to collectively as Liberals for decades.
  • Seat vacated on the appointment of Grey as a Collector of Customs


Elections in the 1860s

  • Electorate expanded by the Reform Act 1867
    Reform Act 1867
    The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised the urban male working class in England and Wales....



  • Death of Buller


Elections in the 1870s

  • Death of Horsman


Elections in the 1880s

  • Electorate expanded by the Representation of the People Act 1884
    Representation of the People Act 1884
    In the United Kingdom, the Representation of the People Act 1884 and the Redistribution Act of the following year were laws which further extended the suffrage in Britain after the Disraeli Government's Reform Act 1867...

    , but the constituency was abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
    Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
    The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...

     with effect from the UK general election, 1885.
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