List of Great Britain by-elections (1715–34)
This is a list of parliamentary by-elections in Great Britain held between 1715 and 1734, with the names of the previous incumbent and the victor in the by-election.
In the absence of a comprehensive and reliable source, for party and factional alignments in this period, no attempt is made to define them in this article. The House of Commons: 1715-1754 provides some guidance to the complex and shifting political relationships, but it is significant that the compilers of that work make no attempt to produce a definitive list of each members allegiances.
Resignations
- See Resignation from the British House of Commons for more details.
Where the cause of by-election is given as "resignation", this indicates that the incumbent was appointed to an "office of profit under the Crown" causing him to vacate his seat and prohibited membership in the House of Commons. This office is noted in brackets.
In addition certain offices of profit, such as cabinet positions, required the MP to seek re-election. These offices are noted separately.
Dates
During this period England (but not Scotland) counted its legal year as beginning on 25 March. For the purposes of this list the year is considered to have started on 1 January.
By-elections
The c/u column denotes whether the by-election was a contested poll or an unopposed return. If the winner was re-elected, at the next general election and any intermediate by-elections, this is indicated by an * following the c or u. In a few cases the winner was elected at the next general election but had not been re-elected in a by-election after the one noted. In those cases no * symbol is used.
5th Parliament (1715–1722)
6th Parliament (1722–1727)
7th Parliament (1727–1734)
Date | Constituency | c/u | Former Incumbent | Winner | Cause |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 February 1728 | Buckingham | u* | Thomas Lewis | George Chamberlayne | Chose to sit for Salisbury |
20 February 1728 | Queenborough | c* | John Crowley | George Saunders | Death |
21 February 1728 | Aylesbury | u | William Stanhope | Edward Rudge | Chose to sit for Buckinghamshire |
21 February 1728 | Guildford | c | Arthur Onslow | Henry Vincent | Chose to sit for Surrey |
22 February 1728 | Hastings | u* | Thomas Townshend | Thomas Pelham | Chose to sit for Cambridge University |
22 February 1728 | Hythe | c* | Sir Samuel Lennard | William Glanville | Death |
22 February 1728 | Sussex | u* | Spencer Compton | James Butler | Elevated to the peerage |
23 February 1728 | Amersham | u* | Baptist Leveson-Gower | Thomas Lutwyche | Chose to sit for Newcastle-under-Lyme |
24 February 1728 | Tavistock | u | Sir John Cope | Sir Humphrey Monoux | Chose to sit for Hampshire |
28 February 1728 | Milborne Port | u | Thomas Medlycott | Thomas Medlycott | Irish Revenue Commissioner |
28 February 1728 | Winchelsea | u | John Scrope | Sir Archer Croft | Chose to sit for Bristol |
29 February 1728 | Lostwithiel | u* | Sir Orlando Bridgeman | Anthony Cracherode | Chose to sit for Bletchingley |
Darrell Trelawny | Sir Edward Knatchbull | Death | |||
29 February 1728 | Plympton Erle | u | George Treby | John Fuller | Chose to sit for Darmouth |
1 March 1728 | Old Sarum | u | Thomas Pitt | Matthew St Quintin | Chose to sit for Okehampton |
1 March 1728 | Plymouth | u* | George Treby | Robert Byng | Chose to sit for Darmouth |
1 March 1728 | Tiverton | u | Sir William Yonge | James Nelthorpe | Chose to sit for Honiton |
2 March 1728 | Bere Alston | u* | Sir Francis Henry Drake | Sir Archer Croft | Chose to sit for Tavistock |
u | Sir John Hobart | Lord Walden | Chose to sit for Norfolk | ||
2 March 1728 | Bramber | c | Sir Richard Gough | John Gumley | Death |
John Gumley | James Hoste | By-election result reversed on petition 4 April 1728 | |||
2 March 1728 | St Mawes | u | John Knight | William East | Chose to sit for Sudbury |
4 March 1728 | Rutland | u* | John Noel | Thomas Noel | Death |
16 March 1728 | Elgin Burghs | u | William Steuart | Patrick Campbell | Chose to sit for Ayr Burghs |
16 March 1728 | Stirling Burghs | u* | Henry Cunningham | Lord Erskine | Chose to sit for Stirlingshire |
16 March 1728 | Wigtown Burghs | u | William Dalrymple | John Dalrymple | Chose to sit for Wigtownshire |
18 March 1728 | Wendover | c | Richard Hampden | John Hamilton | Chose to sit for Buckinghamshire |
23 April 1728 | Winchelsea | u | Sir Archer Croft | Peter Walter | Chose to sit for Bere Alston |
13 May 1728 | New Romney | u* | Sir Robert Furnese | David Papillon | Chose to sit for Kent |
16 May 1728 | Amersham | c | Montague Garrard Drake | Marmaduke Alington | Death |
22 May 1728 | Peterborough | u | Sidney Wortley Montagu | Joseph Banks | Death |
25 May 1728 | Exeter | u | Samuel Molyneux | John Belfield | Death |
30 May 1728 | Old Sarum | u | The Earl of Londonderry | Thomas Harrison | Resignation (Governor of the Leeward Islands) |
3 June 1728 | Malmesbury | u* | Giles Earle | Giles Earle | Irish Revenue Commissioner |
5 June 1728 | Lincoln | c | Sir John Monson | Sir John Tyrwhitt | Elevated to the peerage |
6 June 1728 | Honiton | u* | Sir William Yonge | Sir William Yonge | Lord of the Admiralty |
6 June 1728 | Thirsk | u* | Sir Thomas Frankland | Sir Thomas Frankland | Lord of Trade |
19 June 1728 | Yorkshire | u | Sir Thomas Watson Wentworth | Sir George Savile | Elevated to the peerage |
26 June 1728 | Norfolk | u | Sir Thomas Coke | Harbord Harbord | Elevated to the peerage |
u* | Sir John Hobart | Sir Edmund Bacon | Elevated to the peerage | ||
16 July 1728 | Roxburghshire | u | William Douglas | William Douglas | Keeper of Register of Hornings |
27 January 1729 | Queenborough | c* | Sprig Manesty | Richard Evans | Death |
29 January 1729 | Buckinghamshire | u* | Richard Hampden | Sir Thomas Lee | Death |
29 January 1729 | Lyme Regis | c* | Henry Holt Henley | Henry Holt Henley | Clerk of the Pipe |
29 January 1729 | Peterborough | u | The Earl FitzWilliam | Charles Gounter Nicoll | Death |
29 January 1729 | New Shoreham | u | Francis Chamberlayne | Samuel Ongley | Death |
Sir Nathaniel Gould | John Gould | ||||
31 January 1729 | Chichester | u | Charles Lumley | James Lumley | Death |
31 January 1729 | Orford | u | Price Devereux | William Acton | Chose to sit for Montgomeryshire |
1 February 1729 | Midhurst | u | The Viscount Midleton | Sir Richard Mill | Death |
6 February 1729 | Tregony | u | Thomas Smith | Matthew Ducie Moreton | Death |
12 February 1729 | Wareham | u | Joseph Gascoigne | Nathaniel Gould | Death |
26 February 1729 | Wareham | u | Sir Edward Ernle | Thomas Tower | Death |
27 February 1729 | West Looe | u* | John Willes | John Willes | Chief Justice of Chester |
3 March 1729 | Aldborough | u* | William Jessop | William Jessop | Puisne Justice of Chester |
13 March 1729 | Dorchester | u* | William Chapple | William Chapple | Chief Justice of Carnarvon, Merioneth and Anglesey |
25 March 1729 | Cromartyshire | u | Sir Kenneth Mackenzie | Sir George Mackenzie | Death |
8 April 1729 | Pontefract | u* | Sir William Lowther | Sir William Lowther | Death |
12 April 1729 | Wiltshire | u* | Sir James Long | John Howe | Death |
1 May 1729 | Cardigan Boroughs | c(*) | Francis Cornwallis | Richard Lloyd | Death (Two MPs Elected due to Double Return) |
Thomas Powell | |||||
c* | Thomas Powell | Richard Lloyd | Lloyd declared elected 7 May 1730 | ||
Richard Lloyd | |||||
13 May 1729 | Lymington | c | Anthony Morgan | William Powlett | Death |
22 May 1729 | Malton | u* | Henry Finch | Henry Finch | Receiver General of Revenues of Minorca |
28 May 1729 | Liverpool | c | Thomas Brereton | Sir Thomas Aston | Victualling Commissioner |
29 May 1729 | Dartmouth | u* | Walter Carey | Walter Carey | Clerk of the Privy Council |
29 May 1729 | Southampton | u* | Robert Eyre | William Heathcote | Resignation (Commissioner of Excise) |
2 June 1729 | Newport (I.o.W.) | u* | George Huxley | George Huxley | Muster-Master General |
1 July 1729 | Lanarkshire | u | Lord Archibald Hamilton | Lord Archibald Hamilton | Naval Lord |
5 August 1729 | Stirling Burghs | u | Lord Erskine | Lord Erskine | Accepted a Commission in the Army |
20 January 1730 | Andover | u* | Viscount Milsington | William Guidott | Became a Scottish Peer |
21 January 1730 | Banbury | c | Francis North | Toby Chauncy | Succeeded to a peerage |
22 January 1730 | Boston | c | Henry Pacey | The Lord Coleraine | Death |
23 January 1730 | Southwark | c* | Edmund Halsey | Thomas Inwen | Death |
24 January 1730 | Appleby | u* | Sackville Tufton | Walter Plumer | Succeeded to a peerage |
26 January 1730 | Durham City | c* | Robert Shafto | John Shafto | Death |
26 January 1730 | Scarborough | u* | John Hungerford | William Thompson | Death |
26 January 1730 | Winchester | c | Lord William Powlett | Norton Powlett | Death |
27 January 1730 | Ipswich | c | William Thompson | Philip Broke | Resignation (Baron of the Exchequer) |
30 January 1730 | Weobley | c | John Birch | John Birch | Cursitor Baron of the Exchequer |
3 February 1730 | Derby | u* | William Stanhope | Charles Stanhope | Elevated to the peerage |
7 February 1730 | Huntingdonshire | c* | Marquess of Hartington | Robert Piggott | Succeeded to a peerage |
7 February 1730 | Pontefract | u | John Lowther | John Mordaunt | Death |
13 February 1730 | Aylesbury | c | Philip Lloyd | Thomas Ingoldsby | Equerry to the King |
13 February 1730 | Selkirkshire | u* | John Pringle | James Rutherford | Resignation (Lord of Session) |
18 February 1730 | Rutland | c | Lord Finch | William Burton | Succeeded to a peerage |
20 February 1730 | Bridport | u | James Pelham | John Jewkes | Chose to sit for Newark |
23 February 1730 | Orford | u | Dudley North | Robert Kemp | Death |
23 March 1730 | St Albans | c | Caleb Lomax | Thomas Gape | Death |
25 March 1730 | Beaumaris | u* | Watkin Williams Wynn | The Viscount Bulkeley | Chose to sit for Denbighshire |
29 April 1730 | Lostwithiel | u* | Sir Edward Knatchbull | Edward Walpole | Death |
7 May 1730 | Orkney and Shetland | u | George Douglas | Robert Douglas | Became a Scottish Peer |
8 May 1730 | Aldeburgh | u | William Windham | Sir John Williams | Death |
14 May 1730 | Honiton | u* | Sir William Yonge | Sir William Yonge | Junior Lord of the Treasury |
14 May 1730 | Great Yarmouth | c | Horatio Walpole | Horatio Walpole | Cofferer of the Household |
16 May 1730 | Bury St Edmunds | u | Lord Hervey | Lord Hervey | Vice-Chamberlain of the Household |
u* | Thomas Norton | Thomas Norton | Deputy Governor of Chelsea Hospital | ||
18 May 1730 | King's Lynn | u* | Sir Charles Turner | Sir Charles Turner | Teller of the Exchequer |
20 May 1730 | Totnes | u | Exton Sayer | Exton Sayer | Surveyor General of the Land Revenues of the Crown |
20 May 1730 | Weymouth and Melcombe Regis | c* | William Betts | George Dodington | Void Election |
21 May 1730 | Dartmouth | u* | George Treby | George Treby | Master of the Household |
21 May 1730 | Northamptonshire | c* | Sir Justinian Isham | Sir Justinian Isham | Death |
21 May 1730 | Sussex | u* | Henry Pelham | Henry Pelham | Paymaster of the Forces |
22 May 1730 | Scarborough | u* | Sir William Strickland | Sir William Strickland | Secretary at War |
26 May 1730 | Droitwich | u* | Thomas Winnington | Thomas Winnington | Lord of the Admiralty |
26 May 1730 | Andover | u* | James Brudenell | James Brudenell | Lord of Trade |
27 May 1730 | Newport (I.o.W.) | u* | William Fortescue | William Fortescue | King's Counsel |
29 May 1730 | Richmond | u* | Sir Conyers Darcy | Sir Conyers Darcy | Comptroller of the Household |
30 May 1730 | Thirsk | u* | Sir Thomas Frankland | Sir Thomas Frankland | Lord of the Admiralty |
2 June 1730 | Devon | u* | John Rolle | Henry Rolle | Death |
22 June 1730 | Bere Alston | u | Sir Archer Croft | Sir Archer Croft | Lord of Trade |
27 January 1731 | Chipping Wycombe | u* | William Lee | Sir Charles Vernon | Resignation (Justice of the King's Bench) |
30 January 1731 | Bedford | c* | James Metcalfe | Sir Jeremy Sambrooke | Death |
31 January 1731 | Grampound | u | Humphry Morrice | Isaac le Heup | Death |
5 February 1731 | Bridgwater | u* | Sir Halswell Tynte | Thomas Palmer | Death |
9 February 1731 | Yarmouth | u | Maurice Morgan | Maurice Morgan | Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Wight |
25 March 1731 | Bossiney | c | Robert Corker | James Cholmondeley | Death |
3 May 1731 | Rochester | u* | David Polhill | David Polhill | Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London |
5 May 1731 | Berkshire | u* | Robert Packer | Winchcombe Howard Packer | Death |
14 May 1731 | Great Marlow | c | John Clavering | George Robinson | Resignation (Groom of the Bedchamber) |
17 May 1731 | Knaresborough | u* | Richard Arundell | Richard Arundell | Surveyor of the King's Private Roads |
17 May 1731 | Monmouthshire | u | William Morgan | Lord Charles Noel Somerset | Death |
19 May 1731 | Malton | u* | Wardell George Westby | Sir William Wentworth | Resignation (Commissioner of Customs) |
20 May 1731 | Lichfield | u* | Walter Chetwynd | George Venables Vernon | Resignation (Governor of Barbados) |
4 June 1731 | Ayr Burghs | u | William Steuart | William Steuart | Paymaster of Pensions |
21 January 1732 | Aldeburgh | u* | Samuel Lowe | George Purvis | Death |
21 January 1732 | Plymouth | u* | Robert Byng | Robert Byng | Commissioner of the Navy |
22 January 1732 | Christchurch | c | Charles Wither | Philip Lloyd | Death |
22 January 1732 | New Woodstock | u* | Marquess of Blandford | John Spencer | Death |
24 January 1732 | Preston | c* | Daniel Pulteney | Nicholas Fazakerley | Death |
25 January 1732 | Totnes | c | Exton Sayer | Sir Henry Gough | Death |
9 February 1732 | Suffolk | u* | Sir William Barker | Sir Robert Kemp | Death |
26 February 1732 | Oxford University | u* | William Bromley | Viscount Cornbury | Death |
8 April 1732 | Great Marlow | c* | George Robinson | Sir Thomas Hoby | Expulsion |
14 April 1732 | Weobley | c | John Birch | James Cornewall | Expulsion |
15 April 1732 | Droitwich | u* | Richard Foley | Edward Foley | Death |
15 April 1732 | Minehead | u* | Francis Whitworth | Francis Whitworth | Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks, and Chases |
26 April 1732 | Poole | u* | Denis Bond | Sir Thomas Wyndham | Expulsion |
28 April 1732 | Peeblesshire | c* | John Douglas | Sir James Nasmyth | Death |
29 April 1732 | Great Bedwyn | u | Sir William Willys | Francis Seymour | Death |
15 May 1732 | New Windsor | u* | Lord Vere Beauclerk | Lord Vere Beauclerk | Commissioner of the Navy |
30 May 1732 | Nottinghamshire | u* | Sir Robert Sutton | Thomas Bennet | Expulsion |
The Viscount Howe | William Levinz | Resignation (Governor of Barbados) | |||
15 June 1732 | Liskeard | u | Thomas Clutterbuck | Thomas Clutterbuck | Lord of the Admiralty |
13 July 1732 | Aberdeenshire | u* | Sir Archibald Grant | Sir Arthur Forbes | Expelled due to his role in the Charitable Corporation |
23 January 1733 | Northampton | u | Edward Montagu | Edward Montagu | Governor of Kingston-upon-Hull |
23 January 1733 | Rye | u | John Norris | Matthew Norris | Resignation (Usher of the Customs House in the Port of London) |
23 January 1733 | St Albans | c | Thomas Gape | John Merrill | Death |
24 January 1733 | Chester | c* | Sir Richard Grosvenor | Robert Grosvenor | Death |
25 January 1733 | Brackley | u* | William Egerton | George Lee | Death |
26 January 1733 | East Retford | u* | Thomas White | John White | Death |
26 January 1733 | West Looe | u* | Edward Trelawny | Thomas Walker | Resignation (Commissioner of Customs in Scotland) |
29 January 1733 | Ipswich | u* | Francis Negus | William Wollaston | Death |
29 January 1733 | St Germans | u | Sidney Godolphin | Richard Eliot | Death |
1 February 1733 | Bath | u* | George Wade | George Wade | Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed |
1 February 1733 | Thetford | u* | Robert Jacomb | Charles FitzRoy | Death |
9 February 1733 | Bodmin | u* | Robert Booth | Sir John Heathcote | Death |
15 February 1733 | Ross-shire | u | Charles Ross | John Munro | Death |
16 February 1733 | Bedfordshire | u | Pattee Byng | Charles Leigh | Succeeded to a peerage |
1 March 1733 | Forfarshire | u | James Scott | Robert Scott | Death |
7 March 1733 | Kingston-upon-Hull | u* | George Crowle | George Crowle | Victualling Commissioner |
13 March 1733 | Chichester | c | Lord William Beauclerk | Sir Thomas Prendergast | Death |
21 March 1733 | Chester | c* | Sir Thomas Grosvenor | Sir Charles Bunbury | Death |
1 March 1733 | St Germans | u* | Sir Gilbert Heathcote | Dudley Ryder | Death |
2 April 1733 | Kent | u* | Sir Robert Furnese | Sir Edward Dering | Death |
9 April 1733 | Banbury | u* | Toby Chauncy | Viscount Wallingford | Death |
27 April 1733 | Denbigh Boroughs | u* | Robert Myddelton | John Myddelton | Death |
16 May 1733 | New Windsor | u* | Viscount Malpas | Lord Sidney Beauclerk | Succeeded to a peerage |
17 May 1733 | Yarmouth | u | Maurice Morgan | Maurice Bocland | Death |
22 May 1733 | Malmesbury | u* | William Rawlinson Earle | William Rawlinson Earle | Clerk of the Deliveries of the Ordnance |
29 May 1733 | Northallerton | u* | Leonard Smelt | Leonard Smelt | Clerk of the Ordnance |
11 June 1733 | Mitchell | u | Thomas Farrington | Thomas Farrington | Auditor of the Land Revenues for Wales |
25 June 1733 | Andover | u | James Brudenell | James Brudenell | Groom of the Bedchamber |
27 June 1733 | Bury St Edmunds | u | Lord Hervey | Thomas Hervey | Elevated to the House of Lords through a Writ of acceleration |
4 July 1733 | Hampshire | u* | Lord Harry Powlett | Lord Harry Powlett | Naval Lord |
3 August 1733 | Selkirkshire | u | James Rutherford | James Rutherford | Commissary of Peebles |
25 January 1734 | Durham City | u* | Charles Talbot | Henry Lambton | Elevated to the peerage and appointed Lord Chancellor |
25 January 1734 | Seaford | u* | Philip Yorke | William Hay | Appointed Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and elevated to the peerage |
26 January 1734 | Downton | u | John Verney | John Verney | Chief Justice of Chester |
28 January 1734 | St Germans | u* | Dudley Ryder | Dudley Ryder | Solicitor General for England and Wales |
28 January 1734 | West Looe | u* | John Willes | John Willes | Attorney General for England and Wales |
29 January 1734 | Peterborough | u* | Charles Gounter Nicoll | Armstead Parker | Death |
31 January 1734 | Sudbury | c | John Knight | Richard Jackson | Death |
5 February 1734 | Bere Alston | u | Lord Walden | William Morden | Succeeded to a peerage |
5 February 1734 | Leicestershire | u* | Sir Clobery Noel | Ambrose Phillipps | Death |
6 February 1734 | Berkshire | u* | Sir John Stonhouse | William Archer | Death |
6 February 1734 | Kingston-upon-Hull | u* | The Viscount Micklethwaite | Henry Maister | Death |
6 February 1734 | Saltash | u* | Edward Hughes | Thomas Corbett | Death |
6 February 1734 | Warwickshire | u* | William Peyto | Sir Charles Mordaunt | Death |
15 February 1734 | Sutherland | u* | Lord Strathnaver | Sir James Fergusson | Became a Scottish Peer |
References
- List of MPs since 1660
- Return of the name of every member of the lower house of parliament of England, Scotland, and Ireland, with name of constituency represented, and date of return, from 1213 to 1874.
- The House of Commons 1715-1754, edited by Romney Sedgwick (London : Published for the History of Parliament Trust by H.M.S.O., 1970) ISBN 0118800981