Western Division of Suffolk

West Suffolk
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
County Suffolk
1832–1885
Number of members Two
Replaced by Bury St Edmunds Stowmarket and Sudbury
Created from Suffolk

The Western Division of Suffolk was a two-member constituency to the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in the 1832 Reform Act and disestablished in 1885.

History

The seat saw a relatively long first existence under the Reform Act 1832 merely as a more representative division (with a total of four MPs) instead of two for the former entire county at large, which still allowed for double voting (or more) of those Forty Shilling Freeholders who also were householders or landlords of any particular boroughs within the county. This Act retained the four largest boroughs of the seven before 1832.

With two heirs to their title serving the seat were the Marquesses of Bristol, the Hervey family, major landowners in the county and the modern seat, at Ickworth, part of its grand house now being a luxury hotel.

Equally sweeping changes took place at the end of this period with the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 which here saw the establishment of three single-member constituencies covering much of the former half-county by widening the narrow and underpopulated dual-member seat of Bury St Edmunds: the other two seats being named the North-Western or 'Stowmarket' Division and the South or 'Sudbury' Division.

MPs

ElectionMember[1] PartyMemberParty [2]
1832 Charles Tyrell Tory Sir Hyde Parker, Bt Tory
1835 Henry Wilson Liberal Robert Rushbrooke Conservative
1837 Robert Hart Logan Conservative
1838 by-election Harry Spencer Waddington Conservative
1845 by-election Philip Bennet Conservative
1859 Frederick Hervey[n 1] Conservative William Parker Conservative
1864 by-election Lord Augustus Hervey Conservative
June 1875 by-election Fuller Maitland Wilson Conservative
October 1875 by-election Thomas Thornhill Conservative
1880 William Biddell Conservative
1885 constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1850s

General Election 1852: West Suffolk[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Harry Spencer Waddington Unopposed
Conservative Philip Bennet Unopposed
Registered electors 4,379
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
General Election 1857: West Suffolk[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Harry Spencer Waddington Unopposed
Conservative Philip Bennet Unopposed
Registered electors 4,084
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
General Election 1859: West Suffolk[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Frederick Hervey 1,958 42.2 N/A
Conservative William Parker 1,379 29.7 N/A
Conservative Philip Bennet 1,300 28.0 N/A
Majority 79 1.7 N/A
Turnout 2,319 (est) 55.6 (est) N/A
Registered electors 4,172
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

Hervey succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Marquess of Bristol and causing a by-election.

By-election, 8 December 1864: West Suffolk[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Augustus Hervey Unopposed
Conservative hold
General Election 1865: West Suffolk[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Augustus Hervey Unopposed
Conservative William Parker Unopposed
Registered electors 4,269
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
General Election 1868: West Suffolk[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative William Parker 2,500 37.9 N/A
Conservative Augustus Hervey 2,389 36.2 N/A
Liberal Charles Lamport[4] 1,705 25.9 N/A
Majority 684 10.4 N/A
Turnout 4,150 (est) 74.3 (est) N/A
Registered electors 5,583
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

General Election 1874: West Suffolk[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Augustus Hervey Unopposed
Conservative William Parker Unopposed
Registered electors 5,949
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Hervey's death caused a by-election.

West Suffolk by-election, June 1875[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Fuller Maitland Wilson 2,780 72.4 N/A
Liberal Charles Easton[5] 1,061 27.6 N/A
Majority 1,719 44.8 N/A
Turnout 3,841 66.1 N/A
Registered electors 5,811
Conservative hold

Wilson's death caused a by-election.

West Suffolk by-election, October 1875[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Thomas Thornhill Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1880: West Suffolk[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative William Biddell Unopposed
Conservative Thomas Thornhill Unopposed
Registered electors 5,700
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

References

  1. ↑ This is the courtesy title given to the eldest son of the Marquess of Bristol as his main subsidiary title.
  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
  2. ↑ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 464–364. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book)|format= requires |url= (help) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 463–464. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  4. ↑ "West Suffolk Election". Bury Free Press. 14 November 1868. p. 5. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  5. ↑ "Election News". Bradford Observer. 8 June 1875. p. 3. Retrieved 21 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
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