Beaumaris (UK Parliament constituency)

Beaumaris was a parliamentary borough in Anglesey, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1553, then to the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and to the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885, when the constituency was abolished. After 1832, the constituency was usually known as the Beaumaris District of Boroughs or simply the Beaumaris Boroughs.

For other places with the same name, see Beaumaris_(disambiguation).

Beaumaris
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1536–1885
Number of members	1
Replaced by	Anglesey

History

As elsewhere in Wales, the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 provided Anglesey with two members of parliament, one representing the county and the other representing a borough constituency named after the county town but including other "contributory boroughs" who were jointly responsible for providing for the upkeep of the MP and, in return, were granted a say in his election. However, at this period two towns, Beaumaris and Newborough, were disputing the right to be considered Anglesey's county town: under Henry VIII, Newborough was the assize town, but early in the reign of Edward VI (1547–1553) this function was transferred to Beaumaris. The new constituency was designated as Beaumaris, with Newborough as its only contributory borough, and first returned an MP in 1542; but at the same time as the assize was transferred, Newborough was also relieved of the obligation to contribute to the wages of the MP for Beaumaris which, under the terms of the relevant statute, also extinguished its right to vote in his election. Porritt, the early 20th century expert on the history of the Unreformed House of Commons, concludes that "the probability is that Newborough broke the connection in a fit of ill-humour" rather than that it was contrived by Beaumaris; but within a few decades, as the desirability of being directly represented in Parliament became more widely recognised, Newborough was trying unsuccessfully to regain its former status. On several occasions until the early 18th century, Newborough's inhabitants attempted to vote, but had their votes refused by the returning officer and his decision was upheld by Parliament whenever they petitioned in objection.

The franchise was further restricted in 1562, when Elizabeth I granted Beaumaris a new municipal charter, which reserved the right to vote in parliamentary elections to members of the town corporation. Thereafter until 1832, Beaumaris was a closed "corporation borough" of a type common in England but unknown elsewhere in Wales; its only voters were the mayor, two bailiffs and 21 "capital burgesses", and since they had the sole right to fill any vacancies arising in their number their power was entirely self-perpetuating, making the constituency a completely safe pocket borough. For the best part of two centuries before the Great Reform Act of 1832, the nomination was in the hands of the Bulkeley family of Baron Hill, and the elections were never contested.

By 1831, the borough of Beaumaris had a population of 2,497 (though, still, only 24 voters). The Reform Act extended the franchise, and also added three contributory boroughs – Amlwch, Holyhead and Llangefni. This raised the population of the revised Beaumaris Boroughs constituency to 8,547, though the number of qualified voters on the register in 1832 was only 329. This was still in practice a pocket borough, and the first contested election did not take place until the further extension of the franchise by the Second Reform Act, which brought the electorate up to almost 2,000 in the elections from 1868.

The constituency was abolished in the redistribution of seats in 1885, being merged into the Anglesey county constituency.

Members of Parliament

1542–1640

Members for Newborough

Parliament	Member
1541	Richard ap Rhydderch, of Myfyrion
1545	Owen ap Hugh
1547	John ap Robert Lloid

Members for Beaumaris

Parliament	Member	Notes
1553 (Mar)	Maurice Grifith
1553 (Sep)	Rowland Bulkeley
1554 (Nov)	William Bulkeley? or William Goodman?	name damaged
1555	Hugh Goodman
1558–1567	William Price
1571	William Bulkeley
1572	Rowland Kenrick
1584–1593	Thomas Bulkeley	Died 1593
1597–1598	William Jones
1601	William Maurice
1604	William Jones
1614	William Jones
1621–1622	Sampson Eure
1624	Charles Jones
1625	Charles Jones
1626	Charles Jones
1628	Charles Jones
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640–1885

Year		Member	Party
1640 (Apr)		Charles Jones
November 1640		John Griffith	Royalist
August 1642	Griffith died – seat vacant
1646		William Jones
December 1648	Jones excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant
1653	Beaumaris was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		Griffith Bodwrda
May 1659	Unrepresented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Griffith Bodwrda
April 1661		Heneage Finch
July 1661		John Robinson
February 1679		Richard Bulkeley
August 1679		Hon. Henry Bulkeley	Tory
1689		William Williams
1690		Thomas Bulkeley
1695		Sir William Williams
1698		Owen Hughes
January 1701		Coningsby Williams
December 1701		Robert Bulkeley
1703		Coningsby Williams
1705		Hon. Henry Bertie
1727		Watkin Williams-Wynn [1]	Tory
1730		Richard Bulkeley	Tory
1739		James Bulkeley	Tory
1753		John Owen	Opposition Whig
1754		Richard Thelwall Price
1768		Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Hugh Williams
1780		Sir George Warren
1784		Hon. Hugh Fortescue
1785		Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Hugh Williams
1794		Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn
1796		Thomas Wynn
1807		Sir Edward Lloyd
1812		Thomas Lewis
1826		Sir Robert Williams	Whig[2]
1831		Sir Richard Williams-Bulkeley	Whig[2]
1832		Frederick Paget	Whig[2][3]
1847		Lord George Paget	Whig[4]
1857		Hon. William Owen Stanley	Whig[5][6][7][8]
1859			Liberal
1874		Morgan Lloyd	Liberal
1885	Constituency abolished

Election results

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Beaumaris[2][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Robert Williams	Unopposed
	Whig hold

Williams' death caused a by-election.

By-election, 8 February 1831: Beaumaris[2][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Richard Williams-Bulkeley	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 22
	Whig hold

General election 1831: Beaumaris[2][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Richard Williams-Bulkeley	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 22
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Beaumaris[2][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Frederick Paget	Unopposed
Registered electors			329
	Whig hold

General election 1835: Beaumaris[2][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Frederick Paget	Unopposed
Registered electors			218
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Beaumaris[2][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Frederick Paget	Unopposed
Registered electors			323
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Beaumaris[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	Frederick Paget	Unopposed
Registered electors			298
	Whig hold

General election 1847: Beaumaris[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	George Paget	Unopposed
Registered electors			335
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Beaumaris[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	George Paget	Unopposed
Registered electors			459
	Whig hold

General election 1857: Beaumaris[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	William Owen Stanley	Unopposed
Registered electors			473
	Whig hold

General election 1859: Beaumaris[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Owen Stanley	Unopposed
Registered electors			521
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Beaumaris[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Owen Stanley	Unopposed
Registered electors			558
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Beaumaris[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Owen Stanley	941	59.1	N/A
	Liberal	Morgan Lloyd	650	40.9	N/A
Majority			291	18.2	N/A
Turnout			1,591	81.8	N/A
Registered electors			1,944
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Beaumaris[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Morgan Lloyd	947	61.3	+20.4
	Conservative	Thomas Lewis Hampton-Lewis	344	22.3	New
	Liberal	Edmund Verney	255	16.5	N/A
Majority			603	39.0	+20.7
Turnout			1,546	75.5	−6.3
Registered electors			2,048
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Beaumaris[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Morgan Lloyd	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,581
	Liberal hold

References

1. Williams-Wynn was also elected for Denbighshire, which he eventually chose to represent, and did not sit for Beaumaris
2. Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 176–177. Retrieved 12 August 2019 – via Google Books.
3. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. p. 171. Retrieved 12 August 2019 – via Google Books.
4. Bloy, Marjorie (12 January 2016). "Lord George Paget (1818-1880)". A Web of English History. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
5. The Spectator, Volume 10. F. C. Westley. 1837. p. 177. Retrieved 27 April 2018 – via Google Books.
6. The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. 1838. p. 214 – via Google Books.
7. Cragoe, Matthew (2004). "The Problem of Landed Influence". Culture, Politics and National Identity in Wales 1832-1886. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 151. ISBN 0-19-820754-9. Retrieved 27 April 2018 – via Google Books.
8. Ollivier, John (2007). "Alphabetical List of the House of Commons". Ollivier's parliamentary and political director. p. 37. Retrieved 15 April 2018 – via Google Books.
9. Escott, Margaret. "Beaumaris". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
10. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 497. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
11. "The Anglesey Boroughs". North Wales Chronicle. 25 October 1873. p. 5. Retrieved 27 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Sources

• Beatson, Robert (1807). A Chronological Register of Both Houses of the British Parliament, from the Union in 1708, to the Third Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in 1807. Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme.
• Cobbett, William, ed. (1806). "Cobbett's parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest, in 1066 to the year 1803". London: R. Bagshaw. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015 – via Oxford Digital Library.
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• England and Wales Parliament House of Commons; Great Britain Parliament House of Commons (1988). Maija Jansson (ed.). Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons). American Philosophical Society. ISBN 9780871691729.
• J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Edward Porritt and Annie G Porritt, The Unreformed House of Commons (Cambridge University Press, 1903)
• Robert Walcott, English Politics in the Early Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1956)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)