Frome (UK Parliament constituency)

Frome was a constituency centred on the town of Frome in Somerset. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832, until it was abolished for the 1950 general election. Between 1832 and 1885, it was a parliamentary borough; after 1885 it was a county constituency, a division of Somerset.

Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Somerset
Major settlements	Frome
1885–1950
Number of members	One
Replaced by	North Somerset and Wells
1832–1885
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

History

Frome was one of the boroughs created by the Great Reform Act of 1832,[1] as the town was at that point one of the bigger towns in England which was not already represented, and its then-flourishing woollen manufacturing industry made it seem likely to grow further. The new borough consisted only of the town of Frome, and had a population (according to the 1831 census) of approximately 11,240. The registered electorate at the 1832 election was 322. Frome was near to Longleat, and the Marquess of Bath was influential in election outcomes throughout its life as a borough.

However, the town did not increase dramatically in size in the next few years, and the electorate was still only just over 400 by 1865, although the extension of the franchise at the 1868 election trebled this. By the time of the Third Reform Act, Frome was too small to continue as a constituency in itself and the borough was abolished with effect from the 1885 election.

The new county division into which the town was placed consisted of the whole north-eastern corner of Somerset, except for Bath, and was named after the town, as The Frome Division of Somerset. Nevertheless, Frome contributed only a minority of the voters in the constituency, which also included Weston (Bath), Radstock, Bathampton and Batheaston, to say nothing of the freeholders of Bath, who voted in this division under the arrangements that gave property owners in boroughs a vote in the adjoining county constituency; by the time of the First World War, the population was around 60,000. This constituency was a mixed one, with suburban voters at Weston and in the Bath suburbs, agricultural villages between Bath and Frome, growing mining interests round Radstock and some industry at Twerton. This made the constituency marginal between the Conservatives and Liberals, and the victor's majority was rarely more than a few hundred votes.

There were further boundary changes in 1918, when the number of constituencies in Somerset was reduced from nine to seven. Frome's boundaries were extended westwards to the fringes of Bristol, bringing in Midsomer Norton and the areas round Clutton, Chew Magna and Keynsham (previously in the Northern division): the revised constituency consisted of the urban districts of Frome, Midsomer Norton and Radstock, the Bath, Clutton and Keynsham rural districts and all but six parishes of Frome Rural District. This, too, was a marginal constituency, and except in 1923 was always won at general elections by the party which was successful nationally.

The Frome constituency was abolished in the boundary changes which came into effect at the 1950 election, Frome itself being transferred to the Wells division but most of the remainder of the constituency forming the bulk of the new Somerset North.

Members of Parliament

Frome parliamentary borough

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1832	Thomas Sheppard[2]	Whig[3]
	1835		Conservative[3]
	1847	Hon. Robert Boyle[2]	Whig[4][5]	4th son of Edmund Boyle, 8th Earl of Cork
	1854 by-election	Richard Boyle, Viscount Dungarvan[2]	Whig[6][7]	later 9th Earl of Cork
	1856 by-election	Hon. William Boyle[2]	Whig[8][9]	younger brother of Richard Boyle, Viscount Dungarvan
	1857	Donald Nicoll[2]	Radical[8][9][10][11]
	1859	Lord Edward Thynne[2]	Conservative	previously MP for Weobley 1826–32
	1865	Sir Henry Rawlinson, Bt.[2]	Liberal	noted orientalist, previously MP for Reigate
	1868	Thomas Hughes[2]	Liberal	author of Tom Brown's Schooldays
	1874	Henry Lopes[2]	Conservative	previously MP for Launceston, later a Lord Justice of Appeal
	1876 by-election	Henry Samuelson[2]	Liberal	previously MP for Cheltenham
	1885	parliamentary borough constituency abolished, name transferred to a new county division

Frome division of Somerset

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Lawrence James Baker	Liberal
	1886	Thomas Thynne, Viscount Weymouth	Conservative
	1892	John Barlow	Liberal
	1895	Thomas Thynne, Viscount Weymouth	Conservative
	1896	Sir John Barlow	Liberal
	1918	Percy Hurd	Unionist
	1923	Frederick Gould	Labour
	1924	Geoffrey Peto	Unionist
	1929	Frederick Gould	Labour
	1931	Henry Thynne, Viscount Weymouth	Conservative
	1935	Mavis Tate	Conservative
	1945	Walter Farthing	Labour
	1950	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: Frome [12][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Thomas Sheppard	163	62.0
	Whig	Thomas Swymmer Mostyn-Champneys	100	38.0
Majority			63	24.0
Turnout			263	81.7
Registered electors			322
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: Frome [12][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas Sheppard	100	43.7	−18.3
	Radical	Matthew Bridges[13]	78	34.1	N/A
	Whig	Courtenay Boyle	51	22.3	−15.7
Majority			22	9.6	−14.4
Turnout			229	80.4	−1.3
Registered electors			285
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	−1.3

General election 1837: Frome [12][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas Sheppard	124	50.8	+7.1
	Whig	Courtenay Boyle	120	49.2	+26.9
Majority			4	1.6	−8.0
Turnout			244	83.8	+3.4
Registered electors			291
	Conservative hold		Swing	−9.9

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Frome [12][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas Sheppard	154	54.4	+3.6
	Whig	William Jesser Sturch	129	45.6	−3.6
Majority			25	8.8	+7.2
Turnout			283	83.2	−0.6
Registered electors			340
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.6

General election 1847: Frome [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	Robert Edward Boyle	Unopposed
Registered electors			412
	Whig gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Frome [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	Robert Edward Boyle	Unopposed
Registered electors			383
	Whig hold

The election was declared void on petition after Boyle was declared ineligible due to his holding of the office of Secretary to the Order of St Patrick. Ahead of the ensuing by-election, Boyle resigned this position.[14]

By-election, 7 March 1853: Frome [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	Robert Edward Boyle	Unopposed
	Whig hold

Boyle's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 24 October 1854: Frome [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	Richard Boyle	181	58.4	N/A
	Radical	Donald Nicoll	129	41.6	N/A
Majority			52	16.8	N/A
Turnout			310	84.9	N/A
Registered electors			365
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

Boyle succeeded to the peerage, becoming 9th Earl of Cork and Orrery, causing a by-election.

By-election, 23 July 1856: Frome [12][8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Whig	William George Boyle	158	50.2	N/A
	Radical	Donald Nicoll	157	49.8	N/A
Majority			1	0.3	N/A
Turnout			315	86.1	N/A
Registered electors			366
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Frome [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Radical	Donald Nicoll	162	49.7	N/A
	Whig	William George Boyle	92	28.2	N/A
	Conservative	Edward Thynne	72	22.1	N/A
Majority			70	21.5	N/A
Turnout			326	89.8	N/A
Registered electors			363
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

General election 1859: Frome [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Edward Thynne	194	56.9	+34.8
	Liberal	Donald Nicoll	147	43.1	−34.8
Majority			47	13.8	N/A
Turnout			341	88.6	−1.2
Registered electors			385
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+34.8

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Frome [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Henry Rawlinson	206	53.0	+9.9
	Conservative	James Whalley Dawe Thomas Wickham[15]	183	47.0	−9.9
Majority			23	5.9	N/A
Turnout			389	94.0	+5.4
Registered electors			414
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.9

General election 1868: Frome [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Thomas Hughes	571	54.5	+1.5
	Conservative	William Campbell Sleigh	476	45.5	−1.5
Majority			95	9.1	+3.2
Turnout			1,047	82.6	−11.4
Registered electors			1,267
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.5

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Frome [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Henry Lopes	642	53.5	+8.0
	Liberal	William Henry Willans[16]	557	46.5	−8.0
Majority			85	7.1	N/A
Turnout			1,199	90.4	+7.8
Registered electors			1,327
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+8.0

Lopes resigned after being appointed a judge of the Common Pleas Division of the High Court of Justice.

By-election, 24 Nov 1876: Frome [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Henry Samuelson	661	53.8	+7.3
	Conservative	James Fergusson	568	46.2	−7.3
Majority			93	7.6	N/A
Turnout			1,229	91.0	+0.6
Registered electors			1,351
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.3

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Frome [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Henry Samuelson	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,383
	Liberal gain from Conservative

General election 1885: Frome [17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Lawrence James Baker	4,735	54.4	N/A
	Conservative	Thomas Thynne	3,972	45.6	N/A
Majority			763	8.8	N/A
Turnout			8,707	82.9	N/A
Registered electors			10,498
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1886: Frome [17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas Thynne	4,348	54.4	+8.8
	Liberal	Godfrey Samuelson	3,645	45.6	-8.8
Majority			703	8.8	N/A
Turnout			7,993	76.1	-6.8
Registered electors			10,498
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+8.8

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Frome [17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Barlow	4,747	52.7	+7.1
	Conservative	Thomas Thynne	4,260	47.3	-7.1
Majority			487	5.4	N/A
Turnout			9,007	81.7	+5.6
Registered electors			11,031
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.1

General election 1895: Frome [17][18][19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Thomas Thynne	5,043	52.0	+4.7
	Liberal	John Barlow	4,660	48.0	-4.7
Majority			383	4.0	N/A
Turnout			9,703	83.4	+1.7
Registered electors			11,633
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.7

Barlow

1896 Frome by-election [17][18][19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Barlow	5,062	51.5	+3.5
	Conservative	Alexander Thynne	4,763	48.5	-3.5
Majority			299	3.0	N/A
Turnout			9,825	83.7	+0.3
Registered electors			11,736
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.5

Elections in the 1900s

Barlow

General election 1900: Frome [17][18][19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Barlow	5,066	51.8	+3.8
	Conservative	Ellis Hume-Williams	4,708	48.2	−3.8
Majority			358	3.6	N/A
Turnout			9,774	79.4	−4.0
Registered electors			12,317
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.8

General election 1906: Frome [17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Barlow	6,297	58.0	+6.2
	Conservative	Charles Foxcroft	4,552	42.0	−6.2
Majority			1,745	16.0	+12.4
Turnout			10,849	86.0	+6.6
Registered electors			12,612
	Liberal hold		Swing	+6.2

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Frome [17][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Barlow	6,248	53.3	-4.7
	Conservative	Charles Foxcroft	5,469	46.7	+4.7
Majority			779	6.6	-9.7
Turnout				89.0	+3.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	-4.7

General election December 1910: Frome [17][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Barlow	5,944	52.6	-0.7
	Conservative	Charles Foxcroft	5,366	47.4	+0.7
Majority			578	5.2	-1.4
Turnout				85.9	-3.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.7

General Election 1914/15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: John Barlow
• Unionist: H. Barker-Hahlo

General election December 1918: Frome[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
C	Unionist	Percy Hurd	11,118	46.6	−0.8
	Labour	Edward Gill	10,454	43.9	N/A
	Liberal	John Barlow	2,004	8.4	−44.2
	National	Thomas Kincaid-Smith	258	1.1	N/A
Majority			664	2.7	N/A
Turnout			23,834	67.7	−18.2
Registered electors			35,222
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+21.7
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Frome[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Percy Hurd	15,017	51.2	+4.6
	Labour	Edward Gill	14,311	48.8	+4.9
Majority			706	2.4	−0.3
Turnout			29,328	82.2	+14.5
Registered electors			35,698
	Unionist hold		Swing	−0.2

General election 1923: Frome [21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Frederick Gould	15,902	54.4	+5.6
	Unionist	Percy Hurd	13,306	45.6	−5.6
Majority			2,596	8.8	n/a
Turnout			29,208	79.7	−2.5
Registered electors			36,628
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+5.6

General election 1924: Frome[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Geoffrey Peto	16,397	52.8	+7.2
	Labour	Frederick Gould	14,652	47.2	−7.2
Majority			1,745	5.6	n/a
Turnout			31,049	82.9	+3.2
Registered electors			37,438
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	+7.2

General election 1929: Frome [21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Frederick Gould	18,524	45.5	−1.7
	Unionist	Geoffrey Peto	16,378	40.3	−12.5
	Liberal	Colin Stratton-Hallett	5,774	14.2	n/a
Majority			2,146	5.2	n/a
Turnout			40,676	86.5	+3.6
Registered electors			47,039
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+5.4

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Frome[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Henry Thynne	24,858	58.3	+18.0
	Labour	Frederick Gould	17,748	41.7	-3.8
Majority			7,110	16.7	21.8
Turnout			42,606	87.3	+0.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+10.9

General election 1935: Frome [21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Mavis Tate	19,684	46.3	-12.0
	Labour	Kim Mackay	18,690	43.9	+2.2
	Liberal	Philip William Hopkins	4,177	9.8	n/a
Majority			994	2.3	-14.2
Turnout			42,551	82.5	-4.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	-7.1

General Election 1939/40:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Guy Dalrymple Fanshawe
• Labour: Kim Mackay
• British Union: Charles Hewitt

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Frome[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Walter Farthing	29,735	55.1	+11.2
	Conservative	Mavis Tate	24,228	44.9	-1.4
Majority			5,507	10.2	13.6
Turnout				78.4	-4.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.8

References

1. "Parliamentary representation". Somerset County Council. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
2. "Frome 1832-1950". Hansard. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
3. 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. p. 34. Retrieved 5 November 2018 – via Google Books.
4. "Election Movements". Berkshire Chronicle. 24 July 1847. p. 1. Retrieved 10 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "The General Election". Morning Post. 2 August 1847. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 10 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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7. "Latest Intelligence". Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette. 5 October 1854. p. 3. Retrieved 10 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Election Intelligence". Eddowes's Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales. 30 July 1856. p. 3. Retrieved 10 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Postscript". Royal Cornwall Gazette. 25 July 1856. p. 8. Retrieved 10 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Elections". Catholic Telegraph. 14 March 1857. p. 3. Retrieved 10 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Election News". Lancaster Gazette. 14 March 1857. p. 3. Retrieved 10 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
13. "24 January 1835". Gloucestershire Chronicle. p. 2. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
14. "Frome Election". Bristol Mercury. 12 March 1853. p. 8. Retrieved 10 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
15. "The Borough Election. The Nomination". Frome Times. 19 July 1865. p. 3. Retrieved 11 February 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
16. "Frome". Glasgow Herald. 3 November 1876. p. 4. Retrieved 30 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
17. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
18. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
19. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
20. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
21. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

• The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949 (Glasgow: Political Reference Publications, 1969)
• Henry Pelling, Social Geography of British Elections 1885-1910 (London: Macmillan, 1967)
• J. Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)