St George (UK Parliament constituency)

St George was a parliamentary constituency in what is now the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was part of the Parliamentary borough of Tower Hamlets and returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

See also Westminster St George's, prev known as St George Hanover Square
St George
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Number of membersone
Replaced byWhitechapel and St George's
Created fromTower Hamlets

History

The constituency, formally known as Tower Hamlets, St George Division, was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 by the division of the existing two-member parliamentary borough of Tower Hamlets into seven divisions, each returning one MP.[1]

This was an area on the north bank of the River Thames, with a lot of its inhabitants employed as dock workers or in the sugar refining industry. Pelling comments that it had the largest proportion of immigrant Irishmen in the metropolis.

The constituency was marginal between the Conservative and Liberal parties. Pelling suggests the Conservative MP, elected in 1885, owed his victory to generosity "bordering on corruption". Political issues important in the area were protectionism (as sugar refining was damaged by foreign subsidies to rivals) and the immigration of "pauper aliens" (the neighbouring division of Whitechapel had a large population of immigrant Jews).

The seat was abolished for the 1918 general election. The area was incorporated in a new seat of Stepney, Whitechapel and St George's.

Boundaries
St George in London, 1885-1918

The constituency comprised two civil parishes: St George in the East and Wapping,[1] taking its name from the former and so ultimately from St George in the East church in contrast to the St George's Hanover Square constituency in Westminster. Although lying in Middlesex, the parishes formed part of the East End of London, and were administered as part of the Metropolis.

In 1889 the area was removed from Middlesex to the new County of London, and in 1900 it was included in the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney, but no changes were made to constituency boundaries until 1918.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1885 Charles Ritchie Conservative
1892 John Benn Liberal
1895 Harry Marks Conservative
1900 Sir Thomas Dewar Conservative
1906 William Wedgwood Benn Liberal
1918 constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1880s
General election 1885: Tower Hamlets, St. George[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Charles Ritchie 1,744 59.6 N/A
Liberal David Salomons 1,180 40.4 N/A
Majority 564 19.2 N/A
Turnout 2,924 67.7 N/A
Registered electors 4,317
Conservative win (new seat)
General election 1886: Tower Hamlets, St. George[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Charles Ritchie 1,561 59.2 −0.4
Liberal Richard Eve 1,076 40.8 +0.4
Majority 485 18.4 −0.8
Turnout 2,637 61.1 −6.6
Registered electors 4,317
Conservative hold Swing -0.4

Ritchie was appointment President of the Local Government Board, requiring a by-election.

Charles Ritchie
By-election, 12 Aug 1886: St George's[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Charles Ritchie 1,546 63.5 +4.3
Liberal Richard Eve 889 36.5 −4.3
Majority 657 27.0 +8.6
Turnout 2,435 56.4 −4.7
Registered electors 4,317
Conservative hold Swing +4.3

Elections in the 1890s
John Benn
General election 1892: Tower Hamlets, St. George[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal John Benn 1,661 56.8 +16.0
Conservative Charles Ritchie 1,263 43.2 −16.0
Majority 398 13.6 N/A
Turnout 2,924 77.9 +16.8
Registered electors 3,755
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +16.0
General election 1895: Tower Hamlets, St. George[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Harry Marks 1,581 50.2 +7.0
Liberal John Benn 1,570 49.8 −7.0
Majority 11 0.4 N/A
Turnout 3,151 82.4 +4.5
Registered electors 3,824
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +7.0

Elections in the 1900s
Thomas Dewar
Straus
General election 1900: Tower Hamlets, St. George[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Thomas Dewar 1,437 55.7 +5.5
Liberal Bertram Straus 1,141 44.3 -5.5
Majority 296 11.4 +11.0
Turnout 2,578 73.3 -9.1
Registered electors 3,518
Conservative hold Swing +5.5
General election 1906: Tower Hamlets, St. George[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal William Wedgwood Benn 1,685 61.3 +17.0
Conservative H. Hallifax Wells 1,064 38.7 −17.0
Majority 621 22.6 N/A
Turnout 2,749 84.7 +11.4
Registered electors 3,246
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +17.0

Elections in the 1910s
Wedgwood Benn
General election January 1910: Tower Hamlets, St. George[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal William Wedgwood Benn 1,568 58.0 -3.3
Conservative Percy Coleman Simmons 1,134 42.0 +3.3
Majority 434 16.0 -6.6
Turnout 2,702
Liberal hold Swing -3.3
1910 Tower Hamlets St George by-election[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal William Wedgwood Benn 1,598 59.5 +1.5
Conservative Percy Coleman Simmons 1,089 40.5 -1.5
Majority 509 19.0 +3.0
Turnout 2,687
Liberal hold Swing +1.5
General election December 1910: Tower Hamlets, St. George[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal William Wedgwood Benn 1,401 57.8 -1.7
Conservative Douglas Clifton Brown 1,022 42.2 +1.7
Majority 379 15.6 -3.4
Turnout 2,423
Liberal hold Swing -1.7
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References
  1. Youngs, Frederic A, Jr. (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. p. 749. ISBN 0-901050-67-9.
  2. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  3. Craig, F.W.S. (1974). British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 (1 ed.). London: Macmillan.
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