Wolverhampton (UK Parliament constituency)
Wolverhampton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Wolverhampton in Staffordshire. It elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Wolverhampton | |
---|---|
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
1832–1885 | |
Number of members | Two |
Replaced by | Wolverhampton East, Wolverhampton South and Wolverhampton West |
Created from | Staffordshire |
History
The constituency was created under the Great Reform Act, and first used at the 1832 general election. It was abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, when it was replaced for the 1885 general election by three new single-member constituencies: Wolverhampton East, Wolverhampton South and Wolverhampton West.
Members of Parliament
Election | 1st Member | 1st Party | 2nd Member | 2nd Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1832 | William Wolryche-Whitmore | Whig[1][2] | Richard Fryer | Whig[1][3] | ||
1835 | Charles Pelham Villiers | Radical[4][5][3] | Thomas Thornely | Radical[6][7] | ||
1859 | Liberal | Sir Richard Bethell | Liberal | |||
1861 by-election | Thomas Matthias Weguelin | Liberal | ||||
1880 | Henry Fowler | Liberal | ||||
1885 | constituency divided: see Wolverhampton East, Wolverhampton South and Wolverhampton West. |
Election results
Elections in the 1830s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Whig | William Wolryche-Whitmore | 850 | 32.3 | ||
Whig | Richard Fryer | 810 | 30.8 | ||
Tory | Francis Holyoake | 615 | 23.4 | ||
Radical | John Nicholson | 358 | 13.6 | ||
Majority | 195 | 7.4 | |||
Turnout | 1,463 | 86.1 | |||
Registered electors | 1,700 | ||||
Whig win (new seat) | |||||
Whig win (new seat) |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Radical | Charles Pelham Villiers | 776 | 30.0 | N/A | |
Radical | Thomas Thornely | 776 | 30.0 | N/A | |
Conservative | Dudley Fereday | 658 | 25.5 | +2.1 | |
Radical | John Nicholson | 374 | 14.5 | +0.9 | |
Majority | 118 | 4.6 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 1,498 | 81.5 | −4.6 | ||
Registered electors | 1,839 | ||||
Radical gain from Whig | Swing | N/A | |||
Radical gain from Whig | Swing | N/A | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Radical | Charles Pelham Villiers | 1,068 | 32.1 | +2.1 | |
Radical | Thomas Thornely | 1,024 | 30.8 | +0.8 | |
Conservative | Ryder Burton[9] | 623 | 18.7 | +6.0 | |
Conservative | John Benbow | 613 | 18.4 | +5.7 | |
Majority | 401 | 12.0 | +7.4 | ||
Turnout | 1,675 | 77.2 | −4.3 | ||
Registered electors | 2,170 | ||||
Radical hold | Swing | −1.9 | |||
Radical hold | Swing | −3.3 |
Elections in the 1840s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Radical | Charles Pelham Villiers | Unopposed | |||
Radical | Thomas Thornely | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 2,571 | ||||
Radical hold | |||||
Radical hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Radical | Charles Pelham Villiers | Unopposed | |||
Radical | Thomas Thornely | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 2,692 | ||||
Radical hold | |||||
Radical hold |
Elections in the 1850s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Radical | Charles Pelham Villiers | Unopposed | |||
Radical | Thomas Thornely | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 3,587 | ||||
Radical hold | |||||
Radical hold |
Villiers was appointed Judge-Advocate-General of the Armed Forces, requiring a by-election.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Radical | Charles Pelham Villiers | Unopposed | |||
Radical hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Radical | Charles Pelham Villiers | Unopposed | |||
Radical | Thomas Thornely | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 3,611 | ||||
Radical hold | |||||
Radical hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Charles Pelham Villiers | Unopposed | |||
Liberal | Richard Bethell | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 3,821 | ||||
Liberal hold | |||||
Liberal hold |
Bethell was appointed Attorney General for England and Wales, requiring a by-election.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Richard Bethell | Unopposed | |||
Liberal hold |
Villiers was appointed President of the Poor Law Board, requiring a by-election.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Charles Pelham Villiers | Unopposed | |||
Liberal hold |
Elections in the 1860s
Bethell resigned after being appointed Lord Chancellor, causing him to become Lord Westbury and a by-election to be called.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Thomas Matthias Weguelin | 1,363 | 48.7 | N/A | |
Liberal | Samuel Griffiths[10] | 772 | 27.6 | N/A | |
Conservative | Alexander Staveley Hill[11] | 665 | 23.8 | N/A | |
Majority | 591 | 21.1 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 2,800 | 68.1 | N/A | ||
Registered electors | 4,110 | ||||
Liberal hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Liberal hold | Swing | N/A |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Charles Pelham Villiers | 1,623 | 50.9 | N/A | |
Liberal | Thomas Matthias Weguelin | 1,519 | 47.6 | N/A | |
Conservative | Thomas Thornycroft[12] | 47 | 1.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 1,472 | 46.2 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 1,618 (est) | 33.5 (est) | N/A | ||
Registered electors | 4,830 | ||||
Liberal hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Liberal hold | Swing | N/A |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Charles Pelham Villiers | Unopposed | |||
Liberal | Thomas Matthias Weguelin | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 15,772 | ||||
Liberal hold | |||||
Liberal hold |
Elections in the 1870s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Charles Pelham Villiers | 10,358 | 43.1 | N/A | |
Liberal | Thomas Matthias Weguelin | 10,036 | 41.8 | N/A | |
Conservative | Walter Williams[13] | 3,628 | 15.1 | N/A | |
Majority | 6,408 | 26.7 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 13,825 (est) | 59.4 (est) | N/A | ||
Registered electors | 23,257 | ||||
Liberal hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Liberal hold | Swing | N/A |
Elections in the 1880s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Charles Pelham Villiers | 12,197 | 41.1 | −2.0 | |
Liberal | Henry Fowler | 11,606 | 39.1 | −2.7 | |
Conservative | Alfred Hickman | 5,874 | 19.8 | +4.7 | |
Majority | 5,732 | 19.3 | −7.4 | ||
Turnout | 17,776 (est) | 77.9 (est) | +18.5 | ||
Registered electors | 22,821 | ||||
Liberal hold | Swing | −2.2 | |||
Liberal hold | Swing | −2.5 |
See also
References
- 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. 50–51. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google Books.
- Hyman, Anthony (1982). Charles Babbage: Pioneer of the Computer. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 80. ISBN 0691083037. LCCN 81-48078. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google Books.
- Swift, Roger (2017). Charles Pelham Villiers: Aristocratic Victorian Radical. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 47, 148. ISBN 978-1-315-26797-5. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via Google Books.
- Howe, A. C. (8 October 2009) [2004]. "Villiers, Charles Pelham (1802–1898)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28286. Retrieved 22 July 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- "District News". Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser. 26 June 1841. p. 3. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- The Christian Reform; Or, Unitarian Magazine and Review: New Series, Vol. XVIII. London: Edward T. Whitfield. 1862. pp. 361–384. Retrieved 23 July 2018 – via Internet Archive.
- Turner, Michael J. (2014). Liberty and Liberticide: The Role in Nineteenth-Century British Radicalism. Lanham: Lexington Books. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-7391-7817-1. Retrieved 23 July 2018 – via Google Books.
- Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book)
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(help) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 338–339. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3. - "Page 1". Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser. 12 July 1837. Retrieved 30 April 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "Advertisements & Notices". Birmingham Daily Post. 2 July 1861. p. 1. Retrieved 24 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "To the Electors of the Borough of Wolverhampton". Staffordshire Advertiser. 29 June 1861. p. 4. Retrieved 24 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "Wolverhampton". Evening Mail. 14 July 1865. p. 3. Retrieved 25 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "Wolverhampton Borough Election". Birmingham Daily Post. 4 February 1874. p. 1. Retrieved 23 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)
- Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.