Sudbury (UK Parliament constituency) (original) (raw)

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Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1801-1844 & 1885–1950

Sudbury
Former borough constituencyfor the House of Commons
1559–1844
Seats two
Sudbury
Former county constituencyfor the House of Commons
1885–1950
Seats one
Created from Western Division of Suffolk
Replaced by Sudbury and Woodbridge

Sudbury was a parliamentary constituency which was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

A parliamentary borough consisting of the town of Sudbury in Suffolk, the constituency elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system of election to the House of Commons of England from 1559 to 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 until it was disenfranchised for corruption in 1844, after which it was absorbed into the Western Division of Suffolk. It was probably enfranchised through lobbying from Ambrose Cave the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster who had interests in the area and could influence the choice of MPs.[1] Sudbury had in the eighteenth Century been seen as a particularly expensive seat[2] but not under the influence of any patron[3] and in the 1761 general election Horace Walpole the cousin of the outgoing MP, Thomas Walpole, had claimed that Sudbury had openly advertised itself for sale[4] with the new MP, John Henniker having to spend £5,500 from the Duke of Newcastle's funds.[5] but not under the influence of any patron[3] The Sudbury election of 1835, which Charles Dickens reported for the Morning Chronicle, is thought by many experts to be the inspiration for the famous Eatanswill election in his novel Pickwick Papers.[6]

The seat was re-established as one of five single-member county divisions of the Parliamentary County of Suffolk by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, electing one MP by the first past the post voting system. It was abolished for the 1950 general election.

Boundaries and boundary changes

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The county division was formed from part of the abolished Western Division and included the towns of Sudbury, Hadleigh and Haverhill.

Marginal changes to boundaries.

On abolition, western and northern parts, including Haverhill, transferred to Bury St Edmunds. Central, southern and western parts, including Sudbury and Hadleigh, formed part of the new county constituency of Sudbury and Woodbridge.

Members of Parliament

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Parliament First member Second member
1559 Clement Throckmorton Henry Fortescue[1]
1563 John Heigham Thomas Andrews[1]
1571 John Hunt John Gurdon[1]
1572 Richard Eden Martin Cole[1]
1584 Edward Waldegrave Henry Blagge[1]
1586 Henry Blagge Geoffrey Rusham[1]
1588 Thomas Eden Thomas Jermyn[1]
1593 William Fortescue Dudley Fortescue[1]
1597 George Waldegrave John Clapham[1]
1601 Philip Gawdy Edward Glascock[1]
1604–1611 Sir Thomas Beckingham Thomas Eden, jnr
1614 Robert Crane Henry Binge
1621 Edward Osborne Brampton Gurdon
1624 Robert Crane Sir William Pooley
1625 Sir Nathaniel Barnardiston Robert Crane
1626 Sir Nathaniel Barnardiston Thomas Smith
1628 Sir Robert Crane Sir William Pooley
1629–1640 No Parliaments summoned
Year First member First party Second member Second party
April 1640 Sir Robert Crane Parliamentarian Richard Pepys
November 1640 (Sir) Simonds d'Ewes[9] Parliamentarian
February 1643 Crane died – seat left vacant
1645 Brampton Gurdon Parliamentarian
December 1648 D'Ewes ceased sitting after Pride's Purge
1653 Sudbury was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654 John Fothergill Sudbury had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656
January 1659 Samuel Hassel
May 1659 Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660 John Gurdon Parliamentarian Joseph Brand
1661 Thomas Waldegrave Isaac Appleton
1662 Sir Robert Cordell
1677 Sir Gervase Elwes Whig
February 1679 Gervase Elwes
September 1679 Sir Gervase Elwes Whig
1685 Sir John Cordell Tory Sir George Wenyeve Tory
1689 Sir John Poley Tory[10] Philip Gurdon Whig[10]
February 1690 John Robinson Whig[11]
October 1690 Sir Thomas Barnardiston Whig
1698 Samuel Kekewich
1699 John Gurdon Tory[11]
1700 Sir Gervase Elwes Whig
January 1701 Sir John Cordell Tory[11]
December 1701 Joseph Haskin Stiles Whig[11]
1703 George Dashwood Tory[11]
1705 Philip Skippon Whig[11]
1706 Sir Hervey Elwes Whig
1710 John Mead Tory[11] Lieutenant-General Robert Echlin Tory[11]
1713 Sir Hervey Elwes Whig
1715 Thomas Western
1722 John Knight Whig Colonel William Windham
1727 Carteret Leathes
January 1734 Richard Jackson
April 1734 Richard Price Edward Stephenson
1741 Thomas Fonnereau Carteret Leathes
1747 Richard Rigby Whig
1754 Thomas Walpole
1761 John Henniker
1768 (Sir) Patrick Blake[12] (Sir) Walden Hanmer[13]
1774 [14] Thomas Fonnereau Philip Champion Crespigny Whig
1775 Sir Patrick Blake, Bt Sir Walden Hanmer
1780 Philip Champion Crespigny[15] Whig
1781 Sir James Marriott
1784 William Smith Whig John Langston
1790 John Hippisley Whig Thomas Champion Crespigny
1796 William Smith Whig Sir James Marriott
1802 Sir John Hippisley Whig[16] John Pytches Whig[16]
1807 Emanuel Felix Agar Tory[16]
1812 Charles Wyatt Tory[16]
1818 William Heygate Tory[16] John Broadhurst Whig[16]
1820 Charles Augustus Tulk Whig[16]
1826 John Wilks Whig[16] Bethel Walrond Whig[16]
1828 John Norman Macleod Tory[16]
1830 Sir John Walsh Tory[16]
1831 Digby Cayley Wrangham Tory[16]
1832 Michael Angelo Taylor Whig[16]
Jul. 1834 Sir Edward Barnes[17] Tory[16]
Dec. 1834 Conservative[16] Conservative[16]
1835 John Bagshaw Whig[18][19][20][21][16] Benjamin Smith Whig[16]
July 1837 Sir James Hamilton Conservative[16] Sir Edward Barnes Conservative[16]
December 1837 Joseph Bailey Conservative[16]
1838 Sir John Walsh Conservative[16]
1840 George Tomline Conservative[16]
1841[22] Frederick Villiers Meynell Whig[16][23] David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre Whig[16][23]
29 July 1844 Constituency disfranchised for corruption and incorporated into Western Suffolk
Election Member Party
1885 Sir William Quilter
1886 Sir William Quilter
1906 William Heaton-Armstrong
1910 (January) Sir Cuthbert Quilter
1918 Stephen Howard
1922 Herbert Mercer
1923 Frederick Loverseed
1924 Henry Walter Burton
1945 Roland Hamilton
1950 constituency abolished

Elections in the 1830s

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Taylor's death caused a by-election.

Hamilton's resignation caused a by-election.

Barnes' death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1840s

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Walsh resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds in order to contest a by-election at Radnorshire, causing a by-election.

After an election petition was lodged, a Royal Commission found proof of extensive bribery and the writ was suspended in 1844. The constituency was absorbed into West Suffolk.

Elections in the 1880s

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Elections in the 1890s

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Elections in the 1900s

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Heaton-Armstrong

Elections in the 1910s

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Hirst

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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Howard

* some records describe Hicks as an 'Agriculture' candidate

Elections in the 1920s

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* compared to combined 1922 Liberal vote.

Elections in the 1930s

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Elections in the 1940s

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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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hasler, P. W., ed. (1981). "Sudbury". The House of Commons 1558–1603. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  2. ^ Page 50, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
  3. ^ a b Page 105, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
  4. ^ Letter 736, 3rd March 1761, Full text of "The letters of Horace Walpole, fourth earl of Orford
  5. ^ Page 320, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
  6. ^ M.C. Rintoul (1993). Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction. Taylor & Francis. p. 872. ISBN 9780415059992.
  7. ^ Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
  8. ^ S., Craig, Fred W. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885–1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0900178094. OCLC 539011.{{[cite book](/wiki/Template:Cite%5Fbook "Template:Cite book")}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Created a baronet, July 1641
  10. ^ a b Paula Watson (1983). "Sudbury". In Henning, B. D. (ed.). The House of Commons 1660–1690. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h D. W. Hayton (2002). "Sudbury". In Hayton, David; Cruickshanks, Eveline; Handley, Stuart (eds.). The House of Commons 1690–1715. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  12. ^ Created a baronet, September 1772
  13. ^ Created a baronet, May 1774
  14. ^ On petition, the result of the election of 1774 was overturned: Fonnereau and Crespigny were declared not to have been duly elected and their opponents, Blake and Hanmer, were seated in their place
  15. ^ On petition, Crespigny was declared not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Marriott was seated in his place
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai 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. 61–63. Retrieved 12 December 2018 – via Google Books.
  17. ^ Elected on the casting vote of the returning officer after a tie in votes. His opponent petitioned against the decision, denying that the returning officer was entitled to a casting vote, but Parliament was dissolved before the issue had been settled.
  18. ^ The Spectator, Volume 7. F. C. Westley. 1834. p. 702. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  19. ^ The Spectator, Volume 10. F. C. Westley. 1837. p. 651. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  20. ^ Sperling, Charles Frederick Denne (1896). A short history of the borough of Sudbury, in the county of Suffolk, compiled from materials collected by W.W. Hodson. Sudbury: Sudbury, Printed by B.R. Marten. pp. 162, 259. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  21. ^ "General Intelligence". Coventry Standard. 24 June 1853. p. 2. Retrieved 13 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. ^ The 1841 election was declared void on petition and a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate, which eventually led to the disfranchisement of the constituency
  23. ^ a b "Electoral Decisions". Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser. 3 July 1841. p. 24. Retrieved 12 December 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  24. ^ a b Margaret Escott (2009). "Sudbury". In Fisher, David (ed.). The House of Commons 1820–1832. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 294. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  26. ^ a b c d e f g h Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885–1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 394. ISBN 9781349022984.
  27. ^ ‘WELLER-POLEY, Thomas’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 22 Sept 2017
  28. ^ Cambridge Independent Press 16 Jan 1914
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h British parliamentary election results, 1918–1949 (Craig)