Wikipedia

Sudbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Sudbury
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1559–1844
Number of memberstwo
Sudbury
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1885–1950
Number of membersone
Replaced bySudbury and Woodbridge
Created fromWestern Division of Suffolk

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

History

A parliamentary borough consisting of the town of Sudbury in Suffolk, the constituency returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) from 1559 until it was disenfranchised for corruption in 1844, after which it was absorbed into the Western Division of Suffolk. 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.[1]

It 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

1885–1918: The part of the Municipal Borough of Sudbury in the county of Suffolk, the Sessional Divisions of Boxford, Cosford, Melford, and Risbridge, and parts of the Sessional Divisions of Newmarket, and Thingoe and Thedwestry.[2]

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

1918–1950: The Municipal Borough of Sudbury, the Urban Districts of Glemsford, Hadleigh, and Haverhill, the Rural Districts of Clare, Cosford, and Melford, and parts of the Rural Districts of Moulton and Thingoe.[3]

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

MPs 1559–1640

Parliament First member Second member
1559 Clement Throckmorton Henry Fortescue [4]
1563 John Heigham Thomas Andrews [4]
1571 John Hunt John Gurdon[4]
1572 Richard Eden Martin Cole[4]
1584 Edward Waldegrave Henry Blagge [4]
1586 Henry Blagge Geoffrey Rusham [4]
1588 Thomas Eden Thomas Jermin [4]
1593 William Fortescue Dudley Fortescue [4]
1597 George Waldegrave John Clapham [4]
1601 Philip Gawdy Edward Glascock [4]
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

MPs 1640–1844

Year 1st Member 1st Party 2nd Member 2nd Party
April 1640 Sir Robert Crane Parliamentarian Richard Pepys
November 1640 (Sir) Simonds d'Ewes [5] Parliamentarian
February 1643 Crane died – seat left vacant
1645 Brampton Gurdon
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 Joseph Brand
1661 Thomas Waldegrave Isaac Appleton
1662 Sir Robert Cordell
1677 Sir Gervase Elwes
February 1679 Gervase Elwes
September 1679 Sir Gervase Elwes
1685 Sir John Cordell Sir George Wenyeve
1689 Sir John Poley Philip Gurdon
February 1690 John Robinson
October 1690 Sir Thomas Barnardiston
1698 Samuel Kekewich
1699 John Gurdon
1700 Sir Gervase Elwes
January 1701 Sir John Cordell
December 1701 Joseph Haskin Stiles
1703 George Dashwood
1705 Philip Skippon
1706 Sir Hervey Elwes
1710 John Mead Lieutenant-General Robert Echlin
1713 Sir Hervey Elwes
1715 Thomas Western
1722 John Knight Colonel William Windham
1727 Carteret Leathes
January 1734 Richard Jackson
April 1734 Richard Price Edward Stephenson
1741 Thomas Fonnereau Carteret Leathes
1747 Richard Rigby
1754 Thomas Walpole
1761 John Henniker
1768 (Sir) Patrick Blake [6] (Sir) Walden Hanmer [7]
1774 [8] Thomas Fonnereau Philip Champion Crespigny
1775 Sir Patrick Blake, Bt Sir Walden Hanmer
1780 Philip Champion Crespigny [9]
1781 Sir James Marriott
1784 William Smith John Langston
1790 John Hippisley Thomas Champion Crespigny
1796 William Smith Sir James Marriott
1802 Sir John Hippisley Whig[10] John Pytches Whig[10]
1807 Emanuel Felix Agar Tory[10]
1812 Charles Wyatt Tory[10]
1818 William Heygate Tory[10] John Broadhurst Whig[10]
1820 Charles Augustus Tulk Whig[10]
1826 John Wilks Whig[10] Bethel Walrond Whig[10]
1828 John Norman Macleod Tory[10]
1830 Sir John Walsh Tory[10]
1831 Digby Cayley Wrangham Tory[10]
1832 Michael Angelo Taylor Whig[10]
Jul. 1834 Sir Edward Barnes [11] Tory[10]
Dec. 1834 Conservative[10] Conservative[10]
1835 John Bagshaw Whig[12][13][14][15][10] Benjamin Smith Whig[10]
July 1837 Sir James Hamilton Conservative[10] Sir Edward Barnes Conservative[10]
December 1837 Joseph Bailey Conservative[10]
1838 Sir John Walsh Conservative[10]
1840 George Tomline Conservative[10]
1841 [16] Frederick Villiers Meynell Whig[10][17] David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre Whig[10][17]
29 July 1844 Constituency disfranchised for corruption and incorporated into Western Suffolk

MPs 1885–1950

Election Member Party
1885 Sir William Quilter Liberal
1886 Sir William Quilter Liberal Unionist
1906 William Heaton-Armstrong Liberal
1910 (January) Sir Cuthbert Quilter Conservative
1918 Stephen Howard Coalition Liberal
1922 Herbert Mercer Conservative
1923 Frederick Loverseed Liberal
1924 Henry Walter Burton Conservative
1945 Roland Hamilton Labour
1950 constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Sudbury[10][18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Bethel Walrond Unopposed
Tory John Walsh Unopposed
Whig hold
Tory gain from Whig
General election 1831: Sudbury[10][18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Tory John Walsh 544 46.0
Tory Digby Cayley Wrangham 400 33.8
Whig William Windham 239 20.2
Majority 161 13.6
Turnout 656 c. 65.6
Registered electors c. 1,000
Tory hold
Tory gain from Whig
General election 1832: Sudbury[10][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Michael Angelo Taylor 263 33.0 +22.9
Tory John Walsh 253 31.8 −14.2
Tory Digby Cayley Wrangham 234 29.4 −4.4
Whig John Bagshaw 46 5.8 −4.3
Turnout 474 93.1 c. +27.5
Registered electors 509
Majority 10 1.2 N/A
Whig gain from Tory Swing +16.1
Majority 19 2.4 −11.2
Tory hold Swing −12.8

Taylor's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 25 July 1834: Sudbury[10][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Edward Barnes 264 50.1 −11.1
Whig John Bagshaw 263 49.9 +11.1
Majority 1 0.2 −2.2
Turnout 527 96.3 +3.2
Registered electors 547
Tory gain from Whig Swing −11.1
  • Both candidates received the same number of votes, but the mayor's vote was added in favour of Barnes
General election 1835: Sudbury[10][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig John Bagshaw 285 28.4 −4.6
Whig Benjamin Smith 251 25.0 +19.2
Conservative Edward Barnes 241 24.0 −7.8
Conservative Stephens Lyne-Stephens 227 22.6 −6.8
Majority 10 1.0 −0.2
Turnout 527 95.1 +2.0
Registered electors 554
Whig hold Swing +1.4
Whig gain from Conservative Swing +13.3
General election 1837: Sudbury[10][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Barnes 372 42.1 +18.1
Conservative Sir James Hamilton, 2nd Baronet, of Woodbrook 342 38.7 +16.1
Whig William Abel Smith 151 17.1 −11.3
Whig Sir Thomas Edward Michell Turton, 2nd Baronet 19 2.1 −22.9
Majority 191 21.6 N/A
Turnout 502 83.8 −11.3
Registered electors 599
Conservative gain from Whig Swing +17.6
Conservative gain from Whig Swing +16.6

Hamilton's resignation caused a by-election.

By-election, 12 December 1837: Sudbury[10][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Joseph Bailey 303 54.3 −26.5
Whig James Morrison 255 45.7 +26.5
Majority 48 8.6 −13.0
Turnout 558 92.7 +8.9
Registered electors 602
Conservative hold Swing −26.5

Barnes' death caused a by-election.

By-election, 27 March 1838: Sudbury[10][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Walsh 293 52.4 −28.4
Whig John Bagshaw 266 47.6 +28.4
Majority 27 4.8 −16.8
Turnout 559 92.9 +9.1
Registered electors 602
Conservative hold Swing −28.4

Elections in the 1840s

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.

By-election, 5 June 1840: Sudbury[19][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Tomline Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1841: Sudbury[19][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Frederick Villiers Meynell 284 25.5 +8.4
Whig David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre 281 25.2 +23.1
Conservative David Jones 274 24.6 −17.5
Conservative Charles Taylor 274 24.6 −14.1
Majority 7 0.6 N/A
Turnout 557 92.4 +8.6
Registered electors 603
Whig gain from Conservative Swing +12.1
Whig gain from Conservative Swing +19.5

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

General election 1885: Sudbury[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Cuthbert Quilter 4,913 58.7
Conservative Thomas Weller Poley [21] 3,461 41.3
Majority 1,452 17.4
Turnout 8,374 79.6
Registered electors 10,522
Liberal win (new seat)
General election 1886: Sudbury[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Cuthbert Quilter Unopposed
Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Sudbury[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Cuthbert Quilter 5,111 63.8 N/A
Liberal Arthur Graeme Ogilvie 2,905 36.2 New
Majority 2,206 27.6 N/A
Turnout 8,016 75.4 N/A
Registered electors 10,638
Liberal Unionist hold Swing N/A
General election 1895: Sudbury[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Cuthbert Quilter Unopposed
Liberal Unionist hold

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Sudbury[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Cuthbert Quilter Unopposed
Liberal Unionist hold
Heaton-Armstrong
General election 1906: Sudbury[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Heaton-Armstrong 4,201 50.8 New
Liberal Unionist Cuthbert Quilter 4,065 49.2 N/A
Majority 136 1.6 N/A
Turnout 8,266 81.7 N/A
Registered electors 10,121
Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist Swing N/A

Elections in the 1910s

Hirst
General election January 1910: Sudbury[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Cuthbert Quilter 5,026 55.9 +6.7
Liberal Francis Hirst 3,958 44.1 −6.7
Majority 1,068 11.8 N/A
Turnout 8,984 89.5 +7.8
Registered electors 10,036
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +6.7
General election December 1910: Sudbury[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Cuthbert Quilter Unopposed
Conservative hold

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;

  • Unionist: Cuthbert Quilter
  • Liberal: Stephen Howard[22]
Howard
General election 1918: Sudbury[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Stephen Howard 6,656 52.1 New
C Unionist Richard George Proby 5,746 44.9 N/A
Labour Joseph Rouse Hicks* 390 3.0 New
Majority 910 7.2 N/A
Turnout 12,792 48.4 N/A
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.
* some records describe Hicks as an 'Agriculture' candidate

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Sudbury[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Herbert Mercer 7,298 47.0 +2.1
National Liberal Stephen Howard 5,410 34.9 New
Liberal Ernest William Tanner 2,813 18.1 -34.0
Majority 1,888 12.1 N/A
Turnout 15,521 59.3 +10.9
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing
General election 1923: Sudbury[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Frederick Loverseed 8,813 52.0 * -1.0
Unionist Herbert Mercer 8,148 48.0 +1.0
Majority 665 4.0 N/A
Turnout 16,961 63.8 +4.5
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing -1.0
  • compared to combined 1922 Liberal vote.
General election 1924: Sudbury[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Henry Burton 10,579 53.6 +5.6
Liberal Frederick Loverseed 9,168 46.4 -5.6
Majority 1,411 7.2 N/A
Turnout 19,747 73.3 = +9.5
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing +5.6
General election 1929: Sudbury[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Henry Burton 9,715 40.2 -13.4
Liberal Alan Sainsbury 8,309 34.4 -12.0
Labour W. Jack Shingfield 6,147 25.4 New
Majority 1,406 5.8 -1.4
Turnout 24,171 75.9 +2.6
Unionist hold Swing -0.7

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Sudbury[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Burton 13,500 55.3 +15.1
Liberal Alan Sainsbury 10,929 44.7 +10.3
Majority 2,571 10.6 +4.8
Turnout 24,429 76.7 +0.8
Conservative hold Swing +2.4
General election 1935: Sudbury[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Burton 11,700 49.3 -6.0
Liberal Alan Sainsbury 8,344 35.2 -9.5
Labour Horace Denton 3,670 15.5 New
Majority 3,356 14.1 +3.5
Turnout 23,714 74.4 -2.3
Conservative hold Swing +1.7

Elections in the 1940s

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;

General election 1945: Sudbury[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Roland Hamilton 9,906 40.3 +24.8
Conservative Henry Burton 9,659 39.2 -10.1
Liberal Margaret Hitchcock 5,045 20.5 -14.7
Majority 247 1.1 N/A
Turnout 24,610 69.5 -4.9
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

References

  1. ^ M.C. Rintoul (1993). Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction. Taylor & Francis. p. 872. ISBN 9780415059992.
  2. ^ Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
  3. ^ S., Craig, Fred W. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885–1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0900178094. OCLC 539011.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  5. ^ Created a baronet, July 1641
  6. ^ Created a baronet, September 1772
  7. ^ Created a baronet, May 1774
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ On petition, Crespigny was declared not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Marriott was seated in his place
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ The Spectator, Volume 7. F. C. Westley. 1834. p. 702. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  13. ^ The Spectator, Volume 10. F. C. Westley. 1837. p. 651. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ "General Intelligence". Coventry Standard. 24 June 1853. p. 2. Retrieved 13 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. ^ 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
  17. ^ a b "Electoral Decisions". Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser. 3 July 1841. p. 24. Retrieved 12 December 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. ^ a b Escott, Margaret. "Sudbury". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ ‘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
  22. ^ Cambridge Independent Press 16 Jan 1914
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h British parliamentary election results, 1918–1949 (Craig)
  • Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
  • D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
  • Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) [2]
  • F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
  • Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  • Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988) [3]
  • H G Nicholas, To The Hustings: Election scenes from English fiction (London, Cassell & Co., 1956)
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
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