Beverley (UK Parliament constituency)
Beverley | |
---|---|
Former County constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | East Riding of Yorkshire |
1983–1997 | |
Number of members | One |
Replaced by | Beverley and Holderness |
Created from | Haltemprice |
1950–1955 | |
Number of members | One |
Type of constituency | County constituency |
Replaced by | Haltemprice and Howden |
Created from | Buckrose, Holderness and Howdenshire |
1563–1869 | |
Number of members | Two |
Type of constituency | Borough constituency |
Replaced by | East Riding of Yorkshire |
Created from | Yorkshire |
1295–1306 | |
Type of constituency | Borough constituency |
Replaced by | Yorkshire |
Beverley has been the name of a parliamentary constituency in the East Riding of Yorkshire for three separate periods. From medieval times until 1869, it was a parliamentary borough, consisting solely of the market town of Beverley, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The name was revived for a single-member county constituency created in 1950, but abolished in 1955, and again between the 1983 and 1997 general elections, after which the Beverley constituency was largely incorporated into the new Beverley and Holderness constituency.
History
The Parliamentary Borough
Beverley was first represented in the Model Parliament of 1295, but after 1306 it did not elect members again until 1563. Thereafter it maintained two members continuously until being disfranchised in 1870. The borough consisted of the three parishes of the town of Beverley, and by 1831 had a population of 7,432 and 1,928 houses. The right of election was vested not in the population as a whole, but in the freemen of the borough, whether resident or not; at the contested election of 1826, 2,276 votes were cast. The town was of a sufficient size for the borough to retain its two members in the Great Reform Act of 1832, although its boundaries were slightly extended to include some outlying fringes, increasing the population by roughly 800.
For much of the borough's history, elections in Beverley were notorious for their corruption. In 1727, one of the victorious candidates was unseated on petition, his agents were imprisoned and Parliament passed a new Bribery Act as a result. Between 1857 and 1868 six petitions were lodged against election results, of which three succeeded in voiding the election and unseating one or more of the victors. After the 1868 election, the writ for the borough was suspended and a Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the conduct of elections in Beverley; when it reported that it had found proof of extensive bribery, an Act of Parliament was passed permanently depriving Beverley of the right to return Members of Parliament, abolishing the constituency and incorporating it within the East Riding constituency.
The novelist Anthony Trollope was one of the defeated candidates in the final corrupt election for which Beverley was disfranchised. He drew on his experience directly for his description of the Percycross election in his novel Ralph the Heir, and also told the story in his Autobiography. He found that corruption was taken for granted and that the price of a vote was between 15 shillings and £1. His unsuccessful campaign cost him £400.
1950 to 1955
The Beverley constituency which existed from 1950 to 1955 was a predominantly rural one. Under the boundary revisions introduced by the Representation of the People Act 1948, which came into effect at the 1950 general election, the three existing county constituencies of the East Riding were abolished, and the county was divided into two new constituencies, each named after their biggest towns - Bridlington and Beverley. The new Beverley constituency comprised the western half of the Riding. This encompassed parts of all three of the county's previously existing constituencies (Buckrose, Holderness and Howdenshire).
The Beverley constituency was abolished in further boundary changes implemented at the 1955 general election, being divided between the new Haltemprice and Howden seats.
1983 to 1997
Beverley again became a constituency name in 1983, this time for a constituency mostly suburban in character. The new constituency replaced, and strongly resembled, the Haltemprice constituency which had been introduced in 1955: its main components apart from Beverley were the prosperous suburbs to the north and west of Hull, such as Cottingham, Anlaby and Kirk Ella.
The Beverley constituency was abolished in 1997 general election, Beverley itself moving to the new Beverley and Holderness constituency.
Boundaries
1950-1955: The Municipal Borough of Beverley, the Urban District of Norton, and the Rural Districts of Beverley, Derwent, Howden, Norton, and Pocklington.
1983-1997: The East Yorkshire Borough of Beverley wards of Anlaby, Brough, Castle, Hessle East, Hessle West, Kirk Ella, Leconfield, Leven, Mill Beck and Croxby, Minster North, Minster South, Molescroft, Priory, St Mary's East, St Mary's West, Springfield, Swanland, Tickton, Willerby, and Woodmansey.
Members of Parliament
Beverley borough
1563-1660
Parliament | Year | First member | Second member |
---|---|---|---|
Parliament of 1563-1567 | Nicholas Bacon | Robert Hall | |
Parliament of 1571 | Edward Ellerker | Thomas Layton | |
Parliament of 1572-1583 | Richard Topcliffe | Thomas Aglionby | |
Parliament of 1584-1585 | Robert Wrote | John Stanhope | |
Parliament of 1586-1587 | Michael Wharton | George Purefoy | |
Parliament of 1588-1589 | Lancelot Alford | John Truslove | |
Parliament of 1593 | John Mansfield | Edward Alford | |
Parliament of 1597-1598 | Thomas Crompton | Edward Fraunceys | |
Parliament of 1601 | Edward Fraunceys | Randolph Ewens | |
Parliament of 1604-1611 | William Gee | Allan Percy | |
Addled Parliament (1614) | William Towse | Edmund Scott | |
Parliament of 1621-1622 | Sir Christopher Hilliard | ||
Happy Parliament (1624-1625) | Sir Henry Vane the elder, replaced 1624 by Sir Henry Carey | ||
Useless Parliament (1625) | Sir John Hotham, Bt | Sir William Alford | |
Parliament of 1625-1626 | |||
Parliament of 1628-1629 | |||
No Parliament summoned 1629-1640 | |||
Short Parliament (1640) | Sir John Hotham, Bt | Michael Warton | |
Long Parliament (1640-1653) | 1640 | Sir John Hotham, Bt (Royalist) disabled to sit, September 1643 | Michael Warton (Royalist) disabled to sit, January 1644 |
1645 | James Nelthorpe | John Nelthorpe | |
1648 | John Nelthorpe excluded in Pride's Purge | ||
Barebones Parliament (1653) | Beverley not represented | ||
First Protectorate Parliament (1654-1655) | Francis Thorpe | (One member only) | |
Second Protectorate Parliament (1656-1658) | |||
Third Protectorate Parliament (1659) | Thomas Strickland | John Anlaby | |
Long Parliament (restored, 1659-1660) | James Nelthorpe | ||
1660-1869
Year | First member[1] | First party | Second member[1] | Second party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 1660 | Hugh Bethall [2] | Sir John Hotham, Bt | ||||
June 1660 | Michael Warton | |||||
1685 | Sir Ralph Warton | |||||
1689 | Sir Michael Warton | Tory | Sir John Hotham, Bt | |||
1689 | Sir John Hotham, Bt | |||||
1690 | William Gee | |||||
1695 | Ralph Warton | Tory | ||||
1701 | William Gee | Whig | ||||
1702 | Sir Charles Hotham, Bt | Whig | ||||
1705 | John Moyser | |||||
1708 | Sir Michael Warton | |||||
1722 | Michael Newton | |||||
1723 | Sir Charles Hotham, Bt | Whig | ||||
1727 | Ellerker Bradshaw [3] | Whig | Charles Pelham | Tory | ||
1729 | Sir Charles Hotham, Bt | Whig | ||||
1734 | Ellerker Bradshaw | Whig | ||||
1738 | Charles Pelham | Tory | ||||
1741 | William Strickland | |||||
1747 | Sir William Codrington, Bt | |||||
1754 | John Tufnell | |||||
1761 | Michael Newton | George Tufnell | ||||
1768 | Hugh Bethell | Charles Anderson-Pelham | ||||
1772 | Sir Griffith Boynton, Bt | |||||
1774 | George Tufnell | Sir James Pennyman, Bt | ||||
1780 | Francis Evelyn Anderson | |||||
1784 | Sir Christopher Sykes, Bt | |||||
1790 | John Wharton | Whig | ||||
1796 | William Tatton | Napier Christie Burton | ||||
1799 | John Morritt | Tory | ||||
1802 | John Wharton | Whig | ||||
1806 | Richard Vyse | |||||
1807 | Richard William Howard Vyse | |||||
1812 | Charles Forbes | Tory | ||||
1818 | Robert Christie Burton | Tory | ||||
1820 | George Lane-Fox | Tory | ||||
1826 | John Stewart | Tory | Charles Harrison Batley | Tory | ||
1830 | Daniel Sykes | Whig | Henry Burton | Whig | ||
1831 | William Marshall | Whig | ||||
1832 | Hon. Charles Langdale | Whig | ||||
1835 | James Hogg | Conservative | ||||
1837 | George Lane-Fox | Conservative | ||||
1840 | Sackville Lane-Fox | Conservative | ||||
1841 | John Towneley | Whig | ||||
1847 | Sackville Lane-Fox | Conservative | ||||
1852 | Hon. Francis Charles Lawley | Liberal | William Wells | Liberal | ||
1854 | Hon. Arthur Hamilton-Gordon | Liberal | ||||
1857 | Edward Auchmuty Glover [4] | Liberal | Hon. William Denison | Liberal | ||
1857 | Henry Edwards | Conservative | ||||
1859 | Ralph Walters [5] | Liberal | ||||
1860 | James Walker | Conservative | ||||
1865 | Christopher Sykes | Conservative | ||||
1868 | Edmund Hegan Kennard | Conservative | ||||
Writ suspended 1869, constituency abolished 1870
Beverley County Constituency (1950-1955)
Election | Member[1] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1950 | George Odey | Conservative | |
1955 | constituency abolished | ||
Beverley County Constituency (1983-1997)
Election | Member[1] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Patrick Wall | Conservative | |
1987 | James Cran | Conservative | |
1997 | constituency abolished | ||
Elections
Elections in the 1860s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Henry Edwards | 1,132 | |||
Conservative | Edmund Hegan Kennard | 986 | |||
Liberal | Marmaduke Maxwell | 895 | |||
Liberal | Anthony Trollope | 740 | |||
Majority | |||||
Turnout | |||||
Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Elections in the 1950s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | George William Odey | 26,699 | 55.7 | N/A | |
Labour | Arnold William Gray | 12,399 | 25.9 | N/A | |
Liberal | Harold Stewart Freemantle | 7,719 | 16.1 | N/A | |
Independent Conservative | G. Thorley | 1,121 | 2.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 14,300 | 29.8 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 83.0 | N/A | |||
Conservative win | |||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | George William Odey | 27,937 | 59.1 | +3.4 | |
Labour | Thomas Brennan | 12,778 | 27.1 | +1.2 | |
Liberal | Harold Stewart Freemantle | 6,522 | 13.8 | -1.3 | |
Majority | 15,159 | 32.1 | +2.3 | ||
Turnout | 80.0 | -3.0 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing | +1.1 | |||
Elections in the 1980s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Patrick Henry Bligh Wall | 31,233 | 56.3 | N/A | |
Liberal | M. Pitts | 17,364 | 31.3 | N/A | |
Labour | Elliot Anthony Morley | 6,921 | 12.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 13,869 | 25.0 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 73.2 | N/A | |||
Conservative win | |||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | James Douglas Cran | 31,459 | 52.2 | -4.1 | |
Liberal | John Bryant | 18,864 | 31.3 | 0.0 | |
Labour | Martin Shaw | 9,901 | 16.4 | +3.9 | |
Majority | 12,595 | 20.9 | -4.1 | ||
Turnout | 76.3 | +3.1 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing | -2.1 | |||
Elections in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | James Douglas Cran | 34,503 | 53.3 | +1.1 | |
Liberal Democrat | Andrew Collinge | 17,986 | 27.8 | −3.5 | |
Labour | Colin Robert Challen | 12,026 | 18.6 | +2.1 | |
Natural Law | D Hetherington | 199 | 0.3 | +0.3 | |
Majority | 16,517 | 25.5 | +4.6 | ||
Turnout | 64,714 | 79.9 | +3.6 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +2.3 | |||
See also
Notes and references
- 1 2 3 4 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
- ↑ Bethell was also elected for Hedon, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Beverley
- ↑ Pelham and Bradshaw beat Hotham in the 1727 election, but on petition Hotham was declared elected in Bradshaw's place. Bradshaw's agents at Beverley were imprisoned, and the investigations led directly to the passing of the Bribery Act, 1729
- ↑ Glover's election was declared void on petition, because he lacked the necessary property qualification to be a candidate, and a by-election held
- ↑ Walters' election was declared void on petition because of corrupt practices, and a by-election held
- ↑ "Modern Beverley: Political and Social History, 1835-1918", A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 6: The borough and liberties of Beverley (1989), pp. 141-148
- ↑ UK General Election results: February 1950
- ↑ UK General Election results: October 1951
- ↑ UK General Election results: June 1983
- ↑ UK General Election results: June 1987
- ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
Sources
- F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885" (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
- D Brunton & D H Pennington, “Members of the Long Parliament” (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
- Michael Kinnear, "The British Voter" (London: Batsford, 1968)
- H G Nicholas, "To The Hustings" (London: Cassell & Co., 1956)
- J Holladay Philbin, "Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
- Henry Stooks Smith, "The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847" (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
- Robert Waller, "The Almanac of British Politics" (3rd edition, London: Croom Helm, 1987)
- Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)
- Victoria County History of the East Riding of Yorkshire
- "Beverley, 1700-1835 - Parliamentary Elections" from the Victoria County History