Amersham (UK Parliament constituency)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Amersham
Borough constituency
Created: 1625
Abolished: 1832
Type: House of Commons

Amersham was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency was a Parliamentary borough in Buckinghamshire, covering the small town of Amersham. It is located 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills of England. Davis describes it as "a thriving little market town".

Before the borough was re-enfranchised in 1625 and after it was disenfranchised in 1832, the area was represented as part of the county constituency of Buckinghamshire.

[edit] History

The borough was first enfranchised in 1300, but only seems to have sent burgesses to Parliament for a short time. By 1307 it was no longer included in the list of Parliamentary boroughs.

The privilege of electing two burgesses to Parliament was revived in 1625. The right of election was held by householders paying scot and lot, a local tax. This was one of the most democratic franchises used in elections to the Unreformed House of Commons. However because this was a small borough, from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, it was under the patronage of the Drake family of Shardeloes (an estate about a mile from the town).

In the early eighteenth century there were about 150 electors. Although, at this period, the Drakes did not own most of the houses they were able to nominate candidates for both seats. An anti-Drake element in the electorate supported a candidate in opposition to the Tory candidates promoted by the Drake interest, at elections in 1728, 1734 and 1735. That opposition proved to represent about a third of the electorate.

Thereafter the Drakes enjoyed unchallenged possession of their pocket borough. There was no further sign of the sort of resistance to the dominant interest that broke out from time to time in many similar boroughs.

By the latter half of the eighteenth century the Drakes owned most of the town. The number of voters were reduced to about 70. Elections were all uncontested.

The borough was treated with respect by its patrons. Uncontested elections were accompanied by generous expenditure, estimated by Davis as £350 in the eighteenth century and £600 in the 1820s.

Amersham was one of the boroughs totally disenfranchised by the Reform Act 1832.

[edit] Members of Parliament

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Year First member Second member
1625 unknown unknown
1626 unknown unknown
1628 unknown unknown
1640 unknown unknown
1640 William Drake [1] unknown
1648 unknown
Year First member First party Second member Second party
1659 unknown unknown
1660 Charles Cheyne Thomas Proby
1661 Sir William Drake, Bt [1]
1669 Sir William Drake [2]
1679 Sir Roger Hill
1681 William Cheyne
1689 Edmund Waller
1690 William Montagu
1695 Montagu Drake
1698 The 2nd Viscount Newhaven Sir John Garrard, Bt
1699 John Drake
1701 The 2nd Viscount Newhaven
1701 John Drake
1701 Sir Samuel Garrard, Bt
1701 The 2nd Viscount Newhaven
1702 Sir Samuel Garrard, Bt
1705 The 2nd Viscount Newhaven
1707 John Drake
1708 Francis Duncombe
1710 John Drake
1713 Montague Garrard Drake Tory The 1st Viscount Fermanagh Tory
1717 The 2nd Viscount Fermanagh Tory
1722 Thomas Chapman Tory
1727 Montague Garrard Drake Tory Baptist Leveson Gower Tory
1728 Thomas Lutwyche Tory
1728 Marmaduke Alington Tory
1734 Sir Henry Marshall Tory
1735 Thomas Gore Tory
1746 William Drake, Sr [3] Tory
1754 Isaac Whittington Tory
1761 Benet Garrard
1767 John Affleck
1768 William Drake, Jr [4] Tory
1795 Thomas Drake Tyrwhitt-Drake Tory
1796 Charles Drake Garrard Tory
1805 Thomas Tyrwhitt-Drake Tory
1810 William Tyrwhitt-Drake Tory

[edit] Elections

[edit] General Notes

In multi-member elections the bloc voting system was used. Voters could cast a vote for one or two candidates, as they chose. The leading candidates with the largest number of votes were elected.

In by-elections, to fill a single seat, the first past the post system applied.

Where a party had more than one candidate in one or both of a pair of successive elections change is calculated for each individual candidate, otherwise change is based on the party vote. Change figures at by-elections are from the preceding general election or the last intervening by-election. Change figures at general elections are from the last general election.

Candidates for whom no party has been identified are classified as Non Partisan. The candidate might have been associated with a party or faction in Parliament or considered himself to belong to a particular political tradition. Political parties before the nineteenth century were not as cohesive or organised as they later became. Contemporary commentators (even the reputed leaders of parties or factions) in the eighteenth century did not necessarily agree who the party supporters were. The traditional parties, which had arisen in the late seventeenth century, became increasingly irrelevant to politics in the eighteenth century (particularly after 1760), although for some contests in some constituencies party labels were still used. It was only towards the end of the century that party labels began to acquire some meaning again, although this process was by no means complete for several more generations.

Sources: The results for elections before 1790 were taken from the History of Parliament Trust publications on the House of Commons. The results from 1790 until 1832 are based on Stooks Smith. Where Stooks Smith gives additional information to the other sources this is indicated in a note.

[edit] Dates of Elections 1660-1715

  • -- Apr 1660 GE
  • 23 Mar 1661 GE
  • -1 Nov 1669 BE
  • -4 Feb 1679 GE
  • -- --- 1679 GE
  • 29 Jan 1681 GE
  • 23 Mar 1685 GE
  • -5 Jan 1689 GE
  • -- --- 1690 GE
  • -8 Oct 1690 BE
  • -9 Nov 1691 BE
  • 21 Oct 1695 GE
  • 21 Jul 1698 GE
  • -2 Jan 1699 BE
  • -7 Jan 1701 GE
  • 19 Feb 1701 BE
  • 10 Mar 1701 BE
  • 21 Nov 1701 GE
  • 14 Nov 1702 GE
  • -8 May 1705 GE
  • 21 Nov 1707 BE
  • -4 May 1708 GE
  • -3 Oct 1710 GE
  • 27 Aug 1713 GE
  • 18 Mar 1714 BE

[edit] Election Results 1715-1832

As with most boroughs in the unreformed House of Commons, Amersham was uncontested at most elections. The only known contested elections after 1715 were those of 1728, 1735 and 1736.

General Election 26 January 1715: Amersham (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Montague Garrard Drake Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory The 1st Viscount Fermanagh Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 10 July 1717: Amersham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory The 2nd Viscount Fermanagh Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold Swing N/A
General Election 21 March 1722: Amersham (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Montague Garrard Drake Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory The 2nd Viscount Fermanagh Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 27 October 1722: Amersham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Thomas Chapman Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold Swing N/A
General Election 17 August 1727: Amersham (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Montague Garrard Drake Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Baptist Leveson Gower Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 23 February 1728: Amersham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Thomas Lutwyche Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold Swing N/A
By-Election 16 May 1728: Amersham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Marmaduke Alington 64 65.31 N/A
Non Partisan Charles Hayes 34 34.69 N/A
Majority 30 30.61 N/A
Tory hold Swing N/A
  • (Note May 1728): Drake, the late MP, had been the owner of the largest interest in the constituency. His heir was a child and the anti-Drake element in the borough took advantage of the opportunity to contest the seat. Only about a third of the votes were cast for the challenger.
General Election 25 April 1734: Amersham (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Henry Marshall 106 44.73 +44.73
Tory Thomas Lutwyche 81 34.18 +34.18
Non Partisan Thomas Bladen 50 21.10 -9.51
  • (Note 1734): Thomas Bladen stood for the anti-Drake forces in the borough. The result again suggested that only about a third of the electorate opposed the borough's long term patrons.
  • Death of Lutwyche 13 November 1734
By-Election 17 February 1735: Amersham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Thomas Gore Elected N/A N/A
Non Partisan Thomas Bladen Defeated N/A N/A
Tory hold Swing N/A
  • (Note 1735): The vote totals are unknown, but Gore won and no further contested elections took place during the remaining ninety seven years when the borough returned MPs.
General Election 4 May 1741: Amersham (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Sir Henry Marshall Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Thomas Gore Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Appointment of Gore as Commissary General of the Musters (he was returned for Portsmouth)
By-Election 26 February 1746: Amersham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory William Drake, Sr Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold Swing N/A
General Election 27 June 1747: Amersham (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory William Drake, Sr Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Sir Henry Marshall Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 15 February 1754: Amersham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Isaac Whittington Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold Swing N/A
General Election 16 April 1754: Amersham (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory William Drake, Sr Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Isaac Whittington Unopposed N/A N/A
  • 27 Mar 1761 GE
  • -4 Dec 1767 BE
  • 28 Mar 1768 GE
  • -7 Oct 1774 GE
  • -8 Sep 1780 GE
  • 31 Mar 1784 GE
  • -- --- 1790 GE
  • -4 Jun 1795 BE
  • 26 May 1796 GE
  • -- --- 1802 GE
  • 31 Jan 1805 BE
  • -- --- 1806 GE
  • -- --- 1807 GE
  • 21 Nov 1810 BE
  • -- --- 1812 GE
  • -- --- 1818 GE
  • -- --- 1820 GE
  • -- --- 1826 GE
  • -- --- 1830 GE
  • -- --- 1831 GE

|}

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Political Change and Continuity 1760-1885: A Buckinghamshire Study, by Richard W. Davis (David and Charles 1972)
  • The House of Commons 1715-1754, by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970)
  • The House of Commons 1754-1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
  • The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844-50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../a/m/e/Amersham_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29_3d5e.html"