Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Yorkshire County constituency |
|
|---|---|
| Created: | 1290 |
| Abolished: | 1832 |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| Members: | 2 until 1826, then 4 |
Yorkshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1290, 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 until 1826, when the county benefited from the disfranchisement of Grampound by taking an additional two members.
The constituency was split into its three historic ridings, for Parliamentary purposes, under the Reform Act 1832. Each riding returned two MPs. The county was then represented by the Yorkshire East Riding, Yorkshire North Riding and Yorkshire West Riding constituencies.
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[edit] Boundaries
Yorkshire is the largest of the historic counties of England. The constituency comprised the whole county. Yorkshire also contained several boroughs which each returned two members to Parliament. These were Aldborough, Beverley, Boroughbridge, Hedon, Kingston-upon-Hull, Knaresborough, Malton, Northallerton, Pontefract, Richmond, Ripon, Scarborough, Thirsk and York.
[edit] Members of Parliament
[edit] 1660-1826
| Year | First member | Second member |
|---|---|---|
| 1660 | Thomas Fairfax | John Dawnay |
| 1661 | Conyers Darcy | Sir John Goodricke |
| 1670 | Sir Thomas Slingsby | |
| 1679 | Charles Boyle | Henry Fairfax |
| 1685 | Sir John Kaye | |
| 1689 | Thomas Fairfax | |
| 1698 | Henry Dawnay | |
| 1701 | Sir John Kaye | |
| 1701 | Arthur Ingram, Viscount Irwin | |
| 1702 | William Cavendish | Sir John Kaye |
| 1707 | Thomas Fairfax | |
| 1707 | Henry Dawnay | Conyers Darcy |
| 1708 | Sir William Strickland | |
| 1710 | Sir Arthur Kaye | |
| 1727 | Cholmley Turner | |
| 1727 | Sir Thomas Watson-Wentworth | |
| 1728 | Sir George Savile | |
| 1734 | Sir Miles Stapylton | |
| 1741 | Charles Howard, Viscount Morpeth | |
| 1742 | Cholmley Turner | |
| 1747 | Sir Conyers Darcy | |
| 1750 | Henry Pleydell Dawnay | |
| 1759 | Sir George Savile | |
| 1761 | Edwin Lascelles | |
| 1780 | Henry Duncombe | |
| 1784 | Francis Ferrand Foljambe | |
| 1784 | William Wilberforce | |
| 1796 | Henry Lascelles | |
| 1806 | Walter Ramsden Fawkes | |
| 1807 | Charles WentworthFitzwilliam | |
| 1812 | Henry Lascelles | |
| 1818 | James Stuart-Wortley | |
| 1826 | representation increased to 4 members | |
[edit] 1826-1832
| Year | 1st member | 2nd member | 3rd member | 4th member |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representation increased to 4 members | ||||
| 1826 | Charles Wentworth-Fitzwilliam | William Duncombe | Richard Fountayne-Wilson | John Marshall |
| 1830 | George Howard | Henry Brougham | Richard Bethell | |
| 1830 | Sir John Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone | |||
| 1831 | George Strickland | John Charles Ramsden | ||
| 1832 | Constituency abolished: see North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and West Yorkshire | |||
[edit] Elections
The county franchise, from 1430, was held by the owners of freehold land valued at 40 shillings or more. Each voter had as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings, which took place in the county town of York. The expense and difficulty of voting at only one location in the (very large) county, together with the lack of a secret ballot contributed to the corruption and intimidation of voters, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system.
The expense, to candidates, of contested elections encouraged the leading families of the county to agree on the candidates to be returned unopposed whenever possible. Contested county elections were therefore unusual.
