Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)

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Norfolk
County constituency
Created: 1290
Abolished: 1832
Type: House of Commons
Members: two

Norfolk was a County 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. In 1832 the county was divided for parliamentary purposes into two new two member divisions - East Norfolk and West Norfolk.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency comprised the whole of the historic county of Norfolk, in East England, except for the parliamentary boroughs of Castle Rising, Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn, Norwich and Thetford.

[edit] Members of Parliament

[edit] Before 1660

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] 1660-1832

Year 1st Member 1st Party 2nd Member 2nd Party
1660 Lord Cramond Sir Horatio Townshend
1661 Sir Ralph Hare
1673 Sir John Hobart
1675 Sir Robert Kemp
Feb 1679 Sir Christopher Calthorpe Sir Neville Catelyn
May 1679 Sir John Hobart
Aug 1679 Sir Peter Gleane
1685 Sir Thomas Hare Sir Jacob Astley, Bt
1689 Sir William Cook Sir Henry Hobart
1690 Sir Jacob Astley, Bt
1695 Sir Henry Hobart
1698 Sir William Cook
Jan 1701 Roger Townshend
Dec 1701 Sir John Holland
1702 Sir Jacob Astley, Bt
1705 Roger Townshend
1708 Ashe Windham
1710 Sir John Wodehouse Tory Sir Jacob Astley, Bt Tory
1713 Sir Edmund Bacon Whig
1715 Thomas de Grey Whig
1722 Sir Thomas Coke Whig
1727 Sir John Hobart Whig
1728 Harbord Harbord Sir Edmund Bacon Tory
1734 William Wodehouse Tory
1737 Armine Wodehouse
(from 1754 Sir Armine
Wodehouse, Bt)		 Tory
1741 Viscount Coke Whig
1747 George Townshend Whig
1764 Thomas de Grey
1768 Sir Edward Astley, Bt
1774 Wenman Coke
1776 Thomas William Coke
1784 Sir John Wodehouse, Bt
1790 Thomas William Coke
1797 Jacob Henry Astley
1806 William Windham
Mar 1807 Edward Coke Sir Jacob Henry Astley
May 1807 Thomas William Coke
1817 Edmond Wodehouse
1830 Sir William Ffolkes, 2nd Baronet

[edit] Elections

The county franchise, from 1430, was held by the adult male owners of freehold land valued at 40 shillings or more. The bloc vote electoral system was used in two seat elections and first past the post for single member by-elections. Each elector 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 Norwich. The expense and difficulty of voting at only one location in the county, together with the lack of a secret ballot contributed to the corruption and intimidation of electors, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system.

The expense, to candidates and their supporters, 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. There was no single dominant interest or stable coalition in Norfolk, so there were more contests in the eighteenth century than in most counties. The leading Whig families, in the early eighteenth century, were those of Walpole and Townshend. The most important Tory interests were those of the Wodehouse and Astley families. However Sir Jacob Astley defected to the Whigs before the 1715 election.

Note on percentage change calculations: Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party percentage vote. Where there was more than one candidate, in one or both successive elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual percentage vote.

Note on sources: The information for the election results given below is taken from Sedgwick 1715-1754, Stooks Smith 1715-1754, Namier and Brooke 1754-1790 and Stooks Smith 1790-1832.

[edit] Election results 1710-1832

1710s – 1720s – 1730s – 1740s – 1750s – 1760s – 1770s – 1780s – 1790s – 1800s – 1810s – 1820s – 1830s

[edit] Elections in the 1710s

General Election 1710: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Sir John Wodehouse 3,216 27.73 N/A
Tory Sir Jacob Astley, Bt 3,200 27.60 N/A
Non Partisan Ash Windham 2,783 24.00 N/A
Whig Robert Walpole 2,397 20.67 N/A
Turnout 11,596 N/A N/A
  • Note (1710): Stooks Smith, whose compilation of results normally starts with the 1715 general election, is the source for this result. He gives no party classification for the candidates, but for three of them the position is obvious from the survey of Norfolk politics in The History of Parliament 1715-1754. Windham was probably a Whig, but this has not yet been confirmed.
  • Note (1713): No source for the full result of this election has yet been located. Sir Jacob Astley was re-elected as a Tory but defected to the Whigs during the Parliament.
General Election 18 February 1715: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas de Grey 3,183 27.17 N/A
Whig Sir Jacob Astley, Bt 3,059 26.11 N/A
Tory Sir Ralph Hare, Bt 2,840 24.24 N/A
Tory Erasmus Earle 2,635 22.49 N/A
Turnout 11,717 N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1720s

General Election 11 April 1722: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Sir Thomas Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Thomas de Grey Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 23 August 1727: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Sir John Hobart, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Sir Thomas Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 26 June 1728: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Sir Edmund Bacon, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Harbord Harbord Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1730s

General Election 22 May 1734: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Sir Edmund Bacon, Bt 3,224 25.58 N/A
Tory William Wodehouse 3,153 25.01 N/A
Whig William Morden 3,147 24.97 N/A
Whig Robert Coke 3,081 24.44 N/A
Turnout 12,605 N/A N/A
  • Death of Wodehouse
By-Election 23 March 1737: Norfolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Armine Wodehouse Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold Swing N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1740s

General Election 13 May 1741: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Armine Wodehouse Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Viscount Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1 July 1747: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Armine Wodehouse Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig George Townshend Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1750s

General Election 8 May 1754: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig George Townshend Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Armine Wodehouse Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1760s

General Election 1 April 1761: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Hon. George Townshend Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Armine Wodehouse Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 11 April 1764: Norfolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Thomas de Grey Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
General Election 23 March 1768: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Edward Astley, Bt 2,978 27.02 N/A
Non Partisan Thomas de Grey 2,754 24.99 N/A
Non Partisan Armine Wodehouse 2,680 24.32 N/A
Non Partisan Wenman Coke 2,609 23.67 N/A
Turnout 11,021 N/A N/A
  • Note (1768): Stooks Smith has different figures for Astley (2,977) and Coke (2,510).

[edit] Elections in the 1770s

General Election 26 October 1774: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Edward Astley, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Wenman Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Death of Coke
By-Election 8 May 1776: Norfolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Thomas William Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1780s

General Election 20 September 1780: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Edward Astley, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Thomas William Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 14 April 1784: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Edward Astley, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir John Wodehouse, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1790s

General Election 1790: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir John Wodehouse, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Thomas William Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1796: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir John Wodehouse, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Thomas William Coke Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1800s

By-Election November 1801: Norfolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Jacob Henry Astley, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan hold Swing N/A
General Election 1802: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas William Coke 4,317 37.72 N/A
Whig Sir Jacob Henry Astley, Bt 3,612 31.56 N/A
Tory Colonel Wodehouse 3,517 30.73 N/A
Turnout 11,446 (7,251 voted) N/A N/A
  • Note (1802): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for eight days
General Election 1806: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas William Coke 4,118 36.59 -1.13
Whig Rt Hon. William Windham 3,772 33.51 N/A
Tory Hon. J. Wodehouse 3,365 29.90 -0.83
Turnout 11,255 N/A N/A
  • Note (1806): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for six days
  • Election declared void
By-Election March 1807: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Sir Jacob Henry Astley, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Edward Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1807: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas William Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Sir Jacob Henry Astley, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1810s

General Election 1812: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas William Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Sir Jacob Henry Astley, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Death of Astley
By-Election April 1814: Norfolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Edmond Wodehouse 3,861 54.00 N/A
Whig Edward Roger Pratt 3,289 46.00 N/A
Majority 572 8.00 N/A
Turnout 7,150 N/A N/A
Tory gain from Whig Swing N/A
  • Note (1814): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for five days.
General Election 1818: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas William Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Edmond Wodehouse Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1820s

General Election 1820: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas William Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Edmond Wodehouse Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1826: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas William Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Edmond Wodehouse Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1830s

General Election 1830: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas William Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Sir William Ffolkes, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1831: Norfolk (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas William Coke Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Sir William Ffolkes, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

[edit] References

  • Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
  • 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)) out of copyright
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)