Surrey (UK Parliament constituency)

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

Surrey 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 until 1832.

The constituency was split into two two-member divisions, for Parliamentary purposes, in 1832. The county was then represented by the East Surrey and West Surrey constituencies.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

Surrey is one of the historic counties of England. It is located south of the River Thames, in south east England. The constituency comprised the whole county, except for the boroughs of Bletchingley, Gatton, Guildford, Haslemere, Reigate and Southwark.

[edit] Members of Parliament

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

[edit] Knights of the shire 1801-1832

Year 1st Member 1st Party 2nd Member 2nd Party
1801 Lord William Russell Whig Sir John Frederick, 5th Baronet Tory
1807 Samuel Thornton Tory George Holme Sumner Tory
1812 Sir Thomas Sutton Tory
1813 Samuel Thornton Tory
1818 William Joseph Denison Whig
1826 Charles Nicholas Pallmer Whig
1830 John Ivatt Briscoe Whig
1832 constituency divided

[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 Guildford. 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 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.

Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party 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.

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

[edit] Parliament of the United Kingdom 1801-1832

General Election 1802: Surrey (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Lord William Russell Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Sir John Frederick, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 22 February 1806: Surrey
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Lord William Russell Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig hold Swing N/A
General Election 1806: Surrey (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Lord William Russell 315 43.45 N/A
Tory Samuel Thornton 246 33.93 N/A
Tory Sir John Frederick, Bt 164 22.62 N/A
  • Note (1806): Poll 2 days. "Although Mr. Thornton had lost his election for Hull, he resigned on the second day in favour of Sir J. Frederick, who was last on the poll". (Source: Stooks Smith)
General Election 1807: Surrey (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Samuel Thornton 1,471 52.48 +18.55
Tory George Holme Sumner 994 35.46 +35.46
Whig Lord William Russell 338 12.06 -31.39
General Election 1812: Surrey (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory George Holme Sumner 1,924 40.66 +5.20
Tory Sir Thomas Sutton 1,791 37.85 +37.85
Tory Sir Thomas Turton, Bt 1,017 21.49 +21.49
  • Note (1807): Poll 9 days; 3,296 freeholders cast 4,732 votes. (Source: Stooks Smith)
  • Death of Sutton
By-Election November 1813: Surrey
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Samuel Thornton 1,133 69.04 N/A
Tory Sir Thomas Turton, Bt 508 30.96 N/A
Majority 625 38.09 N/A
Tory hold Swing N/A
  • Note (1813 by-election): Poll 4 days; 1,641 freeholders voted. (Source: Stooks Smith)
General Election 1818: Surrey (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory George Holme Sumner Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig William Joseph Denison Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1820: Surrey (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory George Holme Sumner Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig William Joseph Denison Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1826: Surrey (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig William Joseph Denison 2,309 40.23 N/A
Whig Charles Nicholas Pallmer 2,056 35.82 N/A
Tory George Holme Sumner 1,375 23.95 N/A
  • Note (1826): Poll 5 days; 3,743 freeholders cast 5,740 votes. (Source: Stooks Smith)
General Election 1830: Surrey (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig William Joseph Denison 2,159 44.08 +3.85
Whig John Ivatt Briscoe 1,487 30.36 +30.36
Tory Hylton Jolliffe 1,252 25.56 +1.61
  • Note (1830): Poll 3 days; 2,977 freeholders cast 4,898 votes. (Source: Stooks Smith)
General Election 1831: Surrey (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig William Joseph Denison Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig John Ivatt Briscoe Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Constituency abolished - county split into two divisions (1832)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • 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