Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)

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Tyrone
County constituency
Created: 1801
Abolished: 1885
Type: House of Commons
Members: Two

A former UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning two Members of Parliament.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries and Boundary Changes

This constituency comprised the whole of County Tyrone, except the Parliamentary borough of Dungannon.

It returned two MPs 1801-1885. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland was created on 1 January 1801.

In the redistribution, which took effect in 1885, County Tyrone was divided into four single-member constituencies; East Tyrone, Mid Tyrone, North Tyrone and South Tyrone.

[edit] Politics

The constituency electorate was predominantly Tory/Conservative during most of this period.

Catholics were excluded from qualifying as voters until 1793 and taking seats in Parliament until 1829 and there was a restrictive property based franchise. It was not until the electoral reforms which took effect in 1885 that most adult males became voters. See Catholic emancipation for further details.

In these circumstances most Members of Parliament came from a limited number of Protestant aristocratic and gentry families. There were few contested elections.

It was only in 1880, at the end of the period when this constituency existed, that the Liberals first won a seat from the area.

[edit] Members of Parliament

Key to parties: C Conservative, L Liberal, T Tory, W Whig.

From To Name (Party) Born Died
1801 1802 Viscount Corry 11 July 1774 18 April 1841
1801 1812 James Stewart 1742 18 January 1821
1802 1806 Rt Hon. John Stewart c. 1758 22 June 1825
1806 1812 Hon. Thomas Knox 5 August 1754 26 April 1840
1812 1825 Rt Hon. Sir John Stewart, Bt (T) c. 1758 22 June 1825
1812 1818 Hon. Thomas Knox 19 April 1786 21 March 1858
1818 1830 William Stewart (W) 1780 c. October 1850
1825 1873 Rt Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry (T) 9 March 1803 6 March 1873
1830 1835 Sir Hugh Stewart, Bt (T) 14 May 1792 19 November 1854
1835 1837 Lord Claud Hamilton (C) 27 July 1813 3 June 1884
1837 1839 Viscount Alexander (C) 27 July 1812 30 June 1855
1839 1874 Rt Hon. Lord Claud Hamilton (C) 27 July 1813 3 June 1884
1873 1880 Hon. Henry William Lowry Corry (C) 30 June 1845 6 May 1927
1874 1885 John William Ellison Macartney (C) 1818 13 February 1904
1880 1881 Edward Falconer Litton (L) 1827 27 November 1890
1881 1885 Thomas Alexander Dickson (L) 1833 17 June 1909

Notes:

  • (1) Before 1818 all candidates are classified as Non Partisan, as Stooks Smith does not specify any party allegiances for this constituency before that date. This does not necessarily mean that the MPs were not associated with a Party in Parliament.
  • (2) From 1832 Lowry Corry and Stewart are classified as Comservatives.
  • (3) In 1847 Lowry Corry and Hamilton contested the general election as Peelite Liberal Conservatives, but were again Conservatives by 1852.

[edit] Elections

The single-member elections in this constituency took place using the first past the post electoral system. Multi-member elections used the plurality at large variant of the bloc voting system.

There was no election in 1801. The representatives of the county in the former Parliament of Ireland became members of the 1st Parliament of the United Kingdom.

After 1832, when registration of voters was introduced, a turnout figure is given for contested elections. In two-member elections this is calculated by dividing the number of votes by two. To the extent that voters did not use both their votes this will be an underestimate of turnout. If the electorate figure is unknown the last known electorate figure is used to provide an estimate of turnout.

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.

Co-option 1 January 1801: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan James Stewart Co-opted N/A N/A
Non Partisan Viscount Corry Co-opted N/A N/A
By-Election 1 March 1802: Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Rt Hon. John Stewart Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 19 July 1802: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan James Stewart Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Rt Hon. John Stewart Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 18 November 1806: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan James Stewart Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Hon. Thomas Knox Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 25 May 1807: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan James Stewart Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Hon. Thomas Knox Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 20 October 1812: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Thomas Knox Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Rt Hon. Sir John Stewart, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1 July 1818: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Rt Hon. Sir John Stewart, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig William Stewart Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 22 March 1820: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Rt Hon. Sir John Stewart, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig William Stewart Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Death of Rt Hon. Sir John Stewart, Bt
By-Election 27 June 1825: Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold Swing N/A
General Election 20 June 1826: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig William Stewart Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 9 August 1830: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Sir Hugh Stewart, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 14 May 1831: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Sir Hugh Stewart, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 17 December 1832: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir Hugh Stewart, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 20 January 1835: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Lord Claud Hamilton 1,057 47.81 N/A
Conservative Rt Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry 627 28.36 N/A
Conservative Viscount Alexander 510 23.07 N/A
Conservative Charles Eccles 17 0.77 N/A
Turnout 1,250 88.44 N/A
General Election 7 August 1837: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative Viscount Alexander Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 6 May 1839: Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Lord Claud Hamilton 223 73.11 N/A
Conservative Major Humphreys 81 26.56 N/A
Independent James Alexander Boyle 1 0.33 N/A
Majority 142 46.56 N/A
Turnout 2,602 (1837) 11.72 N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General Election 9 July 1841: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative Lord Claud Hamilton Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 23 September 1841: Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General Election 10 August 1847: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Peelite Rt Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
Peelite Lord Claud Hamilton Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 12 March 1852: Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Lord Claud Hamilton Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General Election 29 July 1852: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry 3,271 43.77 N/A
Conservative Rt Hon. Lord Claud Hamilton 3,221 43.10 N/A
Liberal Brabazon Hugh Higgins 982 13.14 N/A
Turnout 5,692 65.65 N/A
General Election 4 April 1857: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative Rt Hon. Lord Claud Hamilton Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 11 March 1858: Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Lord Claud Hamilton Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General Election 10 May 1859: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative Rt Hon. Lord Claud Hamilton Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 18 July 1865: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative Rt Hon. Lord Claud Hamilton Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Appointment of Lowry Corry as Vice-President of the Council for Education
By-Election 18 July 1866: Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
By-Election 20 July 1866: Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Lord Claud Hamilton Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General Election 24 November 1868: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rt Hon. Henry Thomas Lowry Corry Unopposed N/A N/A
Conservative Rt Hon. Lord Claud Hamilton Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Death of Lowry Corry
By-Election 16 April 1873: Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Hon. Henry William Lowry Corry 3,139 50.29 N/A
Conservative John William Ellison Macartney 3,103 49.71 N/A
Majority 36 0.58 N/A
Turnout 8,643 72.22 N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General Election 11 February 1874: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John William Ellison Macartney 4,710 44.30 -5.31
Conservative Hon. Henry William Lowry Corry 3,171 29.82 -20.47
Conservative Rt Hon. Lord Claud Hamilton 2,752 25.88 +25.88
Turnout 8,883 59.85 -12.37
General Election 8 April 1880: Tyrone (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John William Ellison Macartney 3,829 35.42 -8.88
Liberal Edward Falconer Litton 3,511 32.48 +32.48
Conservative Rt Hon. Lord Claud Hamilton 3,470 32.10 +6.22
Turnout 8,762 61.69 +1.84
  • Litton appointed Land Commissioner
By-Election 7 September 1881: Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Alexander Dickson 3,168 44.25 +11.77
Conservative Hon. William Stuart Knox 3,084 43.08 +43.08
Home Rule Rev. Harold Rylett 907 12.67 +12.67
Majority 84 1.17 N/A
Turnout 8,674 82.53 +20.84
Liberal hold Swing N/A

[edit] References

  • The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844-50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
  • Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)

[edit] See also

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs.