| Former County constituency | |
| for the House of Commons | |
| Preserved county | Denbighshire |
|---|---|
| 1542–1885 | |
| Number of members | 1542–1832: One; 1832–1885: Two |
| Replaced by | East Denbighshire West Denbighshire |
Denbighshire was a county constituency in Denbighshire, in north Wales, from 1542 to 1885.
Contents |
From 1542, it returned one Member of Parliament (MP), traditionally known as the knight of the shire, to the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, then to the Parliament of Great Britain until 1800, and to the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801. These MPs were elected by the first past the post voting system.
Under the Reform Act 1832, the constituency's representation was increased to two members, elected by the bloc vote system.
The constituency was abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, when Denbighshire was split into two single-member constituencies: the Eastern and Western divisions, each returning one Member of Parliament.
| Parliament | First member |
|---|---|
| 1542 | John Salusbury I [1] |
| 1545 | John Salusbury II [1] |
| 1547 | Sir John Salusbury II [1] |
| 1553 (Mar) | Robert Puleston [1] |
| 1553 (Oct) | Sir John Salusbury II [1] |
| 1554 (Apr) | Sir John Salusbury II [1] |
| 1554 (Nov) | Sir John Salusbury II [1] |
| 1555 | Edward Almer [1] |
| 1558 | Sir John Salusbury II [1] |
| 1558–1559 | John Salesbury [1] |
| 1562–1563 | Simon Thelwall [1] |
| 1571 | Robert Puleston [1] |
| 1572 | William Almer [1] |
| 1584 | Evan Lloyd [1] |
| 1586 | Robert Salesbury [1] |
| 1588–1589 | John Edwards / William Almer [1] |
| 1593 | Roger Puleston [1] |
| 1597 | John Lloyd [1] |
| 1601 | Sir John Salusbury [1] |
| Year | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1604 | Peter Mutton | ||
| 1614 | Simon Thelwall | ||
| 1621 | Sir John Trevor | ||
| 1624 | Sir Eubulus Thelwall | ||
| 1625 | Thomas Myddelton | ||
| 1626 | Sir Eubulus Thelwall | ||
| 1628 | Sir Eubulus Thelwall | ||
| 1629–1640 | No Parliaments convened | ||
| April 1640 | Sir Thomas Salusbury, 2nd Baronet | ||
| November 1640 | Sir Thomas Myddelton | ||
| Year | First Member | Second Member |
|---|---|---|
| 1653 | Not represented in Barebones Parliament | |
| Two members in first and second protectorate parliaments | ||
| 1654 | Simon Thelwell | John Carter |
| 1656 | John Carter | John Jones Lumley Thelwell |
| Year | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1659 | John Carter | ||
| 1659 | Not represented | ||
| 1660 | Sir Thomas Myddelton | ||
| 1661 | Sir Thomas Myddelton, 1st Baronet | ||
| 1664 | John Wynne | ||
| 1679 | Sir Thomas Myddelton, 2nd Baronet | ||
| 1681 | Sir John Trevor | Tory | |
| 1685 | Sir Richard Myddelton, 3rd Baronet | ||
| 1705 | William Robinson | ||
| 1716 | Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 3rd Baronet | Tory | |
| 1727 | Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 3rd Baronet | Tory | |
| 1741 | John Myddelton | ||
| 1742 | Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 3rd Baronet | Tory | |
| 1749 | Sir Lynch Cotton, 4th Baronet | ||
| 1774 | Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet | ||
| 1789 | Robert Watkin Wynne | ||
| 1796 | Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet | ||
| 1832 | Great Reform Act: representation increased to two members | ||
| Election | 1st Member | 1st Party | 2nd Member | 2nd Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1832 | Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet | Robert Myddleton-Biddulph | ||||
| 1835 | William Bagot | Conservative | ||||
| 1840 | Hugh Cholmondeley | Conservative | ||||
| 1841 | Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 6th Baronet | |||||
| 1852 | Robert Myddleton-Biddulph | |||||
| 1868 | George Osborne Morgan | Liberal | ||||
| May 1885 | Sir Herbert Williams-Wynn, 7th Baronet | |||||
| Nov. 1885 | Redistribution of Seats Act: constituency abolished: see East Denbighshire and West Denbighshire | |||||