Appleby (UK Parliament constituency)

Appleby
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
County Westmorland (now Cumbria)
Major settlements Appleby-in-Westmorland
1885–1918
Number of members One
Replaced by Westmorland
Created from Westmorland
1195–1832
Number of members two
Type of constituency Borough constituency
Replaced by Westmorland

Appleby was a parliamentary constituency in the former county of Westmorland in England. It existed for two separate periods: from 1295 to 1832, and from 1885 to 1918.

Appleby was enfranchised as parliamentary borough in 1295, and abolished by the Great Reform Act of 1832. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) using the bloc vote system. It was represented in the House of Commons of England until 1707, in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. Its best-known MP was William Pitt the Younger who became Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24.

For the 1885 general election the Redistribution of Seats Act created a county constituency of the same, which returned a single MP elected by the first-past-the-post system. The county constituency was abolished at the 1918 general election.

History

The borough (1295-1832)

The parliamentary borough of Appleby consisted of the town of Appleby, the county town of Westmorland, and was consistently represented in the House of Commons from the Model Parliament of 1295 until the Reform Act.

The right to vote rested with the occupiers of around a hundred burgage tenements. By the 18th century, the majority of the burgages were owned by the Lowther and Tufton families, which enabled them to put in reliable tenants at election time and ensure their complete control of who was elected. The seats were frequently kept for members of those families, but Appleby's other representatives included William Pitt the younger, who was MP for Appleby when he became Prime Minister in 1783 (although he stood down at the following general election when he was instead elected for Cambridge University).

A later member for Appleby was Viscount Howick, subsequently (as Earl Grey) the Prime Minister whose administration passed the Great Reform Act of 1832; but Grey's history as a former MP for the town did not save it from losing both its members under the Act. Appleby was regarded as a classic example of a pocket borough, completely in the control of its owners who were also the major local landowners, and with a population of only 1,233 at the 1831 census unlikely to be freed from their influence even by widening the franchise. Nevertheless, as the only county town to be disfranchised, Appleby was one of the more controversial cases in the debates on the reform bill, the opposition making unsuccessful attempts to amend the bill so as to save at least one of its MPs.

After abolition the borough was absorbed into the Westmorland county constituency.

The county constituency (1885-1918)

The Appleby constituency created for the 1885 election was, in full, "The Appleby or Northern Division of Westmorland", and was sometimes referred to as Westmorland North. It consisted of the whole of the northern half of the county, including the towns of Ambleside, Grasmere and Kirkby Stephen. It was abolished at the 1918 general election, the whole county henceforth being united in a single Westmorland constituency.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1295–1660

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
ParliamentFirst memberSecond member
1382 William Soulby[1]
1385 William Soulby[1]
1386 Robert Overdo I John Overdo [1]
1388 (Feb) William Soulby Adam Crosby [1]
1388 (Sep)
1390 (Jan)
1390 (Nov)
1391 William Soulby John Sowerby [1]
1393
1394
1395 Robert Gare William Savage [1]
1397 (Jan) John Helton John Sowerby [1]
1397 (Sep) Christopher Curwen Thomas Chamberlain [1]
1399 Thomas Warcop William Crackenthorpe I [1]
1401
1402 Robert Gare Robert Overdo II [1]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406 John Ninezergh William Crackenthorpe II [1]
1407 John Sagher John Pray [1]
1410
1411John Helton John Sowerby [1]
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May) Robert Sandford Thomas Stockdale [1]
1414 (Apr)
1414 (Nov) Robert Crackenthorpe John Birkrig [1]
1415 Roland Thornburgh John Birkrig [1]
1416 (Mar) Richard Bristowe Thomas Ma[nningham] [1]
1416 (Oct)
1417 Thomas Stockdale John Birkrig [1]
1419 Richard Wharton Thomas Pety [1]
1420 William Lowther Nicholas Stanshawe [1]
1421 (May) William Scalby Nicholas Stanshawe [1]
1421 (Dec) John Booth Nicholas Stanshawe [1]
1510–1523 No names known[2]
1529 Sir Richard Tempest Sir Thomas Wharton [2]
1536 ?
1539 ?
1542 Cuthbert Horsley Thomas Jolye [2]
1545 Thomas Jolye Robert Wheatley [2]
1547 Thomas Jolye, died
and replaced Jan 1552 by George Clifford		 Robert Wheatley [2]
1553 (Mar) ?
1553 (Oct) George Clifford James Bankes [2]
1554 (Apr) John Eltoftes William Danby [2]
1554 (Nov) John Eltoftes William Danby [2]
1555 ?
1558 John Eltoftes Nicholas Purslow [2]
1559 (Jan) John Eltoftes Christopher Monckton[3]
1562/3 Christopher Monckton Robert Atkinson [3]
1571 John Layton Richard Wroth [3]
1572 (Apr) George Frevile Robert Bowes [3]
1584 (Nov) George Ireland Henry Macwilliam [3]
1586 James Ryther Robert Constable [3]
1588 Laurence Lister Thomas Musgrave
Robert Warcop
Anthony Felton
Election declared void, 11 Feb. 1589
1589 Ralph Bowes Thomas Posthumous Hoby [3]
1593 Thomas Posthumous Hoby Cuthbert Reynolds [3]
1597 (Sep) James Colbrand John Lyly [3]
1601 (Oct) John Morice Thomas Caesar [3]
1604 John Morice Sir William Bowyer
1614 Sir George Savile, junior Sir Henry Wotton
1621 Sir Arthur Ingram Thomas Hughes
1624 Sir Arthur Ingram Thomas Hughes
1625 Sir John Hotham sat for Beverley - not replaced Thomas Hughes
1626 Sir William Slingsby William Ashton
1628 William Ashton Richard Lowther
1629–1640No Parliaments convened
1640 (Apr) Richard Boyle Richard Lowther
1640 (Nov) Sir John Brooke (Royalist) - disabled March 1643 Richard Boyle (Royalist) ennobled, September 1642
1645 Richard Salway Henry Ireton
1648 Richard Salway Henry Ireton died November 1651
1653Appleby unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654Appleby unrepresented in the First Parliament of the Protectorate
1656Appleby unrepresented in the Second Parliament of the Protectorate
1659 Adam Baynes Nathaniel Redding

MPs 1660–1832

YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party
1660 Sir Henry Cholmley Christopher Clapham
1661 John Lowther John Dalston
1668 Thomas Tufton Tory
1679 Richard Tufton Anthony Lowther
January 1681 Sackville Tufton
February 1681 Sir John Bland
1685 Philip Musgrave
January 1689 Richard Lowther
July 1689 William Cheyne
1690 Hon. Charles Boyle
1694 Sir John Walter
1695 Sir William Twysden Sir Christopher Musgrave
1697 Sir John Walter
1698 Gervase Pierrepont
1701 Wharton Dunch
1702 James Grahme
1705 William Harvey
1708 Nicholas Lechmere Edward Duncombe
1710 Thomas Lutwyche
1713 Sir Richard Sandford, Bt.
1722 Sackville Tufton
1723 by-election [4] James Lowther
1727 by-election John Ramsden
1730 by-election [5] Walter Plumer
1741 George Bubb Dodington [6]
1742 by-election [6] Sir Charles Wyndham, Bt
1747 Randle Wilbraham
1754 [7] William Lee Philip Honywood
1756 by-election [7] Fletcher Norton
1761 John Stanwix
1767 by-election [8] Charles Jenkinson Whig
1773 by-election [9] Fletcher Norton the younger
1774 George JohnstoneIndependent
1780 William Lowther [10]Tory
1781 by-election [10] Hon. William PittIndependent Whig
1784 Hon. John Leveson Gower Richard Penn
1790 Hon. Robert Banks Jenkinson [11] Tory Richard Ford Tory
January 1791 by-election [11] Hon. William Grimston
May 1791 by-election [12] Hon. John Rawdon
1796 Hon. John Tufton John Courtenay
1799 by-election [13] Robert AdairWhig
1802 Sir Philip FrancisWhig
May 1807 Viscount Howick Whig James Ramsay Cuthbert Whig
July 1807 by-election [14] Nicholas William Ridley-ColborneWhig
October 1812 James Lowther Tory John Courtenay Whig
December 1812 by-election [15] George Tierney Whig
1818 George Fludyer Tory Lucius Concannon Whig
1819 by-election [16] Adolphus DalrympleTory
March 1820 George Tierney [17]Whig
May 1820 by-election [17] Thomas CreeveyWhig
1826 Hon. Henry Tufton Whig Viscount Maitland Tory
May 1832 by-election [18] Charles Henry BarhamWhig
1832 Constituency abolished by the Great Reform Act

MPs 1885–1918

ElectionMemberParty
1885 Hon. William Lowther Conservative
1892 Sir Joseph Savory Conservative
1900 Richard RiggLiberal
1905 by-election Leifchild Stratten Jones Liberal
January 1910 Lancelot Sanderson Conservative
1915 by-election Sir H. Cecil Lowther Conservative
1918 constituency abolished: see Westmorland

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-10-06.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-10-06.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-10-06.
  4. ↑ The by-election in 1723 was due to the death of Sir Richard Sandford, Bt.
  5. ↑ The by-election in 1730 was due to Tufton succeeding to the perage as Earl of Thanet
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 In 1741, Dodington was also elected for Bridgwater, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Appleby
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 At the 1754 election, Lee and Honywood defeated Sir John Ramsden and Fletcher Norton, but this election was subsequently declared void and a by-election held in February 1756, at which Norton rather than Lee was elected
  8. ↑ The 1767 by-election was due to the death of Stanwix, who was drowned while returning from Ireland
  9. ↑ The 1773 by-election was due to the resignation of Jenkinson
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 In 1780, Lowther was also elected for Carlisle, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Appleby, causing a by-election in 1781
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Jenkinson was also elected for Rye, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Appleby
  12. ↑ The May 1791 by-election was caused by the resignation of Richard Ford
  13. ↑ The 1799 by-election was caused by the death of Hon. John Tufton
  14. ↑ The July 1807 by-election was caused by the resignation of Viscount Howick to contest a vacancy in Tavistock
  15. ↑ The December 1812 by-election was caused by the resignation of John Courtenay
  16. ↑ The 1819 by-election was caused by the resignation of George Fludyer
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Tierney was also elected for Knaresborough, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Appleby
  18. ↑ The by-election in May 1832was due to Henry Tufton succeeding to the perage as Earl of Thanet

Election results

Elections in the 20th century

General Election January 1900[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Richard Rigg 2,835 55.7
Conservative Sir Joseph Savory 2,256 44.3
Majority 579 11.4
Turnout 5,091
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing
Leif Jones
Appleby by-election, 1905[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Leifchild Stratten Jones 2,922 52.0
Conservative George John William Noble 2,702 48.0
Majority 220 4.0
Turnout 5,624
Liberal hold Swing

Election results taken from the History of Parliament Trust series.

Elections in the 18th century

General Election 1715: Appleby (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Thomas Lutwyche Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir Richard Sandford, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1722: Appleby (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sackville Tufton Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir Richard Sandford, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 2 May 1723: Appleby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan James Lowther 99 53.80 N/A
Non Partisan Trevor Hill, 1st Viscount Hillsborough 85 46.20 N/A
General Election 1727: Appleby (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sackville Tufton Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir John Ramsden, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 24 January 1730: Appleby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Walter Plumer Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1734: Appleby (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Walter Plumer Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir John Ramsden, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1741: Appleby (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan George Bubb Dodington Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir John Ramsden, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
By-Election 1 January 1742: Appleby
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Sir Charles Wyndham, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
General Election 1747: Appleby (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Randle Wilbraham Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Sir John Ramsden, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A

References

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
vacant. Last was Banbury in 1782		 Constituency represented by the Prime Minister
1783 - 1784 		Succeeded by
Cambridge University
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Liberal Year Book 1908