Carmarthenshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Carmarthenshire
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1542–1885
Number of members one until 1832, then two
Replaced by East Carmarthenshire and West Carmarthenshire

Carmarthenshire was a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until its representation was increased to two members for the 1832 general election.

At the 1885 general election, it was divided into two new single-member seats: Carmarthenshire East and Carmarthenshire West.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1542–1640

Parliament member
1542–1545 Unknown (returns lost)[1]
1545 Hon. Richard Devereux. Died on day of re-election in October 1547[1]
1548 Sir John Perrott[1]
1553 Henry Jones[1]
1555 Richard Jones[1]
1558 Sir Thomas Jones (of Haroldston)[1]
1559 Richard Jones[1]
1563 Sir Henry Jones[1]
1572 John Vaughan
died and replaced 1576 by Walter Vaughan[1]
1584 Walter Rice[1]
1586 Sir Thomas Jones [1]
1588 Herbert Croft[1]
1593 Walter Vaughan[1]
1597 Sir Thomas Jones[1]
1601 John Vaughan [1]
1604 Sir Robert Mansell[1]|- [2]
1620 Sir John Vaughan [1]
1624 Richard Vaughan [1]
1629–1640 No Parliament summoned

MPs 1640–1832

YearMemberParty
April 1640 Henry Vaughan Royalist
February 1644 Vaughan disabled from sitting – seat vacant
1646 John Lloyd
December 1648 Lloyd excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant
1653 Carmarthenshire was not represented in the Barebones Parliament
YearFirst MemberSecond Member
Representation increased to two members in First Protectorate Parliament
1654 John Claypole Rowland Dawkins
1656 John Claypole,sat for Northants.
1656 Robert Atkyns[3]
Representation reverted to one member from January 1659
YearMemberParty
January 1659 Thomas Hughes
May 1659 Carmarthenshire was not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660 John Lloyd
1661 Lord Vaughan (died 1668)
1668 Sir Henry Vaughan (died 1676)
1677 Altham Vaughan
1679 Lord Vaughan
1685 Lord Vaughan
1689 Sir Rice Rudd
1701 Griffith Rice
1710 Sir Thomas Powell
1715 Marquess of Winchester Whig
1717 Sir Thomas Stepney
1722 Edward Rice [4]
1724 Sir Nicholas Williams
1745 John Vaughan I
1754 George Rice
1779 John Vaughan II
1784 Sir William Mansel
1790 Hon. George Talbot Rice Tory
1793 Sir James Hamlyn
1802 James Hamlyn Williams
1806 Sir William Paxton
1807 Lord Robert Seymour Tory
1820 Hon. George Rice Rice-Trevor Tory
1831 Sir James Hamlyn-Williams Whig
1832 Representation increased to two members by the Great Reform Act

MPs 1832–1885

ElectionFirst memberFirst PartySecond memberSecond Party
1832 Hon. George Rice Rice-Trevor Conservative Edward Hamlyn Adams Whig
1835 Sir James Hamlyn-Williams Whig
1837 John Jones of Ystrad Conservative
1842 by-election David Arthur Saunders Davies Conservative
1852 by-election David Jones (to 1868) Conservative
1857 by-election David Pugh Liberal
1868 Edward John Sartoris Liberal John Jones Conservative
1874 Viscount Emlyn Conservative
1880 Walter Rice Howell Powell Liberal
1885 Constituency abolished: see East Carmarthenshire, West Carmarthenshire

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 Williams, William Retlaw (1895). The parliamentary history of the principality of Wales, from the earliest times to the present day, 1541–1895, comprising lists of the representatives, chronologically arranged under counties, with biographical and genealogical notices of the members, together with particulars of the various contested elections, double returns and petitions. Brecknock: Privately published. pp. 43–44.
  2. ↑ The Dictionary of National Biography records Mansell as MP for Carmarthen borough in the 1604 Parliament and for the county only in 1614, but Cobbett's Parliamentary History names Mansell as MP for the county in 1604 and Sir Walter Rice as the borough MP
  3. ↑ Claypole chose for Northampton
  4. ↑ On petition, Rice was declared not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Sir Nicholas Williams, was seated in his place

References