William Congreve Alcock

William Congreve Alcock (c 1771 – 4 September 1813)[1][2] was an Irish parliamentarian from Waterford.

He was elected at the 1798 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for both Waterford City and for Enniscorthy, but chose to sit for Waterford.[2]

The Act of Union in 1800 abolished the Parliament of Ireland, and Ireland was allocated 100 seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom at Westminster. Waterford was one of the 31 boroughs which were selected to retain parliamentary representation, and a ballot was held to choose which of each borough's MPs should be co-opted as the initial holder of the single seat which would be allocated to them in the new parliament. Alcock was chosen by ballot as Waterford's first Westminster MP, in preference to his colleague Robert Shapland Carew.[2]

At the general election in 1802, Alcock was returned as to Westminster for the new single-seat borough of Waterford.[3] He had beaten Sir John Newport by 471 votes to 470,[4] but an election petition was lodged. The petition was upheld, and on 1 December 1803 Alcock was unseated and Newport declared elected.[4][5]

References

  1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Leigh Rayment's historical List of Members of the Irish House of Commons( ) cites: Johnston-Liik, Edith Mary (2002). The History of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800 (6 volumes). Ulster Historical Foundation.
  3. The London Gazette: no. 15511. p. 931. 31 August 1802. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland 1801–1922. A New History of Ireland. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 317. ISBN 0901714127. ISSN 0332-0286.
  5. The London Gazette: no. 15654. p. 1729. 8 December 1803. Retrieved 24 May 2014.

See also

Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by
Robert Shapland Carew
Henry Alcock
Member of Parliament for Waterford City
1798 – 1800
With: Robert Shapland Carew
Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Parliament of Ireland
Member of Parliament for Waterford City
1801 – 1803
Succeeded by
Sir John Newport, Bt