Cockermouth (UK Parliament constituency)

Cockermouth was the name of a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England in 1295, and again from 1641, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It was a parliamentary borough represented by two Members of Parliament until 1868, and by one member from 1868 to 1885. The name was then transferred to a county constituency electing one MP from 1885 until 1918.

Notable MPs have included the regicide, Francis Allen.

The borough constituency (until 1885)

Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo

Until the Great Reform Act of 1832, the constituency consisted solely of the market town of Cockermouth in Cumberland. It first returned members to the Model Parliament of 1295, but its franchise then seems to have lapsed until 1641, when the Long Parliament passed a resolution (15 February 1641) to restore its ancient privileges.

The right of election in Cockermouth was vested in the burgage tenants of the borough, of whom there were about 300 in 1832. Cockermouth was considered a pocket borough, with the vast majority of the voters being under the influence of the Lowther family.

At the time of the 1831 census, the borough included just over 1,000 houses and had a population of 4,536. The Reform Act expanded the boundaries to bring in the neighbouring parishes of Eaglesfield, Brigham, Papcastle and Bridekirk, and part of Dovenby, increasing the population to 6,022 and encompassing 1,325 houses. This made the borough big enough to retain both its members. However, in the next wave of reform, introduced at the 1868 general election, one of Cockermouth's two seats was withdrawn, and in 1885 the borough was abolished altogether, although the name was transferred to the surrounding county constituency.

The county constituency (1885-1918)

The Cockermouth constituency created in 1885, strictly speaking The Cockermouth Division of Cumberland, was a compact division stretching westwards from Cockermouth to the sea, and including the much larger town of Workington. There was a significant Irish vote, and the Conservative victory in 1885 and subsequent Liberal gain of the seat in 1886 have been attributed to Parnell's shift of support from the one party to the other.

The constituency was divided between the new Workington and Penrith and Cockermouth divisions of Cumberland from 1918.

Members of Parliament

Cockermouth re-enfranchised by Parliament in Nov 1640

MPs 1641–1868

Notes

1. ↑ Fenwick was later elected for Northumberland, which he chose to represent, and ceased to sit for Cockermouth
2. ↑ The election to replace Fenwick was disputed, and the Returning Officer made a double return, i.e. reported both candidates - Sir Thomas Sandford, Bt and Francis Allen - as elected, leaving Parliament to decide. The dispute was still unresolved when Sandford was declared disabled from sitting because of his Royalist sympathies in January 1644; Allen was admitted to sit in 1645.
3. ↑ In a by-election in 1717, Seymour was defeated by Sir Wilfrid Lawson by 90 votes to 84, but Lawson was underage, and on petition Seymour was declared elected
4. ↑ Wyndham was also elected for Taunton, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Cockermouth
5. ↑ Created Earl of Thomond (in the peerage of Ireland), 1756
6. ↑ Johnstone was re-elected at the general election of 1774, but was also elected for Appleby, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Cockermouth in this parliament
7. ↑ Norton was also elected for Carlisle, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Cockermouth

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MPs 1868–1885

MPs 1885–1918

Cockermouth Division of Cumberland

Elections

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

References

• D Brunton & D H Pennington, "Members of the Long Parliament" (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
• F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885" (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• Michael Kinnear, "The British Voter" (London: Batsford, 1968)
• J Holladay Philbin, "Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Henry Stooks Smith, "The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847" (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)
• "The Constitutional Yearbook, 1913" (London: National Unionist Association, 1913)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 5)