Cambridge_University_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

Cambridge University
Cambridge University
Former University constituency; for the House of Commons
1603–1950
Seats	2
Replaced by	Cambridge

Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1801–1950

Cambridge University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950.

Quick Facts 1603–1950, Seats ...

History

In the early 18th century, the electors of both English universities were mostly Tories, but the Whig ministers of King George I were able to persuade him to use his royal prerogative to confer Cambridge doctorates on a large number of Whigs, so that from 1727 the university largely returned Whig representatives. At Oxford, the King did not enjoy the same prerogative power, so that the University of Oxford constituency remained Tory, and indeed often Jacobite, in its preferences.

The leading 18th-century Whig politician Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, was Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1748 to 1768 and recommended to the electors suitable candidates to represent them in Parliament. This practice continued under his successor, another Whig Duke and Prime Minister, Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, Chancellor of the university from 1768 to 1811. However, Grafton was less influential as a politician than Newcastle had been and also less attentive towards the university, and as a result some of his nominations came in for criticism, notably that of his friend Richard Croftes.

Croftes was far from typical of a university member of parliament: he was neither the son of a peer, like the Hon. John Townshend, the Marquess of Granby, and Grafton's own son the Earl of Euston, nor a distinguished lawyer-politician, such as William de Grey, James Mansfield, and Sir Vicary Gibbs, nor a prominent political figure like William Pitt the Younger and Lord Henry Petty. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Pittite and Tory candidates began to be elected. At the appearance of this political development, some of the Pittite members, including the younger William Pitt himself, one of the members for the university from 1784 to 1806, described themselves as Whigs. As time passed, the division between the 19th century Tory and Whig parties became clearer.

The future Prime Minister, Viscount Palmerston, retained his university seat as a Whig after he left the Tory ranks, but in 1831 he was defeated. After Palmerston ceased to represent the university he was elected by a territorial constituency. From then until the 1920s, all of the university's members were Tories and/or Conservatives.

Even after the introduction of the single transferable vote in 1918, most of the members continued to be elected as Conservatives.

References

Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press, revised edition 1977)
McCalmont's Parliamentary Poll Book: British Election Results 1832–1918 (8th edition, The Harvester Press 1971)
The House of Commons 1715–1754, by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970)
The House of Commons 1754–1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832–1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886–1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919–1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945–1979, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981)
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 1)

Specific

[1]
Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 28–31. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
[2]
Fisher, David R. "Cambridge University". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
[3]
Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
[4]
"Cambridge University Election". Yorkshire Gazette. 9 February 1856. p. 3. Retrieved 14 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
[5]
"Cambridge University Election". Cambridge Independent Press. 29 February 1868. p. 5. Retrieved 1 February 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
[6]
Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.

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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Cambridge_University_(UK_Parliament_constituency), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[stooks-smith-1] [1]
Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 28–31. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.

[hop1820-1832-2] [2]
Fisher, David R. "Cambridge University". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.

[craig1832-3] [3]
Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.

[4] [4]
"Cambridge University Election". Yorkshire Gazette. 9 February 1856. p. 3. Retrieved 14 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[5] [5]
"Cambridge University Election". Cambridge Independent Press. 29 February 1868. p. 5. Retrieved 1 February 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[craig1885-6] [6]
Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

Year	First member	Second member
1604	Nicholas Steward	Henry Mountlow
1614	Sir Miles Sandys	Sir Francis Bacon
1621	Robert Naunton	Barnaby Gough
1624	Sir Robert Naunton	Barnaby Gough
1625	Sir Robert Naunton	Sir Albert Morton
1626	Thomas Eden	Sir John Coke
1628–1629	Thomas Eden	Sir John Coke
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned
Apr 1640	Thomas Eden	Henry Lucas
Nov 1640	Thomas Eden	Henry Lucas
Eden died 1644 replaced by Nathaniel Bacon
1648	Lucas secluded in Pride's Purge
1654	Henry Cromwell	(one seat only)
1656	Richard Cromwell	(one seat only)
1659	John Thurloe	Thomas Sclater

Year	Member	Party	Member	Party
1660 Apr	George Monck		Thomas Crouch
1660 Jun	William Montagu
1661	Sir Richard Fanshawe
1667	Sir Charles Wheler, 2nd Baronet
1679	Sir Thomas Exton		James Vernon
1681	Sir Thomas Exton		Robert Brady
1689	Sir Robert Sawyer		Isaac Newton	Whig
1690	Sir Robert Sawyer		Edward Finch
1692	Henry Boyle	Whig	Edward Finch
1695			George Oxenden
1698			Anthony Hammond
1701			Isaac Newton	Court Whig
1702			Arthur Annesley	Tory
1705	Dixie Windsor	Tory	Arthur Annesley	Tory
1710			Thomas Paske	Tory
1720			Thomas Willoughby	Tory
1727	Edward Finch	Whig	Thomas Townshend	Whig
1768	Charles Yorke	Rockingham Whig
1770	William de Grey
1771	Richard Croftes
1774			Charles Manners, Marquess of Granby
1779			James Mansfield
1780	Lord John Townshend	Whig	James Mansfield

Year		Party		Party
1784	William Pitt the Younger	Tory¹^[1]	Earl of Euston	Whig^[1]
1806	Lord Henry Petty	Whig^[1]
1807	Sir Vicary Gibbs	Tory^[1]
1811	Sir Vicary Gibbs	Tory^[1]	Henry Temple	Tory^[1]
1812	John Henry Smyth	Whig^[1]
1822	William John Bankes	Tory^[1]
1826	Sir John Copley	Tory^[1]
1827	Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal	Tory^[1]
1829	William Cavendish	Whig^[1]
1830	William Cavendish	Whig^[1]		Whig^[1]
1831	Henry Goulburn	Tory^[1]	William Yates Peel	Tory^[1]
1832		Tory^[1]	Charles Manners-Sutton	Tory^[1]
1834		Conservative^[1]	Charles Manners-Sutton	Conservative^[1]
1835			Hon. Charles Law	Conservative^[1]
1850			Loftus Wigram	Conservative
1856	Spencer Horatio Walpole	Conservative	Loftus Wigram	Conservative
1859			Charles Jasper Selwyn	Conservative
1868			Alexander Beresford Hope	Conservative
1882	Henry Cecil Raikes	Conservative	Alexander Beresford Hope	Conservative
1887	Henry Cecil Raikes	Conservative	Sir George Stokes, Bt	Conservative
1891	Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb ²	Conservative	Sir George Stokes, Bt	Conservative
1892	Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb ²	Conservative	Sir John Eldon Gorst	Conservative
1906	Samuel Butcher	Conservative	John Rawlinson	Conservative
1911	Sir Joseph Larmor	Conservative		Conservative
1918	Sir Joseph Larmor	Co. Conservative ³		Co. Conservative³
1922	J. R. M. Butler	Ind. Liberal⁴		Conservative
1923	Sir Geoffrey G. Butler ⁵	Conservative		Conservative
1926	Sir Geoffrey G. Butler ⁵	Conservative	Sir John Withers	Conservative
1929	Godfrey Wilson	Conservative
1935	Sir Kenneth Pickthorn	Conservative
1940			Dr. Archibald Hill	Ind. Conservative⁴
1945			Wilson Harris	Independent

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Dixie Windsor	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Thomas Paske	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Thomas Willoughby	176	55.17	N/A
	Whig	Henry Finch	143	44.83	N/A
Majority			33	10.34	N/A
Turnout			319	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing	N/A

Cambridge_University_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)

Franchise and method of election

History

Members of Parliament

1603 to 1660

1660 to 1784

1784 to 1950

Elections before 1715

Election by block vote 1715–1918

Elections in the 1710s

Elections in the 1720s

Elections in the 1730s

Elections in the 1740s

Elections in the 1750s

Elections in the 1760s

Elections in the 1770s

Elections in the 1780s

Elections in the 1790s

Elections in the 1800s

Elections in the 1810s

Elections in the 1820s

Elections in the 1830s

Elections in the 1840s

Elections in the 1850s

Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections 1918–1950

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

See also

References

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Cambridge University
Former University constituency for the House of Commons
1603–1950
Seats	2
Replaced by	Cambridge

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Edward Finch	221	37.14	N/A
	Whig	Thomas Townshend	198	33.28	N/A
	Tory	Dixie Windsor	176	29.58	N/A
Turnout			595 (377 voted)	79.70	N/A
Registered electors			473

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Townshend	222	30.33	−2.95
	Whig	Edward Finch	209	28.55	−8.59
	Whig	Goodrick	174	23.77	N/A
	Tory	Dixie Windsor	137	17.35	−12.23
Turnout			732	N/A	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non-partisan	Charles Yorke	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Whig	Thomas Townshend	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non-partisan	William de Grey	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Non-partisan hold		Swing	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non-partisan	Richard Croftes	76	62.81	N/A
	Non-partisan	William Wynne	45	37.19	N/A
Majority			31	25.62	N/A
Turnout			121	N/A	N/A
	Non-partisan hold		Swing	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non-partisan	Charles Manners	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Non-partisan	Richard Croftes	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non-partisan	James Mansfield	157	35.68	N/A
	Non-partisan	John Townshend	145	32.95	N/A
	Non-partisan	Thomas Villiers	138	31.36	N/A
Majority			12	2.73	N/A
Turnout			440	N/A	N/A
	Non-partisan hold		Swing	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non-partisan	James Mansfield	277	27.10	N/A
	Non-partisan	John Townshend	247	24.17	N/A
	Non-partisan	Thomas Villiers	206	20.16	N/A
	Non-partisan	Richard Croftes	150	14.68	N/A
	Non-partisan	William Pitt	142	13.89	N/A
Turnout			1,022 (546 voters)	N/A	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non-partisan	William Pitt	351	31.65	+17.76
	Non-partisan	George FitzRoy	299	26.96	N/A
	Non-partisan	John Townshend	278	25.07	+0.90
	Non-partisan	James Mansfield	181	16.32	−10.78
Turnout			1,109 (588 voters)	N/A	N/A

General election 1802: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	William Pitt	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Whig	George FitzRoy	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*

General election 1806: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Petty	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Whig	George FitzRoy	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*

General election 1807: Cambridge University (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George FitzRoy	324	26.75	*N/A*
	Tory	Vicary Gibbs	312	25.76	*New*
	Tory	Henry Temple	310	25.60	New
	Whig	Henry Petty	265	21.88	N/A
Turnout			1,211 (631 voters)	N/A	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	William Pitt	510	42.50	+10.85
	Whig	George FitzRoy	483	40.25	+13.29
	Whig	Lawrence Dundas	207	17.25	N/A
Turnout			1,200 (684 voters)	N/A	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Petty	331	54.80	*N/A*
	Whig	John Spencer	145	24.01	N/A
	Tory	Henry Temple	128	21.19	N/A
Majority			186	30.79	N/A
Turnout			604	N/A	N/A
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Henry Temple	451	56.66	*N/A*
	Whig	John Henry Smyth	345	43.34	N/A
Majority			106	13.32	N/A
Turnout			796	N/A	N/A
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Henry Smyth	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Whig gain from Tory

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	William John Bankes	419	45.59	*N/A*
	Tory	Lord Harvey	281	30.58	N/A
	Whig	James Scarlett	219	23.83	N/A
Majority			138	15.02	N/A
Turnout			919	N/A	N/A
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John Copley	772	32.88	*N/A*
	Whig	Henry Temple	631	26.87	*N/A*
	Tory	William John Bankes	508	21.64	N/A
	Tory	Henry Goulburn	437	18.61	N/A
Majority			123	5.23	N/A
Turnout			2,348 (1,293 voters)	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Nicholas Conyngham Tindal	479	55.89	*N/A*
	Tory	William John Bankes	378	44.11	N/A
Majority			101	11.78	N/A
Turnout			857	43.93	N/A
Registered electors			1,951
	Tory hold		Swing	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Cavendish	609	56.86	*N/A*
	Tory	George Bankes	462	43.14	−0.97
Majority			147	13.72	N/A
Turnout			1,071
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Henry Goulburn	805	28.3
	Tory	William Yates Peel	804	28.2
	Whig	William Cavendish	630	22.1
	Whig	Henry Temple	610	21.4
Majority			174	6.1
Turnout			1,450	65.5
Registered electors			2,215
	Tory gain from Whig
	Tory gain from Whig

Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Henry Goulburn	Unopposed
	Speaker	Charles Manners-Sutton	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,319
	Conservative hold
	Speaker hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Charles Law	Unopposed
	Conservative gain from Speaker

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Law	1,486	31.7	*N/A*
	Conservative	Henry Goulburn	1,189	25.4	*N/A*
	Conservative	Rudolph Feilding	1,147	24.5	N/A
	Whig	John Shaw-Lefevre	860	18.4	New
Majority			42	0.9	N/A
Turnout			2,341 (est)	61.6	N/A
Registered electors			3,800
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Loftus Wigram	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Spencer Horatio Walpole	886	67.9	*N/A*
	Whig	George Denman^[4]	419	32.1	New
Majority			467	35.8	N/A
Turnout			1,305	28.7	N/A
Registered electors			4,552
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Charles Jasper Selwyn	Unopposed
	Conservative	Spencer Horatio Walpole	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,566
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alexander Beresford Hope	1,931	58.0	*N/A*
	Conservative	Anthony Cleasby^[5]	1,400	42.0	N/A
Majority			531	16.0	N/A
Turnout			3,331	64.3	N/A
Registered electors			5,184
	Conservative hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Cecil Raikes	3,491	72.9	*N/A*
	Liberal	James Stuart	1,301	27.2	New
Majority			2,190	45.7	N/A
Turnout			4,792	75.2	N/A
Registered electors			6,371
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Stokes	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Claverhouse Jebb	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

	Candidate	Votes
Conservative	John Eldon Gorst	Unopposed
Conservative	Richard Claverhouse Jebb	Unopposed
Conservative hold
Conservative hold