Wareham_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

Wareham (UK Parliament constituency)

Wareham (UK Parliament constituency)

UK House of Commons borough (1302–1885)


Wareham was a parliamentary borough in Dorset, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1302 until 1832, and then one member from 1832 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.

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History

The borough consisted of the town of Wareham on the Isle of Purbeck, a market town close to Poole Harbour. In 1831, the population of the borough was 1,676, and it contained 364 houses.

The right to vote was exercised by the Mayor, magistrates and freemen of the town and all inhabitants paying scot and lot; the number who were qualified to vote under this provision by the time of the Reform Act was unknown, as there had not been a contested election for many years, but there were about 500 in the 1760s. In the early 18th century a number of wealthy local families were influential over the choice of members, but eventually John Calcraft of Kingstone Hall secured total control by buying up all the property in the borough occupied by potential voters.[1]

Wareham retained one of its two MPs under the Reform Act, but its boundaries were extended to include several surrounding areas, including nearby Corfe Castle which had previously been a borough in its own right. The new borough had a population of 5,751.

The borough continued to elect one MP until the third Reform Act, which came into effect at the general election of 1885. This abolished the constituency, Wareham being placed in the new East Dorset county division.

Members of Parliament

1302–1629

  • Constituency created (1302)
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1640–1832

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1832–1885

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Election results

Elections in the 1830s

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Elections in the 1840s

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Elections in the 1850s

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Elections in the 1860s

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Calcraft's death caused a by-election.

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Elections in the 1870s

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Elections in the 1880s

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Notes

  1. Page 125, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
  2. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  3. Wedgwood, Josiah C. (1936). History of Parliament (1439-1509).
  4. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  5. Pitt was re-elected in 1710 but had also been elected for Hampshire, which he chose to represent, and did not sit in this Parliament for Wareham
  6. Pitt was re-elected in 1715 but had also been elected for Hampshire, which he chose to represent, and did not sit in this Parliament for Wareham
  7. At the election of 1747, Henry Drax and Thomas Erle Drax were initially returned as elected, but on petition (in a dispute over the franchise) the committee declared their election void and that their opponents Pitt and Hodgkinson had been duly elected
  8. At the election of 1754, there was a double return (two alternative results declared after a disputed election, leaving the House of Commons to resolve the issue), one return naming John Pitt and William Augustus Pitt, the other Henry Drax and Thomas Erle Drax. The House declared the entire election void, and a writ was issued for a new election
  9. Ellis was also elected for Seaford, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Wareham
  10. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 92–94. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
  11. Spencer, Howard. "WALL, Charles Baring (1795-1853), of Norman Court, East Tytherley, Hants". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  12. "Election Movements". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 8 July 1837. p. 3. Retrieved 17 July 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. "Local Election Intelligence". Salisbury and Winchester Journal. 14 March 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 17 July 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. Farrell, Stephen. "Wareham". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  15. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 318. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  16. "The New Parliament, 1868". Hampshire Advertiser. 12 December 1868. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 21 March 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. "Wareham". Western Gazette. 6 February 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 22 January 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.

References


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