South Londonderry (UK Parliament constituency)

South Londonderry
South Londonderry
	Former County constituency; for the House of Commons
1885–1922
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Londonderry
Created from	Londonderry

South Londonderry was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the British House of Commons from 1885 until it was abolished in 1922.

Boundaries and boundary changes

This county constituency comprised the southern part of County Londonderry. Its official title was the South Derry division of county Londonderry.

1885–1922: The barony of Loughinsholin, and that part of the barony of Coleraine not contained within the Division of North Derry.

Prior to the 1885 United Kingdom general election and after the dissolution of Parliament in 1922 the area was part of the Londonderry constituency.

Politics

The constituency was a majority unionist area.

All three candidates in 1918 were Roman Catholics. Had the Sinn Féin candidate won, then instead of taking up the Westminster seat he would have participated in the revolutionary First Dáil.

Members of Parliament

	Name	Party	Born	Died
1885	Timothy Michael Healy	Irish Parliamentary Party	17 May 1855	26 March 1931
1886	Sir Thomas Lea	Liberal Unionist	17 January 1841	9 January 1902
1900	John Gordon	Liberal Unionist	23 November 1849	26 September 1922
1906
Jan 10
Dec 10
1912		Irish Unionist
1916	Denis Henry		7 March 1864	1 October 1925
1918	Denis Henry		7 March 1864	1 October 1925
1921	Robert Chichester	Irish Unionist	13 August 1874	10 December 1921
1922	Sir William Hacket Pain	Ulster Unionist	5 February 1855	14 February 1924

Elections

The elections in this constituency took place using the first past the post electoral system.

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: South Londonderry[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Irish Parliamentary	Tim Healy	4,723	53.2
	Irish Conservative	Hugh McCalmont	2,341	26.4
	Liberal	William Findlater	1,816	20.5
Majority			2,382	26.8
Turnout			8,880	82.3
Registered electors			10,790
	Irish Parliamentary win (new seat)

General election 1886: South Londonderry[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Thomas Lea	4,737	50.6	+24.2
	Irish Parliamentary	Tim Healy	4,629	49.4	−3.8
Majority			108	1.2	N/A
Turnout			9,366	86.8	+4.5
Registered electors			10,790
	Liberal Unionist gain from Irish Parliamentary		Swing	+14.0

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: South Londonderry[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Thomas Lea	4,554	52.9	+2.3
	Liberal	Samuel Walker	4,053	47.1	New
Majority			501	5.8	+4.6
Turnout			8,607	91.8	+5.0
Registered electors			9,380
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: South Londonderry[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Thomas Lea	4,485	52.4	−0.5
	Liberal	William Huston Dodd	4,068	47.6	+0.5
Majority			417	4.8	−1.0
Turnout			8,553	92.5	+0.7
Registered electors			9,247
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	−0.5

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: South Londonderry[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	John Gordon	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

General election 1906: South Londonderry[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	John Gordon	3,847	50.5	*N/A*
	Russellite Unionist	Samuel Robert Keightley	3,776	49.5	New
Majority			71	1.0	N/A
Turnout			7,623	91.7	N/A
Registered electors			8,313
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: South Londonderry[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	John Gordon	3,985	52.0	+1.5
	Liberal	Samuel Robert Keightley	3,678	48.0	−1.5
Majority			307	4.0	+3.0
Turnout			7,663	95.2	+3.5
Registered electors			8,052
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	+1.5

General election December 1910: South Londonderry[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	John Gordon	3,845	52.3	+0.3
	Liberal	William John Johnston	3,513	47.7	−0.3
Majority			332	4.4	+0.4
Turnout			7,358	91.4	−3.8
Registered electors			8,052
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	+0.3

Gordon is appointed a judge, prompting a by-election.

By-election, 1916: South Londonderry[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Denis Henry	3,808	94.7	+42.4
	Independent Unionist	Arthur Turnbull	214	5.3	New
Majority			3,594	89.4	+85.0
Turnout			4,022	47.8	−43.6
Registered electors			8,416
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1918: South Londonderry[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Denis Henry	8,942	54.7	+2.4
	Irish Parliamentary	Arthur W. Conway	3,981	24.4	New
	Sinn Féin	Louis Joseph Walsh	3,425	21.0	New
Majority			4,961	30.3	+25.9
Turnout			16,348	77.1	−14.3
Registered electors			21,199
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1920s

Henry is appointed Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, prompting a by-election.

By-election, 1921: South Londonderry[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robert Chichester	Unopposed
	UUP hold

Chichester dies, causing a by-election.

By-election, 1922: South Londonderry[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Hacket Pain	Unopposed
	UUP hold

References

Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.

Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume II 1886–1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1978)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume III 1919–1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1979)
Redistribution of Seats Act, Seventh Schedule, Part III - Ireland, in The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of Her Majesty Queen Victoria
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 4)

External links

Dáil Éireann Members Database Houses of the Oireachtas
Dáil Debates - Díospóireachtaí Dála Houses of the Oireachtas
Redistribution of Seats Act, Seventh Schedule - Part III - Ireland, County of Londonderry Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885 (from Internet Archive)