Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Yorkshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1290, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament, traditionally known as Knights of the Shire, until 1826, when the county benefited from the disfranchisement of Grampound by taking an additional two members.

Yorkshire
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Extract from 1831 result: the dark "quadruply" (very) orange area for this election; inside: 14 small areas, 'parliamentary boroughs'.
CountyYorkshire
1290–1832
Number of membersTwo until 1826, then Four
Replaced byYorkshire East Riding, Yorkshire North Riding and Yorkshire West Riding

The constituency was split into its three historic ridings, for Parliamentary purposes, under the Reform Act 1832. Each riding returned two MPs. The county was then represented by the Yorkshire East Riding, Yorkshire North Riding and Yorkshire West Riding constituencies.

Boundaries

Yorkshire is the largest of the historic counties of England. The constituency comprised the whole county. Yorkshire contained several boroughs which each independently returned two members to Parliament. These were Aldborough, Beverley, Boroughbridge, Hedon, Kingston upon Hull, Knaresborough, Malton, Northallerton, Pontefract, Richmond, Ripon, Scarborough, Thirsk and York.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1290–1640

  • Constituency created 1290
ParliamentFirst memberSecond member
1309Robert de Boynton
1320Sir Thomas Ughtred
1324Sir John Tempest of Bracewell
1339Sir Robert Hilton of Swine & Winestead
1341John de SiggestonWilliam Bruys
1364Richard le Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton
1376Sir John Savile of Shelley and GolcarSir Robert de Boynton
1377–1395Henry FitzHugh
1378Sir John Hotham
1380Ralph Hastings of Kirby and Burton Hastings
1382John St Quentin of Harpham
1382Sir John Savile of Shelley and Golcar
1383Sir James Pickering
1384Sir John Savile of Shelley and GolcarSir James Pickering
1385Sir William Melton of Aston and Kyllon
1386Sir John GodardSir John St Quentin of Harpham[1]
1388 (Feb)Sir William Melton of Aston and KyllonSir Robert Constable[1]
1388 (Sep)Sir James PickeringSir Robert Neville of Hornby [1]
1390 (Jan)Sir John Savile of Shelley and GolcarSir Robert Neville of Hornby[1]
1390 (Nov)Sir William EllisSir James Pickering[1]
1391Sir John GodardSir Robert Neville of Hornby[1]
1393Sir Ralph EuerSir Robert Neville of Hornby[1]
1394Sir John Routh of RouthSir Robert Neville of Hornby[1]
1395Sir Peter BucktonSir John St Quentin[1]
1397 (Jan)Sir Peter BucktonSir Ralph Euer[1]
1397 (Sep)Sir James PickeringSir David Roucliffe[1]
1399Sir Ralph EuerSir Robert Neville of Hornby[1]
1401Sir John Scrope of Hollinhall & HaldenbySir Gerard Usflete[1]
1402Thomas ColvilleSir Robert Rockley[1]
1404 (Jan)Sir John Routh of RouthSir Richard Tempest of Bracewell[1]
1404 (Oct)Sir Peter BucktonSir William Dronsfield[1]
1406Sir Richard RedmanSir Thomas Rokeby[1]
1407Sir Edmund HastingsSir Alexander Lound[1]
1410
1411Sir John EttonSir Robert Plumpton[1]
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)Sir Edmund HastingsSir Alexander Lound[1]
1414 (Apr)Sir Alexander Lound[1]
1414 (Nov)Sir Richard RedmanSir John Etton [1]
1415Sir Richard RedmanSir John Etton[1]
1416 (Mar)Sir Brian StapletonSir Robert Plumpton 1[1]
1416 (Oct)
1417
1419Sir Robert HiltonSir Halnath Mauleverer[1]
1420Sir Richard RedmanSir John Langton[1]
1421 (May)Sir Edmund HastingsSir William Gascoigne[1]
1421 (Dec)Sir Richard RedmanSir John Etton[1]
1422 (Nov)Sir William Euer
1423Sir Thomas Rokeby
1425Sir Robert Hilton [2]Sir William Ryther de Ryther
1426Sir Robert Hilton [2]
1427Sir Robert Hilton [2]
1431 (Jan)Sir William Euer
1439Sir Thomas Savile
1449Sir James StrangwaysWilliam Eure
1450Sir John Savile
1461Sir James Strangways
1467Sir John Savile
1491Thomas Scrope, 6th Baron Scrope of Masham
1491Sir Richard TunstallSir Henry Wentworth[3]
1510–1515Not known[4]
1523Sir William Bulmer?[4]
1529Sir John Neville, ennobled and
repl. Feb 1533 by Sir John Neville II
Sir Marmaduke Constable[4]
1536
1539Sir Henry SavileRobert Bowes[4]
1542Sir Ralph EllerkerSir Robert Bowes, disqualified and
repl. Feb 1543 by
Thomas Waterman[4]
1545
1547Sir Nicholas FairfaxSir William Babthorpe[4]
1553 (Mar)Sir Thomas GargraveSir Robert Constable[4]
1553 (Oct)Sir Robert ConstableSir William Vavasour[4]
1554 (Apr)Sir William BabthorpeSir Christopher Danby [4]
1554 (Nov)Sir Thomas Wharton IISir Thomas Gargrave[4]
1555?Sir Robert ConstableSir Thomas Gargrave[4]
1558?Thomas Wharton, 2nd Baron WhartonSir Richard Cholmley[4]
1559Sir Thomas GargraveSir Henry Savile[5]
1562Sir Thomas GargraveSir Nicholas Fairfax[5]
1571Sir Thomas GargraveSir Henry Gates[5]
1572Sir Thomas GargraveThomas Waterton died and
repl. Jan 1576 by
Sir Robert Stapleton[5]
1584Ralph EureSir William Mallory[5]
1586Sir Henry GatesSir Thomas Fairfax of Denton[5]
1588Sir Henry ConstableSir Ralph Bourchier[5]
1593Sir George Savile, BtJohn Aske[5]
1597Sir John SavileSir William Fairfax [5]
1601Thomas FairfaxSir Edward Stanhope[5]
1604Sir Francis CliffordSir John Savile
1606Sir Richard Gargrave
1614Sir John SavileSir Thomas Wentworth
1621Sir Thomas WentworthLord George Calvert
1624Sir Thomas SavileSir John Savile
1625Sir Thomas WentworthThomas Fairfax
1626Sir John SavileSir William Constable, Bt
1628Henry BelasyseSir Thomas Wentworth
1629Sir Henry Savile, Bt
1629–1640No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1826

Short Parliament

Long Parliament

(Although writs were issued to fill both these vacancies, no elections seem to have been held and the seats remained vacant to the end of the Parliament)

Barebones Parliament (Nominated members)

First Protectorate Parliament (Fourteen members elected for the three Ridings)

Second Protectorate Parliament (Fourteen members elected for the three Ridings)

Third Protectorate Parliament

Long Parliament (restored) Both seats vacant

YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party
1660 Thomas Fairfax Sir John Dawnay
1661 Conyers Darcy Sir John Goodricke, Bt
1670 Sir Thomas Slingsby, Bt
1679 Charles Boyle Henry Fairfax
1685 Sir John Kaye, Bt
1689 Thomas Fairfax
1698 Henry Dawnay
January 1701 Sir John Kaye, Bt
December 1701 Arthur Ingram
1702 Marquess of Hartington Sir John Kaye, Bt
January 1707 Thomas Fairfax
December 1707 Henry Dawnay Conyers Darcy
1708 Sir William Strickland, Bt
1710 Sir Arthur Kaye, Bt
February 1727 Cholmley Turner
August 1727 Sir Thomas Watson-Wentworth
1728 by-election Sir George Savile, Bt
1734 Sir Miles Stapylton, Bt
1741 Charles Howard
1742 by-election Cholmley Turner
1747 Sir Conyers Darcy
1750 by-election Henry Dawnay[6]
1759 by-election Sir George Savile, BtWhig
1761 Edwin LascellesTory
1780 Henry DuncombeTory
January 1784 by-election Francis Ferrand FoljambeWhig
April 1784 William WilberforceIndependent
1796 Hon. Henry LascellesTory
1806 Walter FawkesWhig
1807 Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliamWhig
1812 Hon. Henry LascellesTory
1818 James Stuart-WortleyTory
1826 representation increased to 4 members

MPs 1826–1832

ElectionFirst memberPartySecond memberPartyThird memberPartyFourth MemberParty
Representation increased to 4 members
1826 Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliamWhig William DuncombeTory Richard Fountayne WilsonTory John MarshallWhig
1830 George HowardWhig Ultra-Tory Richard BethellTory Henry Brougham[7]Whig
Dec 1830 by-election Sir John Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, BtWhig
1831 George StricklandWhig John Charles RamsdenWhig
1832 Constituency abolished: see North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and West Yorkshire

Notes

  1. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  2. "HILTON, Sir Robert (d.c.1431), of Swine and Winestead in Holderness, Yorks". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  3. Cavill. The English Parliaments of Henry VII 1485-1504.
  4. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  5. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  6. Henry Dawnay, 3rd Viscount Downe died December 1760, but a new writ was not issued before the general election in 1761
  7. Brougham was also elected for Knaresborough; he was elevated to the House of Lords before having chosen which constituency he would represent in the Commons

Elections

The county franchise, from 1430, was held by the owners of freehold land valued at 40 shillings or more. Each voter had as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings, which took place in the county town of York. The expense and difficulty of voting at only one location in the (very large) county, together with the lack of a secret ballot contributed to the corruption and intimidation of voters, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system.

The expense, to candidates, of contested elections encouraged the leading families of the county to agree on the candidates to be returned unopposed whenever possible. Contested county elections were therefore unusual.

Elections in the eighteenth century

Only two elections in the 18th century were contested.

General election 1734: Yorkshire (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Miles Stapylton 7,896 34.3 N/A
Whig Cholmley Turner 7,879 34.2 N/A
Whig Rowland Winn 7,699 33.5 N/A
Whig Edward Wortley Montagu 5,898 25.6 N/A
Majority 180 0.1 N/A
Turnout 23,007 N/A N/A
1741 Yorkshire by-election (1 seat)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Cholmley Turner 8,005 53.2 N/A
George Fox 7,049 46.8 N/A
Majority 956 6.4 +6.3
Turnout 15,054 N/A N/A

At the 1784 general election, the seat was initially contested, but the two Whig candidates Francis Ferrand Foljambe and William Weddell conceded without calling for a poll.

Elections in the 1800s

At the 1802 general election, William Wilberforce and Henry Lascelles were elected unopposed.

At the 1806 general election, William Wilberforce and Walter Ramsden Fawkes were elected unopposed.

Yorkshire election 1807
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent William Wilberforce 11,808 34.75 N/A
Whig Lord Milton 11,177 32.90 N/A
Tory Henry Lascelles 10,990 32.35 N/A
Majority 187 0.55 N/A
Turnout 33,975 N/A N/A

Elections in the 1810s and 1820s

At the 1812 general election, Viscount Milton and Henry Lascelles were elected unopposed.

At the 1818 and 1820 general elections, Viscount Milton and James Stuart Wortley were elected unopposed.

At the 1826 general election, Richard Fountayne Wilson, John Marshall, William Duncombe and Viscount Milton were elected unopposed.

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Yorkshire (4 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig George Howard 1,464 29.0 N/A
Whig Henry Brougham 1,295 25.7 N/A
Ultra-Tory William Duncombe 1,123 22.3 N/A
Tory Richard Bethell 1,065 21.1 N/A
Whig Martin Stapyllton 94 1.9 N/A
Majority 71 19.2 N/A
Turnout 5,041 N/A N/A
1830 Yorkshire by-election (1 seat)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig John Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone 361 77.6 N/A
Whig George Strickland 104 22.4 N/A
Majority 257 55.2 +36.0
Turnout 465 N/A N/A

At the 1831 general election, George Strickland, John Charles Ramsden, John Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone and George Howard were elected unopposed.

See also

  • 1807 Yorkshire election

References

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