Dorchester (UK Parliament constituency)

Dorchester was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Dorchester in Dorset. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1295 to 1868, when its representation was reduced one member.

The constituency was abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, after which Dorchester was placed in the new Dorset South constituency. In 1918 it was transferred to Dorset West, where it has remained since.

Members of Parliament

1295-1629

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Parliament	First member	Second member
1386	Henry Cravell	Peter Blount [1]
1388 (Feb)	John Perle	Thomas Lamer [1]
1388 (Sep)	William Chuse	Thomas Gardener [1]
1390 (Jan)	William Tylle	John Blount [1]
1390 (Nov)
1391	Thomas Lamer	John Gould [1]
1393	Robert Gutton	Thomas Gardener [1]
1394	William Pullare	William Ash [1]
1395	John Blount	Thomas Hussey[1][2]
1397 (Jan)	Robert Veel	John Jordan [1]
1397 (Sep)	Robert Gutton	John Jordan [1]
1399	John Blount	John Westpray [1]
1401
1402	John Bomel	John Jordan [1]
1404 (Jan)	John Blount	John Jordan [1]
1404 (Oct)
1406	Richard Hyde	John Jordan [1]
1407	John Cheverell	John Jordan [1]
1410	John Jordan [1]
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	Walter Tracy	William Newton [1]
1414 (Apr)	John Blount	John Gryffyn [1]
1414 (Nov)	John Jordan	Richard Berell [1]
1415
1416 (Mar)
1416 (Oct)
1417	Reynold Jacob	John Ford II [1]
1419	John Ford II	[1]
1420	John Stork	John Ford II [1]
1421 (May)	John Stork	John Ford II [1]
1421 (Dec)	Robert Mose	John Ford II [1]
Second Parliament of 1553	Christopher Hole	William Holeman
Parliament of 1554		Owen Heyman
Parliament of 1554-1555		John Davy
Parliament of 1555	? Robertson	Ralph Perne
Parliament of 1558	Christopher Hole	John Hayward
Parliament of 1559	William Holeman	John Lewston
Parliament of 1563-1567	Thomas Marten	Lewis Montgomery Chose to sit for Northampton By-election John Gardiner
Parliament of 1571	Henry Macwilliams	William Adyn
Parliament of 1572-1581	George Carleton	George Trenchard
Parliament of 1584-1585	Robert Beale	Thomas Freke
Parliament of 1586-1587		Robert Napier
Parliament of 1588-1589		Noel Sotherton
Parliament of 1593	Dr Francis James	Thomas Dabridgecourt
Parliament of 1597-1598	Robert Ashley	Richard Wright
Parliament of 1601	Henry Brouncker[3]	Matthew Chubb
Parliament of 1604-1611	John Spicer
Addled Parliament (1614)	Francis Ashley	George Horsey
Parliament of 1621-1622	Sir Francis Ashley[4]	John Parkins
Happy Parliament (1624-1625)	William Whiteway	Richard Bushrode
Useless Parliament (1625)	Sir Francis Ashley	William Whiteway
Parliament of 1625-1626	Michael Humphreys died replaced by William Whiteway jnr	Richard Bushrode
Parliament of 1628-1629	Denzil Holles	John Hill
No Parliament summoned 1629-1640

1640-1868

Year	First Member		First Party	Second Member		Second Party
April 1640		Denzil Holles[5]	Parliamentarian		Denis Bond	Parliamentarian
November 1640
December 1648	Holles excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant
1653	Dorchester was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		John Whiteway		Dorchester had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656		John Whiteway
January 1659		James Gould			John Bushrode
May 1659	Dorchester was not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Denzil Holles			John Whiteway
March 1661					James Gould
May 1661		John Churchill
1677					James Gould
1679		Sir Francis Holles			Nicholas Gould
1680		James Gould
1681					Nathaniel Bond
1685		Edward Meller			William Churchill
January 1689		Gerard Napier			Thomas Trenchard
December 1689		Thomas Chafin
March 1690		James Gould			Sir Robert Napier, Bt
December 1690					Thomas Trenchard
1695		Nathaniel Bond			Nathaniel Napier
1698		Sir Robert Napier, Bt
1701		Thomas Trenchard
1702		Sir Nathaniel Napier, Bt
1705		Awnsham Churchill
1708					John Churchill
1709					Denis Bond
1710		Sir Nathaniel Napier, Bt			Benjamin Gifford
1713					Henry Trenchard
April 1720					Robert Browne [6]
May 1720					Abraham Janssen
1722		Edmund Morton Pleydell [7]			Joseph Damer
1723		William Chapple
1727					John Browne
1737		Robert Browne
1741		Nathaniel Gundry
1751		George Damer			John Pitt
1752		George Clavell
1754		The Lord Milton
1761					Thomas Foster
1762		John Damer
1765					William Ewer
1780		Hon. George Damer [8]
1789					Thomas Ewer
1790					Hon. Cropley Ashley
1790					Francis Fane
1791		Hon. Cropley Ashley
1807					Robert Williams
1811		Charles Henry Bouverie
October 1812					Robert Williams
December 1812		William A'Court
1814		Sir Samuel Shepherd
1819		Charles Warren
1826		William Ashley-Cooper
1830		Henry Sturt
1830		Lord Ashley	Tory
1831		Hon. Anthony Henry Ashley-Cooper	Tory
1835			Conservative		Robert Williams	Conservative
1841					Sir James Graham, Bt	Conservative
1847		Hon. George Dawson-Damer	Conservative		Henry Sturt	Conservative
1852					Richard Brinsley Sheridan [9]	Liberal
1856		Charles Napier Sturt	Conservative
1868	representation reduced to one member

1868-1885

Election		Member	Party
1868		representation reduced to one member
	1868	Charles Napier Sturt	Conservative
	1874	William Ernest Brymer	Conservative
1885		constituency abolished

Notes

1. "Dorchester". History of Parliamnent Online. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
2. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/hussey-thomas-i
3. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/brouncker-henry-1550-1607
4. Ashley resigned his place in favour of Sir Thomas Edmondes but was rechosen when Edmondes chose to sit for another constituency
5. Disabled from sitting January 1648 but re-instated June 1648
6. On petition (in a dispute over the franchise), Browne was declared not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Janssen, was seated in his place
7. On petition, Pleydell was declared not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Chapple, was seated in his place
8. Damer was declared re-elected in 1790, but on petition was found not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Ashley, was seated in his place
9. Sheridan was the grandson of his celebrated namesake Richard Brinsley Sheridan

References

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• 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)
• Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
• J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
• M Stenton (ed), Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885 (The Harvester Press, 1976)
• Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. p. 1.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 2)