Evesham (UK Parliament constituency)

Evesham
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1295, 1604–1885
Number of members	two until 1868, then one

Worcestershire, Evesham
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1950
Number of members	one

Evesham was a parliamentary constituency in Worcestershire which was represented in the British House of Commons. Originally a parliamentary borough consisting of the town of Evesham, it was first represented in 1295. After this its franchise lapsed for several centuries, but it then returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) from 1604 until 1868, when its representation was reduced to one member under the Representation of the People Act 1867.

From the 1885 general election, Evesham was abolished as a borough but the name was transferred to a larger county constituency electing one MP. This constituency was abolished for the 1950 general election, with the town of Evesham itself being transferred to the new seat of South Worcestershire. Between 1885 and 1918 the constituency had the full name of the Southern, or Evesham, Division of Worcestershire (not to be confused with the 1950 seat).

Boundaries

• 1604-1885: The parishes of All Saints, Evesham, St Lawrence, Evesham and Bengeworth
• 1885-1918: The petty sessional divisions of Blockley, Evesham, Pershore and Upton-on-Severn, and parts of the petty sessional divisions of Malvern and Redditch
• 1918-1950: The municipal boroughs of Droitwich and Evesham, the rural districts of Droitwich, Evesham, Feckenham, Pershore and Shipston-on-Stour, the parishes of Bredon, Bredon's Norton, Conderton, Overbury and Teddington from the rural district of Tewkesbury and the parts of the rural districts of Stow on the Wold and Winchcombe within the administrative county of Worcestershire

Members of Parliament

1604-1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1604-1611	Thomas Biggs	Sir Philip Knightley, died and replaced 1605 by Robert Bowyer, appointed to crown office and replaced 1610 by Edward Salter
1614-1622	Sir Thomas Biggs	Anthony Langston
1621	Sir Thomas Biggs	Anthony Langston
1624	Sir Edward Conway	Richard Cresheld
1625	Richard Cresheld	Anthony Langston
1626	Sir John Hare	Anthony Langston
1628	Sir Robert Harley	Richard Cresheld
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640-1868

Year	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
April 1640		William Sandys [1]	Royalist		William Morton
November 1640					Richard Cresheld	Parliamentarian
1641		John Coventry	Royalist
September 1642	Coventry disabled from sitting - seat vacant
1645		Samuel Gardner
December 1648				Cresheld not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge
1653	Evesham was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		Theophilus Andrews			Robert Atkyns
May 1659	Evesham was not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		John Egioke			Sir Thomas Rouse
1661		William Sandys			Abraham Cullen
1669					Sir John Hanmer
1670		Sir James Rushout
1679					Henry Parker
1681					Edward Rudge
1685		Henry Parker			Sir John Matthewes
1690		Sir James Rushout			Edward Rudge
1695					Henry Parker
1698		John Rudge
January 1701					Sir James Rushout
November 1701		Hugh Parker
1702					John Rudge
1708		Sir Edward Goodere
1705		John Deacle
1722		Sir John Rushout
1734					William Taylor
1741					Edward Rudge
1754					John Porter
1756					Edward Rudge
1761					John Rushout
1768		George Durant
1774		Henry Seymour
1780		Charles Boughton
1790		Thomas Thompson
1796					Charles Thellusson
1802		Patrick Craufurd Bruce
1806		William Manning			Humphrey Howorth
1807					Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes [2]	Tory
1808					Humphrey Howorth
1818		William Rouse-Boughton
1819		Sir Charles Cockerell	Whig
1820					William Rouse-Boughton
1826					Edward Davis-Protheroe
1830					Lord Kennedy
1831					Thomas Hudson	Whig
1835					Peter Borthwick [3]	Conservative
1837		George Rushout	Conservative
1838					Lord Marcus Hill	Whig
1841		Peter Borthwick	Conservative
1847		Sir Henry Willoughby, Bt	Conservative
1852					Grenville Berkeley	Whig
1855					Edward Holland	Whig
1859						Liberal
1865		James Bourne	Conservative

1868-1950

Election		Member	Party
	1868	James Bourne	Conservative
	1880	Daniel Rowlinson Ratcliff	Liberal
	July 1880	Frederick Lehmann [4]	Liberal
	1881	Frederick Dixon-Hartland	Conservative
	1885	Sir Richard Temple	Conservative
	1892	Sir Edmund Lechmere	Conservative
	1895	Colonel Charles Wigram Long	Conservative
	January 1910	Bolton Eyres-Monsell	Conservative
	1935	Rupert de la Bere	Conservative
1950		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Evesham [5] Electorate 9,522
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Richard Temple	4,080	51.5
	Liberal			48.5	n/a
Majority				3.0	n/a
Turnout				83.3	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1886: Evesham [6] Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Richard Temple
	Liberal
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Evesham [7] Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Edmund Anthony Harley Lechmere	4,170	53.7
	Liberal	Frederick Impey	3,590	46.3
Majority			580	7.4
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Evesham by-election, 1895[8] Electorate 9,914
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Wigram Long	4,760	57.0	+3.3
	Liberal	Frederick Impey	3,585	43.0	-3.3
Majority			1,175	14.0	+6.6
Turnout				84.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.3

General Election 1895: Evesham [9] Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Wigram Long	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Evesham [10] Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Wigram Long	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1906: Evesham [11] Electorate 9,756
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Wigram Long	4,385	50.5	n/a
	Liberal	A W Biggs	4,293	49.5	n/a
Majority			92	1.0	n/a
Turnout				89.0	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Evesham [12] Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bolton Meredith Eyres-Monsell
	Liberal	W Burt
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election December 1910: Evesham [13] Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bolton Meredith Eyres-Monsell	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1914/15: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Bolton Meredith Eyres-Monsell
• Liberal: William Pearce Ellis

General Election 1918: Evesham[14] Electorate 28,931
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Com. Bolton Meredith Eyres-Monsell	10,479	62.0
	Liberal	William Pearce Ellis	3,570	21.1
	Labour	Walter Metcalfe Fielding	2,863	16.9
Majority			6,909	40.9
Turnout				58.5
	Unionist hold		Swing

• denotes candidate who was endorsed by the Coalition Government.

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Evesham[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Bolton Meredith Eyres-Monsell	11,502	59.9	-2.1
	Labour	Robert Aldington	7,715	40.1
Majority			3,787	19.8
Turnout				65.7	+7.2
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Evesham[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Rt Hon. Bolton Meredith Eyres-Monsell	10,976	54.5	-5.4
	Liberal	William Henry Collett	5,453	27.1	n/a
	Labour	Robert Aldington	3,705	18.4	-21.7
Majority			5,523	27.4
Turnout				67.7
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1924: Evesham[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Rt Hon. Bolton Meredith Eyres-Monsell	13,176	66.5
	Labour	Robert Aldington	3,473	17.3
	Liberal	B R Swift	3,454	17.2
Majority			9,703	48.2
Turnout				66.4
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1929: Evesham[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Rt Hon. Bolton Meredith Eyres-Monsell	14,694	48.4	-18.1
	Liberal	Selick Davies	11,519	38.0	+20.8
	Labour	Robert Aldington	4,138	13.6	-3.7
Majority			3,175	10.4	-37.8
Turnout				76.4
	Unionist hold		Swing	-19.5

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Evesham[19] Electorate 40,840
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Bolton Meredith Eyres-Monsell	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Liberal	Harry Anson Briggs	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

• withdrew

General Election 1935: Evesham[20] Electorate 43,394
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rupert de la Bere	18,757	65.1	n/a
	Labour	W E Warder	6,264	21.8	n/a
	Liberal	Christopher a'Becket Williams	3,774	13.1	n/a
Majority			12,493	43.3	n/a
Turnout				66.4	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1939/40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Rupert de la Bere
• Liberal: W F Newnes ^[21]
• British Union: John Dowty

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Evesham[22] Electorate 52,764
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rupert de la Bere	17,835	53.4
	Liberal	Duncan McGuffie	7,849	23.5
	Common Wealth	Fl-Lt. Desmond Louis Donnelly	7,727	23.1
Majority			9,986	29.9
Turnout				63.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. Expelled as a monopolist in 1641
2. On petition, Lopes was declared not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Howorth, was seated in his place
3. Borthwick was re-elected in 1837 but on petition his election was declared void and Hill declared elected in his place. A petition against the other successful candidate, Rushout, was dismissed. Borthwick and Rushout subsequently fought a duel over the outcome of the election.
4. On petition, Lehmann's election was declared void and his opponent Dixon-Hartland was declared elected in his place
5. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
6. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
7. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
8. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
9. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
10. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
11. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
12. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
13. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
14. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
15. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
16. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
17. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
18. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
19. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
20. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
21. The Liberal Magazine, 1939
22. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

• 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)
• The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• T. H. B. Oldfield, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland (London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1816)
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)