Lewisham (UK Parliament constituency)

Lewisham
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Lewisham East and Lewisham West
Created from	Greenwich

Lewisham was a borough constituency in the Lewisham district of London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

History

Lewisham in the Metropolitan Board of Works area, showing boundaries used 1885-1918

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election. It was replaced by the new Lewisham East and Lewisham West constituencies.

During its existence Lewisham was a safe Conservative seat. In Lewisham, between 1885 and 1906, the electorate more than doubled and over this period the population of poorer people in the constituency grew.^[1] Over the six general elections of 1885, 1886, 1892, 1906 and January and December 1910 the average Conservative share of the vote in Lewisham was 63.0%.^[1]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Viscount Lewisham	Conservative
	1891	John Penn	Conservative
	1903	Sir Edward Coates	Conservative
1918		constituency abolished: see Lewisham East and Lewisham West

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

1885 General Election: Lewisham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Viscount Lewisham	4,244	58.4	n/a
	Liberal	Benjamin Whitworth	3,019	41.6	n/a
Majority			1,225	16.8	n/a
Turnout			9,280	78.3	n/a
	Conservative win

1886 General Election: Lewisham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Viscount Lewisham	3,839	69.5	11.1
	Liberal	George Offor	1,688	30.5	-11.1
Majority			2,151	39.0	+22.2
Turnout			9,280	59.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+11.1

Lewisham by-election, 1886
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Viscount Lewisham	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1890s

John Penn

Lewisham by-election, 1891
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penn	4,585	61.3	n/a
	Liberal	George Septimus Warmington	2,892	38.7	n/a
Majority			1,693	22.6	n/a
Turnout			11,650	64.2	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

1892 General Election: Lewisham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penn	5,309	64.7	+3.4
	Liberal	G.A. Harvey	2,895	35.3	-3.4
Majority			2,414	29.4	+6.8
Turnout			11,834	69.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.4

1895 General Election: Lewisham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penn	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1900s

1900 General Election: Lewisham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penn	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

James Cleland

Lewisham by-election, 1903[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Feetham Coates	7,709	57.5	n/a
	Liberal	James William Cleland	5,697	42.5	n/a
Majority			2,012	15.0	n/a
Turnout				71.7	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

1906 General Election: Lewisham [3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Feetham Coates	9,689	54.8	-2.7
	Liberal	F.W. Aveling	8,006	45.2	+2.7
Majority			1,683	9.6	-5.4
Turnout				79.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.7

Elections in the 1910s

January 1910 General Election: Lewisham [4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Feetham Coates	12,690	58.6	+3.8
	Liberal	Felix Rosenheim	8,960	41.4	-3.8
Majority			3,730	17.2	+7.6
Turnout			25,021	86.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.8

Sir E.L. O'Malley

December 1910 General Election: Lewisham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Feetham Coates	11,179	62.2	+3.6
	Liberal	Sir Edward Loughlin O'Malley	6,792	37.8	-3.6
Majority			4,387	24.4	+7.2
Turnout			25,021	71.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.6

Notes

1. Henry Pelling, Social Geography of British Elections, 1885-1910 (Macmillan, 1967), p. 35.
2. "Flowing Tide for Unionism - Lewisham". Sheffield Telegraph. 18 January 1910. Retrieved 5 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
3. "Flowing Tide for Unionism - Lewisham". Sheffield Telegraph. 18 January 1910. Retrieved 5 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
4. "Flowing Tide for Unionism - Lewisham". Sheffield Telegraph. 18 January 1910. Retrieved 5 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 2)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
• Debrett’s Illustrated Heraldic and Biographical House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1886
• Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1901
• Debrett’s House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1918