Liverpool (UK Parliament constituency)

Liverpool
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Lancashire
1295–1885
Number of members	1295–1868: Two 1868–1885: Three
Replaced by	Abercromby, East Toxteth, Everton, Exchange, Kirkdale, Scotland, Walton, West Derby and West Toxteth

Liverpool was a Borough constituency in the county of Lancashire of the House of Commons for the Parliament of England to 1706 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885. It was represented by two Members of Parliament (MPs). In 1868 this was increased to three Members of Parliament.

The Borough franchise was held by the freemen of the Borough. Each elector 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. In 1800 there were around 3000 electors, with elections in this seat being nearly always contested.

The Borough returned several notable Members of Parliament including Prime Minister George Canning, William Huskisson, President of the Board of Trade, Banastre Tarleton, noted soldier in the American War of Independence and most notably, William Roscoe the abolitionist and Anti Slave Trade campaigner.

The constituency was abolished in 1885, the city being split into nine divisions of Abercromby, East Toxteth, Everton, Exchange, Kirkdale, Scotland, Walton, West Derby and West Toxteth.

History

The Borough of Liverpool exercised the privilege of sending two members to Parliament in 1295 and 1307, but then for 240 years the right was wholly suspended. In the first Parliament of Edward VI, which met 4 November 1547, though Elective Franchise was restored to the two Lancashire Boroughs of Liverpool and Wigan and has since continued almost without further interruption.

Representation was increased to three Members in 1868 and the constituency abolished in 1885, to be replaced by the nine new constituencies of Abercromby, East Toxteth, Everton, Exchange, Kirkdale, Scotland, Walton, West Derby and West Toxteth.

Members of Parliament

1295–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1295	Adam fitz Richard	Robert Pinklowe
1300–1307	Richard de la More	John de la More
1545	Nicholas Cutler	Gilbert Gerard[1]
1547	Thomas Stanley	?Francis Cave or Richard Taverner[2]
1553 (Mar)	Ralph Assheton	William Bromley[2]
1553 (Oct)	William Bromley	Sir Giles Alington[2]
1554 (Apr)	William Bromley	Sir William Norris[2]
1554 (Nov)	William Bromley	John Beaumont[2]
1555	Sir Richard Sherborn	John Beaumont[2]
1558	William Stopford	George White[2]
1559 (Jan)	Sir Thomas Smith	Ralph Browne[3]
1562/3	Sir Richard Molyneux	Ralph Sekerston[3]
1571	Thomas Avery	Ralph Sekerston[3]
1572	Ralph Sekerston, died and repl. 1576 by Thomas Greenacres, died and repl. April 1583 by Arthur Atye	Mathew Dale[3]
1584	Arthur Atye	John Molyneux[3]
1586	John Poole	William Cavendish[3]
1588 (Oct)	Edward Warren	Francis Bacon[3]
1593	Michael Doughty	John Wroth[3]
1597 (Oct)	Thomas Gerard	Peter Probie[3]
1601 (Oct)	Edward Anderson	Hugh Calverley[3]
1604	Giles Brook	Thomas Remchinge
1614	Thomas Ireland	Sir Hugh Beeston
1621–1622	Thomas May	William Johnson
1624	Sir Thomas Gerard, 2nd Baronet	George Ireland
1625	James Lord Strange	Edward Moore
1626	Edward Bridgeman	Thomas Stanley
1628	Henry Jermyn	John Newdigate
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640–1868

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
April 1640		Lord Cranfield			John Holcroft
November 1640		Sir Richard Wynn, Bt.	Parliamentarian		John Moore	Parliamentarian
December 1648	Wynn excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant[4]
October 1649		Thomas Birch
June 1650				Moore died June 1650 – seat left vacant
1653	Liverpool was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		Thomas Birch		Liverpool had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656
January 1659		Gilbert Ireland			Thomas Blackmore
May 1659	Liverpool was unrepresented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Sir Gilbert Ireland			William Stanley
1670					Sir William Bucknall
1675		William Banks
1677		Sir Ralph Assheton, Bt.			Richard Atherton
1679		Ruisshe Wentworth			John Dubois
1685		Sir Richard Atherton			Thomas Legh
1689		Richard Savage, Viscount Colchester	Whig		Thomas Norris
1694		Thomas Brotherton
January 1695					Jasper Maudit
November 1695		Sir William Norris, Bt.
1698					William Clayton
1701 (Dec)		(Sir) Thomas Johnson[5]	Whig
1708					Richard Norris
1710					John Cleiveland
1713					William Clayton
1715					Edward Norris
1722					William Cleiveland
1723		Langham Booth
April 1724					Thomas Bootle
November 1724		Thomas Brereton
1729		Sir Thomas Aston, Bt.
1734		Thomas Brereton[6]			Richard Gildart
1754					John Hardman
1755					(Sir) Ellis Cunliffe[7]
1756		Charles Pole
1761		Sir William Meredith, Bt.	Tory
1767					Richard Pennant	Tory
1780		Bamber Gascoyne	Tory		Henry Rawlinson
1784					Richard Pennant	Tory
1790					Colonel Banastre Tarleton[8]	Tory
1796		Colonel Isaac Gascoyne[9]	Tory/Ultra-Tory
1806					William Roscoe	Whig
1807					Lieutenant General Banastre Tarleton	Tory
1812					George Canning[10]	Tory
1823					William Huskisson	Tory
November 1830					William Ewart	Whig
May 1831		John Evelyn Denison[11]	Whig
October 1831		Viscount Sandon	Tory
1837					Cresswell Cresswell	Conservative
1842					Lieutenant-General Sir Howard Douglas, Bt	Conservative
1847		Edward Cardwell	Peelite		Sir Thomas Bernard Birch, Bt	Whig
1852		Charles Turner	Conservative		William Forbes Mackenzie	Conservative
1853		Thomas Horsfall	Conservative		Henry Thomas Liddell	Conservative
1855					Joseph Christopher Ewart	Liberal
1865					Samuel Robert Graves	Conservative

1868–1885

• Constituency increased to three Members (1868)

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party	3rd Member		3rd Party
1868		Samuel Robert Graves	Conservative		Viscount Sandon	Conservative		William Rathbone	Liberal
1873 by-election		John Torr	Conservative
Feb 1880 by-election		Edward Whitley	Conservative
1880								John Ramsay	Liberal
Aug 1880 by-election								Lord Claud Hamilton	Conservative
1882 by-election					Samuel Smith	Liberal
1880	Constituency abolished (Redistribution of Seats Act 1885)

Notes

1. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 22 October 2013. |chapter= ignored (help)
2. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 22 October 2013. |chapter= ignored (help)
3. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 25 September 2011. |chapter= ignored (help)
4. Wynn died in July 1649, and a by-election was held to replace him
5. Knighted 1708
6. Changed his surname to Salusbury on inheriting an estate from his father-in-law in 1734
7. Created a baronet, March 1759
8. Major General from 1794
9. Major General from 1802, General 1819
10. The future Prime Minister (in 1827), the Right Hon. George Canning was also returned in 1812 for the Irish borough of Sligo. He elected to sit for Liverpool.
11. Denison was also elected for Nottinghamshire, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Liverpool

Elections

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1832–1868

General Election 1832: Liverpool (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Ewart	4,931
	Tory	Viscount Sandon	4,260
	Whig	T Thornely	4,096
	Tory	Sir Howard Douglas, Bt	3,249
Majority
Registered electors			11,283
	Whig hold		Swing
	Tory hold		Swing

General Election 1835: Liverpool (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Viscount Sandon	4,407
	Whig	William Ewart	4,075
	Tory	Sir Howard Douglas, Bt	3,869
	Whig	J Morris	3,627
Majority
Registered electors			12,492
	Tory hold		Swing
	Whig hold		Swing

General Election 1837: Liverpool (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Viscount Sandon	4,786
	Tory	Cresswell Cresswell	4,652
	Whig	William Ewart	4,381
	Whig	H Elphinstone	4,206
Majority
Registered electors			11,179
	Tory hold		Swing
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing

General Election 1841: Liverpool (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Viscount Sandon	5,979
	Conservative	Cresswell Cresswell	5,792
	Whig	Sir J Walmsley	4,647
	Whig	Viscount Palmerston	4,431
Majority
Registered electors			15,539
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Liverpool by-election, 1842
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Howard Douglas, Bt

General Election 1847: Liverpool (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Edward Cardwell	5,581
	Liberal	Sir Thomas Bernard Birch, Bt	4,882
	Conservative	Sir D Mackworth, Bt	4,089
	Conservative	Lord John Manners	2,413
Majority
Registered electors			17,004
	Peelite gain from Conservative		Swing
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1852: Liverpool (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Turner	6,693
	Conservative	William Forbes Mackenzie	6,377
	Peelite	Edward Cardwell	5,247
	Liberal	Joseph Christopher Ewart	4,910
Majority
Registered electors			17,433
	Conservative gain from Peelite		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

• Election declared void on petition (Bribery by Mackenzie & Turner).

Liverpool by-election, 1853 (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Horsfall	6,034
	Conservative	Henry Thomas Liddell	5,543
	Liberal	Sir Thomas Erskine Perry	4,673
	Conservative	J B Moore	1,274
Majority
Registered electors			16,182
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Liverpool by-election, 1855
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Christopher Ewart	5,718
	Conservative	Sir S G Bonham, Bt	4,262
Majority			1,456
Registered electors			17,795
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1857: Liverpool (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Horsfall	7,566
	Liberal	Joseph Christopher Ewart	7,121
	Conservative	Charles Turner	6,316
Majority
Registered electors			18,318
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1859: Liverpool (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Christopher Ewart
	Conservative	Thomas Horsfall
Registered electors			18,779

General Election 1865: Liverpool (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Horsfall	7,866
	Conservative	Samuel Robert Graves	7,500
	Liberal	Joseph Christopher Ewart	7,160
Majority
Registered electors			20,618
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

1868–1885

General Election 1868: Liverpool (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Samuel Robert Graves	16,766
	Conservative	Viscount Sandon	16,222
	Liberal	William Rathbone	15,337
	Liberal	W N Massey	15,017
Majority
Registered electors			39,645
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Liverpool by-election, 1873
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Torr	18,702
	Liberal	William Sproston Caine	16,790
Majority			1,912
Registered electors			52,912
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1874: Liverpool (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Viscount Sandon	20,206
	Conservative	John Torr	19,763
	Liberal	William Rathbone	16,706
	Liberal	William Sproston Caine	15,801
	Lib-Lab	W S Simpson	2,435
Majority
Registered electors			54,952
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Liberal hold		Swing

Liverpool by-election, 1874
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Viscount Sandon

Liverpool by-election, February 1880
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Whitley	26,106
	Liberal	Lord Ramsay	23,885
Majority			2,221
Registered electors			63,946
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1880: Liverpool (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lord Ramsay
	Conservative	Viscount Sandon
	Conservative	Edward Whitley
Registered electors			63,946
	Liberal hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Liverpool by-election, August 1880
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lord Claud John Hamilton	21,019
	Liberal	Samuel Plimsoll	19,118
Majority			1,901
Registered electors			63,946
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

Liverpool by-election, 1882
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Samuel Smith	18,198
	Conservative	Arthur Bower Forwood	17,889
Majority			309
Registered electors			62,039
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

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)
• J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 3)