Sudbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Sudbury
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1559–1844
Number of members	two

Sudbury
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1950
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Sudbury and Woodbridge

Sudbury was a parliamentary constituency which was represented in the British House of Commons. A parliamentary borough consisting of the town of Sudbury in Suffolk, it returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) from 1559 until it was disenfranchised for corruption in 1844. The Sudbury election of 1835, which Charles Dickens reported for the Morning Chronicle, is thought by many experts to be the inspiration for the famous Eatanswill election in his novel Pickwick Papers.^[1]

A county constituency of the same name was established by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, electing one MP by the first past the post voting system. It was abolished for the 1950 general election.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1559–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1559	Clement Throckmorton	Henry Fortescue [2]
1563	John Heigham	Thomas Andrews [2]
1571	John Hunt	John Gurdon[2]
1572	Richard Eden	Martin Cole[2]
1584	Edward Waldegrave	Henry Blagge [2]
1586	Henry Blagge	Geoffrey Rusham [2]
1588	Thomas Eden	Thomas Jermin [2]
1593	William Fortescue	Dudley Fortescue [2]
1597	George Waldegrave	John Clapham [2]
1601	Philip Gawdy	Edward Glascock [2]
1604-1611	Sir Thomas Beckingham	Thomas Eden, jnr
1614	Robert Crane	Henry Binge
1621	Edward Osburne	Brampton Gurdon
1624	Robert Crane	Sir William Pooley
1625	Sir Nathaniel Barnardiston	Robert Crane
1626	Sir Nathaniel Barnardiston	Thomas Smith
1628	Sir Robert Crane	Sir William Pooley
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1844

Year	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
April 1640		Sir Robert Crane	Parliamentarian		Richard Pepys
November 1640					(Sir) Simonds d'Ewes [3]	Parliamentarian
February 1643	Crane died - seat left vacant
1645		Brampton Gurdon
December 1648				D'Ewes ceased sitting after Pride's Purge
1653	Sudbury was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		John Fothergill		Sudbury had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656
January 1659					Samuel Hassel
May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		John Gurdon			Joseph Brand
1661		Thomas Waldegrave			Isaac Appleton
1662					Sir Robert Cordell
1677		Sir Gervase Elwes
February 1679		Gervase Elwes
September 1679					Sir Gervase Elwes
1685		Sir John Cordell			Sir George Wenyeve
1689		Sir John Poley			Philip Gurdon
February 1690		John Robinson
October 1690					Sir Thomas Barnardiston
1698		Samuel Kekewich
1699					John Gurdon
1700		Sir Gervase Elwes
January 1701					Sir John Cordell
December 1701					Joseph Haskin Stiles
1703					George Dashwood
1705					Philip Skippon
1706		Sir Hervey Elwes
1710		John Mead			Lieutenant-General Robert Echlin
1713		Sir Hervey Elwes
1715					Thomas Western
1722		John Knight			Colonel William Windham
1727					Carteret Leathes
January 1734		Richard Jackson
April 1734		Richard Price			Edward Stephenson
1741		Thomas Fonnereau			Carteret Leathes
1747					Richard Rigby
1754					Thomas Walpole
1761					John Henniker
1768		(Sir) Patrick Blake [4]			(Sir) Walden Hanmer [5]
1774 [6]		Thomas Fonnereau			Philip Champion Crespigny
1775		Sir Patrick Blake			Sir Walden Hanmer
1780					Philip Champion Crespigny [7]
1781					Sir James Marriott
1784		William Smith			John Langston
1790		John Coxe Hippisley			Thomas Champion Crespigny
1796		William Smith			Sir James Marriott
1802		Sir John Coxe Hippisley			John Pytches
1807					Emanuel Felix Agar
1812					Charles Wyatt
1818		William Heygate			John Broadhurst
1820					Charles Augustus Tulk
1826		John Wilks			Bethel Walrond
1828		John Norman Macleod
1830		Sir John Benn Walsh	Tory
1831					Digby Cayley Wrangham
1832			Conservative		Michael Angelo Taylor	Whig
1834					Sir Edward Barnes [8]	Conservative
1835		John Bagshaw	Whig		Benjamin Smith	Whig
July 1837		Sir James John Hamilton	Conservative		Sir Edward Barnes	Conservative
December 1837		Joseph Bailey	Conservative
1838					Sir John Benn Walsh	Conservative
1840					George Tomline	Conservative
1841 [9]		Frederick Villiers Meynell	Whig		David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre	Whig
29 July 1844	Constituency disfranchised for corruption and incorporated into Western Suffolk

MPs 1885–1950

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Sir William Quilter	Liberal
	1886	Sir William Quilter	Liberal Unionist
	1906	William Charles Heaton-Armstrong	Liberal
	1910 (January)	Sir Cuthbert Quilter	Conservative
	1918	Stephen Goodwin Howard	Coalition Liberal
	1922	Herbert Mercer	Conservative
	1923	John Frederick Loverseed	Liberal
	1924	Henry Walter Burton	Conservative
	1945	Roland Hamilton	Labour
1950		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Sudbury[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Cuthbert Quilter	4,913	58.7	n/a
	Conservative	Thomas Weller Poley	3,461	41.3	n/a
Majority			1,452	17.4	n/a
Turnout				79.6	n/a
	Liberal win (new seat)

General Election 1886: Sudbury[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	William Cuthbert Quilter	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Sudbury[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	William Cuthbert Quilter	5,111	63.8	n/a
	Liberal	AG Ogilvie	2,905	36.2	n/a
Majority			2,206	27.6	n/a
Turnout				75.4	n/a
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1895: Sudbury[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	William Cuthbert Quilter	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Sudbury[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Sir William Cuthbert Quilter	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

Heaton-Armstrong

General Election 1906: Sudbury[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Charles Heaton-Armstrong	4,201	50.8	n/a
	Liberal Unionist	Sir William Cuthbert Quilter	4,065	49.2	n/a
Majority			136	1.6	n/a
Turnout				81.7	n/a
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1910s

Francis Hirst

General Election January 1910: Sudbury[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Eley Cuthbert Quilter	5,026	55.9
	Liberal	Francis Wrigley Hirst	3,958	44.1
Majority			1,068	11.8
Turnout				89.5
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election December 1910: Sudbury[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Eley Cuthbert Quilter	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: Sir William Eley Cuthbert Quilter
• Liberal: Stephen Goodwin Howard^[11]

General Election 1918: Sudbury[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Maj. Stephen Goodwin Howard	6,656	52.1
	Unionist	Capt. Richard George Proby	5,746	44.9
	Labour	*Joseph Rouse Hicks	390	3.0
Majority			910	7.2
Turnout				48.4
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing

• endorsed by the Coalition Government.
• * some records describe him as an 'Agriculture' candidate.

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Sudbury[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Herbert Mercer	7,298	47.0	+2.1
	National Liberal	Stephen Goodwin Howard	5,410	34.9	n/a
	Liberal	E W Tanner	2,813	18.1	n/a
Majority			1,888	12.1
Turnout				59.3	+10.9
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1923: Sudbury[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Frederick Loverseed	8,813	52.0	* -1.0
	Unionist	Herbert Mercer	8,148	48.0	+1.0
Majority				4.0	16.1
Turnout				63.8
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	-1.0

• compared to combined 1922 Liberal vote.

General Election 1924: Sudbury[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Henry Walter Burton	10,579	53.6	+5.6
	Liberal	John Frederick Loverseed	9,168	46.4	-5.6
Majority			1,411	7.2	11.2
Turnout				73.3
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.6

General Election 1929: Sudbury[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Henry Walter Burton	9,715	40.2	-13.4
	Liberal	Alan John Sainsbury	8,309	34.4	-12.0
	Labour	W. Jack Shingfield	6,147	25.4	n/a
Majority			1,406	5.8	-1.4
Turnout				75.9	+2.6
	Unionist hold		Swing	-0.7

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Sudbury[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Walter Burton	13,500	55.3	+15.1
	Liberal	Alan John Sainsbury	10,929	44.7	+10.3
Majority			2,571	10.6	+4.8
Turnout				76.7	+0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.4

General Election 1935: Sudbury[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Walter Burton	11,700	49.3	-6.0
	Liberal	Alan John Sainsbury	8,344	35.2	-9.5
	Labour	H Denton	3,670	15.5	n/a
Majority			3,356	14.1
Turnout			23,714	74.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.7

Elections in the 1940s

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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Henry Burton
• Liberal: Frederic Sellers
• Labour: Roland Hamilton

General Election 1945: Sudbury[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roland Hamilton	9,906	40.3
	Conservative	Henry Walter Burton	9,659	39.2
	Liberal	Margaret Hitchcock	5,045	20.5
Majority			247	1.1
Turnout				69.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

References

1. M.C. Rintoul (1993). Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction. Taylor & Francis. p. 872. ISBN 9780415059992.
2. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
3. Created a baronet, July 1641
4. Created a baronet, September 1772
5. Created a baronet, May 1774
6. On petition, the result of the election of 1774 was overturned: Fonnereau and Crespigny were declared not to have been duly elected and their opponents, Blake and Hanmer, were seated in their place
7. On petition, Crespigny was declared not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Marriott was seated in his place
8. Elected on the casting vote of the returning officer after a tie in votes. His opponent petitioned against the decision, denying that the returning officer was entitled to a casting vote, but Parliament was dissolved before the issue had been settled.
9. The 1841 election was declared void on petition and a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate, which eventually led to the disfranchisement of the constituency
10. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
11. Cambridge Independent Press 16 Jan 1914
12. British parliamentary election results, 1918-1949 (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)
• 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.
• Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
• H G Nicholas, To The Hustings: Election scenes from English fiction (London, Cassell & Co., 1956)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)