Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (UK Parliament constituency)

Weymouth and Melcombe Regis
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1570–1885
Number of members	four (1570–1832), two (1832–1885)

Weymouth and Melcombe Regis was a parliamentary borough in Dorset represented in the English House of Commons, later in that of Great Britain, and finally in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was formed by an Act of Parliament of 1570 which amalgamated the existing boroughs of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. Until 1832, the combined borough continued to elect the four Members of Parliament (MPs) to which its constituent parts had previously been entitled; the Great Reform Act reduced its representation to two Members, and the constituency was abolished altogether in 1885, becoming part of the new South Dorset constituency.

Members of Parliament

Members for Weymouth (1348–1570)

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Parliament	First member	Second member
1386	John Gosselyn I	John Hughelot[1]
1388 (Feb)	John Wake	Henry Hert[1]
1388 (Sep)	Thomas Dovere	John James[1]
1390 (Jan)	Philip Brice	Robert Gilbert[1]
1390 (Nov)
1391	Philip Brice	John James[1]
1393	Henry Badecok	John Avery[1]
1394	John Bassingbourne	William Glover[1]
1395	John Bassingbourne	Stephen Russell[1]
1397 (Jan)	Thomas Cole	John Fleet[1]
1397 (Sep)	William Ford	Nicholas Crabbe[1]
1399	John Brice	William Clerk[1]
1401
1402	Robert Penne	William Faringdon[1]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	Peter Dille	William Rose I[1]
1407	John Aalday	John Bassingbourne[1]
1410	Thomas Payn	John Bassingbourne[1]
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	Robert Penne	John Wydeford[1]
1414 (Apr)	Thomas Payn	John Wodham[1]
1414 (Nov)	John James	John Wodham[1]
1415
1416 (Mar)
1416 (Oct)
1417	John Brice	Robert Penne[1]
1419	Robert Hillary	Robert Penne[1]
1420	Robert Hillary	Robert Penne[1]
1421 (May)	John Bassingbourne	Robert Penne[1]
1421 (Dec)	William Payn	John Penne[1]
1450	John Troutbeck
1472-5	William Twynyho[2]
1510–1523	No names known[3]
1529	William Bond	Robert Aley[3]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	William Aubrey	Richard Jenour[3]
1545	Roger Stourton	Richard Duke[3]
1547	John Cornelius alias Johnson alias Welbored	John Brace[3]
1553 (Mar)	?Richard Phelips	?[3]
1553 (Oct)	Thomas Samways	John Jordan alias Blancombe[3]
1554 (Apr)	John Wadham	John Williams[3]
1554 (Nov)	John Phelips	William Randall[3]
1555	John Buller	Thomas Hobbs[3]
1558	Thomas Keynell	John Cattell[3]
1559	Thomas Fitzwilliams	John Fowler[4]
1562/3	Robert Eyre	Reginald Gray[4]

Members for Melcombe Regis (1319–1570)

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Parliament	First member	Second member
1386	Henry Ford	John Northovere[1]
1388 (Feb)	Henry Ford	Thomas Russell[1]
1388 (Sep)	Thomas Walsh	Richard Morys[1]
1390 (Jan)	John Northovere	Thomas Russell[1]
1390 (Nov)
1391	John Northovere	John Kete[1]
1393	John Abboy	Robert Veel[1]
1394	Robert Calche	Robert Veel[1]
1395	Robert Calche	William Helier[1]
1397 (Jan)	Robert Calche	Henry Ford[1]
1397 (Sep)	William Helier	William Coventre II[1]
1399	Thomas Cole	Eustace Kymer[1]
1401
1402	John Wyot	William Fowler[1]
1404 (Jan)	Robert Penne	William Helier[1]
1404 (Oct)
1406	Richard Hurst	William Clerk[1]
1407	Thomas Cole	Eustace Kymer[1]
1410	John Ford	(_) Lane[1]
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	Ralph Burnage	Thomas Lond[1]
1414 (Apr)	Henry Barbour	Ralph Burnage[1]
1414 (Nov)	William Pyne	William Helier[1]
1415
1416 (Mar)
1416 (Oct)
1417	Nicholas Pury	John Gardener[1]
1419	Ralph Burnage	Walter Reson[1]
1420	William Walkeden	Robert Abbot[1]
1421 (May)	William Benefeld	Robert Abbot[1]
1421 (Dec)	William Walkeden or Nicholas Moigne	John Alysaundre[1]
1510–1523	No names known[3]
1529	Richard Phelips	Oliver Lawrence[3]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	Anthony Cokett	Thomas Poley[3]
1547	Thomas Phelips	John Leweston[3]
1553 (Mar)	John Wadham	?Owen Reynolds[3]
1553 (Oct)	John Leweston	Owen Reynolds[3]
1554 (Apr)	Richard Mitchell	Thomas Samways[3]
1554 (Nov)	Thomas Phelips	John Hannam[3]
1555	John Leweston	William Crowche[3]
1558	John Mill	Richard Shaw[3]
1559	John Maynes	Richard Shaw
1563-7	Thomas Colby	William Mere

Members for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (1570–1885)

1570–1629

Parliament	First member	Second member	Third member	Fourth member
Parliament of 1571	Thomas Hussey d. by 1581 Then Laurence Thompson	Richard Tomlinson	Ralph Browne	Gwyn Reynolds
Parliament of 1572–1581		John Wolley	Richard Bedell died 1576 Moyle Finch	Thomas Hanham
Parliament of 1584–1585		Francis Bacon[5] 1586 Edward Bacon	George Greenville	Edward Penruddock
Parliament of 1586–1587			William Sprynt	Edward Philips
Parliament of 1588–1589	William Mill	Robert Gregory	Arthur Messenger	William Hody
Parliament of 1593	William Weston	Thomas Stafford		Thomas Stevens
Parliament of 1597–1598[6]	Richard Swayne	Francis Leigh	John Mockett	John Brooke
Parliament of 1601	John Peyton	Walter Cope	Richard Swayne	Edward Reynolds
Parliament of 1604–1611	Thomas Barefoot died 1610 Viscount Cranborne	Robert Myddelton	Robert White Vacated seat replaced 1610 by Barnard Michell	Sir John Hanham
Addled Parliament (1614)	Sir Charles Caesar	Robert Bateman		John Roy
Parliament of 1621–1622	Matthew Pitt	Giles Green	John Freke	Christopher Erle[7]
Happy Parliament (1624–1625)	Arthur Pyne	(Sir) Thomas Myddelton Won 2 seats 1625[8] 1625 Giles Green		Henry Waltham
Useless Parliament (1625)			Bernard Michell	(Sir) John Strangways
Parliament of 1625–1626
Parliament of 1628–1629[9]	Hugh Pyne	Thomas Gyard	Lewis Dyve	Henry Waltham
No Parliament summoned 1629–1640

1640–1832

Year	First member		Party	Second member		Party	Third member		Party	Fourth member		Party
April 1640		(Sir) John Strangways	Royalist		Giles Strangways	Royalist		Richard King	Royalist		Thomas Gyard
November 1640					(Sir) Gerrard Napier[10]	Royalist					Sir Walter Erle	Parliamentarian
September 1642	Strangways disabled from sitting – seat vacant
February 1643							King disabled from sitting – seat vacant
January 1644				Napier disabled from sitting – seat vacant
1645		William Sydenham			John Bond			Matthew Allen
December 1648				Erle, Allen and Bond all excluded in Pride's Purge – seats vacant
1653	Weymouth and Melcombe Regis was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		Denis Bond		Weymouth and Melcombe Regis had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656
January 1659		John Trenchard			Walden Lagoe			John Clark			Peter Middleton
May 1659		William Sydenham		Three seats vacant
April 1660		Edward Montagu			Sir William Penn			Peter Middleton			Henry Waltham
June 1660		Bullen Reymes
1661								Winston Churchill			Sir John Strangways
1667											Sir John Coventry
1670					Lord Ashley
1673		John Man
February 1679		Thomas Browne						Michael Harvey
August 1679					Sir John Morton
1680		Henry Henning
1685								Francis Mohun			George Strangways
1689								Michael Harvey			Sir Robert Napier
1690											Nicholas Gould
1691											Thomas Freke
1695		Maurice Ashley			John Knight
March 1698					Philip Taylor
August 1698		Arthur Shallett
January 1701		Henry Thynne			Charles Churchill						Maurice Ashley
November 1701		George St Loe						Sir Christopher Wren
February 1702											Anthony Henley
July 1702								Henry Thynne
1705		Maurice Ashley
1709								Edward Clavell
1710[11]					James Littleton			William Betts
May 1711					Sir Thomas Hardy			William Harvey	Tory
December 1711											Reginald Marriott
1713[12]		John Baker			Rear-Admiral James Littleton			Lieutenant-General Daniel Harvey	Whig		William Betts
1714		Sir Thomas Hardy						William Harvey	Tory		Reginald Marriott
1715		John Baker			Thomas Littleton			Lieutenant-General Daniel Harvey	Whig		William Betts
1717		Edward Harrison
1722		Sir James Thornhill			Thomas Pearce			John Ward[13]
1726								John Willes
January 1727					Edward Tucker
August 1727								Thomas Pearce[14]
1730											George Dodington
1734		George Bubb Dodington[15]
1735		John Tucker
1737					John Olmius
1741					Joseph Damer			John Raymond			James Steuart
1747		Welbore Ellis			Richard Plumer			George Dodington			Edward Hungate Beaghan
1751					Lord George Cavendish
1754					Lord John Cavendish			George Bubb Dodington			John Tucker
1761		Sir Francis Dashwood			John Olmius[16]			Richard Glover
1762					Richard Jackson
1763		Charles Walcott
1768		The Lord Waltham			Sir Charles Davers			Jeremiah Dyson
1774		Welbore Ellis			William Chaffin Grove			John Purling
1778											Gabriel Steward
September 1780											Warren Lisle
November 1780											Gabriel Steward
1781					William Richard Rumbold
1784					Sir Thomas Rumbold
1786											George Jackson
1788											Gabriel Steward
1790		Colonel Sir James Murray[17]	Tory		(Sir) Richard Bempde Johnstone[18]			Andrew Stuart			Thomas Jones
1791											Lieutenant-Colonel Sir James Johnstone
1794											Gabriel Tucker Steward	Tory
1796					William Garthshore	Tory
1801								Charles Adams	Tory
1806					Richard Augustus Tucker Steward	Tory
1810											Sir John Lowther Johnstone
1811		General Sir John Murray
January 1812											Joseph Hume	Tory
October 1812[19]					John Broadhurst			Thomas Wallace			Henry Trail
1813					Viscount Cranborne	Tory		Christopher Idle	Tory		Masterton Ure	Tory
1817					Adolphus Dalrymple	Tory
1818		William Williams	Whig		Thomas Fowell Buxton	Whig		Thomas Wallace	Tory
1826		Colonel John Gordon	Tory
1828								Edward Sugden	Tory
May 1831								Richard Weyland[20]	Whig
August 1831								Charles Baring Wall	Tory
1832	Representation reduced to two Members

1832–1885

Year	First member		First party	Second member		Second party
1832		Sir Frederick Johnstone	Conservative		Thomas Fowell Buxton	Whig
1835		William Wharton Burdon	Whig
1837		Viscount Villiers	Conservative		George William Hope	Conservative
1842[21]		Ralph Bernal	Whig		William Dougal Christie	Whig
August 1847		William Lockyer Freestun	Whig
December 1847					Hon. Frederick Child Villiers	Conservative
1852					George Medd Butt	Conservative
1857					Robert James Roy Campbell	Whig
1859		Robert Brooks	Conservative		Viscount Grey de Wilton	Conservative
1865					Henry Gillett Gridley	Liberal
1867					Henry Edwards	Liberal
1868		Charles J. T. Hambro	Conservative
1874		Sir Frederick Johnstone	Conservative
1885	Constituency abolished

Elections

General Election 1832 Weymouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Fowell Buxton	238
	Conservative	Sir Frederick Johnstone	215
	Whig	William Wharton Burdon	214
	Conservative	George Bankes	176
Turnout

General Election 1835 Weymouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Fowell Buxton	225
	Whig	William Wharton Burdon	206
	Conservative	Viscount Villiers	107
Turnout

General Election 1837 Weymouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Viscount Villiers	291
	Conservative	George William Hope	268
	Whig	Thomas Fowell Buxton	211
	Whig	George Stephen	158
Turnout

General Election 1841 Weymouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Viscount Villiers	259
	Conservative	George William Hope	257
	Whig	Ralph Bernal	254
	Whig	William Dougal Christie	251
Turnout

Villiers and Hope, were re-elected, but on petition the result was overturned in April 1842 and the opponents, Bernal and Christie, were seated in their place.

General Election 1847 Weymouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Dougal Christie	274
	Whig	William Lockyer Freestun	274
	Conservative	George Medd Butt	272
	Conservative	Hon. Frederick Child Villiers	271
Turnout

Weymouth by-election, December 1847
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Frederick Child Villiers	unopposed

The December 1847 by-election followed the resignation of William Dougal Christie.

General Election 1852 Weymouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Medd Butt	392
	Whig	William Lockyer Freestun	341
	Whig	Alexander Haldane Oswald	287
Turnout

General Election 1857 Weymouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Lockyer Freestun	446
	Whig	Robert James Roy Campbell	349
	Conservative	George Medd Butt	272
Turnout

General Election 1859 Weymouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Brooks	341
	Conservative	Viscount Grey de Wilton	340
	Liberal	William Lockyer Freestun	311
	Liberal	Robert James Roy Campbell	296
Turnout

General Election 1865 Weymouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Brooks	381
	Liberal	Henry Gillett Gridley	378
	Conservative	Viscount Grey de Wilton	28
	Liberal	Henry Edwards	14
Turnout

A late compromise between the Conservatives and Liberals, whereby Mr Brooks and Mr Gridley would be elected, came too late to cancel the election.

Weymouth by-election, 1867
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Edwards	unopposed

The 1867 by-election followed the resignation of Henry Gillett Gridley.

General Election 1868 Weymouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles J. T. Hambro	725
	Liberal	Henry Edwards	659
	Liberal	John Joseph Powell	425
Turnout

General Election 1874 Weymouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Edwards	944
	Conservative	Sir Frederick Johnstone	504
	Conservative	Charles J. T. Hambro	452

General Election 1880 Weymouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Edwards	1,156
	Conservative	Sir Frederick Johnstone	807
	Liberal	Alexander Coghill Wylie	653
Turnout

Notes

1. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
2. Biographical notes by I.S. Rogers, 2005
3. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
4. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
5. Francis Bacon was re-elected in 1586, but had also been elected for Taunton, which he chose to represent
6. Browne Willis, working from the Parliamentary records, gives two names for Weymouth and four for Melcombe, remarking of these "Double return, as it seems to me". But it may equally be that two of the six were recorded against the wrong constituency (especially as, in the same Parliament, he has the same pair of the names with only minor variations for Corfe Castle and Wareham.
7. Listed in some sources as Walter Erle; Alumni Oxonienses allocates Christopher to the seat
8. Middleton was re-elected to the Useless Parliament, but had also been elected for Denbighshire, which he chose to represent
9. The names in the table are those given by Browne Willis, but other sources suggest Robert Napier represented the boroughs in this Parliament
10. Created a baronet, June 1641
11. On petition, the election of Littleton and Betts was declared void, and a writ for a by-election was issued. Both were returned at the by-election, but were once again declared not to have been duly elected.
12. On petition, Baker, Harvey and Betts were all declared not to have been duly elected
13. Expelled from the House of Commons 1726 following his conviction for forgery
14. News Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer, Saturday, February 10, 1728; Issue 142
15. Dodington was also elected for Bridgwater, which he chose to represent, and did not sit in this parliament for Weymouth & Melcombe Regis
16. Created The Lord Waltham (in the Peerage of Ireland), June 1762
17. Major-General from 1793, Lieutenant-General from 1799; adopted the surname Murray-Pulteney on his marriage in July 1794
18. Created a baronet, July 1795
19. On petition, the election of Wallace, Broadhurst and Trail was declared void, and a by-election was held; Murray's election was not disturbed
20. Weyland was also elected for Oxfordshire, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Weymouth & Melcombe Regis
21. At the election of 1841, the two sitting Conservative members, Villiers and Hope, were initially declared re-elected, by margins of 5 votes and 3 votes respectively, but on petition the result was overturned and the opponents, Bernal and Christie, were seated in their place

References

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• Grey's Debates of the House of Commons: volume 8 (1769), pp. 373–381
• 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)
• J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig – Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 3)