Boston (UK Parliament constituency)

Boston
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1547–1918
Seats	two (1547-1885); one (1885-1918)
Created from	Lincolnshire
Replaced by	Holland with Boston
1352–1353s
Seats	two
Replaced by	Lincolnshire

Boston was a parliamentary borough in Lincolnshire, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1547 until 1885, and then one member from 1885 until 1918, when the constituency was abolished.

History

Boston first elected Members of Parliament in 1352–1353, but after that the right lapsed and was not revived again until the reign of Edward VI. The borough consisted of most of the town of Boston, a port and market town on the River Witham which had overgrown its original boundaries as the river had been cleared of silt and its trade developed. In 1831, the population of the borough was 11,240, contained 2,631 houses.

The right to vote belonged to the Mayor, aldermen, members of the common council and all resident freemen of the borough who paid scot and lot. This gave Boston a relatively substantial electorate for the period, 927 votes being cast in 1826 and 565 in 1831. The freedom was generally obtained either by birth (being the son of an existing freemen) or servitude (completing an apprenticeship in the town), but could also be conferred as an honorary status, and Boston charged a consistently escalating sum to its Parliamentary candidates who wanted to be admitted as freemen - set at £20 in 1700, it was raised to £50 in 1719, to £100 in 1790 and to £135 in 1800.

Major local landowners had some influence over election outcomes through deference of the voters - the Duke of Ancaster, for example, was generally allowed to choose one of the members up to the end of the 18th century ^[1] - but in the last few years before the Reform Act at least one of the two members seems consistently to have been the free choice of the people of the town. However, bribery was rife in some of the early 19th-century elections, and the election of Thomas Fydell in 1802 was overturned when it was discovered that not only had he been paying electors five guineas for a vote, but that many of these were not qualified to vote anyway. (They were freemen not resident in the borough, whose names had been fraudulently entered as paying the poor rate at houses where they did not live, so as to appear eligible.)

Boston retained both its MPs under the Reform Act, but its boundaries were extended slightly, taking in more of the town and part of the neighbouring parish of Skirbeck. This increased the population of the borough to 12,818, although only 869 of these were eligible to vote in the first election after Reform; this had grown to just over 1,000 by the time of the Second Reform Act, when the widening of the franchise more than doubled it, over 2,500 electors being registered for the 1868 general election which followed. But by the 1870s, electoral corruption had again become a problem in Boston. The result of the 1874 election was overturned for bribery, and a Royal Commission set up to investigate; when the next general election, in 1880, had to be declared void for the same reasons, Boston's representation was suspended for the remainder of the Parliament.

Boston had its right to vote restored for the 1885 election, but the boundary changes which came into effect at the same time slightly reduced the size of the borough and allowed it only one MP. The constituency at this period was mainly middle-class but non-conformists had a strong presence, enabling the Liberals to be competitive where they might otherwise have struggled. The deciding factor which may have tilted the constituency towards the Conservatives in its final years may have been the benefit that the local fisherman saw in Tariff Reform.

The borough was abolished with effect from the general election of 1918, Boston being included in the new Holland with Boston county division.

Boundaries

1832-1885: The old borough of Boston, the parish of Skirbeck, and the hamlet of Skirbeck Quarter, including the Fen Allotment of the hamlet of Skirbeck Quarter, but not the Fen Allotment of the parish of Skirbeck. ^[2]

1885-1918: The existing parliamentary borough, excluding two detached parts situate to the north of the borough, one in East Fen and one in West Fen, and also excluding a part situate on the north side of the borough in the parishes of Sibsey and Frithville. ^[3]

Members of Parliament

1547-1640 — 1640-1880 — 1885-1918 — Jump to Elections

1547-1640

Year	First member	Second member
1547	John Wendon	William Naunton [4]
1553 (Mar)	Leonard Irby	George Foster [4]
1553 (Oct)	Francis Allen	George Foster [4]
1554 (Apr)	Leonard Irby	George Foster [4]
1554 (Nov)	Leonard Irby	George Foster [4]
1555	Leonard Irby	George Foster [4]
1558	Leonard Irby	George Foster [4]
1559 (Jan)	Robert Carr	Leonard Irby [5]
1562–3	Thomas Heneage, sat for Lincolnshire, replaced Jan 1563 by John Tamworth	Leonard Irby [5]
1571	Christopher Hatton, sat for Higham Ferrers, replaced 1571 by Thomas Lyfield	Leonard Irby [5]
1572	Stephen Thymbleby	William Dodington [5]
1584 (Nov)	Nicholas Gorges	Vincent Skinner [5]
1586 (Oct)	Vincent Skinner	Richard Stevenson [5]
1588–9	Vincent Skinner	Anthony Irby [5]
1593	Anthony Irby	Richard Stevenson [5]
1597 (Sep)	Anthony Irby	Richard Stevenson [5]
1601 (Oct)	Anthony Irby	Henry Capell [5]
1604	Anthony Irby	Francis Bullingham
1614	Anthony Irby	Leonard Bawtree
1621	Anthony Irby	Sir Thomas Cheek, sat for Harwich replaced by Sir William Airmine
1624	William Boswell	Sir Clement Cotterell, sat for Grantham replaced by Sir William Airmine
1625	Sir Edward Barkham	William Boswell
1626	Sir Edward Barkham	Richard Oakley
1628	Richard Bellingham	Richard Oakley, unseated after petition replaced by Anthony Irby
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

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1640-1880

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640		William Ellis	Parliamentarian		Sir Anthony Irby
November 1640					Sir Anthony Irby	Parliamentarian
December 1648				Irby excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant
1653	Boston was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		William Ellis		Boston had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656		Sir Anthony Irby
January 1659					Francis Mussenden
May 1659		William Ellis		One seat vacant in restored Rump
February 1660					Sir Anthony Irby
April 1660		Thomas Hatcher
1661		Lord Willoughby de Eresby
1666		Sir Philip Harcourt
February 1679		Sir William Ellis
May 1679		Sir William Yorke
1685		Lord Willoughby de Eresby			Peregrine Bertie
1689					Sir William Yorke
1690		Peregrine Bertie
1698		Richard Wynn			Edmund Boulter
January 1701		Sir William Yorke
December 1701					Peregrine Bertie
1702		Sir Edward Irby
1705					Richard Wynn
1708		Peregrine Bertie
1711		William Cotesworth
1713		Henry Heron
1719					Richard Ellys
1722		Henry Pacey
1730		The Lord Coleraine
1734		Albemarle Bertie			Richard Fydell
1741		Lord Vere Bertie			John Michell
1754		Lord Robert Bertie			Charles Amcotts
1761					John Michell
1766					Charles Amcotts
1777					Humphrey Sibthorp
1782		Sir Peter Burrell
1784					Dalhousie Watherston
1790					Thomas Fydell I	Tory [6]
1796		Thomas Colyear	Whig [6]
1802		William Madocks	Whig [6]
1803					Thomas Fydell II	Tory [6]
1806					Thomas Fydell I	Tory [6]
1812					Peter Drummond-Burrell	Whig [6]
1820		Gilbert Heathcote	Whig [6] [7] [8]		Henry Ellis	Tory [6]
1821					William Augustus Johnson	Whig [6]
1826					Neil Malcolm	Tory [6]
1830		John Wilks	Radical [9] [10]
1831					Gilbert Heathcote	Whig [6] [8] [7]
1832					Benjamin Handley	Whig [6] [8]
1835					John Studholme Brownrigg	Conservative [11] [12] [6]
1837		Sir James Duke	Whig [12] [13] [11] [14] [15] [6]
1847					Benjamin Bond Cabbell	Conservative [16] [17] [14]
1849		Hon. Dudley Pelham	Whig [15] [18] [19]
1851		James William Freshfield	Conservative
1852		Gilbert Heathcote	Whig [20] [21]
1856		Herbert Ingram	Radical [22] [23]
1857					William Henry Adams	Peelite [22] [21]
1859			Liberal		Meaburn Staniland	Liberal
1860		John Malcolm	Conservative
1865					Thomas Parry [24]	Liberal
1866					Meaburn Staniland	Liberal
1867					Thomas Parry	Liberal
1868					Thomas Collins	Conservative
1874		William Ingram	Liberal		Thomas Parry	Liberal
1874					John Malcolm [25]	Conservative
1878					Thomas Garfit	Conservative
1880	Representation suspended

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1885-1918

Election		Member	Party
1885		Representation restored and reduced to one Member
	1885	William Ingram	Liberal
	1886	Henry Farmer-Atkinson	Conservative
	1892	Sir William Ingram	Liberal
	1895	William Garfit	Conservative
	1906	George Faber	Liberal
	Jan. 1910	Charles Harvey Dixon	Conservative
1918		constituency abolished

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Elections

1830s – 1840s – 1850s – 1860s – 1870s – 1880s – 1890s – 1900s – 1910s

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Boston (2 seats) ^{[6] [26]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Neil Malcolm	337	41.2
	Radical	John Wilks	294	36.0
	Whig	Charles Keightley Tunnard	186	22.8
Turnout			503
Majority			43	5.2
	Tory hold		Swing
Majority			108	13.2	N/A
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing

General election 1831: Boston (2 seats) ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Gilbert Heathcote	265	46.9	+24.1
	Radical	John Wilks	249	44.1	+8.1
	Tory	Neil Malcolm	51	9.0	−32.2
Turnout			354
Majority			214	37.9	N/A
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	+20.1
Majority			198	35.1	+21.9
	Radical hold		Swing	+12.1

General election 1832: Boston (2 seats) ^{[27] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	John Wilks	509	39.3	−4.8
	Whig	Benjamin Handley	433	33.4	−13.5
	Tory	John Studholme Brownrigg	353	27.3	+18.3
Turnout			788	90.7
Registered electors			869
Majority			76	5.9	−29.2
	Radical hold		Swing	−7.0
Majority			80	6.1	-31.8
	Whig hold		Swing	−11.3

General election 1835: Boston (2 seats) ^{[27] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Studholme Brownrigg	532	44.0	+16.7
	Radical	John Wilks	356	29.4	−9.9
	Whig	Benjamin Handley	321	26.6	−6.8
Turnout			813	86.7	−4.0
Registered electors			938
Majority			211	17.4	N/A
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+10.1
Majority			35	2.8	−3.1
	Radical hold		Swing	−3.3

General election 1837: Boston (2 seats) ^{[27] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Studholme Brownrigg	459	32.6	+10.6
	Whig	James Duke	442	31.4	+18.1
	Whig	Benjamin Handley	350	24.9	+11.6
	Conservative	William Rickford Collett	156	11.1	−10.9
Turnout			839	87.9	+1.2
Registered electors			955
Majority			109	7.7	−9.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.1
Majority			286	20.3	N/A
	Whig gain from Radical		Swing	+9.1

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Boston (2 seats) ^{[27] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Studholme Brownrigg	527	34.9	+2.3
	Whig	James Duke	515	34.2	−22.1
	Conservative	Charles Alexander Wood	466	30.9	+19.8
Turnout			920	80.3	−7.6
Registered electors			1,146
Majority			12	0.7	−7.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.7
Majority			49	3.3	−17.0
	Whig hold		Swing	−22.1

General election 1847: Boston (2 seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Duke	590	42.3	+8.1
	Conservative	Benjamin Bond Cabbell	466	33.4	−32.4
	Radical	David William Wire	339	24.3	N/A
Turnout			698 (est)	64.4 (est)	−15.9
Registered electors			1,083
Majority			124	8.9	+5.6
	Whig hold		Swing	+12.2
Majority			127	9.1	+8.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−18.2

Duke resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds in order to contest a by-election at City of London.

By-election, 2 August 1849: Boston ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Dudley Pelham	422	56.8	+14.5
	Radical	David William Wire	321	43.2	+18.9
Majority			101	13.6	+4.7
Turnout			743	77.2	+12.8
Registered electors			963
	Whig hold		Swing	−2.2

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Elections in the 1850s

Pelham's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 22 April 1851: Boston ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James William Freshfield	368	59.5	+26.1
	Radical	David William Wire [28] [29] [30]	251	40.5	+16.2
Majority			117	19.0	N/A
Turnout			619	64.0	−0.4
Registered electors			967
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+5.0

Wire retired from the contest. ^[29]

General election 1852: Boston (2 seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Gilbert Heathcote	547	33.4	N/A
	Conservative	Benjamin Bond Cabbell	490	29.9	−3.5
	Whig	John Alexander Hankey [31] [32]	437	26.6	N/A
	Whig	Thomson Hankey [33]	148	9.0	N/A
	Peelite	William Henry Adams	18	1.1	New
Turnout			820 (est)	83.1 (est)	+18.7
Registered electors			987
Majority			57	3.5	−5.4
	Whig hold		Swing
Majority			53	3.3	−5.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Heathcote resigned to contest the 1856 by-election at Rutland.

By-election, 7 March 1856: Boston ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Herbert Ingram	521	63.8	N/A
	Peelite	William Henry Adams	296	36.2	+35.1
Majority			225	27.6	N/A
Turnout			817	81.5	−1.6
Registered electors			1,003
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing

General election 1857: Boston (2 seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Herbert Ingram	Unopposed
	Peelite	William Henry Adams	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,057
	Radical gain from Whig
	Peelite hold

Herbert's appointment as Recorder of Derby required a by-election.

By-election, 3 February 1859: Boston ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	William Henry Adams	Unopposed
	Peelite hold

General election 1859: Boston (2 seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Herbert Ingram	621	37.3	N/A
	Liberal	Meaburn Staniland	593	35.6	N/A
	Conservative	John Hardwick Hollway [34]	452	27.1	N/A
Majority			141	8.5	N/A
Turnout			833 (est)	77.3 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			1,078
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Back to elections

Elections in the 1860s

Ingram's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 30 Oct 1860: Boston (1 Seat) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Malcolm	533	63.8	+36.7
	Liberal	George Parker Tuxford [35]	303	36.2	−36.7
Majority			230	27.6	N/A
Turnout			836	82.0	+4.7
Registered electors			1,019
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+36.7

General election 1865: Boston (2 Seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Malcolm	646	41.3	+14.2
	Liberal	Thomas Parry *	465	29.7	−7.6
	Liberal	Meaburn Staniland	453	29.0	−6.6
Majority			181	11.6	N/A
Turnout			782 (est)	71.7 (est)	−5.6
Registered electors			1,090
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+14.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	−7.1

* On petition, Parry's election was declared void on grounds of bribery and Staniland was duly elected in his place. ^[36]

Staniland then resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 16 Mar 1867: Boston (1 Seat) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Parry	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Boston (2 Seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Malcolm	1,306	29.8	+9.1
	Conservative	Thomas Collins	1,119	25.5	+4.8
	Liberal	Meaburn Staniland	1,029	23.5	−5.5
	Liberal	Thomas Mason Jones [37] [38]	926	21.1	−8.6
Majority			90	2.0	−9.6
Turnout			2,190 (est)	86.7 (est)	+15.0
Registered electors			2,527
	Conservative hold		Swing	+8.9
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.2

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Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Boston (2 Seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Ingram	1,572	37.1	+13.6
	Conservative	John Malcolm	996	23.5	−6.3
	Liberal	Thomas Parry	994*	23.4	+2.3
	Conservative	Thomas Collins	679	16.0	−9.5
Turnout			2,297 (est)	86.6 (est)	−0.1
Registered electors			2,651
Majority			576	13.6	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+11.6
Majority			2	0.1	−1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.3

* An election petition found extensive bribery relating to Parry's votes, which on the initial count totalled 1,347. However, 353 of these were struck off - and further may have been taken if the process had not stopped on 8 June 1874 - leading to Malcolm's election instead. A Royal Commission was established to investigate the borough. ^[39] A separate petition against Ingram was dropped.

In 1878, Malcolm then resigned in order to contest a by-election in Argyllshire, leading to a by-election in Boston.

By-election, 12 Aug 1878: Boston (1 Seat) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Garfit	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Back to elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Boston (2 Seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Garfit	1,412	26.6	+3.1
	Liberal	William Ingram	1,367	25.7	−11.4
	Conservative	George Fydell Rowley [40]	1,350	25.4	+9.4
	Liberal	Sydney Buxton	1,182	22.3	−1.1
Turnout			2,656 (est)	85.8 (est)	−0.8
Registered electors			3,094
Majority			45	0.9	+0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.1
Majority			17	0.3	−13.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	−10.4

Bribery convictions led to the Boston writ being suspended and the 1880 result being voided. ^[41] The seat was again reconstituted in 1885, when it was reduced to one member.

General election 1885: Boston (1 seat) ^{[42] [43] [44]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Ingram	1,295	56.5	+8.5
	Conservative	Nehemiah Learoyd	996	43.5	−8.5
Majority			299	13.0	+12.7
Turnout			2,291	84.3	−1.5 (est)
Registered electors			2,718
	Liberal hold		Swing	+8.5

General election 1886: Boston ^{[42] [44]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Atkinson	1,192	51.0	+7.5
	Liberal	William Ingram	1,144	49.0	−7.5
Majority			48	2.0	N/A
Turnout			2,336	85.9	+1.6
Registered electors			2,718
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.5

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Elections in the 1890s

Willoughby

General election 1892: Boston ^[44]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Ingram	1,355	51.2	+2.2
	Conservative	Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	1,293	48.8	−2.2
Majority			62	2.4	N/A
Turnout			2,648	86.7	+0.8
Registered electors			3,054
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.2

Garfit

General election 1895: Boston ^[44]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Garfit	1,633	56.9	+8.1
	Liberal	William Ingram	1,237	43.1	−8.1
Majority			396	13.8	N/A
Turnout			2,870	87.0	+0.3
Registered electors			3,299
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+8.1

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Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Boston ^{[45] [44]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Garfit	1,710	59.7	+2.8
	Liberal	William Turner Simonds	1,155	40.3	−2.8
Majority			555	19.4	+5.6
Turnout			2,865	83.1	−3.9
Registered electors			3,448
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.8

Faber

General election 1906: Boston ^[44]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Faber	1,801	51.5	+11.2
	Conservative	William Garfit	1,694	48.5	−11.2
Majority			107	3.0	N/A
Turnout			3,495	89.7	+6.6
Registered electors			3,896
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+11.2

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Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Boston ^[44]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Harvey Dixon	1,975	53.5	+5.0
	Liberal	Henry Lunn	1,715	46.5	−5.0
Majority			260	7.0	10.0
Turnout			3,690	91.4	+1.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.0

Hemphill

General election December 1910: Boston ^[44]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Harvey Dixon	1,875	52.3	−1.2
	Liberal	Fitzroy Hemphill	1,712	47.7	+1.2
Majority			163	4.6	−2.4
Turnout			3,587	88.9	−2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.2

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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Charles Harvey Dixon
• Liberal: F. Stapleton Hiley

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References

1. Page 144, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
2. "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. LXIV: An Act to settle and describe the Divisions of Counties, and the Limits of Cities and Boroughs, in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 300–383.
3. "Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.
4. "History of Parliament" . Retrieved 30 September 2011.
5. "History of Parliament" . Retrieved 30 September 2011.
6. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp.  196–198. ISBN   0-900178-13-2.
7. Mosse, Richard Bartholomew (1838). The Parliamentary Guide: a concise history of the Members of both Houses, etc. p. 175. Retrieved 16 May 2019– via Google Books.
8. "Sheffield Independent" . 22 December 1832. p. 3. Retrieved 8 September 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.
9. Escott, Margaret (2009). "WILKS, John I (c.1776–1854), of 3 Finsbury Square, London". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
10. Royle, Edward (1993). Ellerby, William; Pritchett, James Pigott (eds.). A History of the Nonconformist Churches of York. York: University of York. p. 75. ISBN   0-903857-58-8 . Retrieved 8 September 2019– via Google Books.
11. Mosse, Richard B. (1838). The Parliamentary Guide: a concise history of the Members of both Houses, etc.
12. The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. 1838.
13. Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1847). Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Volume 15. Dod's Parliamentary Companion. p. 159.
14. Ollivier, John (2007). "Alphabetical List of the House of Commons". Ollivier's parliamentary and political director. p. 37. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
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17. Gash, Norman (2013). Politics in the Age of Peel: A Study in the Technique of Parliamentary Representation, 1830–1850. Faber & Faber. p. 443. ISBN   9780571302901.
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24. On petition, Parry's election was declared void and Staniland duly elected after scrutiny of the votes
25. At the 1874 election, both Liberal candidates, Ingram and Thomas Parry, were initially declared elected but on petition Parry's election was declared void. After scrutiny 353 of Parry's 1,347 votes were struck off for bribery, and Malcolm, who had originally finished third, was declared elected. Following this election a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate the conduct of elections in Boston
26. Harratt, Simon; Salmon, Philip (2009). "Boston". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
27. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.
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29. "Boston Election" . Dublin Evening Mail. 23 April 1851. p. 4. Retrieved 16 April 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
30. "Boston Election" . Yorkshire Gazette. 26 April 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 16 April 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
31. "Bolton" . Morning Post. 9 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 17 April 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
32. "The Elections" . London Evening Standard . 2 July 1852. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 17 April 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
33. Parry, J. P. (1986). "Disunity explicit, 1874–5". Democracy & Religion: Gladstone and the Liberal Party, 1867–1875. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 415. ISBN   0521309484.
34. "Local News" . Lincolnshire Chronicle. 8 April 1859. p. 6. Retrieved 17 April 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
35. "Representation of Boston" . Coventry Herald . 20 October 1860. p. 4. Retrieved 28 January 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
36. "The Election Petitions" . The Morning Post . 22 March 1866. p. 6. Retrieved 28 January 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
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38. "Borough of Eaton" . Boston Guardian. 10 April 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 6 February 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
39. "The Boston Election Petition" . Grantham Journal . 13 June 1874. p. 8. Retrieved 28 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
40. "Boston Bribery Commissioners'". Boston Guardian. 12 February 1881. p. 5. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
41. "The Boston Bribery Prosecutions". Stamford Mercury . 5 August 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
42. Liberal Year Book 1907
43. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
44. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
45. Debrett's House of Commons 1901

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