Bridgnorth (UK Parliament constituency)

Bridgnorth
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Shropshire
Major settlements	Bridgnorth
1295–1885
Seats	1295–1868:Two 1868–1885: One
Replaced by	Ludlow

Bridgnorth was a parliamentary borough in Shropshire which was represented in the House of Commons of England from 1295 until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain until 1800, and in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until its abolition in 1885.

It was represented by two burgesses until 1868, when it was reduced to one Member of Parliament (MP).

Boundaries

According to the 1881 census, the borough of Bridgnorth comprised the parishes of Quatford, part of Quatt, St. Leonard and St Mary (in Bridgnorth town), Astley Abbotts, Eardingdon, Oldbury, Romsley and Tasley. This was smaller than the municipal borough, which only contained the first four. ^[1]

History

By the eighteenth century Bridgnorth had one of the widest franchises in England, consisting of "the burgesses and freement within and without the borough". ^[2] There were more than a thousand voters in the contested elections of 1727, 1734 and 1741 ^[3] although in 1920 it was noted as 700. ^[2] Between 1661 and 1870 at least one of the MPs for Bridgnorth came from the Whitmore family. ^[3]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1295–1640

MPs 1295-1640 — MPs 1640-1868 — MPs 1868-1885 — Elections — See also — Notes and references — Sources

Parliament	First member	Second member
1388 (Feb)	John Farnales	William Palmer I [4]
1388 (Sep)	William Palmer I	William Goldsmith [4]
1390 (Jan)	William Palmer I	John Farnales [4]
1390 (Nov)
1391	William Palmer I	Thomas Horde [4]
1393	William Palmer I	John Farnales [4]
1394	William Palmer I	John Farnales [4]
1395	William Palmer I	John Farnales [4]
1397 (Jan)	William Palmer I	John Blockley [4]
1397 (Sep)
1399	William Palmer I	Thomas Horde [4]
1402	Hugh Harnage	John Bruyn [4]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	Hugh Harnage	Walter Green [4]
1407	Walter Green	John Cook [4]
1410	... Lange [4]
1411	Thomas Hopton	Hugh Stanford [4]
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	Hugh Stanford	Thomas Green [4]
1414 (Apr)	Richard Parlour	Thomas Odyes [4]
1414 (Nov)	Richard Horde	Richard Parlour [4]
1415
1416 (Mar)	Richard Horde	Richard Parlour [4]
1416 (Oct)
1417	Richard Horde	Richard Parlour [4]
1419	Richard Horde	Richard Parlour [4]
1420	Richard Horde	William Stapeley [4]
1421 (May)	Thomas Green	Robert Aylesbury [4]
1421 (Dec)	Thomas Green	Richard Parlour [4]
1425	John Bruyn [5]
1510-1523	No names known [6]
1529	Humphrey Goldston	George Hayward [6]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	Edward Hall	William Grey [6]
1545	Edward Hall	Henry Blount [6]
1547	Roger Smith	John Pulley [6]
1553 (Mar)	Ambrose Gilberd	Roger Smith [6]
1553 (Oct)	Sir George Blount	Jerome Horde [6]
1554 (Apr)	Jerome Horde	William Acton [6]
1554 (Nov)	John Horde	Jerome Horde [6]
1555	Jerome Horde	William Acton [6]
1558	John Broke	Thomas Bromley [6]
1559	Sir George Blount	Richard Prince [7]
1562–3	John Broke	Edward Cordell [7]
1571	Henry Townshend	Thomas Otley [7]
1572	Henry Townshend	Thomas Seckford, died and replaced in 1580 by Edmund Molyneux [7]
1584	Jerome Corbet	Walter Lee [7]
1586	Edward Bromley	John Lutwich [7]
1588	Edward Bromley	John Lutwich [7]
1593	Edward Bromley	John Lutwich [7]
1597	Edward Bromley	John Lutwich [7]
1601	Thomas Horde	Edward Bromley [7]
1604	Sir Lewis Lewknor	Edward Bromley, replaced by Francis Lacon
1614	John Pierse	Richard Singe
1621-1622	Sir John Hayward	William Whitmore
1624	Sir William Whitmore	George Smith
1625	Sir William Whitmore	George Vernon
1626	Sir Richard Shelton	George Vernon
1628-1629	Sir Richard Shelton	Sir George Paule
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

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MPs 1640–1868

Elected			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
		April 1640	Edward Acton	Royalist	(Sir) Thomas Whitmore
		November 1640			(Sir) Thomas Whitmore [8]	Royalist
		February 1644	Acton and Whitmore disabled to sit - both seats vacant
		1646	Robert Clive		Robert Charlton
		December 1648	Clive and Charlton not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge
		1653	Bridgnorth was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
		1654	William Crown		Bridgnorth had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
		1656	Edmund Waring
		January 1659	Edmund Waring		John Humphrys
		May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
		April 1660	Sir Walter Acton		John Bennet
		1661	Sir William Whitmore, Bt
		1663			Sir Thomas Whitmore
		1685			Roger Pope
		1689			Sir Edward Acton, Bt	Tory
		1694	Roger Pope
		1702	Sir Humphrey Brigges, Bt
		1705			William Whitmore
		1710	Whitmore Acton		Richard Cresswell	Tory
		1713	William Whitmore		John Weaver
		1725	St John Charlton
		1734	Thomas Whitmore		Grey James Grove
		1741			William Whitmore
		1747			Arthur Weaver
		1754	Hon. John Grey		William Whitmore [9]
		1768	The Lord Pigot
		1771			Thomas Whitmore	Tory [10]
		1778	Hugh Pigot [11]	Whig [10]
		1784	Isaac Hawkins Browne	Tory [10]
		1795			John Whitmore	Tory [10]
		1806			Thomas Whitmore	Tory [10]
		1812	Hon. Charles Jenkinson	Tory [10]
		1818	Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt Jones	Tory [10]
		1820	William Wolryche-Whitmore	Whig [10] [12]
		1831			James Foster	Whig [10] [13]
		1832	Robert Pigot	Tory [10]	Thomas Charlton Whitmore	Tory [10]
		1834		Conservative [10]		Conservative [10]
		1837	Henry Hanbury-Tracy	Whig [10] [14]
		1838 by-election	Sir Robert Pigot	Conservative [10]
		1852			Henry Whitmore	Conservative
		1853 by-election [15]	John Pritchard	Conservative
		1865 [16]			Sir John Dalberg-Acton, Bt	Liberal
		1866 [16]			Henry Whitmore	Conservative
1868			Representation reduced to one Member

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MPs 1868–1885

Election		Member	Party
	1868	Henry Whitmore	Conservative
	1870 by-election	William Henry Foster	Liberal
	1880		Conservative
	1885	Constituency abolished under the Redistribution of Seats Act

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Elections

1830s – 1840s – 1850s – 1860s – 1870s – 1880s – See also – Notes and references – Sources

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Bridgnorth (2 seats) ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Thomas Whitmore	721	41.0
	Whig	William Wolryche-Whitmore	669	38.0
	Tory	Richard Arkwright	369	21.0
Turnout			986	1,759
Majority			52	3.0
	Tory hold		Swing
Majority			300	17.0
	Whig hold		Swing

General election 1831: Bridgnorth (2 seats) ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Wolryche-Whitmore	Unopposed
	Whig	James Foster	Unopposed
	Whig hold
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1832: Bridgnorth (2 seats) ^{[10] [17]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Robert Pigot	Unopposed
	Tory	Thomas Charlton Whitmore	Unopposed
Registered electors			746
	Tory gain from Whig
	Tory gain from Whig

General election 1835: Bridgnorth (2 seats) ^{[10] [17]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Charlton Whitmore	490	38.7	N/A
	Conservative	Robert Pigot	423	33.4	N/A
	Whig	Henry Hanbury-Tracy	353	27.9	New
Majority			70	5.5	N/A
Turnout			698	88.2	N/A
Registered electors			791
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1837: Bridgnorth (2 seats) ^{[10] [17]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Charlton Whitmore	429	36.8	−1.9
	Whig	Henry Hanbury-Tracy	371	31.8	+3.9
	Conservative	Robert Pigot	367	31.4	−2.0
Turnout			727	92.0	+3.8
Registered electors			790
Majority			58	5.0	−0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.9
Majority			4	0.4	N/A
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.9

Hanbury-Tracy resigned, by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, after a petition was lodged against his election.

By-election, 20 February 1838: Bridgnorth ^{[10] [17]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Pigot	Unopposed
	Conservative gain from Whig

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Bridgnorth (2 seats) ^{[10] [17]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Charlton Whitmore	496	39.3	+2.5
	Conservative	Robert Pigot	475	37.6	+6.2
	Whig	Frederick John Howard [18]	225	17.8	+1.9
	Whig	Nicholas Throckmorton [19]	66	5.2	−10.7
Majority			250	19.8	+14.8
Turnout			703	86.8	−5.2
Registered electors			810
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.5
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+5.3

General election 1847: Bridgnorth (2 seats) ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Charlton Whitmore	611	44.7	+8.4
	Conservative	Robert Pigot	388	28.4	−9.2
	Radical	John Easthope [20]	368	26.9	+3.9
Majority			20	1.5	−18.3
Turnout			684 (est)	81.6 (est)	−5.2
Registered electors			838
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.6

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Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Bridgnorth (2 seats) ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Whitmore	443	40.8	−3.9
	Conservative	Robert Pigot	360	33.1	+4.7
	Whig	Frederick William Cadogan [21]	283	26.1	−0.8
Majority			77	7.0	+5.5
Turnout			685 (est)	95.5 (est)	+13.9
Registered electors			717
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.6

Pigot's election was declared void on petition due to bribery, causing a by-election. ^[22]

By-election, 22 March 1853: Bridgnorth ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Pritchard	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Bridgnorth (2 seats) ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Whitmore	Unopposed
	Conservative	John Pritchard	Unopposed
Registered electors			678
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Whitmore was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 3 March 1858: Bridgnorth ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Whitmore	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: Bridgnorth (2 seats) ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Whitmore	Unopposed
	Conservative	John Pritchard	Unopposed
Registered electors			708
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

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Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Bridgnorth (2 seats) ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Pritchard	299	34.1	N/A
	Liberal	John Dalberg-Acton	289	33.0	New
	Conservative	Henry Whitmore	288	32.9	N/A
Turnout			583 (est)	94.9 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			614
Majority			10	1.1	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			1	0.1	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

On 22 March 1866, after scrutiny, Dalberg-Acton was unseated and Whitmore was duly elected in his place.

Whitmore was then appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 21 Jul 1866: Bridgnorth (1 seat) ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Whitmore	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

The seat was reduced to one member for the 1868 election.

General election 1868: Bridgnorth ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Whitmore	548	52.4	−14.6
	Liberal	John Dalberg-Acton	497	47.6	+14.6
Majority			51	4.8	+3.7
Turnout			1,045	81.7	−13.2
Registered electors			1,279
	Conservative hold		Swing	−14.6

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Elections in the 1870s

Whitmore resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 16 Feb 1870: Bridgnorth ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Henry Foster	Unopposed
	Liberal gain from Conservative

General election 1874: Bridgnorth ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Henry Foster	701	71.8	+24.2
	Conservative	George Barbour [23]	275	28.2	−24.2
Majority			426	43.6	N/A
Turnout			976	77.0	−4.7
Registered electors			1,267
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+24.2

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Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Bridgnorth ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Henry Foster	641	66.6	+38.4
	Liberal	Edward Reid Vyvyan [24]	321	33.4	−38.4
Majority			320	33.2	N/A
Turnout			962	78.6	+1.6
Registered electors			1,224
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+38.4

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See also

• Parliamentary constituencies in Shropshire#Historical constituencies
• List of former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies
• Unreformed House of Commons

Notes and references

1. "Browse > Census > 1881". Histpop.Org. 1 July 2004. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
2. Oldfield, Thomas (1820). "Bridgnorth". A Key to the House of Commons. p. 119.
3. Pages 242 to 243,Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
4. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament trust. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
5. "BRUYN, John (d.c.1437), of Bridgnorth, Salop". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
6. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament trust. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
7. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament trust. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
8. Created a baronet, June 1641
9. Later Lieutenant-General
10. Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 16–18. Retrieved 28 October 2018– via Google Books.
11. Later Admiral
12. Hyman, Anthony (1982). Charles Babbage: Pioneer of the Computer . Princeton University Press. p.  80. ISBN   978-0-691-08303-2. LCCN   81-48078 – via Google Books.
13. Escott, Margaret (2009). "FOSTER, James (1786–1853), of Coton Hall, nr. Stourbridge, Worcs". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
14. "State of Polls, & Member Returned" . Worcester Journal. 27 July 1837. p. 3. Retrieved 28 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
15. The re-election of Sir Robert Pigot at the 1852 general election was voided on petition, triggering the 1853 by-election. A petition was also lodged against Henry Whitmore, but was dismissed.
16. The election in 1865 of Sir John Dalberg-Acton, Bt was overturned on petition in 1866, and in 1866 the seat was awarded instead to Henry Whitmore
17. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 59–60. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.
18. "Gloucestershire Chronicle" . 12 June 1841. p. 3. Retrieved 28 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
19. "Bridgnorth" . Sheffield Independent. 3 July 1841. p. 5. Retrieved 28 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
20. "Election News" . Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser. 10 July 1841. p. 23. Retrieved 15 November 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
21. "Miscellaneous News" . Coventry Herald. 2 July 1852. p. 6. Retrieved 18 April 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
22. "The Parliamentary Election Inquiries" . Leeds Times. 5 March 1853. p. 8. Retrieved 18 April 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
23. "Bridgnorth Election" . Eddowes's Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales. 11 February 1874. p. 7. Retrieved 28 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
24. "The General Election" . Leicester Chronicle. 3 April 1880. p. 8. Retrieved 18 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.

Sources

• 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)
• David Hayton, 'The Country Party in the House of Commons 1698-1699', Parliamentary History, volume 6 (1987), 141-63
• Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 59–60. ISBN   0-900178-26-4.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 5)