Bury (UK Parliament constituency)

For the constituency in Suffolk, see Bury St Edmunds (UK Parliament constituency).

Bury
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Greater Manchester (now Greater Manchester)
Major settlements	Bury
1832–1950
Seats	One
Created from	Lancashire
Replaced by	Bury & Radcliffe

Bury was a borough constituency centred on the town of Bury in Lancashire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created for the 1832 general election, and abolished for the 1950 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new constituency of Bury & Radcliffe.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The existing parliamentary borough, and so much of the municipal borough of Bury as was not already included in the parliamentary borough. ^[1]

1918-1950: The county borough of Bury and the urban district of Tottington. ^[2]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [3]	Party [4] [5] [6]
	1832	Richard Walker	Whig-Radical [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
	1852	Frederick Peel	Peelite [12]
	1857	Robert Needham Philips	Radical [13] [14]
	1859	Frederick Peel	Liberal
	1865	Robert Needham Philips	Liberal
	1885	Sir Henry James	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1895	James Kenyon	Conservative
	1902 by-election	Sir George Toulmin	Liberal
	1918	Charles Ainsworth	Conservative
	1935	Alan Chorlton	Conservative
	1945	Walter Fletcher	Conservative
1950		constituency abolished: see Bury & Radcliffe

Elections

1830s – 1840s – 1850s – 1860s – 1870s – 1880s – 1890s – 1900s – 1910s – 1920s – 1930s –1940s – Back to Top

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: Bury ^{[15] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Richard Walker	306	66.7
	Radical	Edmund Grundy [17]	153	33.3
Majority			153	33.4
Turnout			459	85.8
Registered electors			535
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: Bury ^{[15] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Richard Walker	Unopposed
Registered electors			526
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Bury ^{[15] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Richard Walker	251	57.8	N/A
	Radical	James Paul Cobbett [18]	96	22.1	N/A
	Conservative	Robert Spankie	87	20.0	New
Majority			155	35.7	N/A
Turnout			434	68.1	N/A
Registered electors			637
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Bury ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Richard Walker	325	53.0	−4.8
	Conservative	Henry Hardman [19]	288	47.0	+27.0
Majority			37	6.0	−29.7
Turnout			613	79.8	+11.7
Registered electors			768
	Whig hold		Swing	−15.9

General election 1847: Bury ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Richard Walker	Unopposed
Registered electors			868
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Bury ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Frederick Peel	472	53.5	N/A
	Whig	Adam Haldane-Duncan [20] [21] [22]	410	46.5	N/A
Majority			62	7.0	N/A
Turnout			882	92.0	N/A
Registered electors			959
	Peelite gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Bury ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Robert Needham Philips	565	51.6	N/A
	Peelite	Frederick Peel	530	48.4	−5.1
Majority			35	3.2	N/A
Turnout			1,095	89.9	−2.1
Registered electors			1,218
	Radical gain from Peelite		Swing

General election 1859: Bury ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Peel	641	57.3	+8.9
	Liberal	Thomas Barnes	478	42.7	N/A
Majority			163	14.6	+11.4
Turnout			1,119	86.8	−3.1
Registered electors			1,218
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Bury ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Needham Philips	595	51.0	N/A
	Liberal	Frederick Peel	572	49.0	−8.3
Majority			23	2.0	−12.6
Turnout			1,167	86.3	−0.5
Registered electors			1,352
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: Bury ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Needham Philips	2,830	55.6	+4.6
	Conservative	George Cadogan	2,264	44.4	New
Majority			566	11.2	+9.2
Turnout			5,094	91.2	+4.9
Registered electors			5,587
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Bury ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Needham Philips	3,016	54.7	−0.9
	Conservative	Oliver Ormerod Walker [23]	2,500	45.3	+0.9
Majority			516	9.4	−1.8
Turnout			5,516	88.5	−2.7
Registered electors			6,236
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.9

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Bury ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Needham Philips	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,835
	Liberal hold

Lawson

General election 1885: Bury ^{[24] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry James	3,976	51.2	N/A
	Conservative	John Lawson	3,787	48.8	New
Majority			189	2.4	N/A
Turnout			7,763	94.5	N/A
Registered electors			8,214
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1886: Bury ^{[24] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Henry James	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Bury ^{[24] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Henry James	4,070	55.7	N/A
	Liberal	John Parks	3,241	44.3	New
Majority			829	11.4	N/A
Turnout			7,311	93.4	N/A
Registered electors			7,831
	Liberal Unionist hold

Cheetham

General election 1895: Bury ^{[24] [26] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Kenyon	3,890	54.8	−0.9
	Liberal	John Frederick Cheetham	3,215	45.2	+0.9
Majority			675	9.6	−1.8
Turnout			7,105	89.0	−4.4
Registered electors			7,986
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.9

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Bury ^{[24] [26] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Kenyon	4,132	55.7	+0.9
	Liberal	George Toulmin	3,283	44.3	−0.9
Majority			849	11.4	+1.8
Turnout			7,415	86.4	−2.6
Registered electors			8,581
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.9

Toulmin

1902 Bury by-election ^{[27] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Toulmin	4,213	52.6	+8.3
	Liberal Unionist	Harry Levy-Lawson	3,799	47.4	−8.3
Majority			414	5.2	N/A
Turnout			8,012	91.2	+4.8
Registered electors			8,786
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.3

General election 1906: Bury ^{[24] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Toulmin	4,626	56.9	+12.6
	Conservative	Reginald Jaffray Lucas	3,499	43.1	−12.6
Majority			1,127	13.8	N/A
Turnout			8,125	89.6	+3.2
Registered electors			9,068
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+12.6

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Bury ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Toulmin	4,866	53.3	−3.6
	Conservative	Edwin Leach Hartley	4,258	46.7	+3.6
Majority			608	6.6	−7.2
Turnout			9,124	94.5	+4.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	-3.6

General election December 1910: Bury ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Toulmin	4,509	51.5	−1.8
	Conservative	Edwin Leach Hartley	4,254	48.5	+1.8
Majority			255	3.0	−3.6
Turnout			8,763	90.7	−3.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.8

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;

• Liberal: George Toulmin
• Unionist:

General election 1918: Bury ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Charles Ainsworth	10,043	45.9	−2.6
C	Liberal	George Toulmin	6,862	31.4	−20.1
	Labour	Harry Wallace	4,973	22.7	New
Majority			3,181	14.5	N/A
Turnout			21,878	67.0	−23.7
Registered electors			32,666
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+8.7
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Bury ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Charles Ainsworth	10,830	41.2	−4.7
	Labour	Harry Wallace	9,643	36.7	+14.0
	Liberal	William Alfred Lewins	5,795	22.1	−9.3
Majority			1,187	4.5	−10.0
Turnout			26,268	81.3	+14.3
Registered electors			32,304
	Unionist hold		Swing	−9.4

General election 1923: Bury ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Charles Ainsworth	10,680	40.3	−0.9
	Labour	Harry Wallace	9,568	36.1	−0.6
	Liberal	James Duckworth	6,251	23.6	+1.5
Majority			1,112	4.2	−0.3
Turnout			26,499	80.8	−0.5
Registered electors			32,803
	Unionist hold		Swing	−0.2

General election 1924: Bury ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Charles Ainsworth	13,382	46.9	+6.6
	Labour	Harry Wallace	10,286	36.1	0.0
	Liberal	James Duckworth	4,847	17.0	−6.6
Majority			3,096	10.8	+6.6
Turnout			28,515	86.5	+5.7
Registered electors			32,982
	Unionist hold		Swing	+3.3

General election 1929: Bury ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Charles Ainsworth	14,845	42.1	−4.8
	Labour	James Bell	13,175	37.5	+1.4
	Liberal	Clifford Stanley Ickringill	7,160	20.4	+3.4
Majority			1,670	4.6	−6.2
Turnout			35,180	81.4	−5.1
Registered electors			43,216
	Unionist hold		Swing	−3.1

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Bury ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Ainsworth	24,975	70.3	+28.2
	Labour	James Bell	10,532	29.7	−7.8
Majority			14,443	40.6	+36.0
Turnout			35,507	81.6	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+17.9

General election 1935: Bury ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Chorlton	18,425	49.4	−20.9
	Labour	Edith Summerskill	12,845	34.4	+4.7
	Liberal	Donald Johnson	6,065	16.2	New
Majority			5,580	15.0	−25.6
Turnout			37,335	83.3	+1.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-12.8

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;

• Labour: William Harvey Moore ^[30]

General election 1945: Bury ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Fletcher	14,012	39.9	−9.5
	Labour	Sydney Hand	13,902	39.6	+5.2
	Liberal	Arthur Walter James	7,211	20.5	+4.3
Majority			110	0.3	−14.7
Turnout			35,125	78.2	−5.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	-7.3

References

1. "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.
2. Fraser, Hugh (1918). The Representation of the People Act, 1918: with explanatory notes. London: Sweet and Maxwell.
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 6)
4. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 72. ISBN   0-900178-26-4.
5. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 89. ISBN   0-900178-27-2.
6. Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 112. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.
7. Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1847). Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Volume 15. Dod's Parliamentary Companion. p. 251.
8. Prentice, Archibald (1853). History of the Anti-Corn Law League. London: W. & F. G. Cash. p.  25.
9. Taylor, Miles, ed. (2017). The European Diaries of Richard Cobden: 1846–1849. Routledge. p. 222. ISBN   9781351890328.
10. "General Election, 1841" . Morning Post. 28 June 1841. pp. 2–3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Bury" . Dublin Morning Register. 3 July 1841. p. 2 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Peelites". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
13. Bebbington, D. W. (2009). "Unitarian Members of Parliament in the Nineteenth Century: A Catalogue". University of Stirling.
14. Wigley, John (1980). The Rise and Fall of the Victorian Sunday. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 697. ISBN   0-7190-0794-1.
15. 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.
16. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp.  176. ISBN   0-900178-13-2.
17. "The Elections" . Bury and Norwich Post. 19 December 1832 – via British Newspaper Archive.
18. "Saturday, July 22, 1837" . Manchester Times. 22 July 1837 – via British Newspaper Archive.
19. "Local Intelligence" . Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser. 24 July 1841. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
20. The Annual Register, or a View of the History and Politics, of the Year 1841. J. G. & F. Rivington. 1842. p. 65.
21. "The Provinces". The Spectator. 22 May 1841. p. 8.
22. Ollivier, John (2007). "Alphabetical List of the House of Commons". Ollivier's parliamentary and political director. p. 37.
23. "Salford Election" . Bolton Evening News . 19 April 1877. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
24. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
25. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.
26. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
27. The Constitutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 165 (189 in web page)
28. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
29. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
30. Manchester Evening News 4 April 1939
31. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig