Calne (UK Parliament constituency)

Calne
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1295–1885
Seats	Two (1295–1832); one (1832–1885)
Replaced by	Chippenham

Calne was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, and then one member from 1832 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.

History

Calne was one of the towns represented in the Model Parliament of 1295, but sent members only sporadically for the next century. However, it was continuously represented from the reign of Richard II (1377–99). From medieval times, the borough consisted of the whole of the market town of Calne in the north-west of Wiltshire, and some of the surrounding district which was part of Calne parish. In 1831, the population of the borough was 2,640, and it contained 487 houses.

The right to vote was reserved to the corporation, which consisted of two "guild stewards", appointed annually, and a varying number of ordinary members or "burgesses", who were appointed by being co-opted by the existing members. This meant that once any interested party had secured control of the corporation it was generally easy to maintain, and the owner or "patron" of the borough usually had total power to nominate both the MPs. Indeed, before 1830 there had not been a contested election in living memory.

Calne manor was bought in 1572 by Lionel Duckett, ^[1] a London mercer, and his family were influential over elections in the borough for almost 200 years. By the mid 18th century, the patronage was shared between Thomas Duckett and William Northey, who generally used it to return themselves as MPs, although it could also be a source of revenue: in 1757 Duckett was paid a government pension of £500 a year to vacate his seat ^[2] when Pitt the Elder wanted it for George Hay.

Between 1763 and 1765, the Earl of Shelburne (who later became Marquess of Lansdowne) bought out Duckett and Northey, ^[3] and his family controlled the borough in the Whig interest for about the next 75 years. Nevertheless, the power of the corporation and the Lansdowne influence was apparently much resented. In 1807 the corporation insisted on re-electing an MP with whom they were satisfied, Joseph Jekyll, even though Lansdowne wanted to replace him. At the general election of 1826, the inhabitants attempted a revolt against Lansdowne's domination, trying to win over some of the corporation members, but the issue was not taken as far as contesting the election. At the next opportunity, however, the 1830 general election, the townsmen put up their own candidates – one of several such rebellions against local aristocratic domination which took place in boroughs across the country at that election. All 18 members of the corporation voted for the Lansdowne candidates, but 60 of the local householders attempted to vote for their nominees, and when their votes were rejected by the returning officers they petitioned to have the election overturned. However, the Commons upheld the existing franchise and confirmed the result of the election.

In the initial version of the Reform Bill as proposed to Parliament in 1830, Calne would have kept both of its MPs. This was apparently because of a misunderstanding of how the 1821 census returns had been compiled, which made Calne seem much larger than it was. In fact, other boroughs of a similar size to Calne were to lose a seat, and as Lansdowne was a member of the cabinet it was politically impossible to let Calne benefit from any anomalies. Calne became one of the causes celebres round which debate on the Bill revolved, but the government eventually transferred it to Schedule B, the list of boroughs that were to lose a seat.

Under the Great Reform Act as it was eventually passed in 1832, Calne kept one of its two seats, its boundaries being extended to bring in the whole of Calne parish and parts of the neighbouring Calstone Wellington and Blackland parishes. This increased the population to 4,795; the franchise was reformed as elsewhere, and there were 191 residents qualified to vote in the first post-Reform election. This extension of the electorate could not free the borough from the Lansdowne influence, however, and the MP was a member of the Marquess's family for all but 13 of the borough's remaining 53 years of existence.

Calne was eventually abolished as a constituency with effect from the general election of 1885, the area being included from that point in the Chippenham (or Wiltshire North West) county division.

Members of Parliament

1295–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1388 (Feb)	William Wichampton	Ricard Roude [4]
1399	Robert Salman	John Felawe [4]
1413 (May)		Robert Roude [4]
1414 (Apr)
1414 (Nov)
1415	William Clerk	John Blake [4]
1416 (Mar)
1416 (Oct)
1417	Robert Long	Robert Salman [4]
1419
1420	John Bailey	Richard Chamberlain [4]
1421 (May)	Robert Blake	Walter Studley [4]
1421 (Dec)	John Justice	Robert Green [4]
1472	Roger Townshend
1510–1523	No names known [5]
1529	William Crowche	John Turgeys [5]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	Robert Long	Francis Goodere [5]
1547	Griffin Curteys	John Cock
1553 (Mar)	?
1553 (Oct)	Robert Hungerford	William Allen [5]
1554 (Apr)	William Baseley
1554 (Nov)	Sir John Marvyn	Edward Wastfield [5]
1555	William Allen
1558		Richard Nicholas [5]
1559	Andrew Baynton	Richard Kingsmill [6]
1562–3	William Clerke	William Allen [6]
1571	Edward Chambers	Richard Danvers [6]
1572	William Allen, died and replaced Nov 1575 by Sir Edward Baynton	William Weare alias Browne [6]
1584	Stephen Duckett	John Lever [6]
1586
1588	Henry Jackman	John Lever [6]
1593		Thomas Edwards [6]
1597	Thomas Edwards	Richard Lowe [6]
1601	Lionel Duckett
1604	William Swaddon	John Noyes
1606–1611	Sir Edmund Carey
1614-?		Richard Lowe
1621–1622	John Duckett	John Pym
1624		Sir Edward Howard
1625	George Lowe
1626		Sir John Eyres
1628–1629		Sir John Maynard
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640–1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640		William Maynard			Walter Norborne
November 1640		George Lowe	Royalist		Hugh Rogers	Parliamentarian
February 1644	Lowe disabled from sitting – seat vacant
1645		Rowland Wilson
February 1650	Wilson died – seat vacant
1653	Calne was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		Edward Bayntun			William Duckett
May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Edward Bayntun			William Duckett
1661		George Lowe
February 1679		Sir George Hungerford			Walter Norborne
August 1679					Lionel Duckett
1681					Walter Norborne
1685		Sir John Ernle			Thomas Richmond Webb
1689		Henry Chivers			Lionel Duckett
1690					Henry Bayntun
1691					William Wyndham
1695		Henry Blaake			George Hungerford
1698					Henry Chivers
January 1701		Walter Long			Walter Hungerford
November 1701		Henry Blaake			Edward Bayntun
March 1702					Henry Chivers
July 1702		Sir Charles Hedges
1705		Edward Bayntun			George Duckett	Whig
1710		James Johnston			William Hedges
1713		William Northey
1715		Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Bt	Whig		Richard Chiswell
1722		Benjamin Haskins-Stiles [7]			George Duckett	Whig
February 1723		Edmund Pike Heath
February 1723					Matthew Ducie Moreton
1727		William Duckett			William Wardour
1734					Walter Hungerford
1741		William Elliot	Whig
1747					William Northey
1754		Thomas Duckett
1757		George Hay
1761		Thomas Duckett			Daniel Bull
1762					Hon. Thomas FitzMaurice
1766		John Calcraft
1768		John Dunning	Whig [8]
1774					Isaac Barré	Whig [8]
1782		James Townsend
1787		Joseph Jekyll
1790					John Morris
1792					Benjamin Vaughan
1796					Sir Francis Baring, Bt	Whig [8]
1802					Lord Henry Petty
1806					Osborne Markham
1807					Henry Smith
1812					Hon. James Abercromby
1816		Sir James Macdonald, Bt
1830					Thomas Babington Macaulay	Whig [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [8]
1831		Charles Richard Fox	Whig [14] [8]
1832	Representation reduced to one member

1832–1885

Election		Member	Party
	1832	William Petty-FitzMaurice	Whig [8]
	1836 by-election	Hon. John Fox-Strangways	Whig [15] [16] [17] [8]
	1837	Henry Petty-FitzMaurice
	1856 by-election	Sir Fenwick Williams	Whig [18]
	1859	Robert Lowe	Liberal
	1868	Lord Edmond FitzMaurice
1885		Constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Calne ^{[8] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Macdonald	18	11.5
	Whig	Thomas Babington Macaulay	18	11.5
	Independent	Edmund Hopkinson	60	38.5
	Independent	Edward Cheney	60	38.5
Turnout			78
Majority			−42	−26.9
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

In the 1830 election, 60 ineligible householders placed votes for Hopkinson and Cheney each. These were rejected after polling. ^[8]

Macdonald was reappointed Commissioner for the Affairs of India, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 10 December 1830: Calne ^{[20] [8] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Macdonald	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1831: Calne ^{[8] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Babington Macaulay	Unopposed
	Whig	Charles Richard Fox	Unopposed
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Macaulay was appointed a Commissioner of the India Board, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 13 June 1832: Calne ^{[8] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Babington Macaulay	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Calne ^{[8] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Petty-FitzMaurice	Unopposed
Registered electors			191
	Whig hold

General election 1835: Calne ^{[8] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Petty-FitzMaurice	Unopposed
Registered electors			184
	Whig hold

Petty-FitzMaurice's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 28 September 1836: Calne ^{[8] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Fox-Strangways	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Calne ^{[8] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice	Unopposed
Registered electors			186
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Calne ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice	Unopposed
Registered electors			176
	Whig hold

General election 1847: Calne ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice	Unopposed
Registered electors			154
	Whig hold

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

By-election, 27 December 1847: Calne ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice	Unopposed
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Calne ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice	Unopposed
Registered electors			160
	Whig hold

Petty-Fitzmaurice resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 9 July 1856: Calne ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Fenwick Williams	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1857: Calne ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Fenwick Williams	Unopposed
Registered electors			164
	Whig hold

General election 1859: Calne ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Lowe	103	74.6	N/A
	Conservative	Thomas Large Henley [21]	35	25.4	New
Majority			68	49.2	N/A
Turnout			138	79.3	N/A
Registered electors			174
	Liberal hold

Lowe was appointed Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 27 June 1859: Calne ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Lowe	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Calne ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Lowe	Unopposed
Registered electors			174
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Calne ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edmond Fitzmaurice	Unopposed
Registered electors			590
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Calne ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edmond Fitzmaurice	Unopposed
Registered electors			687
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Calne ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edmond Fitzmaurice	518	81.7	N/A
	Conservative	Ulick Ralph Burke [22]	116	18.3	New
Majority			402	63.4	N/A
Turnout			634	79.7	N/A
Registered electors			795
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

References

1. Crowley, D. A., ed. (2002). "Calne: Parliamentary representation". A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 17. Victoria County History. University of London. pp. 100–101. Retrieved 21 March 2022– via British History Online.
2. Namier, Lewis. "DUCKETT, Thomas (1713-1766), of Hartham, Wilts". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
3. Page 137, 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 24 October 2011.
5. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
6. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
7. Styles was also elected for Devizes, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Calne
8. 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. 106–108. Retrieved 9 April 2020– via Google Books.
9. Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 200. Retrieved 2 September 2018– via Google Books.
10. "Evening Mail" . 30 June 1841. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 2 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Electoral Decisions" . Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser. 10 July 1841. p. 24. Retrieved 2 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
12. Sharpe, Kevin (2000). Remapping Early Modern England: The Culture of Seventeenth-Century Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 4. ISBN   978-0-521-66293-2 . Retrieved 2 September 2018– via Google Books.
13. Machin, Ian (26 May 2016) [2004]. "Cowan, Charles (1801–1889)" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/47109 . Retrieved 2 September 2018.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
14. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844–1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp.  75–77. ISBN   0-900178-13-2.
15. Mosse, Richard Bartholomew (1838). The Parliamentary Guide: a concise history of the Members of both Houses, etc. pp. 222, 228. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
16. Mosse, Richard Bartholomew (1837). The parliamentary guide, a concise biography of the members of both houses of parliament. p.  220 . Retrieved 21 April 2018.
17. Crosby, George (1838). Crosby's General Political Reference Book: containing the historical origin of the British parliament; an authentic result of all the contested elections in Great Britain and Ireland, for nearly a century ... and an alphabetical list of the representatives for each party in the House of Commons, etc. George Crosby. p. 112. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
18. "London, July 16" . Glasgow Herald. 16 July 1856. p. 4. Retrieved 21 April 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
19. Farrell, Stephen. "Calne". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
20. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 75. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.
21. "Thomas Henley election". Hampshire Chronicle. 30 April 1859. p. 5. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
22. "The General Election" . Swindon Advertiser and North Wilts Chronicle . 22 March 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 19 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.

• Michael Brock, The Great Reform Act (London: Hutchinson, 1973)
• 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)
• T. H. B. Oldfield, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland (London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1816)
• J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 1)