Carrickfergus (UK Parliament constituency)

Carrickfergus
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	County Antrim
Borough	Carrickfergus
1801–1885
Seats	1
Created from	Carrickfergus
Replaced by	East Antrim

Carrickfergus was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency in Ireland represented from 1801 to 1885 by one MP.

History and boundaries

This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Carrickfergus which was a county corporate in County Antrim. It was disenfranchised under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, which took effect at the 1885 general election. ^[1] The county of the town of Carrickfergus became part of the county division of East Antrim. ^[2]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party	Note
	1801, January 1	Noah Dalway		1801: Co-opted
	1802, July 30	Lord Spencer Chichester	Tory	Resigned
	1807, April 29	James Craig	Whig	Initially elected four weeks earlier, in the 31 March 1807 Carrickfergus by-election
	1812, November 5	Arthur Chichester	Tory
	1818, July 1	Earl of Belfast	Tory
	1820, March 16	Sir Arthur Chichester, Bt	Tory [3]	Created Baronet 13 September 1821
	1830, August 10	Lord George Hill	Whig [4]
	1832, December 9	Conway Richard Dobbs	Tory [5]	Election declared void on petition
1833, March		Writ suspended
	1835, January 10	Peter Kirk	Conservative [5]
	1847, August 3	Hon. Wellington Stapleton-Cotton	Conservative
	1857, April 2	William Cary Dobbs	Conservative
	1859, May 6	Robert Torrens	Conservative
	1868, November 21	Marriott Dalway [n 1] [6] [7] [8]	Liberal-Conservative
	1880, April 2	Thomas Greer	Conservative	Last MP for the constituency
1885		Constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Carrickfergus ^{[6] [5] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Hill	311	39.1
	Whig	Marcus Hill	241	30.3
	Tory	Charles Adair	198	24.9
	Tory	Arthur Chichester	46	5.8
Majority			70	8.8
Turnout			796	c. 92.6
Registered electors			c. 860
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing

General election 1831: Carrickfergus ^{[6] [5] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	George Hill	Unopposed
Registered electors			860
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Carrickfergus ^{[6] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Conway Richard Dobbs	495	52.2
	Whig	Arthur Chichester	447	47.2
	Tory	James Wills	6	0.6
Majority			48	5.0
Turnout			948	92.6
Registered electors			1,024
	Tory gain from Whig

• On petition, the election was declared void and the writ for the seat was suspended.

General election 1835: Carrickfergus ^{[6] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Peter Kirk	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,431
	Conservative hold

General election 1837: Carrickfergus ^{[6] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Peter Kirk	446	51.6
	Whig	Matthew Boulton Rennie	418	48.4
Majority			28	3.2
Turnout			864	59.3
Registered electors			1,458
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Carrickfergus ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Kirk	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,326
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Carrickfergus ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Wellington Stapleton-Cotton	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,426
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Carrickfergus ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Wellington Stapleton-Cotton	311	51.3	N/A
	Whig	Warren Hastings Leslie Frith [10]	295	48.7	New
Majority			16	2.6	N/A
Turnout			606	84.2	N/A
Registered electors			720
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Carrickfergus ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Cary Dobbs	560	59.4	+8.1
	Whig	Francis Macdonogh [11]	383	40.6	−8.1
Majority			177	18.8	+16.2
Turnout			943	82.8	−1.4
Registered electors			1,139
	Conservative hold		Swing	+8.1

General election 1859: Carrickfergus ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Torrens	668	72.1	+12.7
	Liberal	William McMechan [12]	259	27.9	−12.7
Majority			409	44.2	+25.4
Turnout			927	74.6	−8.2
Registered electors			1,243
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.7

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Carrickfergus ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Torrens	498	63.6	−8.5
	Liberal	Luke White	285	36.4	+8.5
Majority			213	27.2	−17.0
Turnout			783	69.6	−5.0
Registered electors			1,125
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.5

General election 1868: Carrickfergus ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal-Conservative	Marriott Dalway [n 1]	669	62.2	+25.8
	Conservative	Robert Torrens	407	37.8	−25.8
Majority			262	24.4	N/A
Turnout			1,076	83.4	+13.8
Registered electors			1,290
	Liberal-Conservative gain from Conservative		Swing	+25.8

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Carrickfergus ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal-Conservative	Marriott Dalway [n 1]	628	58.1	−4.1
	Conservative	George Augustus Chichester May	452	41.9	+4.1
Majority			176	16.2	−8.2
Turnout			1,080	78.8	−4.6
Registered electors			1,370
	Liberal-Conservative hold		Swing	−4.1

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Carrickfergus ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Greer	591	51.6	+9.7
	Liberal-Conservative	Marriott Dalway [n 1]	554	48.4	−9.7
Majority			37	3.2	N/A
Turnout			1,145	81.0	+2.2
Registered electors			1,414
	Conservative gain from Liberal-Conservative		Swing	+9.7

Notes and references

Notes

1. Various sources refer to Dalway as 'Conservative', 'Liberal', and 'Liberal-Conservative'. Due to his support for Gladstone and Home Rule, he has been designated a 'Liberal-Conservative'

References

1. First Schedule Part I: Boroughs to cease to exist as such. "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, 48 & 49 Vict. C. 23". The public general acts. Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales.
2. Seventh Schedule (Counties at Large); Part III (Ireland). "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, 48 & 49 Vict. C. 23". The public general acts. Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales.
3. Farrell, Stephen. "CHICHESTER, Arthur I (1769–1847), of Greencastle and Castlecary, co. Donegal and 15 Sackville Street, Mdx.". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
4. Farrell, Stephen. "HILL, Lord George Augusta (1801-1879)". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
5. Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 217–218. Retrieved 9 May 2020– via Google Books.
6. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 200–201, 257–258. ISBN   0901714127.
7. "Biographical Sketches". Armagh Guardian. 11 December 1868. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
8. "New Parliament" . Western Times. 10 February 1874. p. 7. Retrieved 28 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
9. Salmon, Philip. "Carrickfergus". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
10. "Belfast Mercantile Register and Weekly Advertiser" . 13 July 1852. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 15 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
11. Wood-Martin, William Gregory (1882–1892). History of Sligo ; county and town ; with illustrations from original drawings and plans. Dublin: Hodges Figgis. p.  58.
12. "The Elections" . Belfast News-Letter. 7 May 1859. p. 3. Retrieved 15 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

Sources

• Smith, Henry Stooks (1844–50). The Parliaments of England (1st edition published in three volumes)
• Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1973). The Parliaments of England (2nd edition published in one volume). Political Reference Publications
• Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN   0901714127.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)