Finsbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Finsbury
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1832–1885
Seats	two
Created from	Middlesex
Replaced by	Finsbury Central, Finsbury East, Holborn, Islington East, Islington North, Islington South and Islington West
1918–1950
Seats	one
Created from	Finsbury Central and Finsbury East
Replaced by	Shoreditch and Finsbury

The parliamentary borough of Finsbury was a constituency of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 1832 to 1885, and from 1918 to 1950. The constituency was first created in 1832 as one of seven two-seat "metropolis" parliamentary boroughs (five in southeast Middlesex and two in northeast Surrey) other than the two which already existed: Westminster and the City of London; the latter until 1885 retained an exceptional four seats. Finsbury was directly north of the City of London and was smaller than the Finsbury division of the Ossulstone hundred but took in land of Holborn division (hundred division) to its southwest in pre-introduction changes by Boundary Commissioners. It included Finsbury, Holborn, Moorfields, Clerkenwell, Islington, Stoke Newington and historic St Pancras (later mainly known as Camden Town). The 1918 constituency corresponded to the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury (Finsbury, Moorfields, Clerkenwell, and St Luke's, Islington); it was a seat, thus electing a single member, fulfilling a longstanding aim of Chartism which underscored the 1832 reforms.

History

1832–1885 two-member constituency / parliamentary borough

The original constituency was created by the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832, which carried into effect the redistribution of parliamentary seats under the Reform Act 1832.

Finsbury in the Metropolitan area, 1868–85

Finsbury in the Parliamentary County of London, 1918–50

It was originally proposed that the constituency would comprise the entire Finsbury Division and a number of adjoining parishes in the Holborn Division of Ossulstone, one of the hundreds of Middlesex. The commissioners appointed under the Boundaries Act decided to exclude the northern part of the Finsbury Division, which extended as far as Friern Barnet, some nine miles from London and a largely rural area. They could find no natural boundary to separate "the Rural from the Town District" and suggested that the dividing line should run through the northern section of Islington, following limits of relatively recently founded Church of England parishes. The seat as eventually created included the whole of Islington, however. ^[1]

The parliamentary borough was defined in Schedule O of the Boundaries Act as:

The several Parishes of Saint Luke, Saint George the Martyr, St Giles in the Fields, Saint George Bloomsbury, Saint Mary Stoke Newington, and St. Mary, Islington; the several Liberties or Places of Saffron Hill, Hatton Garden, Ely Rents, Ely Place, the Rolls, Glass House Yard, and the Charterhouse; Lincoln's Inn and Gray's Inn; the Parish of St. James and St. John Clerkenwell, except that Part thereof which is situate to the North of the Parish of Islington; those Parts of the respective Parishes of Saint Sepulchre and Saint Andrew Holborn and of Furnivals Inn and Staple Inn respectively, which are situated without the Liberty of the City of London.

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 divided the constituency, by then highly populated, into seven new single member constituencies. Four were divisions of a new Parliamentary Borough of Islington; while the Finsbury Parliamentary Borough was divided into three, named Central Division, East Division and Holborn Division.

1918–1950 seat

The Representation of the People Act 1918 created a new single-member Finsbury Parliamentary borough in the County of London, identical to the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. In 1950, it was merged with the neighbouring borough of Shoreditch to become Shoreditch and Finsbury.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1885

The parliamentary borough returned two members of parliament

Election	First member		First party	Second member		Second party
1832		Robert Grant	Whig [2] [3]		Robert Spankie	Whig [2] [4]
1834 by-election		Thomas Slingsby Duncombe	Radical [2] [5] [6] [7]
1835					Thomas Wakley	Radical [2] [6] [7]
1852					Thomas Challis	Radical [5]
1857					William Cox	Whig
1859			Liberal		Morton Peto	Liberal
1861 by-election		William Cox	Liberal
1865		William McCullagh Torrens	Liberal		Sir Andrew Lusk	Liberal
1885	constituency abolished: see Finsbury Central, Finsbury East and Holborn

MPs 1918–1950

The borough was a single-member constituency.

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Martin Archer-Shee	Unionist
	1923	George Gillett	Labour
	1931		National Labour
	1935	George Woods	Labour
	1945	John Platts-Mills	Labour
	1948		Labour Independent Group
1950		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

H. E. A. Cotton

General election 1918: Finsbury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Martin Archer-Shee	8,782	63.8
	Liberal	Evan Cotton	4,981	36.2
Majority			3,801	27.6
Turnout			13,763	39.5
	Unionist win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Finsbury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Martin Archer-Shee	9,382	44.6	−19.2
	Liberal	Harry Gilpin	6,384	30.4	−5.8
	Labour	George Gillett	4,903	23.3	New
	Independent Labour	Christopher Roland Morden	349	1.7	New
Majority			2,998	14.2	−13.4
Turnout			21,018	54.3	+14.8
	Unionist hold		Swing	-6.7

A.H. Scott

General election 1923: Finsbury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Gillett	8,907	42.4	+19.1
	Unionist	Martin Archer-Shee	7,063	33.6	−11.0
	Liberal	Alfred Scott	5,054	24.0	−6.4
Majority			1,844	8.8	N/A
Turnout			21,024	53.8	−0.5
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+15.0

General election 1924: Finsbury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Gillett	12,363	47.0	+4.6
	Unionist	Ernest Taylor	11,643	44.2	+10.6
	Liberal	Robert Shaw	2,324	8.8	−15.2
Majority			720	2.8	−6.0
Turnout			26,330	66.3	+12.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.0

General election 1929: Finsbury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Gillett	17,970	56.5	+9.5
	Unionist	William Ray	9,026	28.3	−15.9
	Liberal	William John Pinard	4,855	15.2	+6.4
Majority			8,944	28.2	+25.4
Turnout			31,851	66.0	−0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+12.7

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Finsbury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Labour	George Gillett	17,292	63.1	+6.6
	Labour Co-op	Thomas Williams	10,133	36.9	−19.6
Majority			7,159	26.2	N/A
Turnout			27,425	58.1	−7.9
	National Labour gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1935: Finsbury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	George Woods	13,408	55.8	+18.9
	National Labour	George Gillett	10,600	44.2	−18.9
Majority			2,808	11.6	N/A
Turnout			24,008	56.2	−1.9
	Labour Co-op gain from National Labour		Swing	+18.9

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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Labour: George Woods ^[9]
• National Labour: Frederick Burden

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Finsbury ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Platts-Mills	9,786	70.8	+15.0
	Conservative	Frederick Burden	4,029	29.2	New
Majority			5,757	41.6	+30.0
Turnout			13,815	63.9	+7.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Finsbury (2 seats) ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Andrew Lusk	16,128	36.5	+4.9
	Liberal	William McCullagh Torrens	15,247	34.5	+1.7
	Conservative	Francis Duncan [11]	12,800	29.0	+3.8
Majority			2,447	5.5	−0.9
Turnout			28,928 (est)	64.3 (est)	+13.0
Registered electors			44,955
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.1

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Finsbury (2 seats) ^{[10] [12]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William McCullagh Torrens	10,099	32.8	−7.0
	Liberal	Andrew Lusk	9,713	31.6	−6.2
	Conservative	Charles Wilson Randolph [13] [14]	7,737	25.2	+6.6
	Lib-Lab	Benjamin Lucraft	3,205	10.4	New
Majority			1,976	6.4	−12.8
Turnout			18,880 (est)	51.3 (est)	−7.0
Registered electors			36,804
	Liberal hold		Swing	−5.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.8

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Finsbury (2 seats) ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William McCullagh Torrens	13,159	39.8	+2.5
	Liberal	Andrew Lusk	12,503	37.8	+2.8
	Conservative	Peter Frederick O'Malley [15] [16]	6,137	18.6	+14.8
	Liberal	William Cox	1,238	3.7	−18.7
Majority			6,366	19.2	+6.6
Turnout			19,587 (est)	58.3 (est)	+12.0
Registered electors			33,601
	Liberal hold		Swing	−6.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	+10.8

General election 1865: Finsbury (2 seats) ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William McCullagh Torrens	8,480	37.3	N/A
	Liberal	Andrew Lusk	7,959	35.0	N/A
	Liberal	William Cox	5,100	22.4	+1.0
	Conservative	William Phillips [17]	866	3.8	New
	Independent Liberal	Philip William Perfitt [18]	316	1.4	New
Majority			2,859	12.6	−4.4
Turnout			11,794 (est)	46.3 (est)	−2.1
Registered electors			25,461
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

By-election, 17 December 1861: Finsbury (1 seat) ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Cox	4,884	50.2	+28.8
	Liberal	John Remington Mills [19]	4,848	49.8	N/A
Majority			36	0.4	−16.6
Turnout			9,732	43.1	−5.3
Registered electors			22,556
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

• Caused by Duncombe's death.

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1859: Finsbury (2 seats) ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Slingsby Duncombe	8,538	40.1	+0.2
	Liberal	Morton Peto	8,174	38.4	N/A
	Liberal	William Cox	4,556	21.4	−2.3
Majority			3,618	17.0	+0.8
Turnout			10,634 (est)	48.4 (est)	+6.3
Registered electors			21,951
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Finsbury (2 seats) ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Thomas Slingsby Duncombe	6,922	39.9	−1.3
	Whig	William Cox	4,110	23.7	New
	Radical	John Humffreys Parry	3,954	22.8	N/A
	Whig	Joseph Haythorne Reed	2,378	13.7	New
Turnout			8,682 (est)	42.1 (est)	+1.7
Registered electors			20,626
Majority			2,812	16.2	−12.6
	Radical hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			156	0.9	N/A
	Whig gain from Radical		Swing	N/A

General election 1852: Finsbury (2 seats) ^{[10] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Thomas Challis	7,504	46.3	N/A
	Radical	Thomas Slingsby Duncombe	6,678	41.2	N/A
	Radical	James Wyld [21]	2,010	12.4	N/A
Majority			4,668	28.8	N/A
Turnout			8,096 (est)	40.4 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			20,025
	Radical hold		Swing	N/A
	Radical hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1847: Finsbury (2 seats) ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Thomas Wakley	Unopposed
	Radical	Thomas Slingsby Duncombe	Unopposed
Registered electors			15,921
	Radical hold
	Radical hold

General election 1841: Finsbury (2 seats) ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Thomas Wakley	Unopposed
	Radical	Thomas Slingsby Duncombe	Unopposed
Registered electors			12,974
	Radical hold
	Radical hold

Elections in the 1830s

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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Thomas Wakley	4,957	40.2	+12.2
	Radical	Thomas Slingsby Duncombe	4,895	39.7	+2.2
	Conservative	Dudley Montague Perceval [22]	2,470	20.0	+0.6
Majority			2,425	19.7	+11.1
Turnout			7,489	61.1	+2.8
Registered electors			12,264
	Radical hold		Swing	+6.0
	Radical hold		Swing	+1.0

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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Thomas Slingsby Duncombe	4,497	37.5	N/A
	Radical	Thomas Wakley	3,359	28.0	+10.6
	Conservative	Robert Spankie	2,332	19.4	N/A
	Whig	Henry William Hobhouse [23]	1,817	15.1	N/A
Majority			1,027	8.6	N/A
Turnout			6,003 (est)	58.3 (est)	−12.9
Registered electors			10,299
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing

By-election, 2 July 1834: Finsbury (1 seat) ^{[10] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Thomas Slingsby Duncombe	2,514	45.7	N/A
	Tory	Henry Pownall	1,915	34.8	New
	Radical	Thomas Wakley	695	12.6	−4.8
	Whig	Charles Babbage	379	6.9	−11.8
Majority			599	10.9	N/A
Turnout			5,503	59.2	−12.0
Registered electors			9,294
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing

• Caused by Grant's appointment as Governor of Bombay

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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Robert Grant	4,278	34.6
	Whig	Robert Spankie	2,842	23.0
	Whig	Charles Babbage	2,311	18.7
	Radical	Thomas Wakley	2,151	17.4
	Radical	Christopher Temple	787	6.4
Majority			531	4.3
Turnout			7,344	71.2
Registered electors			10,309
	Whig win (new seat)
	Whig win (new seat)

References

1. Commissioners on Proposed Division of Counties and Boundaries of Boroughs (1832). Parliamentary representation: further return to an address to His Majesty, dated 12 December, 1831. p. 114.
2. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p.  208. ISBN   0-900178-13-2.
3. Fisher, David R. (2009). "GRANT, Robert (1780–1838)". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
4. Veitch, George Stead. "Mr. Serjeant Spankie" (PDF). The Historic Society of Lancashire. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
5. "The General Election" . Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 10 July 1852. pp. 4, 7. Retrieved 22 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
6. Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1847). Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Volume 15. Dod's Parliamentary Companion . Retrieved 22 October 2018.
7. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838 . Retrieved 22 October 2018– via Google Books.
8. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
9. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
10. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 7–8. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.
11. "The General Election" . London Evening Standard . 31 March 1880. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 20 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "The Finsbury Election" . Islington Gazette . 10 March 1874. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 30 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "The General Election" . London Evening Standard . 30 January 1874. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 30 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
14. "British Military lists". National Library of Scotland . Retrieved 30 December 2017.
15. "Finsbury" . Morning Advertiser . 20 October 1868. p. 4. Retrieved 11 February 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
16. "Election Intelligence" . Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser . 20 October 1868. p. 3. Retrieved 11 February 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
17. "Finsbury Election" . Morning Advertiser . 15 June 1865. p. 5. Retrieved 11 February 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
18. "Election Intelligence" . Berkshire Chronicle. 17 June 1865. p. 2. Retrieved 11 February 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
19. "The Finsbury Election" . Morning Advertiser . 6 December 1861. p. 6. Retrieved 11 February 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
20. "Finsbury" . Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 10 July 1852. pp. 4, 7. Retrieved 29 March 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
21. "The General Election" . The Morning Post . 8 July 1852. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 29 March 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
22. "General Elections" . Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 22 July 1837. p. 3. Retrieved 4 September 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.
23. "Finsbury Election" . Morning Advertiser. 3 January 1835. p. 3. Retrieved 4 September 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.

• Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4 c.64)
• Representation of the People Act 1918 (7 & 8 Geo. 5 c.64)
• Youngs, F. A., Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.1, Southern England, London, 1979
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "F"