Hackney (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

Hackney
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
18681885
Seatstwo
Created from Tower Hamlets (former north part of)
Replaced by Bethnal Green North East, Bethnal Green South West, Hackney North, Hackney Central, Hackney South, Hoxton and Shoreditch Haggerston

Hackney was a two-seat constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament created under the Representation of the People Act, 1867 (often termed Second Reform Act) from the former northern parishes of the Tower Hamlets constituency and abolished under the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885 (often termed a twin Third Reform Act, with its enabling Reform Act 1884).

Contents

The constituency existed in its two-seat form for three general elections and returned two Liberal Party Members at each election until its abolition. At abolition it was noted intense house- and apartment (tenement block-) building had occurred within its boundaries and it was divided into seven single seats.

Boundaries

Hackney in the Metropolitan area from 1868 to 1885. Hackney1868.png
Hackney in the Metropolitan area from 1868 to 1885.

The vestry of the civil parish of Hackney became a local government authority in 1855.

The parliamentary borough of Hackney was established in 1868 and its area formed part of the east of the historic county of Middlesex. It comprised:

Parishes includedPopulation in 1871Population in 1881Total electorate 7 Dec 1868Total electorate of 20 Nov 1884
The Parish of St Leonard, Shoreditch [1] not knownnot known40,613 [2] 48,076 [2]
The Parish of St Matthew, Bethnal Green [1] non knownnot known
The Parish of St John, Hackney [1] 115,110 [3] 163,681 [3]

The area thus formed the northern rump of Shoreditch and rest of the north of the former parliamentary borough of Tower Hamlets (Hackney accounted for the northernmost of the Hamlets in the nineteenth century, see Tower Division). The area was to the east of Islington and Hornsey, south of Tottenham in its county and west of Walthamstow in Essex.

In 1885 the two-member constituency was abolished. In 1889 the former area, for administrative purposes, became part of the London County Council local authority. In 1900 the main civil vestry was dissolved and the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney was created (with the same boundaries as the Parliamentary Borough). Since 1965 it has been part of Greater London.

Members of Parliament

Sir Charles Reed MP CharlesReed.jpg
Sir Charles Reed MP
Henry Fawcett and Millicent Garrett Fawcett by Ford Madox Brown, 1872, National Portrait Gallery, London Henry Fawcett; Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (nee Garrett) by Ford Madox Brown.jpg
Henry Fawcett and Millicent Garrett Fawcett by Ford Madox Brown, 1872, National Portrait Gallery, London
"Military changes"
Holms as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, February 1882 John Holms Vanity Fair 18 February 1882.jpg
"Military changes"
Holms as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, February 1882
"Hoxton Division"
Stuart as caricatured by "Stuff" in Vanity Fair, October 1899 James Stuart Vanity Fair 1899-10-05.jpeg
"Hoxton Division"
Stuart as caricatured by "Stuff" in Vanity Fair , October 1899
ElectionFirst member [4] First partySecond member [4] Second party
1868 Sir Charles Reed Liberal John Holms Liberal
1874 by-election Henry Fawcett Liberal
1884 by-election James Stuart Liberal
1885 Constituency abolished. See Hackney North, Hackney Central and Hackney South

Elections

Turnout, in multi-member elections, is estimated by dividing the number of votes by two. To the extent that electors did not use both their votes, the figure given will be an underestimate.

Change is calculated for individual candidates, when a party had more than one candidate in an election or the previous one. When a party had only one candidate in an election and the previous one change is calculated for the party vote.

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Hackney (2 seats) [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Charles Reed 14,785 36.0
Liberal John Holms 12,243 29.8
Liberal Charles Salisbury Butler 6,82516.6
Conservative Charles Locock Webb [6] 2,6336.4
Liberal Lothian Sheffield Dickson 2,5756.3
Liberal John James Homer [7] 2,0214.9
Majority5,41813.2
Turnout 21,858 (est)53.8 (est)
Registered electors 40,613
Liberal win (new seat)
Liberal win (new seat)

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Hackney (2 seats) [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal John Holms 6,968 34.5 +4.7
Liberal Charles Reed 6,893 34.2 1.8
Conservative William Gill [8] 6,31031.3+24.9
Majority5832.910.3
Turnout 13,241 (est)32.4 (est)21.4
Registered electors 40,870
Liberal hold Swing 3.9
Liberal hold Swing 8.1
By-election, 25 April 1874: Hackney (2 seats) [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal John Holms 10,905 35.9 +1.4
Liberal Henry Fawcett 10,476 34.5 +0.3
Conservative William Gill [8] 8,99429.61.7
Majority1,4824.9+2.0
Turnout 19,685 (est)48.2 (est)+15.8
Registered electors 40,870
Liberal hold Swing +1.1
Liberal hold Swing +0.6

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Hackney (2 seats) [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Henry Fawcett 18,366 40.2 +6.0
Liberal John Holms 16,997 37.2 +2.7
Conservative George Trout Bartley 10,33222.68.7
Majority6,67514.6+11.7
Turnout 28,688 (est)65.5 (est)+33.1
Registered electors 43,773
Liberal hold Swing +5.2
Liberal hold Swing +3.5

The appointment of Fawcett as Postmaster General and Holms as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury caused a by-election for both seats.

By-election, 7 May 1880: Hackney (2 seats) [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Henry Fawcett Unopposed
Liberal John Holms Unopposed
Liberal hold
Liberal hold

The death of Fawcett caused a by-election.

By-election, 20 Nov 1884: Hackney [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal James Stuart 14,540 63.0 14.4
Conservative Alexander MacAlister [9] 8,54337.0+14.4
Majority5,99726.0+11.4
Turnout 23,08348.017.5 (est)
Registered electors 48,076
Liberal hold Swing 14.4

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Reform Act 1867, Sch C. Legislation.gov.uk, publisher; UK Government
  2. 1 2 F.W.S. Craig (ed.), British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (London: The Macmillan Press Ltd, 1977)
  3. 1 2 1881 Census of England and Wales, Population tables 2, Table 4 , 'Area, Houses, and Population of Civil Parishes in the several Registration Sub-Districts in 1871 and 1881'
  4. 1 2 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 1)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 11. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.
  6. "The General Election" . London Evening Standard . 17 November 1868. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 15 February 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Hackney" . Morning Advertiser . 3 September 1868. p. 3. Retrieved 15 February 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. 1 2 "Hackney Election". Cheltenham Chronicle. 28 April 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  9. "The Hackney Election" . The Morning Post . 17 November 1884. p. 3. Retrieved 20 December 2017 via British Newspaper Archive.

Sources