Monmouth Boroughs (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with other constituencies listed at Monmouth constituency.

Monmouth Boroughs
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1545–1918
Seats	one
Replaced by	Monmouth and Newport

Monmouth Boroughs (also known as the Monmouth District of Boroughs) was a parliamentary constituency consisting of several towns in Monmouthshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliaments of England, Great Britain, and finally the United Kingdom; until 1832 the constituency was known simply as Monmouth, though it included other "contributory boroughs".

History and boundaries

The area was first enfranchised as the single-member borough of Monmouth or Monmouth Town in the reign of Henry VIII, at the same time as the counties and boroughs of Wales. On official, national-level paper cast as being in England its electoral arrangements from the outset resembled those of the Welsh boroughs rather than those in the rest of England - its single member and its other "contributory boroughs" in the same county, which were required to contribute to the members' expenses and which had the right to send voters to take part in the election at the county town. These were initially six or perhaps seven in number: Caerleon, Newport, Trellech, Usk, Chepstow, Abergavenny and possibly Grosmont; but by the late 17th century all of the electors were freemen of Monmouth, Usk and Newport.

The franchise was settled by a judgment in a disputed election in 1680, when Monmouth attempted to return a member to parliament without the involvement of the other boroughs, and the Court declared the right to vote to rest in the resident freemen of Monmouth, Newport and Usk. The number of electors fell away sharply during the 18th century - from 2,000 in 1715 to about 800 in the 1754-1790 period; by the time of the Great Reform Act in 1832 qualified voters numbered: 123 in Newport, 83 in Monmouth and 74 in Usk. In Tudor times the seat was under the influence of the Duchy of Lancaster and around the start of the 18th century it was a pocket borough of the Morgan family of Tredegar, who were influential in the Newport area; but soon afterwards the Dukes of Beaufort (a Scudamore family branch) gained control. After the Duke's candidate had won the election of 1715 decisively, this patronage was so clear contests ceased until 1820 – their candidates (many of them members of the family) were returned unopposed.

At the time of the Great Reform Act (or First Reform Act), 1832, Monmouth and Newport each had around 5,000 residents and Usk just over 1,000. This was great for most seats of its type – even dual-member boroughs were mostly kept if they had or could be simply drawn to exceed 4,000 residents. Nevertheless, all three parts of this seat were expanding by taking into the new high-rent-paying and/or landed outlook (franchise) a broad view of each town; such area took in 13,101 people and its electorate (under the "reformed" franchise) was 899. Henceforth it was generally referred to as the Monmouth Boroughs.

The constituency as it existed 1885-1918 (shown in pink) within Monmouthshire

From 1832 until 1906 results tended on 'marginal' rather than 'safe', alternating between Conservatives and Whigs/Liberals. Crawshay Bailey (Con.) was returned unopposed four times after he was first elected. The seat moved steadily towards the Liberals, however, as the franchise became more inclusive and Newport grew in size; by the turn of the century 90% of the electorate was there, and it was a mass-labour working class and mainly industrial town unlike Monmouth and Usk. The Conservatives won in their landslide year of 1900 and held the seat in the by-election when that election was voided for various irregularities, but were probably helped by the association of the Liberal candidate with the campaign to extend the Welsh Sunday Closing Act to Monmouthshire. After, it was identifiably "safely" Liberal, and at the time of the 1911 census had a population of 77,902.

The seat was abolished by the Representation of the People Act 1918: Newport became a parliamentary borough; Monmouth and Usk, mainstays of "Monmouth" county constituency.

Boundary reforms

Redefined limits of the three contributory boroughs were set in 1832 and 1885.

Members of Parliament

1545-1640

Parliament	First member
1542	Thomas Kynnyllyn [1]
1545	Richard Morgan, also elected for Gloucester [1]
1547	Giles Morgan [1]
1553 (Mar)	(not known) [1]
1553 (Oct)	John Philip Morgan [1]
1554 (Apr)	John Philip Morgan [1]
1554 (Nov)	John Philip Morgan [1]
1555	Thomas Lewis [1]
1558	Matthew Herbert [1]
1559	Moore Powell [2]
1562	Moore Powell [2]
1571	Charles Herbert [2]
1572	Moore Powell, died and replaced 1576 by Sir William Morgan [2]
1584	Moore Gwillim [2]
1586	Moore Gwillim [2]
1588	Philip Jones [2]
1593	Edward Hubberd [2]
1597	Robert Johnson [2]
1601	Robert Johnson [2]
1604-1611	(Sir) Robert Johnson
1614	Sir Robert Johnson
1621-1622	Thomas Ravenscroft
1624	Walter Stewart or Steward
1625	Walter Stewart or Steward
1626	William Fortune
1628	William Morgan
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640-1918

Year		Member	Party
April 1640		Charles Jones [n 1]
November 1640	Disputed election - seat effectively vacant [n 2]
1646		Thomas Pury
1653	Monmouth was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		Nathaniel Waterhouse
May 1659		Thomas Pury
April 1660		Sir Trevor Williams
1661		Sir George Probert
1677		Charles Somerset
February 1679		Sir Trevor Williams
September 1679		Charles Somerset [n 3]
1680		John Arnold	Whig
April 1685		Charles Somerset
June 1685		Sir James Herbert
January 1689		John Arnold	Whig
February 1689		John Williams
1690		Sir Charles Kemeys
1695		John Arnold	Whig
1698		Henry Probert
1701		John Morgan
1705		Sir Thomas Powell
1708		Clayton Milborne
1715		William Bray
1720		Andrews Windsor
1722		Edward Kemeys
1734		Lord Charles Somerset
1745		Sir Charles Tynte
1747		Fulke Greville
1754		Benjamin Bathurst
1767		(Sir) John Stepney [n 4]
1788		Henry Somerset [n 5]	Tory [3]
1790		Charles Bragge	Tory [3]
1796		Vice Admiral (Sir) Charles Thompson [n 6]
1799		Lord Edward Somerset	Tory [3]
1802		Lord Charles Somerset	Tory [3]
1813		Henry Somerset	Tory [3]
May 1831		Benjamin Hall [n 7]	Whig [3]
July 1831		Henry Somerset	Tory [3]
1832		Benjamin Hall	Whig [3]
1837		Reginald Blewitt	Whig [3] [4] [5] [6]
1852		Crawshay Bailey	Conservative
1868		Sir John Ramsden	Liberal
1874		Thomas Cordes	Conservative
1880		Edward Carbutt	Liberal
1886		Sir George Elliot	Conservative
1892		Albert Spicer	Liberal
1900		Dr Frederick Rutherfoord Harris [n 8]	Conservative
1901		Joseph Lawrence	Conservative
1906		Lewis Haslam	Liberal
1918		constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Monmouth Boroughs ^{[3] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Henry Somerset	Unopposed
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Monmouth Boroughs ^{[3] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Benjamin Hall	168	53.0
	Tory	Henry Somerset	149	47.0
Majority			19	6.0
Turnout			317
	Whig gain from Tory

• On petition, Hall was unseated and Somerset was declared elected.

General election 1832: Monmouth Boroughs ^{[3] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Benjamin Hall	393	52.5	−0.5
	Tory	Henry Somerset	355	47.5	+0.5
Majority			38	5.0	−1.0
Turnout			748	83.2
Registered electors			899
	Whig hold		Swing	−0.5

General election 1835: Monmouth Boroughs ^{[3] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Benjamin Hall	428	50.2	−2.3
	Conservative	Joseph Bailey	424	49.8	+2.3
Majority			4	0.4	−4.6
Turnout			852	78.3	−4.9
Registered electors			1,088
	Whig hold		Swing	−2.3

General election 1837: Monmouth Boroughs ^{[3] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Reginald Blewitt	440	53.3	+3.1
	Conservative	Joseph Bailey	386	46.7	−3.1
Majority			54	6.6	+6.2
Turnout			826	70.7	−7.6
Registered electors			1,169
	Whig hold		Swing	+3.1

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Monmouth Boroughs ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Reginald Blewitt	476	100.0	+46.7
	Chartist	William Edwards [9]	0	0.0	New
Majority			476	100.0	+93.4
Turnout			476	37.5	−33.2
Registered electors			1,268
	Whig hold		Swing	+46.7

General election 1847: Monmouth Boroughs ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Reginald Blewitt	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,420
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

Blewitt resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Manor of Hempholme, causing a by-election.

By-election, 3 April 1852: Monmouth Boroughs ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Crawshay Bailey	764	59.1	New
	Whig	William Schaw Lindsay [10] [11]	529	40.9	N/A
Majority			235	18.2	N/A
Turnout			1,293	77.1	N/A
Registered electors			1,676
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

General election 1852: Monmouth Boroughs ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Crawshay Bailey	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,676
	Conservative gain from Whig

General election 1857: Monmouth Boroughs ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Crawshay Bailey	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,744
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: Monmouth Boroughs ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Crawshay Bailey	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,745
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Monmouth Boroughs ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Crawshay Bailey	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,087
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: Monmouth Boroughs ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John William Ramsden	1,618	52.8	New
	Conservative	Samuel Homfray [12]	1,449	47.2	N/A
Majority			169	5.6	N/A
Turnout			3,067	81.3	N/A
Registered electors			3,771
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Monmouth Boroughs ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Cordes	2,090	59.1	+11.9
	Liberal	Henry Pochin [13]	1,447	40.9	−11.9
Majority			643	18.2	N/A
Turnout			3,537	75.2	−6.1
Registered electors			4,702
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+11.9

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Monmouth Boroughs ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Carbutt	2,258	50.7	+9.8
	Conservative	Thomas Cordes	2,197	49.3	−9.8
Majority			61	1.4	N/A
Turnout			4,455	87.5	+12.3
Registered electors			5,090
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.8

Carbutt

General election 1885: Monmouth Boroughs ^{[14] [15] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Carbutt	2,932	50.1	−0.6
	Conservative	Thomas Cordes	2,921	49.9	+0.6
Majority			11	0.2	−1.2
Turnout			5,853	90.3	+2.8
Registered electors			6,485
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.6

General election 1886: Monmouth Boroughs ^{[14] [15]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Elliot	3,033	54.2	+4.3
	Liberal	Edward Carbutt	2,568	45.8	-4.3
Majority			465	8.4	N/A
Turnout			5,601	86.4	-3.9
Registered electors			6,485
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.3

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Monmouth Boroughs ^{[15] [17]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Albert Spicer	3,430	52.2	+6.4
	Conservative	George Elliot	3,137	47.8	−6.4
Majority			293	4.4	N/A
Turnout			6,567	85.3	−1.1
Registered electors			7,697
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.4

General election 1895: Monmouth Boroughs ^{[15] [18] [17]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Albert Spicer	3,743	51.1	−1.1
	Conservative	Emanuel Maguire Underdown	3,589	48.9	+1.1
Majority			154	2.2	−2.2
Turnout			7,332	87.4	+2.1
Registered electors			8,391
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.1

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Monmouth Boroughs ^{[15] [18] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Rutherfoord Harris	4,415	54.2	+5.3
	Liberal	Albert Spicer	3,727	45.8	−5.3
Majority			688	8.4	N/A
Turnout			8,142	87.2	−0.2
Registered electors			9,335
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.3

Albert Spicer

1901 Monmouth Boroughs by-election ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Lawrence	4,604	51.9	−2.3
	Liberal	Albert Spicer	4,261	48.1	+2.3
Majority			343	3.8	−4.6
Turnout			8,865	90.4	+3.2
Registered electors			9,803
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.3

Lewis Haslam

General election 1906: Monmouth Boroughs ^{[14] [15]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lewis Haslam	4,531	44.7	−1.1
	Conservative	Edward Emanuel Micholls	3,939	38.8	−15.4
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	James Whinstone	1,678	16.5	New
Majority			592	5.9	N/A
Turnout			10,148	90.6	+3.4
Registered electors			11,207
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.2

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Monmouth Boroughs ^{[14] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lewis Haslam	6,496	54.8	+10.1
	Conservative	Charles Cayzer	5,351	45.2	+6.4
Majority			1,145	9.6	+3.7
Turnout			11,847	91.6	+1.0
Registered electors			12,934
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.9

Lewis Haslam

General election December 1910: Monmouth Boroughs ^{[14] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lewis Haslam	6,154	54.9	+0.1
	Conservative	Gerald de La Pryme Hargreaves	5,056	45.1	-0.1
Majority			1,098	9.8	+0.2
Turnout			11,210	86.7	−4.9
Registered electors			12,934
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.1

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: Lewis Haslam
• Unionist:

Notes and references

Notes

1. Jones was also elected for Beaumaris, but had not chosen his seat before parliament was dissolved
2. The election of November 1640 was disputed between William Watkins and Thomas Trevor. Watkins took his seat at the very beginning of the Parliament, but was then instructed to cease attending until the dispute had been resolved; in fact this had not happened by the time of the outbreak of the Civil War, and proceedings were then put in abeyance and neither ever gained the seat. Watkins was disabled from sitting for his adherence to the Royalist cause while Trevor was elected for another constituency, and a writ to fill the vacant seat was eventually issued in 1646.
3. On petition, Herbert was declared not to have been duly elected, having been returned only by the freemen of Monmouth, and his opponent Arnold (who had the majority once the votes of Newport and Usk were included) was declared elected in his place
4. Succeeded to a baronetcy, October 1772
5. Worcester was re-elected in 1790, but had also been elected for Bristol, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Monmouth
6. Created a baronet, 1797
7. On petition, Hall's election was overturned and the Marquess of Worcester declared re-elected in his place
8. On petition, the election of Harris was declared void and a by-election held

References

1. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
2. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
3. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp.  219–220. ISBN   0-900178-13-2 . Retrieved 22 August 2018.
4. Churton, Edward (1836). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1836. p. 33. Retrieved 22 August 2018– via Google Books.
5. Mosse, Richard Bartholomew (1838). The Parliamentary Guide: a concise history of the Members of both Houses, etc. p. 143. Retrieved 22 August 2018– via Google Books.
6. "Monmouth — Thursday" . Coventry Standard. 9 July 1841. p. 2. Retrieved 22 August 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
7. Escott, Margaret. "Monmouth". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
8. 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.
9. "The Secretary of the Chartists' Reply to Wit. Edwards" . Monmouthshire Merlin. 17 July 1841. p. 4. Retrieved 13 August 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Monmouth Burghs Election" . Cork Constitution. 8 April 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 22 August 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "The Nomination" . Monmouthsire Merlin. 2 April 1852. p. 5. Retrieved 22 August 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Monmouth" . Monmouthshire Beacon . Gwent. 21 November 1868. p. 1. Retrieved 5 March 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "Stafford" . South Wales Daily News. 24 August 1875. p. 5. Retrieved 6 January 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
14. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
15. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
16. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
17. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.
18. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
19. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916

Bibliography

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• D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
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• P W Hasler, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1558-1603 (London: HMSO, 1981)
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