Portarlington (UK Parliament constituency)

Portarlington
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Queen's County
Borough	Portarlington
1801–1885
Seats	1
Created from	Portarlington (IHC)
Replaced by	King's County Tullamore Queen's County Leix

Portarlington was a rotten borough and was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one MP from 1801 to 1885. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.

Boundaries

This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Portarlington in Queen's County (renamed County Laois in 1920).

A report into the boundaries was undertaken in 1831. ^[1] The Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 defined the boundaries of the parliamentary borough as: ^[2]

From the Bridge over the Grand Canal on the Monastereven Road, along the Canal to the Bridge over the same on the Maryborough Road; thence in a straight Line to the Point called Butler's Ford, at which a small Stream crosses the Mountmellick Road; thence in a straight Line to a small Bridge on the Cloniquin Road, which is distant about Five hundred Yards (measured along the Cloniquin Road) to the West of the Point at which the same leaves the Mountmellick Road; thence in a straight Line to a Point on the Bog Road which is distant Five hundred Yards (measured along the Bog Road) to the West of the Point at which the same leaves the Rathangan Road; thence, Eastward, along the Bog Road to the Point at which the same joins the Rathangan Road; thence, Southward, along the Rathangan Road to the Bridge on the same over the River Barrow; thence along the River Barrow to that Point thereof which would be cut by a straight Line to be drawn thereto due North from the Bridge over the Canal on the Monastereven Road; thence in a straight Line to the said Bridge on the Monastereven Road.

Members of Parliament

Notable MPs included Hon. William Lamb, who, as Viscount Melbourne, served as prime minister briefly in 1934 and again from 1835 to 1841.

Election		Member	Party
	1801	Frederick Trench [3]
	March 1801	William Elliot
	July 1802	Henry Parnell	Whig
	December 1802	Thomas Tyrwhitt
	March 1806	John Langston
	November 1806	Sir Oswald Mosley, Bt
	1807	Hon. William Lamb	Whig
	1812	Arthur Shakespeare
	1816	Richard Sharp	Whig
	1819	David Ricardo	Whig
	1824	James Farquhar	Tory [4]
	1830	Sir Charles Ogle, Bt	Tory [5]
	1831	Sir William Rae, Bt	Tory [5]
	1832	Thomas Gladstone	Tory [5] [6]
	1834		Conservative [5] [6]
	1835	George Dawson-Damer	Conservative [5] [6]
	1846		Peelite [7] [8]
	1847	Francis Plunkett Dunne	Whig [7] [8] [9]
	1852		Conservative [6]
	1857	Lionel Dawson-Damer	Conservative [6]
	1865	James Anthony Lawson	Liberal [6]
	1868	Lionel Dawson-Damer	Conservative [6]
	1880	Bernard FitzPatrick	Conservative [6]
	1883	Robert French-Brewster	Conservative [6]
	1885	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Portarlington ^{[6] [5] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Charles Ogle	Unopposed
Registered electors			15
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Portarlington ^{[6] [5] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	William Rae	Unopposed
Registered electors			15
	Tory hold

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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Thomas Gladstone	66	50.4
	Tory	George Dawson-Damer	65	49.6
Majority			1	0.8
Turnout			131	95.6
Registered electors			137
	Tory hold

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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Dawson-Damer	Unopposed
Registered electors			156
	Conservative hold

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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Dawson-Damer	80	55.2
	Whig	Francis Plunkett Dunne	65	44.8
Majority			15	10.4
Turnout			145	66.8
Registered electors			217
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Portarlington ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Dawson-Damer	Unopposed
Registered electors			188
	Conservative hold

Dawson-Damer was appointed Comptroller of the Household, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 27 September 1841: Portarlington ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Dawson-Damer	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Portarlington ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Francis Plunkett Dunne	Unopposed
Registered electors			221
	Whig gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1850s

Dunne was appointed Clerk of the Ordnance, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 8 March 1852: Portarlington ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Plunkett Dunne	Unopposed
	Conservative gain from Whig

General election 1852: Portarlington ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Plunkett Dunne	Unopposed
Registered electors			71
	Conservative gain from Whig

General election 1857: Portarlington ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lionel Dawson-Damer	42	53.8	N/A
	Conservative	Francis Plunkett Dunne	36	46.2	N/A
Majority			6	7.6	N/A
Turnout			78	83.9	N/A
Registered electors			93
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1859: Portarlington ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lionel Dawson-Damer	Unopposed
Registered electors			99
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Portarlington ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Anthony Lawson	46	56.8	New
	Conservative	Lionel Dawson-Damer	35	43.2	N/A
Majority			11	13.6	N/A
Turnout			81	76.4	N/A
Registered electors			106
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1868: Portarlington ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lionel Dawson-Damer	69	57.5	+14.3
	Liberal	James Anthony Lawson	51	42.5	−14.3
Majority			18	15.0	N/A
Turnout			120	89.6	+13.2
Registered electors			134
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+14.3

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Portarlington ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lionel Dawson-Damer	76	59.4	+1.9
	Liberal	William D Barnett [11]	52	40.6	−1.9
Majority			24	18.8	+3.8
Turnout			128	94.1	+4.5
Registered electors			136
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.9

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Portarlington ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bernard FitzPatrick	116	86.6	+27.2
	Liberal	Robert Keating Clay	18	13.4	−27.2
Majority			98	73.2	+54.4
Turnout			134	91.2	−2.9
Registered electors			147
	Conservative hold		Swing	+27.2

FitzPatrick succeeded to the peerage, becoming Lord Castletown, causing a by-election.

By-election, 28 Feb 1883: Portarlington ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert French-Brewster	70	55.1	−31.5
	Liberal	Thomas Mayne	57	44.9	+31.5
Majority			13	10.2	−63.0
Turnout			127	92.0	+0.8
Registered electors			138
	Conservative hold		Swing	−31.5

See also

• Portarlington (Parliament of Ireland constituency)

References

1. "Portarlington". Instructions by Secretary for Ireland, respecting Cities and Boroughs in Ireland sending Representatives to Parliament; Reports of Commissioners. Sessional papers. Vol. 43. Sessional papers. 8 June 1832. pp. 115–119.
2. "Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 (c. 89)". The law journal for the year 1832–1949. Abridgment of statutes. Vol. X. E. B. Ince. 1832. pp. 239–246.
3. Trench was created a peer in 1800, and so did not take up his seat at Westminster
4. Fisher, David R. "FARQUHAR, James (1764-1833), of Johnston Lodge, Laurencekirk; Hallgreen, Inverbervie, Kincardine and 13 Duke Street, Westminster, Mdx". The History of Parliament. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
5. Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 237–238. Retrieved 7 October 2018– via Google Books.
6. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 234–235, 308. ISBN   0901714127.
7. "The General Election" . Brighton Gazette. 12 August 1847. p. 8. Retrieved 7 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Portarlington" . Armagh Guardian. 10 August 1847. p. 1. Retrieved 7 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Irish Members Returned" . Galway Vindicator, and Connaught Advertiser. 7 August 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 7 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
10. Salmon, Philip. "Portarlington". The History of Parliament. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
11. "Advertisements and Notices" . Freeman's Journal . 6 February 1874. p. 5. Retrieved 17 January 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

• The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
• 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 "P" (part 2)