Sheffield (UK Parliament constituency)

Sheffield
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
Sheffield borough constituency in 1832
County	West Riding of Yorkshire
1832–1885
Seats	Two
Created from	Yorkshire
Replaced by	Sheffield Attercliffe, Sheffield Brightside, Sheffield Ecclesall, Sheffield Hallam, and Sheffield Central

Sheffield was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1885. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system of elections.

The constituency encompassed the urban part of the town and parish (now city) of Sheffield, England, but not the western, rural, parts of Upper Hallam and Ecclesall Bierlow, which were incorporated into Sheffield Town Borough in 1843.

History

Before 1832 Sheffield had been represented by the Yorkshire constituency. The Sheffield Borough constituency was created by the Reform Act of 1832, and was given two MPs, the first time that the town had been represented in the House of Commons. Four candidates stood at the first election contesting these two seats. Voting took place on 13 and 14 December 1832, with the results declared on 15 December (see below). The election sparked a riot on 14 December, which resulted in the military being called out. The soldiers fired on the crowd, killing six people and injuring several others. ^[1] Following the Redistribution of Seats Act in 1885, which sought to eliminate constituencies with more than one MP and give greater representation to urban areas, the Borough of Sheffield was sub-divided. The five new divisions— Attercliffe, Brightside, Ecclesall, Hallam, and Sheffield Central —each returned a single MP.

Members of Parliament

Two MPs were elected at each general election. The table below shows the election years in which one or both of the MPs changed. ^{[2] [3]}

Election	Member 1		Party	Member 2		Party
1832		John Parker	Whig [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]		James Silk Buckingham	Radical [6] [8] [9]
1837					Henry George Ward	Radical [6] [10] [11] [12]
1849 by-election					John Arthur Roebuck	Independent Whig [13] [14]
1852		George Hadfield	Radical [4] [15] [16] [17] [18]
1859			Liberal			Independent Liberal [13]
1868					A. J. Mundella	Liberal
1874		John Arthur Roebuck	Independent Liberal
1879 by-election		Samuel Danks Waddy	Liberal
1880		Charles Stuart-Wortley	Conservative
1885	Constituency divided

The constituency was sub-divided in 1885. The sitting MPs, A. J. Mundella and Charles Stuart-Wortley subsequently stood for and won seats in one of the new constituencies (Sheffield Brightside and Sheffield Hallam respectively).

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

By-election, 8 May 1880: Sheffield ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	A. J. Mundella	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

• Caused by Mundella's appointment as Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education.

1880 general election: Sheffield ^{[2] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	A. J. Mundella	17,217	34.2	+1.0
	Conservative	Charles Stuart-Wortley	16,546	32.9	N/A
	Liberal	Samuel Danks Waddy	16,506	32.8	+3.3
Turnout			33,408 (est)	78.1 (est)	+15.3
Registered electors			42,794
Majority			671	1.3	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			40	0.1	N/A
	Conservative gain from Independent Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

By-election, 21 Dec 1879: Sheffield ^{[2] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Samuel Danks Waddy	14,062	50.9	−12.4
	Conservative	Charles Stuart-Wortley	13,584	49.1	New
Majority			478	1.8	N/A
Turnout			27,646	70.4	+17.6
Registered electors			39,270
	Liberal gain from Independent Liberal		Swing

• Caused by Roebuck's death.

1874 general election: Sheffield ^{[2] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal	John Arthur Roebuck [20]	14,193	36.7	+13.8
	Liberal	A. J. Mundella	12,858	33.2	+4.0
	Liberal	Joseph Chamberlain	11,053	28.5	N/A
	Liberal	Alfred Allott	621	1.6	N/A
Majority			3,140	8.2	N/A
Turnout			19,363 (est)	52.8 (est)	−17.1
Registered electors			36,701
	Independent Liberal gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.9

• Allott withdrew from the race before polling day. ^[21]

Elections in the 1860s

1868 general election: Sheffield ^{[2] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Hadfield	14,793	35.3	+4.8
	Liberal	A. J. Mundella	12,212	29.2	+14.8
	Independent Liberal	John Arthur Roebuck	9,571	22.9	−8.2
	Conservative	Edwin Plumer Price [22]	5,272	12.6	−11.4
Majority			2,641	6.3	N/A
Turnout			20,924 (est)	69.9 (est)	+5.9
Registered electors			29,955
	Liberal hold		Swing	+4.5
	Liberal gain from Independent Liberal		Swing	+9.5

1865 general election: Sheffield ^{[2] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal	John Arthur Roebuck	3,410	31.1	N/A
	Liberal	George Hadfield	3,348	30.5	N/A
	Conservative	James Stuart-Wortley	2,626	24.0	New
	Independent	Thomas Campbell Foster [23]	1,576	14.4	N/A
Turnout			5,480 (est)	64.0 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			8,557
Majority			62	0.6	N/A
	Independent Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			722	6.5	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s

1859 general election: Sheffield ^{[2] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal	John Arthur Roebuck	Unopposed
	Liberal	George Hadfield	Unopposed
Registered electors			7,381
	Independent Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

1857 general election: Sheffield ^{[2] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Whig	John Arthur Roebuck	3,200	39.4	+8.2
	Radical	George Hadfield	2,871	35.3	+7.7
	Conservative	William Overend [24]	2,059	25.3	+7.7
Turnout			5,095 (est)	74.1 (est)	+11.1
Registered electors			6,874
Majority			329	4.1	+0.5
	Independent Whig hold		Swing	+2.2
Majority			812	1.0	−3.0
	Radical hold		Swing	+1.8

1852 general election: Sheffield ^{[2] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Whig	John Arthur Roebuck	2,092	31.2	N/A
	Radical	George Hadfield	1,853	27.6	−15.7
	Whig	John Parker	1,580	23.6	−20.3
	Conservative	William Overend [25]	1,180	17.6	New
Turnout			3,353 (est)	63.0 (est)	+34.7
Registered electors			5,322
Majority			239	3.6	N/A
	Ind. Whig gain from Whig		Swing	N/A
Majority			273	4.0	−26.6
	Radical hold		Swing	+2.3

Elections in the 1840s

By-election, 3 May 1849: Sheffield ^{[2] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Whig	John Arthur Roebuck	Unopposed
	Ind. Whig gain from Radical

• Caused by Ward's resignation after being appointed Lord High Commissioner to the Ionian Islands.

1847 general election: Sheffield ^{[2] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Parker	1,125	43.9	+3.8
	Radical	Henry George Ward	1,110	43.3	+4.2
	Chartist	Thomas Clark	326	12.7	New
Turnout			1,444 (est)	29.3 (est)	−23.8
Registered electors			4,934
Majority			15	0.6	−0.4
	Whig hold		Swing	−0.2
Majority			784	30.6	+2.4
	Radical hold		Swing	+0.2

1841 general election: Sheffield ^{[2] [6] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Parker	1,849	40.1	−5.3
	Radical	Henry George Ward	1,805	39.1	−1.9
	Conservative	David Urquhart	503	10.9	+4.1
	Conservative	William Sheppard	457	9.9	+3.1
Turnout			2,307 (est)	53.1 (est)	c. −13.9
Registered electors			4,347
Majority			44	1.0	−3.4
	Whig hold		Swing	−4.5
Majority			1,302	28.2	+0.8
	Radical hold		Swing	−2.8

Elections in the 1830s

1837 general election: Sheffield ^{[2] [19] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Parker	2,186	45.4	−20.8
	Radical	Henry George Ward	1,976	41.0	+7.2
	Conservative	John Thorneley	655	13.6	New
Turnout			2,700	67.0	−16.2
Registered electors			4,028
Majority			210	4.4	+3.2
	Whig hold		Swing	−14.0
Majority			1,321	27.4	+24.8
	Radical hold		Swing	+14.0

By-election, 22 August 1836: Sheffield ^{[2] [19] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Parker	414	100.0	+33.8
	Radical	John Bell	0	0.0	−33.8
Majority			414	100.0	+98.8
Turnout			414	10.6	−72.6
Registered electors			3,903
	Whig hold		Swing	+33.8

• Caused by Parker's appointment as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury

1835 general election: Sheffield ^{[1] [2] [19] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Parker	1,607	35.0	+4.9
	Radical	James Silk Buckingham	1,554	33.8	−19.9
	Whig	Samuel Bailey	1,434	31.2	+15.1
Turnout			2,986	83.2	−9.2
Registered electors			3,587
Majority			53	1.2	+0.9
	Whig hold		Swing	+7.4
Majority			120	2.6	−3.1
	Radical hold		Swing	−20.0

1832 general election: Sheffield ^{[1] [2] [19] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Parker	1,515	30.1
	Radical	James Silk Buckingham	1,498	29.7
	Radical	Thomas Asline Ward	1,210	24.0
	Whig	Samuel Bailey	813	16.1
Turnout			3,056	92.4
Registered electors			3,308
Majority			17	0.4
	Whig win (new seat)
Majority			288	5.7
	Radical win (new seat)

References

1. The Poll Book; containing a correct list of the electors who polled; distinguishing the candidates for whom they voted; also the names of the registered voters who did not poll in the first election of members for the Borough of Sheffield, December 13 and 14, 1832. Sheffield: Whitaker & Co. 1833. pp. 36–37.
2. Craig, F. W. S. (1989). British electoral facts, 1832-1987. Dartmouth. ISBN   0-900178-30-2.
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)
4. "State of Polls" . Carlisle Patriot. 10 July 1852. p. 2. Retrieved 8 July 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. White, Alan (1988). "Class, culture and control: the Sheffield Athenaeum movement and the middle class". In Wolff, Janet; Seed, John (eds.). The Culture of Capital: Art, Power and the Nineteen-Century Middle Class. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 96. ISBN   0-7190-2460-9. LCCN   88-10982 . Retrieved 8 July 2018– via Google Books.
6. Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. p. 169. Retrieved 1 December 2018– via Google Books.
7. Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1847). Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Volume 15. Dod's Parliamentary Companion. pp. 219–220. Retrieved 1 December 2018– via Google Books.
8. Morrison, Tessa (2016) [2015]. Unbuilt Utopian Cities 1460 to 1900: Reconstructing their Architecture and Political Philosophy. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 123. ISBN   978-1-4724-5265-8. LCCN   2015008397 . Retrieved 1 December 2018– via Google Books.
9. Churton, Edward (1836). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. p. 29. Retrieved 1 December 2018– via Google Books.
10. Fowler, Will (May 2018). "First Impressions: Henry George Ward's Mexico in 1827" (PDF). Journal of Latin American Studies . 50 (2): 265–289. doi:10.1017/S0022216X1700075X. hdl: 10023/11703 .
11. King, Andrew (2017). The London Journal, 1845-83: Periodicals, Production and Gender. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 78. ISBN   978-0-7546-3343-3 . Retrieved 8 July 2018.
12. "Protestants of Great Britain" . Nottingham Journal. 21 July 1837. p. 2. Retrieved 8 July 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
13. Rae, William Fraser (1897). "Roebuck, John Arthur"  . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 49. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
14. "Mr. Roebuck, M.P. for Sheffield" . Kendal Mercury. 12 May 1849. p. 2. Retrieved 8 July 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
15. Boase, George Clement (1890). "Hadfield, George (1787-1879)"  . In Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney (eds.). Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 23. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
16. Steele, E. D. (1991). Palmerston and Liberalism, 1855–1865. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 343. ISBN   0-521-40045-7. LCCN   90-40491 . Retrieved 8 July 2018– via Google Books.
17. Fraser, Derek (1976). Urban Politics in Victorian England: The structure of politics in Victorian cities (eBook ed.). Leicester: Leicester University Press. pp. 38–39. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-05137-3. ISBN   978-1-349-05137-3 – via Google Books.
18. "Sheffield" . Bell's Weekly Messenger . 10 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 8 July 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
19. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 273–274. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.
20. "Letter from London" . Cheltenham Chronicle. 10 February 1874. p. 5. Retrieved 19 January 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
21. "Allott's Nomination" . Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 3 February 1874. p. 8. Retrieved 19 January 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
22. "The Sheffield Election" . Bradford Observer. 9 October 1868. p. 2. Retrieved 17 March 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
23. "Sheffield" . Leeds Mercury . 13 July 1865. p. 4. Retrieved 17 March 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
24. "Sheffield Election" . Sheffield Independent. 4 April 1857. p. 10. Retrieved 8 July 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
25. "Morning Post" . 9 July 1852. p. 4. Retrieved 8 July 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

External links

• Wikisource:Report on the Town of Sheffield; with a Description of the Proposed Boundary