South Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency)

South Wiltshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1832–1885
Seats	two
Replaced by	Devizes Westbury Wilton

South Wiltshire, formally known as the Southern division of Wiltshire or Wiltshire Southern was a county constituency in the county of Wiltshire in South West England. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.

The constituency was created under the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election, and abolished under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election.

Boundaries

1832–1885: The Hundreds of Kinwardstone, Heytesbury, Branch and Dole, Elstub and Everley, Amesbury, Warminster, Mere, South Damerham, Downton, Chalk, Dunworth, Cawden and Cadworth, Frustfield, Alderbury, Underditch, and Westbury. ^[1]

Members of Parliament

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1832		John Benett	Whig [2] [3] [4]		Hon. Sidney Herbert	Tory [2]
1834						Conservative
1846						Peelite [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
1852		William Wyndham	Whig [10] [11] [12]
1859		Lord Henry Thynne	Conservative			Liberal
1861 by-election					Frederick Hervey-Bathurst	Conservative
1865					Thomas Grove	Liberal
1874					Viscount Folkestone	Conservative
1885	constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: South Wiltshire ^{[13] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Sidney Herbert	Unopposed
	Whig	John Benett	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,540
	Tory win (new seat)
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: South Wiltshire ^{[13] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Sidney Herbert	Unopposed
	Whig	John Benett	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,448
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

General election 1837: South Wiltshire ^{[13] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Sidney Herbert	Unopposed
	Whig	John Benett	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,962
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: South Wiltshire ^{[13] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sidney Herbert	Unopposed
	Whig	John Benett	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,280
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

Herbert was appointed Secretary at War, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 15 February 1845: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sidney Herbert	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Sidney Herbert	Unopposed
	Whig	John Benett	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,710
	Peelite gain from Conservative
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Sidney Herbert	1,550	39.5	N/A
	Whig	William Wyndham	1,304	33.2	N/A
	Conservative	Richard Penruddocke Long	1,074	27.3	N/A
Turnout			1,964 (est)	60.3 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,256
Majority			246	6.3	N/A
	Peelite hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			230	5.9	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

Herbert was appointed Secretary at War, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 11 January 1853: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Sidney Herbert	Unopposed
	Peelite hold

Herbert was appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 15 February 1855: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Sidney Herbert	Unopposed
	Peelite hold

General election 1857: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Sidney Herbert	1,517	35.9	−3.6
	Whig	William Wyndham	1,445	34.2	+1.0
	Conservative	Henry Thynne	1,269	30.0	+2.7
Turnout			2,116 (est)	65.3 (est)	+5.0
Registered electors			3,239
Majority			72	1.7	−4.6
	Peelite hold		Swing	−2.3
Majority			176	4.2	−1.7
	Whig hold		Swing	+2.3

General election 1859: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sidney Herbert	Unopposed
	Conservative	Henry Thynne	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,437
	Liberal hold
	Conservative gain from Liberal

Herbert was appointed Secretary of State for War, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 29 June 1859: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sidney Herbert	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

Herbert was elevated to the peerage, becoming Lord Herbert of Lea and causing a by-election.

By-election, 14 February 1861: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Hervey-Bathurst	Unopposed
	Conservative gain from Liberal

General election 1865: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Thynne	1,576	36.9	N/A
	Liberal	Thomas Grove	1,427	33.4	N/A
	Conservative	Frederick Hervey-Bathurst	1,270	29.7	N/A
Turnout			2,850 (est)	85.3 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,343
Majority			149	3.5	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			157	3.7	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Thynne	Unopposed
	Liberal	Thomas Grove	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,810
	Conservative hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Thynne	2,115	41.1	N/A
	Conservative	William Pleydell-Bouverie	1,977	38.5	N/A
	Liberal	Thomas Grove	1,048	20.4	N/A
Majority			929	18.1	N/A
Turnout			3,094 (est)	78.6 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,938
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Thynne was appointed Treasurer of the Household, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 4 Jan 1876: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Thynne	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Pleydell-Bouverie	Unopposed
	Conservative	Henry Thynne	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,789
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Pleydell-Bouverie was appointed Treasurer of the Household, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 3 July 1885: South Wiltshire ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Pleydell-Bouverie	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

References

1. "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. LXIV. An Act to settle and describe the Divisions of Counties, and the Limits of Cities and Boroughs, in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 300–383. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
2. 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. 106. Retrieved 18 August 2018– via Google Books.
3. Farrell, Stephen (2009). Fisher, D.R. (ed.). "BENETT, John (1773–1852), of Pythouse, Wilts. and 19 Albemarle Street, Mdx". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
4. Churton, Edward (1836). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1836. p. 18. Retrieved 18 August 2018– via Google Books.
5. bloy, Marjorie (12 January 2016). "Sidney Herbert, first Baron Herbert of Lea (1810–1861)". A Web of English History. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018.
6. Gash, Norman (1979). Aristocracy and People. Britain, 1815–1865 . Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p.  268. ISBN   067-4044-916 . Retrieved 18 August 2018– via Internet Archive.
7. "Grantham Journal" . 11 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 18 August 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "State of the Polls" . Berkshire Chronicle. 24 July 1852. p. 5. Retrieved 18 August 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "The Scotsman" . 7 August 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 18 August 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Wyndham, William (Wilts South)", in Charles Roger Dod, Robert Phipps Dod, Dod's Parliamentary Companion , Volume 25, pp. 294–295
11. "The General Election" . London Evening Standard. 17 July 1852. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 18 August 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "The General Election" . Coventry Herald. 23 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 18 August 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
13. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 482–483. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 4)
• Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 482–483. ISBN   0-900178-26-4.