Westmeath (UK Parliament constituency)

County Westmeath
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	County Westmeath
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Westmeath (IHC)
Replaced by	North Westmeath and South Westmeath
1918–1922
Seats	1
Created from	North Westmeath and South Westmeath
Replaced by	Longford–Westmeath (Dáil Éireann)

County Westmeath is a former UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning two Members of Parliament from 1801 to 1885 and one from 1918 to 1922.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised County Westmeath, except for the parliamentary borough of Athlone 1801–1885.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1801–1885

Year	First member		First party	Second member		Second party
1801, 1 January		William Smyth [1]			Gustavus Hume Rochfort [2]	Tory [3]
1808, 27 February		Hon. Hercules Robert Pakenham	Tory
1812, 24 October						Tory
1824, 3 March					Robert Smyth	Tory [3]
1826, 22 June		Gustavus Rochfort	Tory [3]		Hugh Morgan Tuite	Whig [3] [4]
1830, 12 August					Sir Montagu Chapman, Bt	Whig [3] [5]
1832, 20 December		Sir Richard Nagle, Bt [6]	Repeal Association [7]
1841, 12 July		Hugh Morgan Tuite	Whig [3] [4]		Benjamin Chapman	Whig [3]
1847, 10 August		William Henry Magan	Repeal Association [7]		Sir Percy Nugent, Bt	Whig [8] [9] [10]
1852, 22 July			Ind. Irish [7]		William Pollard-Urquhart	Ind. Irish [7]
1857, 3 April			Whig [10] [11]		Sir Richard Levinge, Bt.	Ind. Irish [7]
1859, 10 May		William Pollard-Urquhart	Liberal [7]			Liberal [7]
1865, 20 July					Hon. Algernon Greville-Nugent (later Baron Greville)	Liberal [7]
1871, 17 July		Patrick James Smyth	Home Rule [7]
1874, 13 February					Lord Robert Montagu	Home Rule [7]
1880, 13 April		Timothy Daniel Sullivan	Parnellite Home Rule League [7]		Henry Joseph Gill	Parnellite Home Rule League [7]
Oct 1882			Irish Parliamentary [7]			Irish Parliamentary [7]
1883, 27 February					Timothy Harrington	Irish Parliamentary [7]
1885	Constituency abolished: see North Westmeath and South Westmeath

MPs 1918–1922

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Laurence Ginnell	Sinn Féin
1922		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Westmeath (2 seats) ^{[7] [3] [12]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Gustavus Rochfort	353	36.3
	Whig	Montagu Chapman	336	34.5
	Whig	Hugh Morgan Tuite	198	20.3
	Whig	Gerald Dease	86	8.8
Turnout			c. 487	c. 75.9
Registered electors			641
Majority			17	1.8
	Tory hold		Swing
Majority			138	14.2
	Whig hold		Swing

General election 1831: Westmeath (2 seats) ^{[7] [3] [12]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Gustavus Rochfort	Unopposed
	Whig	Montagu Chapman	Unopposed
Registered electors			641
	Tory hold
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Westmeath (2 seats) ^{[7] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Sir Montagu Chapman, 3rd Baronet	385	33.1
	Irish Repeal	Sir Richard Nagle, 2nd Baronet	381	32.8
	Tory	Gustavus Rochfort	238	20.5
	Tory	Gustavus Lambert	159	13.7
Turnout			c. 582	c. 41.7
Registered electors			1,395
Majority			4	0.3
	Whig hold
Majority			143	12.3
	Irish Repeal gain from Tory

General election 1835: Westmeath (2 seats) ^{[7] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Montagu Chapman	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Sir Richard Nagle, 2nd Baronet	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,525
	Whig hold
	Irish Repeal hold

General election 1837: Westmeath (2 seats) ^{[7] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Montagu Chapman	804	33.7
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Sir Richard Nagle, 2nd Baronet	798	33.5
	Conservative	Richard Handcock	393	16.5
	Conservative	Richard Levinge	388	16.3
Turnout			c. 1,192	c. 71.9
Registered electors			1,658
Majority			6	0.2
	Whig hold
Majority			405	17.0
	Irish Repeal hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Westmeath (2 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Hugh Morgan Tuite	Unopposed
	Whig	Benjamin Chapman	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,125
	Whig hold
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal

General election 1847: Westmeath (2 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	William Henry Magan	118	50.2	New
	Whig	Percy Nugent	117	49.8	N/A
	Conservative	Richard Levinge	0	0.0	New
Majority			117	0.4	N/A
Turnout			118 (est)	8.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			1,337
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig		Swing	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Westmeath (2 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Irish	William Henry Magan	1,647	41.3	−8.9
	Independent Irish	William Pollard-Urquhart	1,414	35.5	N/A
	Conservative	Richard Levinge	926	23.2	+23.2
Majority			488	12.3	+11.9
Turnout			2,457 (est)	78.4 (est)	+69.6
Registered electors			3,132
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	−16.1
	Independent Irish gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Westmeath (2 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Henry Magan	Unopposed
	Independent Irish	Richard Levinge	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,520
	Whig gain from Independent Irish
	Independent Irish hold

General election 1859: Westmeath (2 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Pollard-Urquhart	Unopposed
	Liberal	Richard Levinge	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,678
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Westmeath (2 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Algernon Greville	Unopposed
	Liberal	William Pollard-Urquhart	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,568
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Westmeath (2 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Algernon Greville-Nugent	Unopposed
	Liberal	William Pollard-Urquhart	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,884
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Greville-Nugent was appointed a Groom in Waiting to Queen Victoria, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 7 January 1869: Westmeath ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Algernon Greville-Nugent	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,884
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

Pollard-Urquhart's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 17 Jun 1871: Westmeath (1 seat) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Patrick James Smyth	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,616
	Home Rule gain from Liberal

General election 1874: Westmeath (2 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Patrick James Smyth	2,202	43.2	N/A
	Home Rule	Robert Montagu	2,164	42.5	N/A
	Liberal	Algernon Greville-Nugent	401	7.9	N/A
	Liberal	Richard Levinge	328	6.4	N/A
Majority			1,763	34.6	N/A
Turnout			2,548 (est)	71.6 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,559
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Westmeath (2 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parnellite Home Rule League	Timothy Daniel Sullivan	1,631	48.2	N/A
	Parnellite Home Rule League	Henry Joseph Gill	1,609	47.6	N/A
	Home Rule	William A Gowing	141	4.2	N/A
Majority			1,468	43.4	+8.8
Turnout			1,761 (est)	50.8 (est)	−20.8
Registered electors			3,465
	Home Rule hold		Swing	N/A
	Home Rule hold		Swing	N/A

Gill resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 24 Feb 1883: Westmeath (1 seat) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Timothy Harrington	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,395
	Irish Parliamentary hold

Election in the 1910s

1918 general election: Westmeath ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Laurence Ginnell	12,435	75.4
	Irish Parliamentary	Patrick Weymes	3,458	21.0
	Ind. Nationalist	Walter Nugent	603	3.6
Majority			8,977	54.4
Turnout			16,496	68.7
Registered electors			24,014
	Sinn Féin win (new seat)

Notes

1. Resigned, 1808
2. Died in office, 1824
3. Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 242–243. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via Google Books.
4. The Spectator, Volume 19. 1846. p. 1205. Retrieved 25 August 2019– via Google Books.
5. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. pp. 40–41. Retrieved 25 August 2019– via Google Books.
6. Re-elected as a candidate of a Whig Party/Repeal Association electoral pact, in 1835 and 1837.
7. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 242–243, 320, 398. ISBN   0901714127.
8. "Elections" . Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. 11 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Westmeath" . Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. 28 July 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "The New Parliament" . Lincolnshire Gazette. 20 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Dublin Weekly Nation" . 21 March 1857. p. 5. Retrieved 14 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
12. Salmon, Philip. "Co. Westmeath". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 24 May 2020.

References

• 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, Brian 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 "W" (part 3)