Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Woodbridge
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Suffolk
Major settlements	Woodbridge, Felixstowe
1885–1950
Seats	One
Created from	East Suffolk
Replaced by	Sudbury and Woodbridge and Eye

Woodbridge was a county constituency centred on the town of Woodbridge in Suffolk. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

History

The South-Eastern or Woodbridge Division was one of five single-member county divisions of the Parliamentary County of Suffolk created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 to replace the existing two 2-member divisions for the 1885 general election. It was formed from parts of the Eastern Division of Suffolk. It was abolished under the Representation of the People Act 1948 for the 1950 general election when it was largely replaced by the new Sudbury and Woodbridge constituency.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1885–1918

• The Municipal Borough of Woodbridge;
• The Sessional Divisions of Bosmere and Claydon, Samford, and Woodbridge; and
• The Corporate Town of Aldeburgh. ^[1]

1918–1950

• The Municipal Borough of Aldeburgh;
• The Urban Districts of Felixstowe and Woodbridge:
• The Rural Districts of Bosmere and Claydon, Samford, and Woodbridge; and
• Part of the Rural District of Plomesgate. ^[2]

Lost areas which had been annexed by the County Borough of Ipswich to the Parliamentary Borough thereof.

On abolition, southern parts, which comprised the majority of the seat, including Felixstowe and Woodbridge, formed part of the new county constituency of Sudbury and Woodbridge. Northern parts, including Aldeburgh, were transferred to Eye.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Robert Lacey Everett	Liberal
	1886	Robert Hamilton Lloyd-Anstruther	Conservative
	1892	Robert Lacey Everett	Liberal
	1895	E. G. Pretyman	Conservative
	1906	Robert Lacey Everett	Liberal
	Jan. 1910	Robert Francis Peel	Conservative
	1920	Sir Arthur Churchman, Bt	Conservative
	1929	Clavering Fison	Conservative
	1931	Walter Ross-Taylor	Conservative
	1945	Hon. John Hare	Conservative
1950		constituency abolished: see Sudbury and Woodbridge

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Woodbridge ^{[3] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Everett	4,978	50.9
	Conservative	Frederick Thellusson	4,810	49.1
Majority			168	1.8
Turnout			9,788	80.7
Registered electors			12,126
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: Woodbridge ^{[3] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Lloyd-Anstruther	4,854	51.7	+2.6
	Liberal	Robert Everett	4,541	48.3	−2.6
Majority			313	3.4	N/A
Turnout			9,395	77.5	−3.2
Registered electors			12,126
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.6

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Woodbridge ^{[3] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Everett	5,223	53.8	+5.5
	Conservative	Robert Lloyd-Anstruther	4,485	46.2	−5.5
Majority			738	7.6	N/A
Turnout			9,708	82.1	+4.6
Registered electors			11,823
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.5

E.G. Pretyman

General election 1895: Woodbridge ^{[5] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. G. Pretyman	5,410	53.1	+6.9
	Liberal	Robert Everett	4,778	46.9	−6.9
Majority			632	6.2	N/A
Turnout			10,188	84.5	+2.4
Registered electors			12,053
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.9

Elections in the 1900s

Pretyman

General election 1900: Woodbridge ^{[5] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. G. Pretyman	5,089	53.4	+0.3
	Liberal	Robert Everett	4,437	46.6	−0.3
Majority			652	6.8	+0.6
Turnout			9,526	78.9	−5.6
Registered electors			12,077
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.3

By-election, 1900: Woodbridge ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. G. Pretyman	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1906: Woodbridge ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Everett	5,527	50.8	+4.2
	Conservative	E. G. Pretyman	5,348	49.2	−4.2
Majority			179	1.6	N/A
Turnout			10,875	86.8	+7.9
Registered electors			12,528
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.2

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Woodbridge ^{[6] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Peel	6,120	53.9	+4.7
	Liberal	Charles Sydney Buxton	5,226	46.1	−4.7
Majority			894	7.8	N/A
Turnout			11,346	88.6	+1.8
Registered electors			12,808
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.7

General election December 1910: Woodbridge ^{[6] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Peel	5,704	52.6	−1.3
	Liberal	William Elliston	5,144	47.4	+1.3
Majority			560	5.2	−2.6
Turnout			10,848	84.7	−3.9
Registered electors			12,808
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.3

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Robert Peel
• Liberal: William Elliston

Robert Peel

General election 1918: Woodbridge ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Robert Peel	8,654	55.8	+3.2
	Liberal	William Elliston	6,842	44.2	−3.2
Majority			1,812	11.6	+6.4
Turnout			15,496	51.0	−33.7
	Unionist hold		Swing	+3.2
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

1920 Woodbridge by-election ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Arthur Churchman	9,898	53.2	-2.6
	Labour	Henry Harben	8,707	46.8	New
Majority			1,191	6.4	-5.2
Turnout			18,605	61.4	+10.4
	Unionist hold		Swing
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

General election 1922: Woodbridge ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Arthur Churchman	12,396	56.7	+0.9
	Labour	E. J. C. Neep	9,476	43.3	N/A
Majority			2,920	13.4	+1.8
Turnout			21,872	69.1	+7.7
	Unionist hold		Swing	+3.4

General election 1923: Woodbridge ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Arthur Churchman	10,606	46.7	-10.0
	Liberal	William Elliston	7,328	32.2	New
	Labour	E. J. C. Neep	4,810	21.1	-22.2
Majority			3,278	14.5	+1.1
Turnout			22,744	70.9	+1.8
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1924: Woodbridge ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Arthur Churchman	13,419	54.9	+8.2
	Liberal	William Elliston	7,008	28.7	-3.5
	Labour	Sylvain Mayer	3,998	16.4	-4.7
Majority			6,411	26.2	+11.7
Turnout			24,425	74.3	+3.4
	Unionist hold		Swing	+5.8

General election 1929: Woodbridge ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Clavering Fison	15,231	48.1	-6.8
	Liberal	Roger Fulford	10,904	34.5	+5.8
	Labour	Leonard Spero	5,507	17.4	+1.0
Majority			4,327	13.6	-12.6
Turnout			31,642	73.3	-1.0
	Unionist hold		Swing	-6.3

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Woodbridge ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Ross-Taylor	25,654	81.3	+33.2
	Labour	Ida Mary Nussey Keeble	5,885	18.7	+1.3
Majority			19,769	62.6	+49.0
Turnout			31,539	70.6	-2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1935: Woodbridge ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Ross-Taylor	22,715	72.1	-9.2
	Labour	A V Smith	8,808	27.9	+9.2
Majority			13,907	44.2	-18.4
Turnout			31,523	67.5	+4.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	-9.2

General Election 1939–40:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: John Hare
• Liberal: Douglas B Law ^[8]
• Labour: J M Stewart ^[9]

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Woodbridge ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Hare	16,073	47.0	-25.1
	Labour	John M. Stewart	11,380	33.3	+5.4
	Liberal	Douglas Burch Law	6,740	19.7	New
Majority			4,693	13.7	-30.5
Turnout			34,193	71.4	+3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sources

1. Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
2. S., Craig, Fred W. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN   0900178094. OCLC   539011.
3. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
4. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.
5. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
6. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
7. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
8. The Liberal Magazine, 1939
9. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)
• Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 395. ISBN   0-900178-27-2.
• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 469. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.