(Much) Wenlock (UK Parliament constituency)

Much Wenlock
Much Wenlock
Former Borough constituency ; for the House of Commons
1290–1885
Replaced by	Ludlow

Last updated April 30, 2024

Much Wenlock, often called simply Wenlock, was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885, when it was abolished. It was named after the town of that name in Shropshire.

Boundaries

Much Wenlock's constituency boundaries ran from Leighton to just west of Dawley, to Ironbridge, and finally to just east of Madeley along the northern border; travelling eastwards, the boundaries ran from just east of Madeley to the bend in the River Severn, following the river thereafter. The far southern border, commencing in the east, travelled along the southern part of the Severn across to Easthope; the western border, running northwards, going from Easthope through to Benthall, and onwards back to Leighton.

Members of Parliament

Constituency created (1468)

Parliament	First member	Second member
1510–1523	No names known^[1]
1529	John Foster	Edward Hall ^[1]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	William Blount	Reginald Corbet ^[1]
1545	Richard Cornwall	Richard Lawley ^[1]
1547	Richard Lawley	Thomas Lawley ^[1]
1553 (Mar)	John Herbert	Thomas Lawley ^[1]
1553 (Oct)	Richard Lee	Robert Eyton ^[1]
1554 (Apr)	Thomas Foster	Edward Lacon ^[1]
1554 (Nov)	Sir George Blount	John Evans ^[1]
1555	Sir George Blount	Thomas Ridley ^[1]
1558	Sir George Blount	George Bromley ^[1]
1558–9	Roland Lacon	George Bromley ^[2]
1562–3	Sir George Blount	Charles Foxe ^[2]
1571	William Lacon	Thomas Eyton ^[2]
1572	Sir George Blount	Thomas Lawley ^[2]
1584	Thomas Lawley	William Baynham ^[2]
1586	Thomas Lawley	William Baynham ^[2]
1588	William Baynham	Robert Lawley ^[2]
1593	William Baynham	Sir John Poole ^[2]
1597	William Baynham, died and replaced by Thomas Fanshawe	William Lacon ^[2]
1601	John Brett	William Leighton ^[2]
1604	Robert Lawley	George Lawley
1614	Rowland Lacon	Edward Lawley
1621	Sir Edward Lawley	Thomas Wolryche
1624	Henry Mytton	Thomas Wolryche
1625	Thomas Lawley	Thomas Wolryche
1626	Thomas Lawley	Francis Smallman
1628	Thomas Lawley	George Bridgmant
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

	First member	First party	Second member	Second party
1640 (Apr)	Sir Thomas Littleton		Richard Cresset
1640 (Nov)	William Pierrepont		Sir Thomas Littleton
1645	William Pierrepont		Humphrey Bridges
1653, 1654, 1656	Much Wenlock excluded from Barebones and 1st & 2nd Protectorate Parliaments
1659	Thomas Whitmore		Sir Francis Lawley
1660	Sir Francis Lawley		Thomas Whitmore
1661	Sir Thomas Littleton, Bt		George Weld
Feb 1679	Sir John Weld		William Forester
Aug 1679	John Wolryche		William Forester
1685	Thomas Lawley		George Weld
1689	Sir William Forester		George Weld
1701			George Weld
1708			Thomas Weld
1710			George Weld
1713			William Whitmore
1714			Richard Newport
1715	Thomas Newport		William Forester II
1716	Sir Humphrey Briggs		William Forester II
1722	Sir Humphrey Briggs		Samuel Edwards
1727	John Sambrooke
1734	William Forester II
1739	William Forester II		Brooke Forester
1741	Sir Brian Broughton-Delves, Bt
1744	Isaac Hawkins Browne
1754	William Forester II
1758	George Forester
1761	Cecil Forester
1768	Sir Henry Bridgeman	Tory ^[3]	George Forester	Tory ^[3]
Sept. 1780			Thomas Whitmore	Tory ^[3]
Dec. 1780			George Forester	Tory ^[3]
1784			John Bridgeman (later Simpson)	Tory ^[3]
1785			George Forester	Tory ^[3]
1790			Cecil Forester (from 1811 Weld-Forester)	Tory ^[3]
1794	John Simpson	Tory ^[3]	Cecil Forester (from 1811 Weld-Forester)	Tory ^[3]
1820	Francis Forester	Tory ^[3]	William Lacon Childe	Tory ^[3]
1826	John Weld-Forester	Tory ^[3]	Paul Thompson	Whig ^[3]
1828	George Weld-Forester	Tory ^[3]	Paul Thompson	Whig ^[3]
1832		Tory ^[3]	James Milnes Gaskell	Tory ^[3]
1834		Conservative ^[3]	James Milnes Gaskell	Conservative ^[3]
1868		Conservative ^[3]	Alexander Brown	Liberal
1874	Cecil Weld-Forester	Conservative	Alexander Brown	Liberal

Constituency abolished (1885)

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

Weld-Forester was appointed Groom of the Bedchamber to William IV, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 20 February 1830: Wenlock^[3]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	George Weld-Forester	Unopposed
	Tory hold

General election 1830: Wenlock^[3]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	George Weld-Forester	Unopposed
	Whig	Paul Thompson	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 500
	Tory hold
	Whig hold

General election 1831: Wenlock^[3]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	George Weld-Forester	Unopposed
	Whig	Paul Thompson	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 500
	Tory hold
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Wenlock^[3]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	George Weld-Forester	448	41.3
	Tory	James Milnes Gaskell	330	30.4
	Radical	Matthew Bridges	308	28.4
Majority			22	2.0
Turnout			635	91.9
Registered electors			691
	Tory hold
	Tory gain from Whig

General election 1835: Wenlock^[3]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Weld-Forester	519	41.1	−0.2
	Conservative	James Milnes Gaskell	422	33.4	+3.0
	Whig	William Somerville	323	25.6	−2.8
Majority			99	7.8	+5.8
Turnout			c. 632	c. 78.1	c. −13.8
Registered electors			809
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.2

General election 1837: Wenlock^[5]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	George Weld-Forester	Unopposed
	Conservative	James Milnes Gaskell	Unopposed
Registered electors			906
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Wenlock^[5]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	George Weld-Forester	Unopposed
	Conservative	James Milnes Gaskell	Unopposed
Registered electors			961
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Gaskell was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 14 September 1841: Wenlock^[5]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	James Milnes Gaskell	Unopposed
Registered electors			949
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Wenlock^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	George Weld-Forester	Unopposed
	Conservative	James Milnes Gaskell	Unopposed
Registered electors			857
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

Weld-Forester was appointed Comptroller of the Household, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 3 March 1852: Wenlock^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Weld-Forester	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1852: Wenlock^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	George Weld-Forester	Unopposed
	Conservative	James Milnes Gaskell	Unopposed
Registered electors			905
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Wenlock^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	George Weld-Forester	Unopposed
	Conservative	James Milnes Gaskell	Unopposed
Registered electors			871
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

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

By-election, 3 March 1858: Wenlock^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Milnes Gaskell	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: Wenlock^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	George Weld-Forester	Unopposed
	Conservative	James Milnes Gaskell	Unopposed
Registered electors			881
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Wenlock^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	George Weld-Forester	Unopposed
	Conservative	James Milnes Gaskell	Unopposed
Registered electors			961
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: Wenlock^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	George Weld-Forester	Unopposed
	Liberal	Alexander Brown	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,445
	Conservative hold
	Liberal gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Wenlock^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Weld-Forester	1,708	41.4	*N/A*
	Liberal	Alexander Brown	1,575	38.1	*N/A*
	Conservative	Charles Milnes Gaskell ^[6]	846	20.5	N/A
Turnout			3,283 (est)	92.7 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,541
Majority			133	3.3	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			729	17.6	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Forester succeeded to the peerage, becoming Lord Forester and causing a by-election.

1874 Wenlock by-election ^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cecil Weld-Forester	1,720	55.1	-6.8
	Liberal	Beilby Lawley	1,401	44.9	+6.8
Majority			319	10.2	+6.9
Turnout			3,121	88.1	-4.6
Registered electors			3,541
	Conservative hold		Swing	-6.8

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Wenlock^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Brown	2,058	46.5	+8.4
	Conservative	Cecil Weld-Forester	1,358	30.7	−10.7
	Conservative	Ralph Augustus Benson^[7]	1,013	22.9	+2.4
Majority			700	15.8	−1.8
Turnout			3,244 (est)	93.2 (est)	+0.5
Registered electors			3,481
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−7.5

Related Research Articles

Baron Forester, of Willey Park in the County of Shropshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 17 July 1821 for Cecil Weld-Forester, who had previously represented Wenlock in the House of Commons. Born Cecil Forester, he assumed the additional surname of Weld by royal licence in 1811. His son, the second Baron, also represented Wenlock from 1790 in Parliament, and later served in the Tory administration of Sir Robert Peel as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms from 1841 to 1846.

Much Wenlock is a market town and parish in Shropshire, England; it is situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the north-east, is the Ironbridge Gorge and Telford. The civil parish includes the villages of Homer, Wyke, Atterley, Stretton Westwood and Bourton. The population of the civil parish, according to the 2001 Census, was 2,605, increasing to 2,877 by 2011.

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Sir William Forester KB, of Dothill Park, Apley Castle, and Watling Street in Wellington, Shropshire was a Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1679 and 1715.

Charles George Milnes Gaskell PC JP DL was an English lawyer and Liberal Party politician.

Munslow is a hundred of Shropshire, England. It was formed with the amalgamation of the Anglo-Saxon hundreds of Patton and Culvestan during the reign of Henry I. Hundreds in England had various judicial, fiscal and other local government functions, their importance gradually declining from the end of manorialism to the latter part of the 19th century.

John Wolryche (c.1637–1685) was a lawyer and politician of landed gentry background who represented Much Wenlock in the House of Commons of England in two parliaments of Charles II. He was a moderate Whig, opposing the succession of James II but avoiding involvement in conspiracies.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Much Wenlock (1559–1603)". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 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. pp. 22–24.
1 2 3 Escott, Margaret. "Wenlock". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1 ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 324–325. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
↑ "To the Electors of Wenlock" . Eddowes's Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales. 28 January 1874. p. 4. Retrieved 22 January 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
↑ "Wenlock" . Dudley Herald. 3 April 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 23 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.

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[HoP2-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 12 October 2011.

[HoP3-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Much Wenlock (1559–1603)". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 12 October 2011.

[stookssmith-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 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. pp. 22–24.

[hop1820-1832-4] 1 2 3 Escott, Margaret. "Wenlock". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 30 April 2020.

[craig1832-5] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1 ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 324–325. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.

[6] "To the Electors of Wenlock" . Eddowes's Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales. 28 January 1874. p. 4. Retrieved 22 January 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

[7] "Wenlock" . Dudley Herald. 3 April 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 23 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.

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