Dublin City (UK Parliament constituency)

Dublin City
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Dublin
Borough	Dublin
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	Dublin City
Replaced by	College Green Dublin Harbour St Stephen's Green St Patrick's

Dublin City was an Irish borough constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It comprised the city of Dublin in the county of Dublin, and was represented by two Members of Parliament from its creation in 1801 until 1885.

In 1885, Dublin City was split into four divisions which were separate single member constituencies: Dublin College Green, Dublin Harbour, Dublin St Stephen's Green and Dublin St Patrick's.

Boundaries

The red border delineates the border of the Dublin City constituency between 1832 and 1840.

The city of Dublin was accounted a county of itself, although it remained connected with County Dublin for certain purposes. A Topographical Directory of Ireland, published in 1837, describes the Parliamentary history of the city:

The city returns two members to the Imperial parliament; the right of election, formerly vested in the corporation, freemen, and 40s. freeholders, has been extended to the £10 householders, and £20 and £10 leaseholders for the respective terms of 14 and 20 years, by the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 88. The number of voters registered at the first general election under that act was 7041, of which number, 5126 voted. The limits of the city, for electoral purposes, include an area of 3538 statute acres, the boundaries of which are minutely detailed in the Appendix; the number of freemen is about 3500, of whom 2500 are resident and 1000 non-resident, and the number of £10 houses is 16,000 : the sheriffs are the returning officers.

The boundary was defined in the Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 as:

The County of the City of Dublin, and such Parts of the County at large as lie within the Circular Road.

Members of Parliament

Year	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1801, 1 January		John Claudius Beresford [1]	Tory [2]		Rt Hon. George Ogle	Tory [2]
1802, 21 July					John La Touche	Whig [2]
1804, 31 March		Sir Robert Shaw, Bt	Tory [2]
1806, 19 November					Rt Hon. Henry Grattan [3]	Whig [2]
1820, 30 June					Thomas Ellis	Tory [2]
1826, 12 June		Henry Grattan	Whig [2]		George Moore	Tory [2]
1830, 4 August		Frederick Shaw	Tory [2]
1831, 19 May [4]		Robert Harty	Whig [2]		Louis Perrin	Whig [2]
1832, 18 August [5]		Frederick Shaw	Tory [2]		Viscount Ingestre	Tory [2]
1832, 22 December [6]		Daniel O'Connell	Repeal Association [2]		Edward Southwell Ruthven	Repeal Association [2]
1836, 16 May		George Alexander Hamilton	Conservative [2]		John Beattie West	Conservative [2]
1837, 5 August [7]		Daniel O'Connell	Repeal Association [2]		Robert Hutton	Whig [8]
1841, 10 July		John Beattie West [9]	Conservative [2]		Sir Edward Grogan, Bt [10]	Conservative [2]
1842, 29 January		William Henry Gregory	Conservative [2]
1847, 7 August		John Reynolds	Repeal Association
1852, 12 July		John Vance	Conservative
1865, 17 July		Sir Benjamin Guinness, Bt	Conservative		Jonathan Pim	Liberal
1868, 1 June		Sir Arthur Guinness, Bt [11]	Conservative
1870, 18 August		Sir Dominic Corrigan, Bt	Liberal
1874, 6 February		Sir Arthur Guinness, Bt	Conservative		Maurice Brooks [12]	Home Rule League
1880, 5 April		Robert Dyer Lyons	Liberal
1882						Irish Parliamentary
1885	constituency abolished

Elections

From 1832 (when registers of electors were first prepared) a turnout figure is given, for the percentage of the registered electors who voted. If the number of registered electors eligible to take part in a contested election is unknown, then the last known electorate figure is used to calculate an estimated turnout. If the numbers of registered electors and electors taking part in the poll are known, an exact turnout figure is calculated. In two member elections (in which an elector could cast one or two votes as he chose), where the exact number of electors participating is unknown, an estimated turnout figure is given. This is calculated by dividing the total number of votes cast by two. To the extent that electors used only one of their votes the estimated turnout figure is an underestimate.

Elections in the 1800s

General election 21 July 1802: Dublin City
2 seats
15 day poll

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John Claudius Beresford	1,965	35.34
	Whig	John La Touche	1,673	30.08
	Tory	George Ogle	1,281	23.04
	Whig	Jonah Barrington	642	11.54
Majority			392	7.04
Turnout			5,561
	Tory win (new seat)
	Whig win (new seat)

Dublin by-election, 31 March 1804
Caused by resignation of Beresford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Robert Shaw	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold		Swing

General election 19 November 1806: Dublin City
2 seats
8 day poll

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Grattan	1,675	34.64
	Tory	Robert Shaw	1,638	33.88
	Whig	John La Touche	1,522	31.48
Majority			116	2.40	N/A
Turnout			4,835
	Whig hold		Swing
	Tory hold		Swing

General election 15 May 1807: Dublin City
2 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Grattan	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Robert Shaw	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1810s

General election 19 October 1812: Dublin City
2 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Grattan	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Robert Shaw	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A	N/A

General election 30 June 1818: Dublin City
2 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Grattan	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Robert Shaw	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1820s

General election 16 March 1820: Dublin City
2 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Grattan	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Robert Shaw	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A	N/A

Dublin by-election, 30 June 1820
Caused by the death of Grattan
6 day poll

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Thomas Ellis	1,137	59.03	N/A
	Whig	Henry Grattan	789	40.97	N/A
Majority			348	18.06	N/A
Turnout			1,926	N/A	N/A
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing

General election 12 June 1826: Dublin City
2 seats

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Grattan	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	George Moore	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Dublin City ^{[13] [2] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	George Moore	1,852	41.6
	Tory	Frederick Shaw	1,579	35.5
	Whig	Henry Grattan, Jr.	1,014	22.8
	Tory	Edward Cottingham	5	0.1
	Whig	Sir John Milley Doyle	2	0.0
Majority			565	12.7
Turnout			2,803	c. 49.2
Registered electors			c. 5,700
	Tory hold
	Tory gain from Whig

General election 1831: Dublin City ^{[13] [2] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Robert Harty	1,943	27.7	+4.9
	Whig	Louis Perrin	1,935	27.6	+27.6
	Tory	George Moore	1,568	22.4	−19.2
	Tory	Frederick Shaw	1,562	22.3	−13.2
Majority			367	5.2	N/A
Turnout			3,613	c. 63.4	c. +14.2
Registered electors			c. 5,700
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	+10.6
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	+21.9

On petition, Harty and Perrin were unseated, causing a by-election.

By-election, 18 August 1831: Dublin City ^{[13] [2] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Frederick Shaw	1,292	28.3	+6.0
	Tory	Viscount Ingestre	1,250	27.4	+5.0
	Whig	David Charles LaTouche	1,053	23.1	−4.6
	Whig	Michael O'Loghlen	937	20.5	−7.1
	Whig	Marcus Costello	28	0.6	New
Majority			197	4.3	−0.9
Turnout			c. 2,280	c. 40.0	c. −23.4
Registered electors			c. 5,700
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing	+5.9
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing	+5.4

General election 1832: Dublin City ^{[13] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	Daniel O'Connell	3,411	32.6	New
	Irish Repeal	Edward Southwell Ruthven	3,352	32.0	New
	Tory	John Beattie West	1,862	17.8	−4.6
	Tory	George Rich	1,837	17.6	−4.7
Majority			1,490	14.2	N/A
Turnout			5,273	75.2	c. +11.8
Registered electors			7,008
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig		Swing	N/A
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

General election 1835: Dublin City ^{[13] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Daniel O'Connell	2,678	26.2	−6.4
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Edward Southwell Ruthven	2,630	25.7	−6.3
	Conservative	George Alexander Hamilton	2,461	24.1	+6.3
	Conservative	John Beattie West	2,455	24.0	+6.4
Majority			169	1.6	−12.6
Turnout			5,101	71.7	−3.5
Registered electors			7,113
	Irish Repeal hold		Swing	−6.4
	Irish Repeal hold		Swing	−6.3

• On petition, O'Connell and Ruthven were unseated and Hamilton and West were declared elected on 16 May 1836

General election 1837: Dublin City ^{[13] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Daniel O'Connell	3,556	25.4	−0.8
	Whig	Robert Hutton	3,542	25.3	−0.4
	Conservative	George Alexander Hamilton	3,467	24.7	+0.6
	Conservative	John Beattie West	3,461	24.7	+0.7
Turnout			6,972	61.1	−10.6
Registered electors			11,409
Majority			14	0.1	-1.5
	Irish Repeal hold		Swing	−0.7
Majority			75	0.6	N/A
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	−0.5

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Dublin City ^{[13] [15]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Beattie West	3,860	25.6	+0.9
	Conservative	Edward Grogan	3,839	25.5	+0.8
	Irish Repeal	Daniel O'Connell	3,692	24.5	−0.9
	Whig	Robert Hutton	3,662	24.3	−1.0
Majority			147	1.0	N/A
Turnout			7,919	64.6	+3.5
Registered electors			12,264
	Conservative gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	+0.9
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+0.9

West's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 29 January 1842: Dublin City ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Henry Gregory	3,825	52.7	+1.6
	Whig	Viscount Morpeth	3,435	47.3	+23.0
Majority			390	5.4	+4.4
Turnout			7,260	59.2	−5.4
Registered electors			12,264 (1841 figure)
	Conservative hold		Swing	−10.7

General election 1847: Dublin City ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Grogan	3,353	34.5	+9.0
	Irish Repeal	John Reynolds	3,229	33.3	+8.8
	Peelite	William Henry Gregory	3,125	32.2	New
Turnout			4,854 (est)	24.8 (est)	−39.8
Registered electors			19,562
Majority			124	1.2	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.4
Majority			104	1.1	N/A
	Irish Repeal gain from Conservative		Swing	+0.4

On petition, the poll was amended and 92 votes were struck off Reynolds, although this did not cause him to be declared unelected.

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Dublin City ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Grogan	4,531	37.8	+20.5
	Conservative	John Vance	4,429	37.0	+19.7
	Independent Irish	John Reynolds	3,019	25.2	−8.1
Majority			1,410	11.8	+11.6
Turnout			7,499 (est)	66.4 (est)	+39.6
Registered electors			11,290
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.3
	Conservative gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	+11.9

General election 1857: Dublin City ^{[13] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Grogan	3,767	26.5	−11.3
	Conservative	John Vance	3,711	26.1	−10.9
	Whig	Francis William Brady	3,405	23.9	−1.3
	Whig	John Reynolds	3,348	23.5	New
Majority			306	2.2	−9.6
Turnout			7,116 (est)	71.8 (est)	+5.4
Registered electors			9,905
	Conservative hold		Swing	−11.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−11.0

General election 1859: Dublin City ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Edward Grogan	4,251	26.0	−0.5
	Conservative	John Vance	4,224	25.9	−0.2
	Liberal	Francis William Brady	3,976	24.3	+0.4
	Liberal	Alexander McCarthy	3,881	23.8	+0.3
Majority			248	1.6	−0.6
Turnout			8,166 (est)	78.8	+7.0
Registered electors			10,367
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.3

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Dublin City ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Benjamin Guinness	4,739	35.2	+9.2
	Liberal	Jonathan Pim	4,653	34.6	−13.5
	Conservative	John Vance	4,073	30.2	+4.3
Turnout			9,059 (est)	84.9 (est)	+6.1
Registered electors			10,666
Majority			86	0.6	−1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+8.0
Majority			580	4.4	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	−13.5

Guinness' death caused a by-election.

By-election, 1 June 1868: Dublin City ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Arthur Guinness	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: Dublin City ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Arthur Guinness	5,587	25.4	−9.8
	Liberal	Jonathan Pim	5,586	25.4	+8.1
	Conservative	David Plunket	5,452	24.8	−5.4
	Liberal	Sir Dominic Corrigan	5,379	24.4	+7.1
Turnout			11,002 (est)	85.3 (est)	+0.4
Registered electors			12,899
Majority			1	0.0	−0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.5
Majority			134	0.6	−3.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	+6.8

Elections in the 1870s

On petition, Guinness was unseated.

By-election, 18 Aug 1870: Dublin City ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Dominic Corrigan	4,468	56.5	+6.7
	Home Rule	Edward King-Harman	3,444	43.5	New
Majority			1,024	13.0	N/A
Turnout			7,912	61.3	−24.0
Registered electors			12,899
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General election 1874: Dublin City ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Arthur Guinness	5,213	41.7	−8.5
	Home Rule	Maurice Brooks	4,838	38.7	N/A
	Liberal	Jonathan Pim	1,937	15.5	−34.3
	Home Rule	Edward Fox	515	4.1	N/A
Turnout			6,252 (est)	51.8 (est)	−33.5
Registered electors			12,067
Majority			375	3.0	+3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.9
Majority			2,901	23.2	N/A
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Dublin City ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Maurice Brooks	5,763	26.3	−12.4
	Liberal	Robert Dyer Lyons	5,647	25.8	+10.3
	Conservative	Sir Arthur Guinness	5,446	24.9	+4.0
	Conservative	James Stirling	5,059	23.1	+2.2
Turnout			10,958 (est)	80.6 (est)	+28.8
Registered electors			13,599
Majority			116	0.5	−22.7
	Home Rule hold		Swing	−8.2
Majority			201	0.9	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.1

Notes

1. Beresford resigned 1804.
2. Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 224–225. Retrieved 15 May 2020– via Google Books.
3. Grattan died 1820.
4. Harty and Perrin were unseated on petition and a new writ was issued, 1831.
5. The 1832 by-election was the last contest in Ireland for the Unreformed House of Commons.
6. O'Connell and Ruthven were re-elected in 1835, as the candidates of a Whig/Repealer electoral pact. As the result of an election petition, the result of the 1835 election was reversed. O'Connell and Ruthven were unseated, with Hamilton and West being declared duly elected, on 16 May 1836.
7. O'Connell and Hutton were the candidates, in 1837, of a Whig/Repealer electoral pact.
8. Hill, Jacqueline (2007). "The 1847 general election in Dublin city". In Blackstock, Allan; Magennis, Eoin (eds.). Politics and Political Culture in Britain and Ireland: 1750–1850. Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation. p. 47. ISBN   978-1-903688-68-7 . Retrieved 21 August 2019– via Google Books.
9. West died 1842.
10. Grogan was a Baronet from 23 April 1859.
11. On petition after the 1868 general election, Guinness was unseated and a new writ was issued in 1870.
12. The Home Rule League was replaced by the Irish Parliamentary Party in 1882.
13. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 210–211, 271–272. ISBN   0901714127.
14. Farrell, Stephen. "Dublin". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
15. Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons, Volume 50. 1843. Retrieved 25 August 2019– via Google Books.
16. "City Election—Meeting of Freemen" . Saunders's News-Letter. 27 March 1857. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 30 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

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, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Royal Irish Academy.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)

External links

• Part of the Library Ireland: Irish History and Culture website containing the text of A Topographical Directory of Ireland, by Samuel Lewis (a work published by S. Lewis & Co of London in 1837) including an article on the city of Dublin