Carmarthenshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Carmarthenshire was a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until its representation was increased to two members for the 1832 general election.

Carmarthenshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1542–1885
Seats	one until 1832, then two
Replaced by	East Carmarthenshire and West Carmarthenshire

At the 1885 general election, it was divided into two new single-member seats: East Carmarthenshire and West Carmarthenshire.

History

For most of its history, the Carmarthenshire constituency was dominated by a small number of powerful families. Chief among these were the Rice family of Dynevor, who could claim descent from the medieval Lord Rhys of Deheubarth. They drew upon traditional loyalty and the connotations linked to the Dynevor name to maintain their status as the leading political family of the county and leaders of the Red or Tory faction.^[1]

In 1790 the influence of the Dynevor family was re-asserted when George Talbot Rice was elected unopposed. Four years later, he was elevated to the House of Lords and the family would not be in a position to represent the county again until 1820 when his yet unborn son would have came of age.^[2]

A celebrated contest took place in 1802 between James Hamlyn Williams and William Paxton. The contest was said to have cost Paxton a total of £15,000. This included 11,070 breakfasts, 36,901 dinners, 25,275 gallons of ale, 11,068 bottles of spirits, 8,879 bottles of porter, 460 of sherry, 509 of cider and gallons of milk punch. The contest became known as ‘Lecsiwn Fawr’ (the Great Election). Paxton was defeated and spent two years settling his debts.^[2]

In 1820, George Rice Trevor was elected MP for Carmarthenshire and held the seat until 1831, when he stood down over his opposition to reform.

Reformed elections

Following the Reform Act 1832, the county was awarded a second seat. In 1832, Rice Trevor resumed his parliamentary career and served until 1852 when he was elevated to the House of Lords upon inheriting the title of Lord Dynevor. He was succeeded by David Jones of Pantglas, who served until 1868.

The second seat was held by supporters of the Whig party until John Jones of Ystrad unseated James Hamlyn-Williams in 1837. Jones was succeeded by another Tory, D.A. Saunders Davies who served until his death in 1857. At this point, however, the seat was occupied by David Pugh, who was regarded as a Liberal-Conservative, and who in later life migrated to the Liberal Party.

At the 1868 general election, following a lengthy and lively campaign characterized by accusations of coercion, Edward Sartoris captured a seat for the Liberals.^[3] He was defeated in 1874 but in 1880 the Liberals again captured a seat. Following the Third Reform Act the constituency was divided into two single-member seats.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1542–1640

Parliament	member
1542–1545	Unknown (returns lost)[4]
1545	Hon. Richard Devereux. Died on day of re-election in October 1547[4]
1548	Sir John Perrott[4]
1553	Henry Jones[4]
1555	Richard Jones[4]
1558	Sir Thomas Jones (of Haroldston)[4]
1559	Richard Jones[4]
1563	Sir Henry Jones[4]
1572	John Vaughan died and replaced 1576 by Walter Vaughan[4]
1584	Walter Rice[4]
1586	Sir Thomas Jones[4]
1588	Herbert Croft[4]
1593	Walter Vaughan[4]
1597	Sir Thomas Jones[4]
1601	John Vaughan[4]
1604	Sir Robert Mansell[4]|- [5]
1620	Sir John Vaughan[4]
1624	Richard Vaughan[4]
1629–1640	No Parliament summoned

MPs 1640–1832

Year	Member		Party
April 1640		Henry Vaughan	Royalist
February 1644	Vaughan disabled from sitting – seat vacant
1646		John Lloyd
December 1648	Lloyd excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant
1653	Carmarthenshire was not represented in the Barebones Parliament

Year	First Member	Second Member
Representation increased to two members in First Protectorate Parliament
1654	John Claypole	Rowland Dawkins
1656	John Claypole,sat for Northants.
1656	Robert Atkyns[6]
Representation reverted to one member from January 1659

Year	Member		Party
January 1659		Thomas Hughes
May 1659	Carmarthenshire was not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		John Lloyd
1661		Francis Vaughan (died 1668)
1668		Sir Henry Vaughan (died 1676)
1677		Altham Vaughan
1679		John Vaughan
1685		John Vaughan
1689		Sir Rice Rudd
1701		Griffith Rice	Whig
1710		Sir Thomas Powell	Tory
1715		Charles Powlett	Whig
1717		Sir Thomas Stepney
1722		Edward Rice[7]
1724		Sir Nicholas Williams
1745		John Vaughan I
1754		George Rice
1779		John Vaughan II
1784		Sir William Mansel
1790		Hon. George Rice	Tory
1793		Sir James Hamlyn
1802		James Hamlyn-Williams
1806		Sir William Paxton	Whig[8]
1807		Lord Robert Seymour	Tory[8]
1820		Hon. George Rice-Trevor	Tory[8]
1831		Sir James Hamlyn-Williams	Whig[8]
1832	Representation increased to two members by the Reform Act 1832

MPs 1832–1885

Election	First member		First Party	Second member		Second Party
1832		Hon. George Rice-Trevor	Conservative[8]		Edward Hamlyn Adams	Whig[8]
1835					Sir James Hamlyn-Williams	Whig[8]
1837					John Jones of Ystrad	Conservative[8]
1842 by-election					David Arthur Saunders Davies	Conservative[8]
1852 by-election		David Jones	Conservative
1857 by-election					David Pugh	Peelite[9][10]
1859						Liberal
1868		Edward John Sartoris	Liberal		John Jones	Conservative
1874		Viscount Emlyn	Conservative
1880					W. R. H. Powell	Liberal
1885	Constituency abolished: see East Carmarthenshire, West Carmarthenshire

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Carmarthenshire^[8][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	George Rice-Trevor	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 3,000
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Carmarthenshire^[8][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Hamlyn-Williams	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 3,000
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1832: Carmarthenshire^[8][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	George Rice-Trevor	1,853	37.1
	Whig	Edward Hamlyn Adams	1,638	32.8
	Whig	James Hamlyn-Williams	1,504	30.1
Turnout			3,502	90.1
Registered electors			3,887
Majority			215	4.3
	Tory win (new seat)
Majority			134	2.7
	Whig hold

General election 1835: Carmarthenshire^[8][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Rice-Trevor	2,204	36.8	+18.3
	Whig	James Hamlyn-Williams	1,939	32.3	−30.6
	Conservative	John Jones	1,851	30.9	+12.4
Turnout			3,685	87.2	−2.9
Registered electors			4,227
Majority			265	4.5	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+16.8
Majority			88	1.4	−1.3
	Whig hold		Swing	−30.7

General election 1837: Carmarthenshire^[8][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Rice-Trevor	2,486	37.0	+0.2
	Conservative	John Jones	2,173	32.3	+1.4
	Whig	James Hamlyn-Williams	2,068	30.7	−1.6
Majority			105	1.6	−2.9
Turnout			4,315	84.2	−3.0
Registered electors			5,125
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.5
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+1.1

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Carmarthenshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Jones	Unopposed
	Conservative	George Rice-Trevor	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,614
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Jones' death caused a by-election.

By-election, 27 December 1842: Carmarthenshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Arthur Saunders Davies	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Carmarthenshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Rice-Trevor	Unopposed
	Conservative	David Arthur Saunders Davies	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,261
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

Rice-Trevor succeeded to the peerage, becoming 4th Baron Dynevor and causing a by-election.

By-election, 13 May 1852: Carmarthenshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Jones	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1852: Carmarthenshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Jones	Unopposed
	Conservative	David Arthur Saunders Davies	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,791
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Carmarthenshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Jones	Unopposed
	Conservative	David Arthur Saunders Davies	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,272
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Davies' death caused a by-election.

By-election, 12 June 1857: Carmarthenshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	David Pugh	Unopposed
	Peelite gain from Conservative

General election 1859: Carmarthenshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Jones	Unopposed
	Liberal-Conservative	David Pugh	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,491
	Conservative hold
	Liberal-Conservative gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Carmarthenshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Jones	Unopposed
	Liberal-Conservative	David Pugh	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,833
	Conservative hold
	Liberal-Conservative hold

General election 1868: Carmarthenshire^[3][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward John Sartoris	3,280	31.6	N/A
	Conservative	John Jones	2,942	28.3	N/A
	Conservative	Henry Lavallin Puxley	2,828	27.2	N/A
	Liberal-Conservative	David Pugh	1,340	12.9	N/A
Turnout			6,165 (est)	76.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			8,026
Majority			1,940	18.7	N/A
	Liberal gain from Liberal-Conservative		Swing	N/A
Majority			1,602	15.4	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Carmarthenshire^[13][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Campbell	3,389	28.8	+1.6
	Conservative	John Jones	3,261	27.7	−0.6
	Liberal	W. R. H. Powell	2,799	23.8	+10.9
	Liberal	Edward John Sartoris	2,331	19.8	−11.8
Majority			462	3.9	−11.5
Turnout			5,890 (est)	72.2 (est)	−4.6
Registered electors			8,161
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.8

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Carmarthenshire (2 seats)^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	W. R. H. Powell	4,101	41.7	−1.9
	Conservative	Frederick Campbell	3,030	30.8	+2.0
	Conservative	John Jones	2,712	27.6	−0.1
Turnout			7,131 (est)	83.0 (est)	+10.8
Registered electors			8,593
Majority			1,389	14.1	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	−1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A