Cirencester (UK Parliament constituency)

Cirencester was a parliamentary constituency in Gloucestershire. From 1571 until 1885, it was a parliamentary borough, which returned two Member of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1868, and one member between 1868 and 1885. In 1885 the borough was abolished but the name was transferred to the county constituency in which it stood; this constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election.

Gloucestershire, East or Cirencester
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	one
Created from	Cirencester Borough
Replaced by	Cirencester and Tewkesbury and Stroud

Cirencester
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1571–1885
Seats	two (1571-1868), one (1868-1885)
Replaced by	Cirencester

History

The town sent Members to Parliament on at least one occasion during the 14th century and again in 1547. Cirencester borough as established in 1571 consisted of part of the parish of Cirencester, a market town in the east of Gloucestershire. In 1831, the population of the borough was 4,420, and the town contained 917 houses.

The right to vote was exercised by all resident householders of the borough who were not receiving alms, an unusually liberal franchise for the period in any but the smallest towns, which meant that there were about 500 qualified voters. This arose from the chance that a dispute over the franchise arose in 1624, and the House of Commons had to decide whether only the freeholders could vote or if the right should extend to all the householders. The 1620s was a rare period when the Commons as a matter of policy tended to decide for the broadest interpretation in franchise disputes (all 15 cases brought before them in that decade were resolved in favour of the solution which enfranchised most voters), and consequently in Cirencester the householders acquired the right of which they were never subsequently deprived (and which was later confirmed at another disputed election in 1724). Another election petition, in 1709, turned on whether the inhabitants of the Abbey, Emery and Sperringate Lane sections of the town were included within the borough; the Commons ruled that they were, but they were excluded again after yet another disputed election in 1792.

Despite Cirencester's relatively large electorate, the local landowners (or "patrons") were able to exert a very substantial influence over the elections, and it could probably be fairly described as a pocket borough. From at least the start of the 18th century, the Bathurst family were Lords of the Manor and had a share of the patronage, almost invariably filling one of the seats themselves and occasionally nominating the other MP as well. The Master family, whose influence predated that of the Bathursts, were able to command the second seat for long periods. In the 18th century, both the Bathursts and the Masters were Tories. Nevertheless, there were signs that the townspeople could show independence on occasion: in 1754, when the head of the Masters was a child and the Bathursts tried to take both seats, Cirencester shocked its Tory patrons by electing a local Whig nobleman instead.

The Reform Act 1832 extended the borough's boundaries slightly to include the whole of the parish, increasing the population to 5,420; but even with the revised franchise this gave Cirencester only 604 electors. The reform apparently did little to democratise the borough, for Bathursts and Masters continued to be elected almost continually throughout its existence. As subsequent Reform Acts raised the barrier for representation, Cirencester lost one of its two MPs in 1868 and had its boundaries further extended to take in the adjoining parish of Stratton; but, still too small, the borough was abolished altogether in 1885.

However, the name was transferred to the county constituency in which the town was placed, formally called The Eastern (or Cirencester) Division of Gloucestershire. This was a substantially-sized constituency fairly similar in its boundaries to the modern Cotswold District Council, with a strong rural element but including a number of small towns apart from Cirencester - Chipping Campden, Fairford, Moreton-in-Marsh, Tetbury and Stow-on-the-Wold among them. In character it proved more Liberal than Cirencester borough had done, though this may have been as much from the dilution of the Bathurst influence as from political factors - consequently instead of being a safe Conservative seat it was generally a knife-edge marginal. Arthur Winterbotham, the Liberal who had won the constituency by 700 votes at its first election, in 1885, was re-elected unopposed when he became a Liberal Unionist in 1886, but when he switched back to the Liberals at the next general election his majority fell to 153. Winterbotham died later the same year, and the by-election was decided in favour of the Conservative candidate, Colonel Thomas Chester-Master, by just 3 votes; but his defeated opponent petitioned against the result and after further scrutiny of the ballots the result was revised and declared to be tied. It was impossible at this stage to give a casting vote to the returning officer (the usual solution to a tied election at that period), so the election had to be run again.

The constituency was abolished in 1918, being split between the new Cirencester and Tewkesbury and Stroud constituencies.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Sessional Divisions of Chipping Campden, Cirencester, Fairford, Moreton-in-Marsh, Northleach, Stow-on-the-Wold, and Tetbury.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1547

Year	First member	Second member
1547	John Eston	George Ferrers

Borough constituency (1571–1885)

MPs 1571–1640

Year	First member	Second member
1571	Gabriel Blike	Thomas Poole
1572	Thomas Poole	Thomas Strange
1584	Thomas Poole (jun)	William Estcourt
1586	George Master	William Bridges, sat for Gloucestershire and was replaced by Charles Danvers
1589	Charles Danvers	George Master
1593	Oliver St John[1]	Henry Ferrers
1597	Henry Poole	James Wroughton
1601	Richard Browne	Richard George
1604–1611	Arnold Oldsworth	Richard Martin, sat for Christchurch and was replaced by Edward Jones, who died and was replaced by Sir Anthony Manie
1614	Sir Anthony Manie	Robert Strange
1621–1622	Sir Thomas Roe	Thomas Nicholas
1624	Henry Poole	Sir William Master
1625	Sir Miles Sandys	Henry Poole
1626	Sir Neville Poole	John George
1628–1629	Sir Giles Estcourt	John George

MPs 1640–1868

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640		Henry Poole			John George
November 1640		Sir Theobald Gorges	Royalist		John George	Royalist
January 1644	Gorges and George disabled from sitting - both seats vacant
February 1648		Sir Thomas Fairfax[2]			Nathaniel Rich
December 1648	Fairfax not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge
1653	Cirencester was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		John Stone		Cirencester had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656
January 1659					Richard Southby
May 1659		Nathaniel Rich		One seat vacant
April 1660		Thomas Master			Henry Powle
1661		The Earl of Newburgh			John George
1671		Henry Powle
1679					Sir Robert Atkyns
1685		Thomas Master			Charles Levingston
1689					John Grubham Howe
March 1690		Richard Howe			Henry Powle
November 1690					John Grubham Howe
1698		Henry Ireton			Charles Coxe
January 1701		James Thynne
December 1701		William Master
1705		Allen Bathurst			Henry Ireton
1708 [3]					Charles Coxe
1712		Thomas Master	Tory
1713					Benjamin Bathurst	Tory
1727					Peter Bathurst	Tory
1734					William Wodehouse[4]
1735					Henry Bathurst	Tory
1747		Thomas Master	Tory
1749		John Coxe
1754		Hon. Benjamin Bathurst	Tory		Hon. John Dawnay[5]	Whig
1761		James Whitshed	Tory
1768					Estcourt Cresswell
1774					Samuel Blackwell
1783		Henry Bathurst	Tory[6]
1784						Whig[6]
1785					Richard Master[7]	Tory[6]
1792					(Sir) Robert Preston[8]	Tory[6]
1795		Michael Hicks-Beach	Tory[6]
1806					Joseph Cripps	Tory[6]
1812					Henry Bathurst	Tory[6]
1818		Joseph Cripps	Tory[6]
1834			Conservative		Lord Edward Somerset	Conservative[6]
1837					Thomas Chester-Master I	Conservative[6]
1841		William Cripps	Conservative[6]
1844					George Child-Villiers	Conservative
1848		Joseph Mullings	Conservative
1852					Hon. Ashley Ponsonby	Whig[9]
1857					Allen Bathurst	Conservative
1859		Hon. Ashley Ponsonby	Liberal
1865		Hon. Ralph Dutton	Conservative
1868	Representation reduced to one member

MPs 1868–1885

Election		Member	Party
	1868	Allen Bathurst, later Earl Bathurst	Conservative
	1878 by-election	Thomas Chester-Master II	Conservative
1885		Borough abolished - name transferred to county division

County constituency (1885–1918)

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Arthur Winterbotham	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1892		Liberal
	1892 by-election	Thomas Chester-Master	Conservative
	1893 by-election	Harry Levy-Lawson	Liberal
	1895	Hon. Benjamin Bathurst	Conservative
	1906	Walter Essex	Liberal
	1910	Hon. Benjamin Bathurst	Conservative
1918		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Cirencester (2 seats)^[10][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Henry Bathurst	Unopposed
	Tory	Joseph Cripps	Unopposed
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Cirencester (2 seats)^[10][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Henry Bathurst	Unopposed
	Tory	Joseph Cripps	Unopposed
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

General election 1832: Cirencester (2 seats)^[10][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Henry Bathurst	Unopposed
	Tory	Joseph Cripps	Unopposed
Registered electors			604
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

By-election, 6 August 1834: Cirencester^[10][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Edward Somerset	Unopposed
	Tory hold

• Caused by Henry Bathurst's succession to the Peerage, becoming 4th Earl Bathurst

General election 1835: Cirencester (2 seats)^[10][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Cripps	494	49.9	N/A
	Conservative	Edward Somerset	405	40.9	N/A
	Whig	Thomas Denman Whatley	91	9.2	New
Majority			314	31.7	N/A
Turnout			498	81.0	N/A
Registered electors			615
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1837: Cirencester (2 seats)^[10][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Cripps	Unopposed
	Conservative	Thomas Chester-Master	Unopposed
Registered electors			585
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Cirencester (2 seats)^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Cripps	Unopposed
	Conservative	Thomas Chester-Master	Unopposed
Registered electors			552
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Chester-Master resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election

By-election, 2 August 1844: Cirencester^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Child Villiers	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

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

By-election, 14 August 1845: Cirencester^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Cripps	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Cirencester (2 seats)^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Cripps	Unopposed
	Conservative	George Child Villiers	Unopposed
Registered electors			485
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Cripps' death caused a by-election.

By-election, 24 May 1848: Cirencester^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Mullings	262	66.8	N/A
	Whig	Charles Ponsonby[6]	130	33.2	New
Majority			132	33.6	N/A
Turnout			392	82.0	N/A
Registered electors			478
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Cirencester (2 seats)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Mullings	235	35.2	N/A
	Whig	Ashley Ponsonby	218	32.7	N/A
	Conservative	George Child Villiers	214	32.1	N/A
Turnout			334 (est)	76.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			434
Majority			17	2.5	N/A
	Conservative hold
Majority			4	0.6	N/A
	Whig gain from Conservative

General election 1857: Cirencester (2 seats)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allen Bathurst	307	44.2	+12.1
	Conservative	Joseph Mullings	200	28.8	−6.4
	Whig	Ashley Ponsonby	188	27.1	−5.6
Majority			12	1.7	−0.8
Turnout			348 (est)	82.2 (est)	+5.4
Registered electors			423
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.5
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	−1.8

General election 1859: Cirencester (2 seats)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allen Bathurst	273	42.3	−1.9
	Liberal	Ashley Ponsonby	190	29.5	+2.4
	Conservative	Brent Follett[12]	182	28.2	−0.6
Turnout			323 (est)	76.6 (est)	−5.6
Registered electors			421
Majority			83	12.8	+11.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.6
Majority			8	1.3	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.5

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Cirencester (2 seats)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allen Bathurst	296	42.9	+0.6
	Conservative	Ralph Dutton	222	32.2	+4.0
	Liberal	Julian Goldsmid	172	24.9	−4.6
Majority			74	10.7	−2.1
Turnout			431 (est)	92.9 (est)	+16.3
Registered electors			464
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.5
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.2

Seat reduced to one member

General election 1868: Cirencester^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allen Bathurst	629	68.9	−6.2
	Liberal	Frederick Inderwick	284	31.1	+6.2
Majority			345	37.8	+27.1
Turnout			913	84.9	−8.0
Registered electors			1,076
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.2

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Cirencester^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allen Bathurst	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,101
	Conservative hold

• Bathurst succeeded to the peerage, becoming Earl Bathurst.

By-election, 13 Mar 1878: Cirencester^[13][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Chester-Master	698	66.8	N/A
	Liberal	Ashley Ponsonby	347	33.2	New
Majority			351	33.6	N/A
Turnout			1,045	92.6	N/A
Registered electors			1,128
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Cirencester^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Chester-Master	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,145
	Conservative hold

Dorington

General election 1885: Cirencester^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Winterbotham	4,782	54.2	New
	Conservative	John Dorington	4,037	45.8	N/A
Majority			745	8.4	N/A
Turnout			8,819	86.8	N/A
Registered electors			10,157
	Liberal gain from Conservative

General election 1886: Cirencester^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Arthur Winterbotham	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Cirencester^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Winterbotham	4,207	50.9	New
	Conservative	Thomas Chester-Master	4,054	49.1	N/A
Majority			153	1.8	N/A
Turnout			8,261	81.8	N/A
Registered electors			10,095		0.0
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist

1892 Cirencester by-election^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Chester-Master	4,275	50.0	−0.9
	Liberal	Harry Levy-Lawson	4,275	50.0	+0.9
Majority			0	0.0	N/A
Turnout			8,550	84.7	+2.9
Registered electors			10,095		0.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+0.9

• Chester-Master was originally declared the victor by 3 votes, but on petition and after scrutiny, the votes were declared equal and a new election was held.

1893 Cirencester by-election^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harry Levy-Lawson	4,687	51.3	+0.4
	Conservative	Thomas Chester-Master	4,445	48.7	−0.4
Majority			242	2.6	+0.8
Turnout			9,132	90.9	+9.1
Registered electors			10,048		−0.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.4

Bathurst

General election 1895: Cirencester^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Benjamin Bathurst	4,509	51.2	+2.1
	Liberal	Harry Levy-Lawson	4,294	48.8	−2.1
Majority			215	2.4	N/A
Turnout			8,803	89.6	+7.8
Registered electors			9,825		−2.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.1

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Cirencester^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Benjamin Bathurst	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1906: Cirencester^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter Essex	4,517	53.0	New
	Conservative	Benjamin Bathurst	4,011	47.0	N/A
Majority			506	6.0	N/A
Turnout			8,528	88.2	N/A
Registered electors			9,673		N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Cirencester^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Benjamin Bathurst	5,091	55.3	+8.3
	Liberal	Walter Essex	4,108	44.7	−8.3
Majority			983	10.6	N/A
Turnout			9,199	92.6	+4.4
Registered electors			9,934		+2.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+8.3

General election December 1910: Cirencester^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Benjamin Bathurst	4,788	54.4	−0.9
	Liberal	Gilbert Beyfus	4,007	45.6	+0.9
Majority			781	8.8	−1.8
Turnout			8,795	88.5	−4.1
Registered electors			9,934		0.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.1

1915 Prospective Election - Cirencester ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick W B Cripps [16]			−
	Liberal	Cyril Winterbotham[17]