Malmesbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Malmesbury was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1275 until 1832, and then one member from 1832 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.

Malmesbury
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1275–1885
Seats	two (1295–1832); one (1832–1885)
Replaced by	Chippenham

History

The borough was represented in Parliament from 1275. The constituency originally returned two members, but representation was reduced to one in the Great Reform Act 1832 until the constituency was finally abolished in 1885.

In the 17th century the constituency was dominated by the Earls of Suffolk, based in the family seat at nearby Charlton Park.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1275–1508

From History of Parliament ^[1]

Parliament	First member	Second member
1386	Nicholas Weston	Alexander Oxenford
1388 (Feb)	John Parker	Alexander Oxenford
1388 (Sep)
1390 (Jan)	John Parker	William Blankpayn
1390 (Nov)
1391
1393	William Blankpayn	William Chaloner
1394	Richard Parker	William Blankpayn
1395	Nicholas Sambourn	Thomas Froud
1397 (Jan)	Robert Newman	William Blankpayn
1397 (Sep)	John Stowell	William Blankpayn
1399	Robert Newman	Robert Salman
1401
1402	John Tanner	Thomas Bonde
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	Thomas Hyweye	John Charlton
1407
1410
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)
1414 (Apr)	John Charlton	John Randolf
1414 (Nov)	Thomas Hyweye	John Gore
1415	Thomas Hyweye	Richard Stenysham
1416 (Mar)	John Gore	Thomas Corbyn
1416 (Oct)
1417	William Palmer	Thomas Corbyn
1419	William Palmer
1420	William Palmer	John Charlton
1421 (May)	William Palmer
1421 (Dec)	William Palmer	John Gore

MPs 1509–1558

(Source: Bindoff (1982))^[2]

Parliament	First member	Second member
Parliament of 1510–23	No names known	No names known
Parliament of 1529	Thomas Edgar	William Stumpe
Parliament of 1536	Not known	Not known
Parliament of 1539	Not known	Not known
Parliament of 1542	Not known	Not known
Parliament of 1545	Not known	Not known
Parliament of 1547	Sir Maurice Denys	William Stumpe
Parliament of 1553(Mar)	Not known	Not known
Parliament of 1553(Oct)	John Hedges	Matthew King
Parliament of 1554(Apr)	John Hedges	Matthew King
Parliament of 1554(Nov)	Edward Unton	John Hedges
Parliament of 1555	Sir James Stumpe	Matthew King
Parliament of 1558	Matthew King	Griffin Curteys

MPs 1559–1603

Source:History of Parliament ^[3]

Parliament	First member	Second member
1559	Lawrence Hyde (died 1590)	David Cerney
1562–3	Sir Thomas Ragland	Edward Poole
1571	Nicholas Snell	Ambrose Button
1572	John Danvers	Nicholas Snell, died and repl. Jan 1562 by Henry Baynton
1584	Sir Henry Knyvet	John Stumpe
1586	Sir Henry Knyvet	Henry Bayly
1589	Thomas Vavasour	Henry Bayly
1593	Sir Henry Knyvet	Thomas Lake
1597	Sir Henry Knyvet	Thomas Estcourt
1601	Sir William Monson	Sidney Montagu

MPs 1604–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
Parliament of 1604–1611	Sir Roger Dallison	Sir Thomas Dallison
Parliament of 1614–1621	Sir Roger Dallison	Sir Neville Poole
Parliament of 1621–1622	Sir Henry Poole	Sir Edward Wardour
Parliament of 1624–1625	Sir Edward Wardour	Thomas Hatton
Parliament of 1625–1626	Sir Henry Moody, Bt	Sir Edward Wardour
Parliament of 1626–1628	Sir Henry Moody, Bt	Sir William Croft
Parliament of 1628–1629	Sir Henry Moody, Bt	Sir William Croft
1629–1640	No Parliaments convened

MPs 1640–1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640		Anthony Hungerford	Royalist		Sir Neville Poole
November 1640					Sir Neville Poole	Parliamentarian
June 1644	Hungerford disabled from sitting – seat vacant
1645		Sir John Danvers
December 1648				Poole excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant
1653	Malmesbury was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		Sir Henry Lee			Thomas Higgons
May 1659	Malmesbury was not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Robert Danvers			Sir Francis Lee, Bt
1661		Lawrence Washington
1662		Philip Howard
1668					Sir Edward Poole
1673					Thomas Estcourt
February 1679		Sir William Estcourt, Bt			Sir James Long, Bt
1685		Sir Thomas Estcourt			John Fitzherbert
1689		Thomas Tollemache			Charles Godfrey
1690		Goodwin Wharton			Sir James Long, Bt
1692					George Booth
1695					Craven Howard
1696		Sir Thomas Skipwith, Bt
1698		Michael Wicks			Edward Pauncefort
January 1701		Samuel Shepheard
November 1701		Sir Charles Hedges
1702		Thomas Boucher
1705		Thomas Farrington			Henry Mordaunt
1710					Joseph Addison	Whig
1713		Sir John Rushout, Bt
1719 by-election					Fleetwood Dormer
March 1722[4]					The Viscount Hillsborough
December 1722		Giles Earle			John Fermor
1723 by-election					Charles Stewart
1727					William Rawlinson Earle
1747		John Lee			James Douglas
1751 by-election					Lord Edward Digby
1754		Lord George Bentinck			Brice Fisher
1759 by-election		Thomas Conolly
1761					The Earl Tylney
1768		The Earl of Donegall			Hon. Thomas Howard
1774		Hon. Charles James Fox	Whig		William Strahan	Tory
September 1780		Viscount Lewisham			Viscount Fairford
November 1780 by-election		John Calvert
1784		The Viscount Melbourne			Viscount Maitland
February 1790 by-election					Paul Benfield
June 1790		Benjamin Bond-Hopkins
1792 by-election					Sir James Sanderson[5]
1794 by-election		Francis Glanville
May 1796		Samuel Smith[6]			Peter Thellusson
November 1796 by-election		Philip Metcalfe
1802		Claude Scott			Sir Samuel Scott, Bt
1806		Robert Ladbroke			Nicholas Ridley-Colborne
1807		Sir George Bowyer, Bt	Tory[7]		Philip Gell	Tory[7]
1810 by-election		Abel Smith	Tory[7]
1812		William Hicks-Beach	Tory[7]		Sir Charles Saxton, Bt[8]	Tory[7]
1813 by-election					Peter Patten	Tory[7]
1817 by-election		Sir William Abdy, Bt
1818		(Sir) Charles Forbes[9]	Tory[7]		Kirkman Finlay	Tory[7]
1820 by-election					William Leake
1826					John Forbes	Tory[7]
1832	Representation reduced to one member

MPs 1832–1885

Election		Member	Party
1832		Charles Howard	Whig[7][10]
1841		Hon. James Howard	Whig[7][11][12][13]
1852		Thomas Luce	Whig
1859		Henry Howard	Liberal
1868		Walter Powell[14]	Conservative
1882 by-election		Charles William Miles	Conservative
1885	Constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Malmesbury^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Charles Forbes	Unopposed
	Tory	John Forbes (1801-1840)	Unopposed
Registered electors			13
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Malmesbury^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Charles Forbes	13	50.0
	Tory	John Forbes (1801-1840)	13	50.0
	Whig	George Julius Poulett Scrope	0	0.0
Majority			13	50.0
Turnout			13	100.0
Registered electors			13
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

General election 1832: Malmesbury^[15][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Howard	Unopposed
Registered electors			291
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1835: Malmesbury^[15][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Howard	Unopposed
Registered electors			292
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Malmesbury^[15][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Howard	112	54.1
	Conservative	Isaac Salter	95	45.9
Majority			17	8.2
Turnout			207	79.6
Registered electors			260
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Malmesbury^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Howard	125	54.3	+0.2
	Conservative	Lancelot Archer Burton[17]	105	45.7	−0.2
Majority			20	8.6	+0.4
Turnout			230	73.0	−6.6
Registered electors			315
	Whig hold		Swing	+0.2

General election 1847: Malmesbury^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Howard	Unopposed
Registered electors			320
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Malmesbury^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Luce	137	51.7	N/A
	Conservative	Peter Audley Lovell[18]	128	48.3	New
Majority			9	3.4	N/A
Turnout			265	85.8	N/A
Registered electors			309
	Whig hold

General election 1857: Malmesbury^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Luce	Unopposed
Registered electors			315
	Whig hold

General election 1859: Malmesbury^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Howard	Unopposed
Registered electors			343
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Malmesbury^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Howard	157	53.6	N/A
	Conservative	John Gilbert Talbot[19]	136	46.4	New
Majority			21	7.2	N/A
Turnout			293	89.1	N/A
Registered electors			329
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Malmesbury^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Powell	337	51.8	+5.4
	Liberal	Henry Howard	314	48.2	−5.4
Majority			23	3.6	N/A
Turnout			651	82.9	−6.2
Registered electors			785
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.4

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Malmesbury^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Powell	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,053
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Malmesbury^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Powell	602	66.0	N/A
	Liberal	Arthur Kitching	310	34.0	New
Majority			292	32.0	N/A
Turnout			912	84.5	N/A
Registered electors			1,079
	Conservative hold		Swing

Powell was declared dead after he disappeared when a hydrogen balloon he was travelling in was blown out into the English Channel and never seen again.

By-election, 7 Mar 1882: Malmesbury^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles William Miles	491	53.0	−13.0
	Liberal	Charles Richard Luce[20]	435	47.0	+13.0
Majority			56	6.0	−26.0
Turnout			926	86.9	+2.4
Registered electors			1,066
	Conservative hold		Swing	−13.0

References

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 1)