Nottingham (UK Parliament constituency)

Nottingham was a parliamentary borough in Nottinghamshire, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1295. In 1885 the constituency was abolished and the city of Nottingham divided into three single-member constituencies.

Nottingham
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
Riotous hustings in the Great Marketplace on 26 June 1865[1]
1295–1885
Seats	two
Replaced by	Nottingham East, Nottingham South and Nottingham West

History

Nottingham sent two representatives to Parliament from 1283 onwards.

In the mid eighteenth century it was influenced by the large local landowners the Duke of Newcastle for the Whigs and Lord Middleton for the Tories and as a consequence would tend to return MP from each party.^[2]

The constituency was abolished in 1885 and replaced by Nottingham East, Nottingham South and Nottingham West.

Members of Parliament

1295–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1318	Robert Ingram[3]	Simon Folville[3]
1322 (May)	Geoffrey le Flemyng[3]	Simon Folville[3]
1327 (Jan)	Robert Ingram of Nottingham[3]	Simon Folville[3]
1384 (Apr)	John Tansley[4]
1385	John Crowshaw[5]
1386	William Butler	Robert Howden[6]
1388 (Feb)	John Crowshaw	John Plumtre[6]
1388 (Sep)	William Butler	Thomas Mapperley[6]
1390 (Jan)	William Butler	Robert German[6]
1390 (Nov)
1391	William Butler	Thomas Mapperley[6]
1393	William Butler	Nicholas Alestre[6]
1394
1395	Thomas Mapperley	Robert German (MP)[6]
1397 (Jan)	Thomas Mapperley	Robert German (MP)[6]
1397 (Sep)	William Gresley	John Hodings[6]
1399	John Plumtre	John Tansley[6]
1401
1402
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	Walter Stacy	Thomas Fox[6]
1407	John Bothall	John Jorce[6]
1410
1411	Thomas Mapperley	John Hodings[6]
1413 (Feb)	Thomas Mapperley	John Hodings 1[6]
1413 (May)	Thomas Mapperley	John Tansley[6]
1414 (Apr)	John Tansley	Robert Glade[6]
1414 (Nov)	Walter Stacy	Henry Preston[6]
1415
1416 (Mar)	John Alestre	John Bingham[6]
1416 (Oct)
1417	Henry Preston	William Burton[6]
1419	Robert Glade	Richard Samon[6]
1420	John Bingham	Thomas Poge[6]
1421 (May)	Robert Glade	John Alestre[6]
1421 (Dec)	Richard Samon	Thomas Poge[6]
1422	John Alestre[7]	Thomas Poge[8]
1423	Thomas Poge[8]
1425	John Alestre[7]
1427	Thomas Poge[8]
1510–1523	No names known[9]
1529	Anthony Babington	Henry Statham, died and replaced Jan 1535 by Nicholas Quarnby[9]
1536	?Sir Anthony Babington	?[9]
1539	Sir John Markham	George Pierrepont[9]
1542	Edward Chamberlain	?Sir John Markham[9]
1545	Sir John Markham	Nicholas Powtrell[9]
1547	John Paston	Nicholas Powtrell[9]
1553 (Mar)	Robert Haselrigg	Francis Colman[9]
1553 (Oct)	Humphrey Quarnby	Thomas Markham[9]
1554 (Apr)	Humphrey Quarnby	Francis Colman[9]
1554 (Nov)	Nicholas Powtrell	William Markham[9]
1555	Hugh Thornhill	John Bateman[9]
1558	Francis Colman	Edward Boun[9]
1558 (Dec)	Thomas Markham	John Bateman[9]
1562–1563	Humphrey Quarnby, died and replaced 1566 by Ralph Barton	John Bateman[9]
1571	Ralph Barton	William Ball[9]
1572 (Apr)	Sir Thomas Manners	John Bateman[9]
1584 (Oct)	Richard Parkins	John Bateman[9]
1586	Sir Robert Constable	Richard Parkins[9]
1588–1589	Richard Parkins	George Manners[9]
1593	Richard Parkins	Humphrey Bonner[9]
1597 (Sep)	Humphrey Bonner	Anchor Jackson[9]
1601	William Gregory	William Greaves[9]
1604–1611	Richard Harte (or Hunt)	Anchor Jackson
1614	William Gregory	Robert Staples
1621	Michael Purefoy	George Lascelles
1623	John Byron	Sir Charles Cavendish
1625	Robert Greaves	John Martyn
1626	Sir Gervase Clifton	John Byron
1628	Sir Charles Cavendish	Viscount Newark
1629–1640	No Parliaments convened

1640–1885

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640		Charles Cavendish	Royalist		Gilbert Boone
November 1640		William Stanhope	Royalist		Gilbert Millington	Parliamentarian
January 1644	Stanhope disabled to sit – seat vacant
1645		Francis Pierrepont
1653	Nottingham was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		James Chadwick			John Mason
1656					William Drury
January 1659		John Whalley			John Parker
May 1659		Gilbert Millington		One seat vacant
April 1660		Arthur Stanhope			John Hutchinson (banned as Regicide)
June 1660					Robert Pierrepont
1679		Richard Slater
1685		John Beaumont			Sir William Stanhope
1689		Francis Pierrepont			Edward Bigland
1690		Charles Hutchinson			Richard Slater
1695		William Pierrepont
1699					Robert Sacheverell
January 1701					George Gregory
June 1701					Robert Sacheverell
December 1701					Robert Sacheverell
1702					George Gregory
1705					Robert Sacheverell
1706		John Plumptre	Whig[10]
1708					Roby Sherwin
1710					Robert Sacheverell
1713		Borlase Warren	Tory[10]
1715		John Plumptre	Whig[10]		George Gregory	Whig[10]
1727		John Stanhope			Borlase Warren	Tory[10]
1734		John Plumptre	Whig[10]
May 1747					Sir Charles Sedley
June 1747		George Howe	Whig[10]
1754					Sir Willoughby Aston	Tory[10]
1758		Colonel the Hon. (Sir) William Howe[n 1]	Whig[10]
1761					John Plumptre
1774					Sir Charles Sedley	Tory[10]
1778					Abel Smith
1779					Robert Smith	Whig[10]
1780		Daniel Coke	Tory[10]
1797					Captain Sir John Borlase Warren[n 2]	Tory[10]
1802		Joseph Birch[n 3]	Whig[10]
1803		Daniel Coke	Tory[10]
1806					John Smith	Whig[10]
1812		George Parkyns	Whig[10]
1818					Joseph Birch	Whig[10]
1820		Thomas Denman	Whig[10]
1826		George Parkyns	WHIG[10]
1830		Thomas Denman	Whig[10]		Sir Ronald Craufurd Ferguson	Whig[10][11][12][13]
1832		John Ponsonby	Whig[10]
1834		Sir John Hobhouse	Radical[14][15][16][17][18]
April 1841					John Walter	Conservative[10]
June 1841					George Larpent	Whig[10][19][20][21]
1842					John Walter[n 4]	Conservative[10]
1843					Thomas Gisborne	Whig[22][23][24]
1847		John Walter (junior)	Conservative		Feargus O'Connor	Chartist
1852			Peelite[25][26][27]		Edward Strutt	Whig[28][29][30][31]
1856					Charles Paget	Radical[32]
1859		John Mellor	Liberal			Liberal
1861		Sir Robert Juckes Clifton	Ind. Liberal[33]
1865[n 5]					Samuel Morley	Liberal
1866		Ralph Bernal Osborne	Ind. Liberal[34]		Viscount Amberley	Liberal
1868		Sir Robert Juckes Clifton	Ind. Liberal[35]		Charles Ichabod Wright	Conservative
1869		Charles Seely	Liberal
1870					Hon. Auberon Herbert	Liberal
1874		William Evelyn Denison	Conservative		Saul Isaac	Conservative
April 1880		Charles Seely	Liberal		John Skirrow Wright	Liberal
May 1880					Arnold Morley	Liberal
1885	Constituency abolished

Notes

1. Later General; knighted 1775
2. Later Rear-Admiral
3. On petition, Birch was found not to have been duly elected
4. On petition, Walter's election was declared void and a by-election held, in which his son, John Walter (junior), took his place as Conservative candidate and was defeated
5. On petition, the election of 1865 was declared void and a by-election held

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Nottingham^[10][36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Denman	1,206	46.2
	Whig	Ronald Craufurd Ferguson	1,180	45.2
	Tory	Thomas Bailey	226	8.7
Majority			954	36.5
Turnout			1,413	c. 28.3
Registered electors			c. 5,000
	Whig hold		Swing
	Whig hold		Swing

General election 1831: Nottingham^[10][36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Thomas Denman	Unopposed
	Whig	Ronald Craufurd Ferguson	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 5,000
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Nottingham^[10][37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Ronald Craufurd Ferguson	2,399	41.9
	Whig	John Ponsonby	2,349	41.0
	Tory	James Edward Gordon	976	17.1
Majority			1,373	23.9
Turnout			3,322	63.6
Registered electors			5,220
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Ponsonby was appointed Home Secretary and elevated to the House of Lords as Lord Duncannon, causing a by-election.

By-election, 25 July 1834: Nottingham^[10][37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	John Hobhouse	1,591	73.8	N/A
	Radical	William Eagle	566	26.2	N/A
Majority			1,025	47.6	N/A
Turnout			2,157	41.8	−21.8
Registered electors			5,166
	Radical gain from Whig

General election 1835: Nottingham^[10][37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Ronald Craufurd Ferguson	Unopposed
	Radical	John Hobhouse	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,454
	Whig hold
	Radical gain from Whig

Hobhouse was appointed as President of the Board of Control for the Affairs of India, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 24 April 1835: Nottingham^[10][37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Radical	John Hobhouse	Unopposed
	Radical hold

General election 1837: Nottingham^[10][37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Ronald Craufurd Ferguson	2,056	29.8
	Radical	John Hobhouse	2,052	29.7
	Conservative	William Plowden[38]	1,397	20.2
	Conservative	Horace Twiss	1,396	20.2
Turnout			3,728	68.1
Registered electors			5,475
Majority			4	0.1
	Whig hold
Majority			655	9.5
	Radical hold

Elections in the 1840s

Ferguson's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 26 April 1841: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Walter Sr.	1,983	53.2	+12.8
	Whig	George Larpent	1,745	46.8	+17.0
Majority			238	6.4	N/A
Turnout			3,728	79.7	+11.6
Registered electors			4,678
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	−2.1

General election 1841: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Larpent	529	39.4	+9.6
	Radical	John Hobhouse	527	39.3	+9.6
	Conservative	John Walter Sr.	144	10.7	−9.5
	Conservative	Thomas Broughton Charlton[39]	142	10.6	−9.6
Turnout			671 (est)	14.3 (est)	c. −53.8
Registered electors			5,260
Majority			2	0.1	±0.0
	Whig hold		Swing	+9.6
Majority			383	28.6	+19.1
	Radical hold		Swing	+9.6

Walter and Charlton retired half an hour after the poll opened.^[10]

Larpent resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

By-election, 4 August 1842: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Walter Sr.	1,885	51.1	+29.8
	Radical	Joseph Sturge[40]	1,801	48.9	+9.6
Majority			84	2.2	N/A
Turnout			3,686	67.8	+53.5
Registered electors			5,436
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+10.1

Walter's election was declared void, on petition, due to bribery by his agents, on 23 March 1843, causing a by-election.^[41]

By-election, 5 April 1843: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Gisborne	1,839	51.6	+12.2
	Conservative	John Walter Jr.	1,728	48.4	+27.1
Majority			111	3.0	+2.9
Turnout			3,567	69.0	+54.7
Registered electors			5,172
	Whig hold		Swing	−7.5

Hobhouse was appointed President of the Board of Control for the Affairs of India, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 8 July 1846: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	John Hobhouse	Unopposed
	Radical hold

General election 1847: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Walter Jr.	1,683	34.8	+13.5
	Chartist	Feargus O'Connor	1,257	26.0	N/A
	Whig	Thomas Gisborne	999	20.7	−18.7
	Radical	John Hobhouse	893	18.5	−20.8
Turnout			2,416 (est)	46.9 (est)	+32.6
Registered electors			5,148
Majority			684	13.9	N/A
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+16.1
Majority			364	7.5	N/A
	Chartist gain from Radical		Swing

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Edward Strutt	1,960	45.2	+24.5
	Peelite	John Walter Jr.	1,863	43.0	+8.2
	Chartist	Charles Sturgeon[42]	512	11.8	−14.2
Turnout			2,168 (est)	41.2 (est)	−5.7
Registered electors			5,260
Majority			1,448	33.4	N/A
	Whig gain from Chartist		Swing	+15.8
Majority			1,351	31.2	N/A
	Peelite gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.7

Strutt was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 1 January 1853: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Edward Strutt	Unopposed
	Whig hold

Strutt was elevated to the peerage, becoming 1st Baron Belper, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 30 July 1856: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Charles Paget	Unopposed
	Radical gain from Whig

General election 1857: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Charles Paget	2,393	49.4	+4.2
	Peelite	John Walter Jr.	1,836	37.9	−5.1
	Chartist	Ernest Charles Jones[43]	614	12.7	+0.9
Turnout			2,422 (est)	42.9 (est)	+1.7
Registered electors			5,650
Majority			557	11.5	N/A
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing	+1.9
Majority			1,222	25.2	−6.0
	Peelite hold		Swing	−2.8

General election 1859: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Paget	2,456	37.1	+12.4
	Liberal	John Mellor	2,181	32.9	+8.2
	Conservative	Thomas Bromley[44]	1,836	27.7	−10.2
	Chartist	Ernest Charles Jones	151	2.3	−10.4
Majority			345	5.2	−6.3
Turnout			3,312 (est)	55.1 (est)	+12.2
Registered electors			6,012
	Liberal hold		Swing	+8.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	+6.7

Elections in the 1860s

Mellor resigned after being appointed a Judge of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, causing a by-election.

By-election, 26 December 1861: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal	Robert Juckes Clifton[33]	2,513	69.1	New
	Liberal	Henry Pelham-Clinton	1,122	30.9	−29.1
Majority			1,391	38.2	N/A
Turnout			3,635	55.6	+0.5
Registered electors			6,533
	Independent Liberal gain from Liberal		Swing

General election 1865: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Samuel Morley	2,393	25.7	−7.2
	Independent Liberal	Robert Juckes Clifton[33]	2,352	25.3	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Paget	2,327	25.0	−12.1
	Conservative	Alfred Marten[45]	2,242	24.1	−3.6
Turnout			4,657 (est)	78.5 (est)	+23.4
Registered electors			5,934
Majority			41	0.4	−4.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.7
Majority			25	0.3	N/A
	Independent Liberal gain from Liberal		Swing

The election, "won by violence" and bribery was declared void on petition, causing a by-election.^[46][33]

By-election, 11 May 1866: Nottingham^[37][34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal	Ralph Bernal Osborne	2,518	25.9	N/A
	Liberal	John Russell	2,494	25.6	−0.1
	Conservative	George Jenkinson	2,411	24.8	+0.7
	Liberal	Handel Cossham	2,307	23.7	−1.3
	Independent Liberal	David Faulkner[47]	3	0.0	N/A
Turnout			4,867 (est)	82.0 (est)	+3.5
Registered electors			5,934
Majority			24	0.3	0.0
	Independent Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			83	0.8	+0.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.2

General election 1868: Nottingham^[37][35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal	Robert Juckes Clifton	5,285	28.4	+3.1
	Conservative	Charles Ichabod Wright	4,591	24.6	+0.5
	Liberal	Charles Seely	4,004	21.5	−4.2
	Liberal	Peter Clayden[48]	2,716	14.6	−10.7
	Independent Liberal	Ralph Bernal Osborne	2,031	10.9	N/A
Turnout			11,609 (est)	81.9 (est)	+3.4
Registered electors			14,168
Majority			694	3.8	+3.5
	Independent Liberal hold		Swing	+5.3
Majority			587	3.1	N/A
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.0

• Wright was a Liberal-Conservative candidate.^[35]

Clifton's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 16 June 1869: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Seely	4,627	50.6	+14.5
	Independent Liberal	William Digby Seymour	4,517	49.4	+10.1
Majority			110	1.2	N/A
Turnout			9,144	64.5	−17.4
Registered electors			14,168
	Liberal gain from Independent Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1870s

Wright's resignation caused a by-election.

By-election, 24 Feb 1870: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Auberon Herbert	4,971	51.5	+15.4
	Independent Liberal	William Digby Seymour[49]	4,675	48.5	+9.2
Majority			296	3.0	N/A
Turnout			9,646	68.1	−13.8
Registered electors			14,168
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1874: Nottingham^[37][50]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Evelyn Denison	5,268	24.9	+12.6
	Conservative	Saul Isaac	4,790	22.6	+10.3
	Liberal	Robert Laycock[51]	3,732	17.6	−3.9
	Liberal	Henry Labouchère	3,545	16.8	+2.2
	Lib-Lab	David Heath[52]	2,752	13.0	New
	Independent Liberal	Richard Birkin[53]	1,074	5.1	−34.2
Majority			1,058	5.0	+1.9
Turnout			10,581 (est)	65.5 (est)	−16.4
Registered electors			16,154
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.7
	Conservative gain from Independent Liberal		Swing	+5.6

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Seely	8,499	31.3	+13.7
	Liberal	John Skirrow Wright	8,055	29.6	+12.8
	Conservative	Saul Isaac	5,575	20.5	−2.1
	Conservative	William Gill[54]	5,052	18.6	−6.3
Majority			2,480	9.1	N/A
Turnout			13,591 (est)	72.7 (est)	+7.2
Registered electors			18,699
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.9
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.6

Wright's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 8 May 1880: Nottingham^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arnold Morley	Unopposed
	Liberal hold