Shaftesbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Shaftesbury was a parliamentary constituency in Dorset. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England, Great Britain and the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1295 until 1832 and one member until the constituency was abolished in 1885.

Shaftesbury
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1295–1885
Seats	Two until 1832; one 1832–1885
Replaced by	North Dorset

History

Boundaries and franchise before 1832

Shaftesbury was one of the towns summoned to send representatives to the Model Parliament of 1295, and thereafter was continuously represented (except during the temporary upheavals of the Commonwealth) until the 19th century. The constituency was a parliamentary borough, which until 1832 consisted of parts of three parishes in the town of Shaftesbury, a market town in Dorset. In the 17th century the Mayor and Corporation attempted to restrict the right to vote to themselves, but after a decision in 1697 the vote was exercised by all inhabitant householders paying scot and lot. Shaftesbury being a prosperous town this included the vast majority of households, and in 1831 when the borough contained only 474 houses, 400 separate properties were rated for scot and lot and 359 people voted in that year's election. The franchise was therefore in practice, for the period, a very liberal one.

Political character in the 18th century

Like many boroughs, Shaftesbury generally recognised the local landowner as its "patron", with the right to nominate both its MPs, but also expected this influence to be cemented with generous bribery, making electoral control of the substantial electorate an expensive business. In the mid 18th century the joint patrons were Lord Ilchester and The Earl of Shaftesbury, who generally agreed to nominate one member each rather than bringing about a contested election which would allow the voters scope to demand bribes. Ilchester, who as Stephen Fox had sat as the borough's MP for a number of years before being raised to the peerage, described it as "troublesome, expensive and corrupt".

The patrons were free to recoup their expenditure by selling the seats to suitable candidates (at that period perfectly legal) rather than giving them to family or friends, but avoiding an expensive contest meant they could pocket the proceeds rather than seeing them (illegally) passing into the pockets of the voters. Namier quotes from the papers of Prime Minister Newcastle to show that Sir Thomas Clavering paid £2000 for his seat at Shaftesbury in 1754,^[1] and that in 1761 Newcastle quoted the same sum as the likely price of a seat for Sir Gilbert Heathcote, but added that no other pocket borough would be any cheaper.

However, the agreement between the patrons to split the seats amicably merely caused the townsmen to encourage independent candidates to stand so as to ensure a contest, and from 1761 onwards there was generally at least one candidate competing against those backed by the patrons. There also developed the practice of extending bribes in the form of "loans", which would not be called in provided the voter voted as instructed.

The corrupt election of 1774

Over the years a number of election results were overturned because of corrupt or illegal practices by the victors, but that of 1774 was particularly notorious. At that election one candidate, Hans Winthrop Mortimer, stood independently of the established interests in the town and, having been easily defeated, petitioned to have the result overturned and produced copious evidence of corruption. Thomas Rumbold and Francis Sykes were both shown to have bribed at a rate of 20 guineas (£21) a man, the total spent amounting to several thousand pounds; worse, the magistrates of the town were implicated in distributing this largesse. The contemporary historian of abuses in the rotten boroughs, Thomas Oldfield, gave this account of the "very singular and very absurd contrivances" unsuccessfully used in the hope of preventing proof of involvement:

A person concealed under a ludicrous and fantastical disguise, and called by the name of Punch, was placed in a small apartment, and through a hole in the door delivered to the voters parcels, containing twenty guineas each: upon which they were conducted to another apartment in the same house, where they found another person called Punch's secretary, who required them to sign notes for the value received: these notes were made payable to an imaginary character, to whom was given the name of Glenbucket. Two of the witnesses swore that they had seen Punch through the hole in the door, and that they knew him to be Mr. Matthews, an alderman of the town...

The Commons Committee accepted the evidence before them, and not only declared Sykes and Rumbold not duly elected and Mortimer duly elected to one of the seats in their place, but ordered that Sykes, Rumbold, and a long list of other inhabitants of the town should be prosecuted by the Attorney General for bribery and perjury. A bill was also brought in to permanently deprive the guilty parties of their votes; however this was never passed, the prosecution never took place, and the Commons was eventually persuaded to reverse its condemnations of Sykes and Rumbold so that both were able to stand for the borough at the next general election. They did not escape penalty entirely, however, as Mortimer brought a civil suit for bribery against Sykes at Dorchester Assizes, and was awarded £11,000 in damages – which he used to buy houses in the town, increasing his own influence at future elections.

Bankruptcy and evictions

The combination of corruption at the election itself and the need to fight petitions against the result afterwards made Shaftesbury too expensive to be useful to Ilchester, and he sold most of his property in the town to Sykes, while the Earl of Shaftesbury, having failed to get his candidate elected in 1776, seems to have withdrawn from any active involvement. Meanwhile, Mortimer continued his acquisition of property in the town until he owned the majority of houses in the borough, but spent so much on this and on fighting elections that he ran through his substantial fortune and ended in a debtors' prison.

The majority interest in the borough then passed to the nabob Paul Benfield, who bought up Mortimer's properties cheaply when they were auctioned off to benefit his creditors. However, after twice being elected in expensive contests, Benfield too was bankrupted. Shaftesbury then passed through a number of hands until, on the eve of the Reform Act, the principal interest was that of Earl Grosvenor. His accession seems to have eliminated Shaftesbury's endemic bribery and converted it to a more secure pocket borough: when Edward Harbord was offered the seat in 1820 in token of Grosvenor's admiration for his stand over Peterloo, he described it as "a place where no questions are asked as to political principles, and no money required". However, Grosvenor opted for coercion rather than persuasion to enforce his will, and at the tumultuous election of 1830 threatened to evict any of his tenants who did not back his candidates. This won the day, although the anti-Grosvenor candidate promised to compensate any of his supporters who might be evicted, and the election ended in a riot. Grosvenor's agents then proceeded to issue notice to quit to the recalcitrant tenants, fuelling an even-more-vigorous (but still unsuccessful) opposition to his candidates at the 1831 election, even though both of his nominees were pro-Reform.

Effects of the Reform Act

In 1831, the population of the borough was 2,742, but the Reform Act of the following year extended the boundaries to include the whole of three town parishes and ten other adjoining parishes, covering an area several miles across and bringing the population up to 8,518. This was a bigger population than the revised borough of Poole, across the county, which kept both its MPs. Nevertheless, the Act provided that Shaftesbury lost one of its two MPs. The electorate of the new constituency was 634, and the reformed franchise being more restrictive than that which had previously operated, it was only the provision that preserved the rights of existing voters for life that prevented the new electorate from being as small as the old one. Indeed, as these voters died off or moved away the electorate fell still further, and only 461 men were registered to vote by 1865.

The constituency was unaltered in the boundary changes of 1868, but was too small to survive the next reform, and was abolished with effect from the 1885 general election. Shaftesbury itself and most of the borough were placed in the new Dorset North county constituency, though the parish of Donhead St Mary was in Wiltshire and was therefore incorporated into the Wilton constituency.

Members of Parliament

1295–1629

Year of reign	Year	Location	MP1	MP2
Edward 1  from	1272
25	1296	Westminster	John Cockaine	Hugh Gappe
26	1297	York	Roger le Teynturer	Wm. Langecock
28	1299	London	Walter Snowden/Senden	John Vigorous
30	1301	London	Wm. Sesewood	Thos. Sharewood
33	1304	London	Laurence Pynge jun.	John de Wilton
34	1305	London	Wm. Aunkehill	John de Wilton
35	1306	Carlisle	Walter Sanden	Hamond le Lange
Edward 2  from	1307
1	1307	York	Robert de Monte Alto	Richard Normayne
5	1311	London	Walter Sanden	Hamond le Lange
6	1312	Westminster	Walter Sanden	Thos. Steerman/Shareham
7	1313	Westminster	John Hatche	John le Read
8	1314	Westminster	Walter Sanden/de Soudon	John Figerous/Vigorous
15	1321	York	John le Mal/Hull	John le Ston
16	1322	Westminster	Richard Kinemere/Kymer	John Cockayne/Cockaine
19	1325	Westminster	Roge Luff jun	Wm. Vigorous/Virugore
Edward 3  from	1327
1	1327	York	Richard Palmer	John de Hull
1	1327	Westminster	Thos. Berewyk
2	1328	North	Richard le Palmere	Richard de Kynemere
4	1330	Winchester	Richard de Kynemour	Wm. Vigorous
6	1332	Westminster	John Anketill	John Bray
7	1333	Westminster	Robt. Anctill	Walter Sondon
9	1335	Westminster	Peter Mankerneys	Walter Sondon
9	1335	York	John Anketill	John le Draper
10	1336	Nottingham	John Anketill	Wm. Sondon
11	1337	Westminster	John Sutton
11	1337	Westminster	Wm. Anketill	Thos. Platell & John Seled
12	1338	Westminster	Thos. Platell	Wm. Anketill
14	1340	Westminster	John Steerman	Thos. Platell
15	1341	Westminster	John de Wyke
15	1341	Westminster	Robt. Axtrll	John Steerman
17	1343	Westminster	Wm. le Mew	Thos. Platell
20	1346	Westminster	Thos. de Trent	John de Wyke
21	1347	Westminster	John de Wyke	John Steerman
22	1348	Westminster	Roger de Manyngford	Wm. Hackevill
22	1348	Westminster	John de Wyke	Walter de Thornhull
24	1350	Westminster	John Luff	John Piggon
28	1354	Westminster	John Piggon	John Luff
29	1355	Westminster	Robt. Fovent	John Sharnthorne
31	1357	Westminster	Walter Perie	Edwd. Barnabe
32	1358	Westminster	John Piggon	John Luff
33	1359	Westminster	John Wilton	Lawrence Pynge
34	1360	Westminster	Edmund. Barnabe	Thos. Aleron/Alton
34	1360	Westminster	John Piggon	Edmund. Barnabe
36	1362	Westminster	Wm. Smallbergh	John Moryn
37	1363	Westminster	Walter Henley	Alan Caunsted
43	1369	Westminster	Walter Henley	Edwd. Barnabe
45	1371	Winchester	Walter Henley
47	1373	Westminster	Wm. Anketill	John Luff
Richard 2  from	1377
1	1377	Westminster	Walter Haule	Thos. Bache
2	1378	Westminster	Walter Haule	Thos. Bache
3	1379	Westminster	Walter Haulegh	Thos. Cammell
5	1381	Westminster	Walter Haulegh	Thos. Cammell
6	1382	Westminster	Walter Haulegh	Thos. Seaward

• Constituency created (1295)

Parliament	First member	Second member
1386	Edward Leante	Richard Payn[2]
1388 (Feb)	Thomas Cammell	Thomas Seward[2]
1388 (Sep)	Hugh Croxhale	Roger Pyjon[2]
1390 (Jan)	Thomas Cammell	Robert Fovent[2]
1390 (Nov)
1391	Thomas Cammell	John Whiting[2]
1393	Thomas Cammell	Walter Biere[2]
1394	Thomas Cammell	Robert Biere[2]
1395	John Whiting	Walter Biere[2]
1397 (Jan)	John Hordere	Walter Biere[2]
1397 (Sep)	Hugh Croxhale	Walter Biere[2]
1399	Thomas Cammell	Walter Biere[2]
1401
1402	Thomas Cammell	Walter Biere[2]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	Robert Frye II	John Scarburgh[2]
1407	John Bole	John Bremle[2]
1410	John Bole	Walter Biere[2]
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	John Bole	Walter Biere[2]
1414 (Apr)	Thomas Haselmere	John Pyjon[2]
1414 (Nov)	Thomas Hat	Walter Biere[2]
1415
1416 (Mar)
1416 (Oct)
1417	Robert Frye	Walter Biere[2]
1419	Robert Squibbe	John Clerk[2]
1420	Robert Squibbe	John Bole[2]
1421 (May)	Robert Squibbe	John Clerk[2]
1421 (Dec)	Robert Squibbe	John Hody[2]
1510–1523	No names known[3]
1529	William More	John Mathew[3]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	William More	Robert Grove[3]
1547	John Arundell	Henry Ashley[3]
1553 (Mar)	?
1553 (Nov)	John Gapputh	John Fuell[3]
1554 (Apr)		John Denham[3]
Parliament of 1554 (Nov)		John Plympton[3]
Parliament of 1555	Matthew Arundell	John Foster[3]
Parliament of 1558	William Grove	Hugh Hawker[3]
Parliament of 1559	Sir John Zouche	Henry Coker[4]
Parliament of 1563–1567	Henry Iden	William Jordyn[4]
Parliament of 1571	John Long	Thomas Morgan[4]
Parliament of 1572–1581	Robert Grove	Charles Vaughan[4]
Parliament of 1584–1585	Thomas Cavendish	Bartholomew Kemp[4]
Parliament of 1586–1587	Francis Zouche	Gregory Sprint[4]
Parliament of 1588–1589	Thomas Crompton	Michael Hicks[4]
Parliament of 1593	Arthur Atye[4]
Parliament of 1597–1598	John Budden	John Davies[4]
Parliament of 1601	Arthur Messenger	John Budden
Parliament of 1604–1611	Robert Hopton
Addled Parliament (1614)	Henry Croke	Sir Miles Sandys sat for Cambridge University In his place Sir Simeon Steward
Parliament of 1621–1622	William Beecher Expelled from the House In his place Percy Herbert	Thomas Sheppard Expelled from the House In his place Ralph Hopton
Happy Parliament (1624–1625)	William Whitaker	John Thoroughgood
Useless Parliament (1625)
Parliament of 1625–1626	William Whitaker	Samuel Turner
Parliament of 1628–1629	John Thoroughgood	Sir John Croke
No Parliament summoned 1629–1640

1640–1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640		William Whitaker	Parliamentarian		Edward Hyde[5]	Royalist
1640					Samuel Turner	Royalist
November 1640
January 1644				Turner disabled from sitting – seat vacant
1645					John Bingham
1646		George Starre
1647		John Fry
February 1651	Fry expelled – seat vacant
1653	Shaftesbury was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		Henry Whitaker			James Baker
May 1659		John Bingham		One seat vacant
April 1660		Thomas Grove			James Baker
1661		Henry Whitaker			John Lowe
1667					John Bennett
1677					Thomas Bennett
1679		Sir Matthew Andrews
1685		Sir Henry Butler			John Bowles
1689		Sir Matthew Andrews			Edward Nicholas
1698		Henry Cornish
1699		Thomas Chafin
1701		Sir John Cropley
1710		Edward Seymour
1711		Henry Whitaker
January 1715		Samuel Rush[6]
May 1715		William Benson[7]	Whig
1719		Sir Edward des Bouverie
1726					Stephen Fox
1734		Jacob Banks			Philip Bennet[8]
1735					Stephen Fox
1738		Philip Bennet
1741		Peter Walter			Charles Ewer
1742					George Pitt[9]	Tory
June 1747		Cuthbert Ellison
December 1747					William Beckford
1754[10]		Hon. James Brudenell			Sir Thomas Clavering	Whig
1761[10]		Sir Gilbert Heathcote	Whig		Samuel Touchet	Whig
1768[10]		William Chaffin Grove			(Sir) Ralph Payne
1771[10]					Francis Sykes
1774[10]		Thomas Rumbold
1775[10]		Seat declared vacant pending by-election			Hans Winthrop Mortimer[11]	Independent
1776[10]		George Rous
1780[10]		Sir Thomas Rumbold[12]			(Sir) Francis Sykes[13]
1781[10]		Hans Winthrop Mortimer	Independent
1784[10]					Adam Drummond
1786[10]					John Drummond
1790		Charles Duncombe	Tory[14]		William Grant	Tory[14]
1793					Paul Benfield
1796		Walter Boyd
1802		Edward Loveden Loveden			Robert Hurst
1806					Captain Sir Home Riggs Popham
1807			Whig[14]		Thomas Wallace	Whig[14]
1812		Richard Bateman-Robson	Whig[14]		Hudson Gurney	Whig[14]
1813[15]		Charles Wetherell	Tory[14]		Edward Kerrison	Tory[14]
1818		John Bacon Sawrey Morritt			Henry John Shepherd
1820		Edward Harbord			Abraham Moore
1821		Ralph Leycester	Whig[16]
1822					Lord Robert Grosvenor	Whig
1826					Edward Davies Davenport	Whig[17]
1830		Edward Penrhyn	Whig[14]		William Stratford Dugdale	Tory[14]
1831					William Leader Maberly	Whig[14]
1832	Representation reduced to one member

1832–1885

Year		Member	Party
1832		John Sayer Poulter	Whig[14][18][19]
1838[20]		George Mathew	Conservative[14]
1841		Lord Howard of Effingham	Whig[14][21][22]
1845		Richard Brinsley Sheridan	Whig[23][24][25][26]
1852		Hon. Henry Portman	Whig[27]
1857		George Glyn	Whig
1859			Liberal
1873		Vere Benett-Stanford	Conservative
1880		Hon. Sidney Glyn	Liberal
1885	Constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Shaftesbury^[14][28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Edward Penrhyn	169	38.9
	Tory	William Stratford Dugdale	145	33.3
	Radical	Sir Francis Charles Knowles, 3rd Baronet	121	27.8
Turnout			270	c. 77.1
Registered electors			c. 350
Majority			24	5.6
	Whig hold
Majority			24	5.5
	Tory gain from Whig

Dugdale resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 19 April 1831: Shaftesbury^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Leader Maberly	Unopposed
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1831: Shaftesbury^[14][28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Edward Penrhyn	171	28.7	+9.3
	Whig	William Leader Maberly	168	28.2	+8.8
	Radical	Sir Francis Charles Knowles, 3rd Baronet	133	22.4	−5.4
	Tory	Dominick Trant	123	20.7	−12.6
Majority			25	7.5	N/A
Turnout			c. 298	c. 85.0	c. +7.9
Registered electors			c. 350
	Whig hold		Swing	+7.8
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	+7.6

General election 1832: Shaftesbury^[14][29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Sayer Poulter	318	60.2	+32.0
	Whig	Edward Penrhyn	210	39.8	+11.1
Majority			108	20.4	+12.9
Turnout			528	83.3	−1.7
Registered electors			634
	Whig hold		Swing	+10.5

General election 1835: Shaftesbury^[14][29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Sayer Poulter	237	61.6	+1.4
	Conservative	William Best[30]	148	38.4	New
Majority			89	23.2	+2.8
Turnout			385	69.5	−13.8
Registered electors			554
	Whig hold		Swing	+1.4

General election 1837: Shaftesbury^[14][29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Sayer Poulter	224	50.6	−11.0
	Conservative	George Mathew	219	49.4	+11.0
Majority			5	1.2	−22.0
Turnout			443	89.3	+19.8
Registered electors			496
	Whig hold		Swing	−11.0

• On petition, Poulter was unseated in favour of Mathew

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Shaftesbury^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Howard	219	52.0	+1.4
	Conservative	George Mathew	202	48.0	−1.4
Majority			17	4.0	+2.8
Turnout			421	84.7	−4.6
Registered electors			497
	Whig hold		Swing	+1.4

Howard succeeded to the peerage, becoming 2nd Earl of Effingham, causing a by-election.

By-election, 5 March 1845: Shaftesbury^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Richard Brinsley Sheridan	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1847: Shaftesbury^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Richard Brinsley Sheridan	213	54.8	+2.8
	Conservative	Richard Bethell	176	45.2	−2.8
Majority			37	9.6	+5.6
Turnout			389	80.4	−4.3
Registered electors			484
	Whig hold		Swing	+2.8

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Shaftesbury^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Portman	Unopposed
Registered electors			509
	Whig hold

General election 1857: Shaftesbury^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Glyn	Unopposed
Registered electors			540
	Whig hold

General election 1859: Shaftesbury^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Glyn	Unopposed
Registered electors			515
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Shaftesbury^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Glyn	Unopposed
Registered electors			461
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Shaftesbury^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Glyn	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,311
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

Glyn succeeded to the peerage, becoming Lord Wolverton and causing a by-election.

By-election, 30 Aug 1873: Shaftesbury^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Vere Benett-Stanford	603	53.0	New
	Liberal	Henry Danby Seymour[31]	534	47.0	N/A
Majority			69	6.0	N/A
Turnout			1,137	86.7	N/A
Registered electors			1,311
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1874: Shaftesbury^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Vere Benett-Stanford	591	51.3	N/A
	Liberal	Henry Danby Seymour[31]	562	48.7	N/A
Majority			29	2.6	N/A
Turnout			1,153	89.7	N/A
Registered electors			1,286
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Shaftesbury^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sidney Glyn	652	51.3	+2.6
	Conservative	Vere Benett-Stanford	618	48.7	−2.6
Majority			34	2.6	N/A
Turnout			1,270	91.5	+1.8
Registered electors			1,388
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.6