Wicklow (UK Parliament constituency)

County Wicklow was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1801 to 1885 it returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

County Wicklow
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	County Wicklow
1801–1885
Created from	County Wicklow (IHC)
Replaced by	East Wicklow West Wicklow

At the 1885 general election, under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, County Wicklow was divided into two parliamentary divisions: East Wicklow and West Wicklow.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the whole of County Wicklow.

Members of Parliament

Year	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1801		William Hoare Hume			vacant until the by-election held in Jan 1801
Jan 1801					George Ponsonby	Whig
1806					William Tighe
Feb 1816		Hon. Granville Proby	Whig[1]
Apr 1816					George Ponsonby	Whig
Aug 1817					William Parnell-Hayes
1821					James Grattan	Whig[2][3]
Jul 1829		Sir Ralph Howard, Bt	Whig[2][3][4]
1841					William Acton	Conservative[2][5]
1847		Viscount Milton	Whig[6][7][8][9]
Apr 1848					Sir Ralph Howard, Bt	Whig[2][3][4]
1852					William Wentworth FitzWilliam Dick	Conservative[5]
Feb 1858		Lord Proby	Whig[10]
1859			Liberal[5]
Nov 1868		Hon. Henry Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Liberal[5]
1874		William Richard O'Byrne	Home Rule League[5]
1880		William Joseph Corbet	Parnellite Home Rule League[5]		James Carlile McCoan	Parnellite Home Rule League[5]
1881						Independent
1885	Constituency divided: see East Wicklow and West Wicklow

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Wicklow^[5][2][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Grattan	Unopposed
	Whig	Ralph Howard	Unopposed
Registered electors			785
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1831: Wicklow^[5][2][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Grattan	Unopposed
	Whig	Ralph Howard	Unopposed
Registered electors			785
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Wicklow^[5][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Grattan	717	32.3
	Whig	Ralph Howard	710	32.0
	Tory	William Acton	661	29.8
	Tory	John Humphreys	132	5.9
Majority			49	2.2
Turnout			1,384	88.4
Registered electors			1,566
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1835: Wicklow^[5][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Grattan	Unopposed
	Whig	Ralph Howard	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,679
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Wicklow^[5][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Grattan	697	34.5
	Whig	Ralph Howard	696	34.4
	Conservative	William Acton	623	30.8
	Conservative	John Humphreys	6	0.3
Majority			73	3.6
Turnout			1,323	69.6
Registered electors			1,900
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Wicklow^[5][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Acton	663	36.2	+5.1
	Whig	Ralph Howard	603	33.0	−1.4
	Whig	James Grattan	563	30.8	−3.7
Majority			100	5.4	N/A
Turnout			1,235	80.7	+11.1
Registered electors			1,530
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+5.1
	Whig hold		Swing	−2.0

General election 1847: Wicklow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Acton	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,836
	Whig hold
	Conservative hold

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

By-election, 27 April 1848: Wicklow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Ralph Howard	368	50.9	N/A
	Conservative	Charles Monck	355	49.1	N/A
Majority			13	1.8	N/A
Turnout			723	52.2 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			1,386 (1847 figure)
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Wicklow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Wentworth FitzWilliam Hume	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,330
	Whig hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Wicklow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Wentworth-FitzWilliam	1,970	42.7	N/A
	Conservative	William Wentworth FitzWilliam Hume	1,610	34.9	N/A
	Whig	Richard Monck[13]	1,030	22.3	N/A
Turnout			2,305 (est)	68.6 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,358
Majority			360	7.8	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			580	12.6	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Wentworth-FitzWilliam succeeded to the peerage, becoming 6th Earl FitzWilliam, causing a by-election.

By-election, 25 February 1858: Wicklow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Granville Proby	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1859: Wicklow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Granville Proby	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Wentworth FitzWilliam Hume	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,368
	Liberal hold
	Conservative hold

Proby was appointed Comptroller of the Household, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 18 July 1859: Wicklow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Granville Proby	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,368
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Wicklow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Granville Proby	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Wentworth FitzWilliam Dick	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,537
	Liberal hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: Wicklow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Wentworth FitzWilliam Dick	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,613
	Liberal hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Wicklow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	William Richard O'Byrne	1,511	36.6	New
	Conservative	William Wentworth FitzWilliam Dick	1,141	27.6	N/A
	Liberal	Henry Wentworth-FitzWilliam	927	22.4	N/A
	Home Rule	John Howard Parnell	553	13.4	New
Turnout			2,066 (est)	57.7 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,579
Majority			584	14.2	N/A
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
Majority			214	5.2	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Wicklow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parnellite Home Rule League	William Joseph Corbet	1,433	30.3	−6.3
	Parnellite Home Rule League	James Carlile McCoan	1,240	26.3	+12.9
	Conservative	William Wentworth FitzWilliam Dick	1,233	26.1	+12.3
	Conservative	Robert Cornwallis Gun-Cunninghame	451	9.5	−4.3
	Liberal	David Mahony	366	7.7	−5.7
Majority			7	0.2	N/A
Turnout			2,362 (est)	71.3 (est)	+13.6
Registered electors			3,312
	Home Rule hold		Swing	−1.0
	Home Rule gain from Conservative		Swing	+0.3