Andover (UK Parliament constituency) explained

Andover
Type:Borough
Parliament:uk
Year:1586
Abolished:1885
Elects Howmany:two (1586–1868); one (1868–1885)
Hampshire, Western or Andover Division
Type:County
Parliament:uk
Year:1885
Abolished:1918
Elects Howmany:one
Next:Basingstoke and Winchester

Andover was the name of a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1295 to 1307, and again from 1586, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It was a parliamentary borough in Hampshire, represented by two Members of Parliament until 1868, and by one member from 1868 to 1885. The name was then transferred to a county constituency electing one MP from 1885 until 1918.

History

The parliamentary borough of Andover, in the county of Hampshire (or as it was still sometimes known before about the eighteenth centuries, Southamptonshire), sent MPs to the parliaments of 1295 and 1302–1307. It was re-enfranchised as a two-member constituency in the reign of Elizabeth I of England. It elected MPs regularly from 1586.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

The House of Commons decided, in 1689, that the elective franchise for the seat was limited to the twenty four members of the Andover corporation and not the freemen of the borough. This ruling was confirmed after another disputed election in 1727. Matthew Skinner and Abel Kettleby received the most votes, from many householders, but James Brudenell and Charles Colyear (Viscount Milsington) were declared elected for winning the most support from corporation members. Under the Reform Act 1832 the electorate was expanded by allowing householders, whose property was valued at £10 or more, to vote. There were 246 registered electors in 1832.

From the 1868 United Kingdom general election the constituency returned one member. The electorate was further extended, in 1868, to 775 registered electors.

Apart from the period between 1653 and 1658, Andover continued to be represented as a borough constituency until that was abolished in 1885. Immediately thereafter, from the 1885 United Kingdom general election, the town of Andover was combined with surrounding rural territory to form a county division of Hampshire, known formally as the Western or Andover division. The registered electorate for the expanded seat was 9,175 in 1885, and 9,460 in 1901.[10]

The constituency was abolished in 1918, when the Municipal Borough of Andover and Andover Rural District were included in the Basingstoke seat.

Boundaries

The constituency was based on the northern Hampshire town of Andover.

The Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 (2 & 3 William IV, c. 64) defined the seat as "the respective parishes of Andover and Knights Enham, and the tithing of Foxcot". The boundaries were left unaltered, until the end of the borough constituency in 1885.

Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the county division was defined as including the Sessional Divisions of Andover, and Kingsclere; with parts of the Sessional Divisions of Winchester, Romsey, and Basingstoke, and the Municipal Boroughs of Andover and Winchester, and the parish of Coombe, Hampshire in the Hungerford Sessional Division of Berkshire.

Members of Parliament

The Roman numerals after some names are to distinguish different members for this constituency, with the same name. It is not suggested this use of Roman numerals was applied at the time.

Parliament of England 1586-1707 (two members)

As there were sometimes significant gaps between Parliaments held in this period, the dates of first assembly and dissolution are given. Where the name of the member has not yet been ascertained or (before 1558) is not recorded in a surviving document, the entry unknown is entered in the table.

ElectedAssembledDissolvedFirst MemberSecond Member
1586 13 October 1586 23 March 1587 Edwin Sandys
1588 4 February 1589 29 March 1589 Thomas Temple
1593 18 February 1593 10 April 1593 Miles Sandys
1597 24 October 1597 9 February 1598 Edward Reynolds
1601 27 October 1601 19 December 1601
1604 19 March 1604 9 February 1611 Sir Thomas JermynThomas Antrobus
1614 5 April 1614 7 June 1614 Richard Venables
1620 or 1621 16 January 1621 25 August 1621 Richard VenablesJohn Shuter
1621 22 November 1621 8 February 1622 Robert Wallop
1623 or 1624 12 February 1624 27 March 1625 Robert Wallop
1625 17 May 1625 12 August 1625
1626 6 February 1626 15 June 1626
1628 17 March 1628 10 March 1629 Robert Wallop
1640 13 April 1640 5 May 1640 Robert WallopSir Richard Wynn
1640 3 November 1640 5 December 1648 Sir Henry Rainsford[11]
1641 *Henry Vernon[12]
3 May 1642[13] Sir William Waller[14]
6 December 1648[15] 20 April 1653[16] Seat vacant
1653[17] 4 July 1653 12 December 1653 unrepresented
1654 3 September 1654 22 January 1655 John Duns
1656 17 September 1656 4 February 1658 Thomas Hussey
1658 or 1659 27 January 1659 22 April 1659 Colonel Gabriel BeckRobert Gough
N/A[18] 7 May 1659 20 February 1660 Robert WallopSeat vacant
21 February 1660 16 March 1660
25 April 1660 29 December 1660
8 May 1661 24 January 1679 Sir John Trott, Bt[19] John Collins<-- 11 Jul 1624 1711 -->
Sir Kingsmill Lucy, Bt[20]
6 March 1679 12 July 1679
21 October 1680 18 January 1681
21 March 1681 28 March 1681
19 May 1685 2 June 1687
22 January 1689 6 February 1690
20 March 1690 11 October 1695 Francis Powlett (Whig)[21] John Pollen II (Tory)
22 November 1695 6 July 1698 John Smith (Whig) Sir Robert Smyth, Bt (Whig)
24 August 1698 19 December 1700 John Smith (Whig) Anthony Henley (Whig)
6 February 1701 11 November 1701 John Smith (Whig) Francis Shepheard (Whig)[22]
30 December 1701 2 July 1702 John Smith (Whig) Francis Shepheard (Whig)
20 August 1702 5 April 1705 John Smith (Whig) Francis Shepheard (Whig)
14 June 1705 1707[23] John Smith (Whig) Francis Shepheard (Whig)

1707–1868 (two members)

DateFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party
1707, October 23[24] John Smith <-- c 1655 2 Oct 1723 --> WhigWhig
1708, May 6William Guidott <-- 25 Jan 1672 30 Aug 1745 --> Whig
1713, August 25Sir Ambrose Crowley[25] Tory
1714, March 30 *Tory
1715, January 29 *
1715, April 1James Brudenell <-- c 1687 9 Aug 1746 -->
1727, August 23Viscount Milsington[26]
1730, January 20 *William Guidott <-- 25 Jan 1672 30 Aug 1745 --> Whig
1734, April 25John Pollen III <-- c 1702 24 Jul 1775 --> Whig
1741, May 5Hon. John Wallop[27] Whig
1749, November 28 *Sir John Griffin <-- 13 Mar 1719 25 May 1797 -->
1754, April 16
1768, March 21Benjamin Lethieullier <-- 1729 5 Dec 1797 -->
1784, August 11 *
1796, May 25Hon. Coulson Wallop <-- 19 Sep 1774 31 Aug 1807 -->
1797, December 14 *Thomas Assheton Smith I[28] <-- c 1751 12 May 1828 --> Tory[29]
1802, July 5Whig
1820, March 8Sir John Pollen, 2nd Bt <-- 6 Apr 1784 2 May 1863 --> Tory
1821, May 11 *
WhigRalph Etwall <-- 1804 15 Dec 1 --> Whig[30] [31]
1835, January 8
1841, June 29Whig
1847, July 29ConservativeWilliam Cubitt[32] <-- 1791 28 Oct 1863 --> Conservative
1857, March 28Hon. Dudley Fortescue <-- 4 Aug 1820 2 Mar 1909 --> Whig
1859Liberal
1861, July 29 *Henry Beaumont Coles[33]
1862, December 17 *William Cubitt[34]
1863, November 18 *William Humphery[35]
1867, February 11 *
1868constituency reduced to one member

1868-1918 (one member)

YearMemberPartyNote
1868Liberal
1874Conservative
1880Liberal
1885ConservativeRe-elected unopposed 1886, 1892, 1895, 1900; died 3 August 1901
1901Conservative
1906ConservativeLast MP for the constituency
1918constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1860s

Cubitt resigned to contest the 1861 by-election at City of London, causing a by-election.

Coles' death caused a by-election.

Cubitt's death caused a by-election.

Humphery resigned, causing a by-election.

Karslake was appointed Attorney General for England and Wales, requiring a by-election.

The seat was reduced to one member.

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Andover . History of Parliament Online (1558–1603). 27 March 2019 .
  2. Web site: Andover . History of Parliament Online (1604–1629). 27 March 2019.
  3. Web site: Andover . History of Parliament Online (1640–1660). 27 March 2019 . (currently unavailable)
  4. Web site: Andover. History of Parliament Online (1660–1690). 27 March 2019 .
  5. Web site: Andover . History of Parliament Online (1690–1715). 27 March 2019 .
  6. Web site: Andover. History of Parliament Online (1715–1754). 27 March 2019 .
  7. Web site: Andover. History of Parliament Online (1754–1790). 27 March 2019 .
  8. Web site: Andover. History of Parliament Online (1790–1820). 27 March 2019 .
  9. Web site: Andover. History of Parliament Online (1820–1832). 27 March 2019 .
  10. Election intelligence. 27 August 1901. 4 . 36544.
  11. Rainsford died April 1641
  12. On petition, Vernon's election was declared void. The returning officer had given his casting vote to Vernon after he tied in votes with Sir William Waller, but Waller would have won had one of his supporters not been prevented from voting (on the grounds that he had not been sworn in as a burgess). After Vernon's election was declared void without a division, the House voted 107-102 to recognise Waller as duly elected.
  13. Date on which the House of Commons resolved that Henry Vernon's election in 1641 was void and that Waller was duly elected
  14. Waller was disabled from membership in January 1648 at the instigation of the army, but this order was revoked in June 1648; he was excluded permanently in Pride's Purge, December 1648
  15. Date of Pride's Purge, which converted the Long Parliament into the Rump Parliament.
  16. Date when Oliver Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament by force.
  17. Date when the members of the nominated or Barebones Parliament were selected. Andover was not represented in this body, except as part of Hampshire.
  18. The Rump Parliament was recalled and subsequently Pride's Purge was reversed, allowing the full Long Parliament to meet until it agreed to dissolve itself.
  19. Trott died 14 July 1672
  20. Lucy died 19 September 1678
  21. Powlett died c. August 1695. Seat vacant at the dissolution.
  22. On petition, Shepheard was "discharged from membership" on 19 March 1701. No new writ was issued and the seat was vacant at the dissolution.
  23. The MPs of the last Parliament of England and 45 members co-opted from the former Parliament of Scotland, became the House of Commons of the 1st Parliament of Great Britain which assembled on 23 October 1707 (see below for the members in that Parliament).
  24. Co-opted, not elected, to the Parliament of Great Britain
  25. Crowley died 7 October 1713
  26. Milsington succeeded as the 2nd Earl of Portmore in January 1730.
  27. Styled Viscount Lymington from 11 October 1743; died 19 November 1749.
  28. Stooks Smith suggests that Thomas Assheton Smith I's term was interrupted by Henry Smith, in the 1812-18 Parliament. However Rayment does not mention such an additional MP. T. A. Smith resigned 1821
  29. Book: Stooks Smith , Henry. . Craig, F. W. S. . F. W. S. Craig . The Parliaments of England . 1844-1850 . 2nd . 1973 . Parliamentary Research Services . Chichester . 0-900178-13-2 . 123–124 .
  30. News: Londonderry Sentinel . 26 October 2018 . 14 February 1835 . 1 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  31. Book: Dodd . Charles R. . The Parliamentary Companion, for 1843 . 1843 . Whittaker & Co . London . 151 . . 26 October 2018.
  32. Cubitt resigned in 1861, to contest a City of London by-election (which he lost).
  33. Coles died 23 November 1862.
  34. Cubitt died 28 October 1863.
  35. Humphery resigned, 1867.
  36. [F. W. S. Craig]

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