| County Down | |
| Type: | county |
| Region: | Ireland |
| County: | County |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 1801 |
| Abolished: | 1885 |
| Elects Howmany: | 2 |
| Previous: | County Down (IHC) |
| Next: | East Down, North Down, South Down and West Down |
| Year2: | 1922 |
| Abolished2: | 1950 |
| Elects Howmany2: | 2 |
| Previous2: | East Down, Mid Down, North Down, South Down and West Down |
| Next2: | North Down and South Down |
County Down was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland and later Northern Ireland. It was a two-member constituency and existed in two periods, 1801–1885 and 1922–1950.
1801–1885: The whole of County Down, excluding the Boroughs of Downpatrick and Newry.
1922–1950: The Administrative county of Down, that is the whole of County Down excluding the part in the City of Belfast.
| Election | First member | First party | Second member | Second party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1801 | Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh | Tory | < | -- party --> | |||
| 1802 | |||||||
| 1805 | Hon. John Meade | Whig | |||||
| 1806 | |||||||
| 1807 | |||||||
| May 1812 | Hon. Robert Ward | ||||||
| October 1812 | Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh | Tory[1] | |||||
| 1817 | Whig | ||||||
| 1818 | |||||||
| 1820 | |||||||
| 1821 | Mathew Forde | Tory | |||||
| 1826 | Frederick Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh | Tory | |||||
| 1830 | |||||||
| 1831 | |||||||
| 1834 | Conservative | ||||||
| 1832 | |||||||
| 1835 | |||||||
| 1836 | Earl of Hillsborough | Conservative | |||||
| 1837 | |||||||
| 1841 | |||||||
| 1845 | Lord Arthur Hill-Trevor | Conservative | |||||
| 1847 | |||||||
| 1852 | David Stewart Ker | Conservative | |||||
| 1857 | Conservative | ||||||
| 1859 | |||||||
| 1865 | |||||||
| 1868 | |||||||
| 1874 | Liberal | ||||||
| 1878 | Conservative | ||||||
| 1880 | Conservative | ||||||
| 1884 | Conservative | ||||||
| 1885 | constituency abolished: see East Down, West Down, South Down and North Down | ||||||
| Election | First member | First party | Second member | Second party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | Ulster Unionist Party | John Simms | Ulster Unionist Party | |||
| 1931 | Viscount Castlereagh | Ulster Unionist Party | ||||
| 1939 | James Little | Ulster Unionist Party | ||||
| 1945 | Independent Unionist | Walter Smiles | Ulster Unionist Party | |||
| 1946 | C. H. Mullan | Ulster Unionist Party |
The electorate was 12,718 in 1881.
Blakely McCartney brought a petition against Vane-Tempest under the Parliamentary Elections Act 1868, which was tried in June by Francis Alexander FitzGerald and Charles Robert Barry. FitzGerald found no corrupt practices, while Barry found there was undue influence in favour of Vane-Tempest but not with his knowledge or consent.[2]
The electorate was 11,470 in 1862.
The Poll Books for part of County Down, showing how each elector voted in the 1857 general election are available in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland under reference D/671/O/2/7-8.
The Poll Books for part of County Down, showing how each elector voted in the 1852 general election are available in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland under reference D/671/O/2/5-6.
At the by-election on 15 July 1829 following Frederick Stewart's appointment as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, he was re-elected unopposed.
At the by-election on 9 May 1821 following Robert Stewart vacating his seat, Mathew Forde was returned unopposed.
At the 1818 and 1820 general elections, Arthur Hill and Robert Stewart were elected unopposed.
At the by-election on 26 February 1817 following the Hon. John Meade's appointment as consul general in Spain, Arthur Hill was returned unopposed.
The electorate was approximately 15,000 in 1815.
At the by-election on 30 May 1812 following Francis Savage's acceptance of the Chiltern Hundreds, Robert Ward was returned unopposed. "Castlereagh ... was not prepared to come in at that moment, and after an unsuccessful attempt to persuade Savage to reconsider his decision, he arranged for his old friend Colonel Ward to stand as a 'stopgap' until the general election".[3]
At the 1806 and 1807 general elections, Francis Savage and John Meade were elected unopposed.
At the creation of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1801, the sitting members of the Parliament of Ireland for County Down, Francis Savage and Viscount Castlereagh, continued as MPs for the county. At the 1802 general election, Savage and Castlereagh were returned unopposed.