| Liverpool | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 1295 |
| Abolished: | 1885 |
| Type: | borough |
| Elects Howmany: | 1295–1868: Two 1868–1885: Three |
| Region: | England |
| County: | Lancashire |
Liverpool was a borough constituency in the county of Lancashire of the House of Commons for the Parliament of England to 1706 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885. It was represented by two Members of Parliament (MPs). In 1868, this was increased to three Members of Parliament.
The borough franchise was held by the freemen of the borough. Each elector had as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings. In 1800 there were around 3000 electors, with elections in this seat being nearly always contested.
The borough returned several notable Members of Parliament including Prime Minister George Canning, William Huskisson, President of the Board of Trade, Banastre Tarleton, noted soldier in the American War of Independence and most notably, William Roscoe the abolitionist and Anti Slave Trade campaigner.
The constituency was abolished in 1885, the city being split into nine divisions of Abercromby, East Toxteth, Everton, Exchange, Kirkdale, Scotland, Walton, West Derby and West Toxteth.
The borough of Liverpool exercised the privilege of sending two members to Parliament in 1295 and 1307, but then for 240 years the right was wholly suspended. In the first Parliament of Edward VI, which met 4 November 1547, though Elective Franchise was restored to the two Lancashire boroughs of Liverpool and Wigan and has since continued almost without further interruption.
Representation was increased to three Members in 1868 and the constituency abolished in 1885, to be replaced by the nine new constituencies of Abercromby, East Toxteth, Everton, Exchange, Kirkdale, Scotland, Walton, West Derby and West Toxteth.
| Parliament | First member | Second member | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1295 | Adam fitz Richard | Robert Pinklowe | |
| 1300–1307 | Richard de la More | John de la More | |
| 1545 | Nicholas Cutler | Gilbert Gerard[1] | |
| 1547 | Thomas Stanley | ?Francis Cave or Richard Taverner[2] | |
| 1553 (Mar) | William Bromley | Ralph Assheton | |
| 1553 (Oct) | William Bromley | Sir Giles Alington | |
| 1554 (Apr) | William Bromley | Sir William Norris | |
| 1554 (Nov) | William Bromley | John Beaumont | |
| 1555 | Sir Richard Sherborn | John Beaumont | |
| 1558 | William Stopford | George White | |
| 1559 (Jan) | Sir Thomas Smith | Ralph Browne[3] | |
| 1562–3 | Sir Richard Molyneux | Ralph Sekerston | |
| 1571 | Thomas Avery | Ralph Sekerston | |
| 1572 | Ralph Sekerston, died and repl. 1576 by Thomas Greenacres, died and repl. April 1583 by Arthur Atye | Mathew Dale | |
| 1584 | Arthur Atye | John Molyneux | |
| 1586 | John Poole | William Cavendish | |
| 1588 (Oct) | Edward Warren | Francis Bacon | |
| 1593 | Michael Doughty | John Wroth | |
| 1597 (Oct) | Thomas Gerard | Peter Probie | |
| 1601 (Oct) | Edward Anderson | Hugh Calverley | |
| 1604 | Giles Brook | Thomas Remchinge | |
| 1614 | Thomas Ireland | Sir Hugh Beeston | |
| 1621–1622 | Thomas May | William Johnson | |
| 1624 | Sir Thomas Gerard, 2nd Baronet | George Ireland | |
| 1625 | Lord Strange | Edward Moore | |
| 1626 | Thomas Stanley | ||
| 1628 | Henry Jermyn | John Newdigate | |
| 1629–1640 | No Parliaments summoned | ||
| Election | 1st member | 1st party | 2nd member | 2nd party | 3rd member | 3rd party | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1868 | Samuel Robert Graves | Conservative | Viscount Sandon | Conservative | William Rathbone | Liberal | ||||
| 1873 by-election | John Torr | Conservative | ||||||||
| Feb 1880 by-election | Edward Whitley | Conservative | ||||||||
| 1880 | John Ramsay | Liberal | ||||||||
| Aug 1880 by-election | Lord Claud Hamilton | Conservative | ||||||||
| 1882 by-election | Samuel Smith | Liberal | ||||||||
| 1885 | Constituency abolished (Redistribution of Seats Act 1885) | |||||||||
Huskisson's death caused a by-election.
Denison was also elected for and chose to sit there, causing a by-election.
Cresswell resigned after being appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, causing a by-election.
Election declared void on petition, due to bribery and treating by Mackenzie and Turner, causing a by-election.[26]
Liddell succeeded to the peerage, becoming 2nd Baron Ravensworth and causing a by-election.
Seat increased to three members
Graves' death caused a by-election.
Ryder was appointed Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education, requiring a by-election.
Torr's death caused a by-election.
Ramsay succeeded to the peerage, becoming Earl of Dalhousie, causing a by-election.
Ryder succeeded to the peerage, becoming Earl of Harrowby, causing a by-election.
Notes
References