Southwark (UK Parliament constituency) explained

Southwark
Parliament:	uk
Year:	1295
Abolished:	1885
Elects Howmany:	Two
Previous:	Surrey (part of)
Year2:	1950
Abolished2:	1974
Type:	Borough
Elects Howmany2:	One
Next2:	Bermondsey (abolished 1983) Peckham (abolished 1997) Dulwich (absorbed small parts) (abolished 1997)
Mp:	Vacant
Region:	England
County:	London

Southwark ^[1] was a constituency centred on the Southwark district of South London. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the English Parliament from 1295 to 1707, to the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and to the UK Parliament until its first abolition for the 1885 general election. A seat of the same name, covering a smaller area than the last form of the earlier seat in the west of the original and beyond its boundaries to the southwest, was created in 1950 and abolished in 1974.

In its last creation the seat's broad electorate heavily supported the three successive Labour candidates, who won Southwark with a majority of greater than 36% of the votes cast at its eight elections – an extremely safe seat.

Creation, boundaries, abolition

First creation – or Southwark dual-member constituency The constituency was created in 1295 as a parliamentary borough (also known as burgh) when its electorate was restricted to the owners of certain properties in its main streets of its burgage, returning two 'burgesses' as they were sometimes called. Its electorate was expanded to a more standard franchise in 1832. In 1833 the electorate was 4,775 adult males and this had risen to 23,472 by 1880.^[2]

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 replaced the two-member constituency with the seats West Southwark, Rotherhithe and Bermondsey.^[3]

Second creation – or Southwark seatA seat taking the old constituency name was established for the 1950 general election. Its boundaries were unaltered in the 1955 corrective review and it was abolished for the February 1974 general election.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1295–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1386^[4]	Henry Thymelby	William Beeche
1388 (Feb)	John Northampton	William Porter
1388 (Sep)	Roger Chandler	Richard atte Vine
1390 (Jan)	William Wintringham	John Mucking
1390 (Nov)
1391	William Spalding	Walter Segrave
1393	John Solas	Thomas Solas
1394
1395	John Solas	John Mucking
1397 (Jan)	Thomas atte Gill
1397 (Sep)	William Derby
1399	Ralph Spalding	John Parker
1401
1402	John Gofaire	John Mucking
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	John Baker	Thomas Spencer
1407	Thomas Colman	John Deken
1410
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	William Horton	Thomas Spencer
1414 (Apr)	John William	John Welles
1414 (Nov)	John Solas	William Kirton
1415	William Redstone	Thomas Spencer
1416 (Mar)	John Solas	John Mucking
1416 (Oct)
1417	William Kirton	John Deken
1419	Robert William	John Welles
1420	William Kirton	John Deken
1421 (May)	William Redstone
1421 (Dec)	Thomas Dewy	Thomas Lucas
1510–1523^[5]	No names known
1529	Sir John Shilston, died 1530	Robert Acton
1536	Thomas Bulla	?
1539	Sir Richard Long	Robert Acton
1542	Robert Acton	Thomas Bulla
1545	?	William Gyllam
1547	Sir John Gates, repl. by Jan 1552 by John Sayer	Richard Fulmerston
1553 (Mar)	John Eston	John Sayer
1553 (Oct)	Humphrey Colet
1554 (Apr)	John Eston
1554 (Nov)
1555		Humphrey Colet
1558		Robert Freeman
1559 ^[6]
1562–3	Thomas Cure	Oliffe Burr
1571		William Wilson
1572	Oliffe Burr	Thomas Way
1584	Thomas Way	Richard Hutton
1586	Thomas Cure
1588–9	Richard Hutton	William Pratt
1593	Hugh Browker	Richard Hutton
1597	Edmund Bowyer
1601	Mathew Dale	Zachariah Locke
1604–1611	Sir George Rivers	William Counden
1614	Edward Coxe	Richard Yarward
1621	Richard Yarward	Robert Bromfield
1624
1625		William Coxe
1626
1628
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1885

Election	First Member		First Party	Second Member		Second Party
April 1640		Robert Holborne			Richard Tuffnell
November 1640		Edward Bagshawe	Royalist		John White^[7]	Parliamentarian
January 1644	Bagshawe disabled from sitting – seat vacant
1645		George Thomson			George Snelling
1653	Southwark was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654			<	-- party -->
1656
January 1659		George Thomson			Andrew Brewer
April 1660		John Langham			Sir Thomas Bludworth	<	-- party -->
1661		George Moore
1666		Sir Thomas Clarges
1679		Sir Richard How			Peter Rich
1685		Sir Peter Daniel			Anthony Bowyer
1689		John Arnold	<	-- party -->		Sir Peter Rich
1690					Anthony Bowyer	<	-- party -->
1695		Sir Charles Cox	Whig
1698					John Cholmley	Whig
January 1712					Edmund Halsey^[8]
February 1712					Sir George Matthews
1713		John Lade	Tory		Fisher Tench^[9]	Whig
1722		George Meggott			Edmund Halsey	Whig
1724 by-election^[10]		John Lade	Tory
1727		Sir Joseph Eyles	Whig
1730 by-election^[11]					Thomas Inwen	<	-- party -->
1734		George Heathcote	Tory
1741		Ralph Thrale	<				-- party -->
1743 by-election^[12]					Alexander Hume	<	-- party -->
1747		William Belchier	<				-- party -->
1754					William Hammond
1761		Joseph Mawbey^[13]	<	-- party -->		Alexander Hume
1765 by-election^[14]					Henry Thrale	Pro-Government Chathamite/Northite
1774		Nathaniel Polhill	Radical
1780					Sir Richard Hotham	<	-- party -->
1782 by-election^[15]		Henry Thornton	Tory
April 1784					Sir Barnard Turner	Independent
June 1784 by-election^[16]					Paul Le Mesurier	Tory
May 1796					George Woodford Thellusson^[17]
December 1796 by-election					George Tierney	Whig^[18]
1806					Sir Thomas Turton, Bt	Tory
1812					Charles Calvert	Whig
1815 by-election^[19]		Charles Barclay
1818		Sir Robert Wilson	Radical
Aug 1830					John Rawlinson Harris
Nov 1830 by-election^[20]					Charles Calvert
1831		William Brougham	Whig^[21]
1832					John Humphery	Whig^[22]
1835		Daniel Whittle Harvey	Radical^[23]
1840 by-election^[24]		Benjamin Wood	Whig^[25] ^[26]
1845 by-election^[27]		Sir William Molesworth	Radical^[28] ^[29]
1852					Apsley Pellatt	Radical^[30] ^[31]
1855 by-election		Sir Charles Napier	Radical^[32]
1857					John Locke	Radical^[33]
1859			Liberal			Liberal
1860 by-election^[34]		Austen Henry Layard
1870 by-election^[35]		Marcus Beresford	Conservative
1880 by-election^[36]					Edward Clarke	Conservative
1880		Arthur Cohen	Liberal		Thorold Rogers	Liberal
1885	constituency abolished: creating all of Bermondsey, Rotherhithe and Southwark West

MPs 1950–1974

Election		Member	Party
	1950	George Isaacs	Labour
	1959	Ray Gunter
	1972 by-election	Harry Lamborn
Feb 1974		constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

Harris' death caused a by-election.

Harvey was appointed a registrar of Metropolitan Public Carriages, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1840s

Harvey resigned after being appointed a Commissioner of Police for the City of London, causing a by-election.

Wood's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1850s

Molesworth was appointed First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings, requiring a by-election.

Molesworth was appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies, requiring a by-election.

Molesworth's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

Napier's death caused a by-election.

Locke was appointed Recorder of Brighton, requiring a by-election.

Layard was appointed First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings, requiring a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s

Layard resigned after being appointed British ambassador to Spain.

Elections in the 1880s

Locke's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1970s

Sources

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) A Chronological Register of Both Houses of the British Parliament, from the Union in 1708, to the Third Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in 1807
• D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) Digital Bodleian
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)

Notes and References

1. "Southwark", in The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World (1952), New York: Columbia University Press.
2. F.W.S. Craig (ed.), British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (London: The Macmillan Press Ltd, 1977)
3. Web site: The public general acts : Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive . Internet Archive . 2020-06-10 . 2021-05-13.
4. Web site: History of Parliament. History of Parliament Trust. 2011-11-21.
5. Web site: History of Parliament. History of Parliament Trust. 2011-11-21.
6. Web site: History of Parliament. History of Parliament Trust. 2011-11-21.
7. Died January 1645; the writ to fill both vacancies was issued in August 1645
8. On petition, Halsey was found not to have been duly elected, and a new election was held
9. Created a baronet, August 1715
10. The by-election in January 1724 was caused by death of George Meggott
11. The by-election in January 1730 was caused by death of Edmund Halsey
12. The by-election in June 1743 was caused by death of Thomas Inwen
13. [Sir Joseph Mawbey, 1st Baronet|Mawbey]
14. The by-election in December 1765 was caused by death of William Hammond
15. The by-election in December 1782 was caused by death of Nathaniel Polhill
16. The by-election in June 1784 was caused by death of Sir Barnard Turner
17. [George Woodford Thellusson|Thellusson]
18. Book: Stooks Smith . Henry . The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive . 1845 . Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. . London . 70–72 .
19. The by-election in February 1815 was caused by death of Henry Thornton
20. The by-election in November 1830 was caused by death of John Rawlinson Harris
21. Web site: Spencer . Howard . BROUGHAM, William (1795–1886), of 12 Old Buildings, Lincoln's Inn, Mdx. . The History of Parliament . 2009.
22. Web site: Spencer. Howard. Southwark. The History of Parliament. 4 April 2018.
23. Web site: Fisher . David R. . HARVEY, Daniel Whittle (1786–1863), of Feering House, Kelvedon, Essex and 7 Great George Street, Mdx. . The History of Parliament . 2009.
24. The by-election in January 1840 was caused by the resignation of Daniel Whittle Harvey
25. News: Southwark . Dublin Morning Register . 27 January 1840 . 2 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
26. News: Southwark Election . Cambridge Independent Press . 25 January 1840 . 2 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
27. The by-election in September 1845 was caused by the death of Benjamin Wood
28. News: Newcastle Journal . 6 September 1845 . 2 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
29. News: The Elections—Sunderland and Southwark . Coventry Herald . 5 September 1845 . 4 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
30. Book: Steele. E. D.. Palmerston and Liberalism, 1855–1865. 1991. Cambridge University Press. 9780521400459. 72, 118. At home.
31. Book: Weinstein. Benjamin. Liberalism and Local Government in Early Victorian London. 2011. Boydell and Brewer. 9780861933129. 91.
32. Book: Hicks. Geoff. Charmley. John. Grosvenor. Bendor. Documents on Conservative Foreign Policy, 1852–1878. 2012. Cambridge University Press. 9781107035928. 112. https://books.google.com/books?id=BTezAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA112 . The Second Derby Government.
33. Book: Hawkins. Angus. Victorian Political Culture: 'habits of Heart and Mind'. 2015. Oxford University Press. 9780198728481. 259. Illustrated. https://books.google.com/books?id=cPsJCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA259 . Shooting Niagara.
34. The by-election in December 1860 was caused by the death of Sir Charles Napier
35. The by-election in February 1870 was caused by the resignation of Austen Henry Layard
36. The by-election in December 1880 was caused by the death of John Locke