West Surrey (UK Parliament constituency) explained
| West Surrey |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 1832 |
| Abolished: | 1885 |
| Type: | County |
| Elects Howmany: | Two |
| Next: | Epsom
Chertsey
Guildford
Reigate
also called Mid, N.W. S.W. and S.E. Surrey |
| Next5: | none |
| Region: | England |
| County: | Surrey |
West Surrey (formally the Western division of Surrey) was a parliamentary constituency in the county of Surrey, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.
It was created under the Great Reform Act for the 1832 general election, and abolished for the 1885 general election.
Boundaries
1832–1885: The Hundreds of Blackheath, Copthorne, Effingham, Elmbridge, Farnham, Godalming, Godley and Chertsey, Woking and Wotton.[1]
The constituency was therefore the more extensive and more rural of the two divisions of Surrey established in 1832. Its main existing towns were urbanising with railway stations built; Woking became a town towards the end of its existence. Elections were conducted at Guildford; other most populous towns were Leatherhead, Dorking, Epsom, Ewell, Farnham, Godalming, Haslemere, Chertsey, Egham, Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge and Woking. Guildford was a parliamentary borough represented in its own right, but those of its freeholders not qualifying for a vote as such could vote for the county division MPs.
Subdivision in 1885
See main article: Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. On its abolition in 1885 its contents made up all or some of four single-member seats and the overlapping seat (1295-1867 a constituency returning two members), Guildford parliamentary borough, was abolished. The outcome was as follows:
- The North-Western division of Surrey or Chertsey (i.e. Bisley; Byfleet; Chertsey; Chobham; Egham; Horsell; Pyrford; Thorpe; Weybridge; Windlesham; Ash, East Clandon, West Clandon, East Horsley, West Horsley, Merrow, Ockham, Pirbright, Send and Ripley, Wanborough, Windlesham, Wisley, Woking and Worplesdon.)[2] [3] [4]
- Epsom (UK Parliament constituency) drew on Mid Surrey as to Tolworth, New Malden, Malden, Worcester Park, Surbiton, Hook, Coombe and Long Ditton in the Kingston Hundred and Sessional Division. Took: Ashtead; Banstead; Great Bookham; Little Bookham; Cheam; Chessington; Cuddington; Epsom; Ewell; Fetcham; Headley; Leatherhead; Sutton; Walton on the Hill; Cobham; Thames Ditton; Esher; East Molesey; West Molesey; Stoke D'Abernon; and Walton on Thames.[2] [5] [4]
- Reigate (UK Parliament constituency) drew, approximately equally, on Mid and East Surrey. Took: Abinger; Capel; Dorking; Dorking Rural (reached South Holmwood); Newdigate; Ockley; Wotton.[4]
- The South-Western division of Surrey or Guildford as to the rest[2] [4]
Members of Parliament
| Election | 1st Member | 1st Party | Main home | 2nd Member | 2nd Party | Main home |
|---|
| 1832 | | William Joseph Denison | Whig | Denbies, Dorking | | John Leach | Whig | Lea, Witley,[6] Surrey[7] |
| 1835 | | Charles Barclay[8] | Conservative | Bury Hill, Dorking[9] [10] |
| 1837 | | Hon. George Perceval | Conservative | Nork House, Banstead and
Cowdray Park, Midhurst and
26 St James's Place, St James's |
| 1840 by-election | | John Trotter | Conservative | Horton Place (manor), Epsom |
| 1847 | | Henry Drummond | Conservative | Albury Park, Albury |
| 1849 by-election | | William John Evelyn | Conservative | Wotton House, Wotton (west of Dorking) |
| 1857 | | John Ivatt Briscoe | Whig[11] [12] [13] [14] | Botleys, Chertsey
then Foxhills, Chertsey |
| 1859 | | Liberal |
| 1860 by-election | | George Cubitt | Conservative | Denbies, Dorking |
| 1870 by-election | | Lee Steere | Conservative | Jayes (Jayes Park), Wotton |
| 1880 | | Hon. St John Brodrick | Conservative | Peper Harow House, Peper Harow, near Godalming |
| 1885 | constituency abolished | |
The Times obituary of Leech reads:
Election results
Elections in the 1840s
Perceval (of the with-heirs-male inheritee branch of the Earls of Egmont) was in 1802 given his peerage becoming Lord Arden which caused a by-election.
Denison's death caused a by-election.
Elections in the 1860s
Drummond's death caused a by-election.
Elections in the 1870s
Briscoe's death caused a by-election.
Elections in the 1880s
References
- F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
- Frederic A Youngs, jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)
Notes and References
- Web site: The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. LXIV. An Act to settle and describe the Divisions of Counties, and the Limits of Cities and Boroughs, in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament.. London . His Majesty's statute and law printers . 1832 . 300–383 . 2017-07-27.
- https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/0db9f23d-c1fc-4d6f-af22-c54bfea339ce CHERTSEY PETTY SESSIONAL DIVISION: RECORDS (summary of PS1-PS7 of Surrey History Centre, 7 Petty Sessional Divisions scope
- Web site: The hundred of Woking: Introduction and map . H.E. Malden . Institute of Historical Research . 1911 . A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3 . 9 January 2014 .
- https://archive.org/stream/publicgeneralac01walegoog#page/n175/mode/2up/search/colchester Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
- https://www.victorianlondon.org/legal/dickens-pettysessionaldivisions.htm Combined petty sessional division: Kingston and Elmbridge as dealt with under heading Kingston sessional division in the 1885 Act
- 'Parishes: Witley', in A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3, ed. H E Malden (London, 1911), pp. 61-69. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol3/pp61-69 [accessed 5 December 2019].
- The Times (London, England), Wednesday, April 21, 1847, Issue 19529, p.7.
- https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/mr-charles-barclay/index.html Charles Barclay
- The Times (London, England), Friday, December 7, 1855, Issue 22231, p.1.
- Web site: Dorking: Bury Hill and the Barclays.
- Web site: John Ivatt Briscoe . Legacies of British Slave-ownership . . 18 August 2018.
- Web site: Pamphlet: A Letter on the Nature and Effects of the Tread-Wheel . British Library . 18 August 2018.
- 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 . 65 . . 18 August 2018.
- Book: The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: With An Abstract of the Law of Election, and the Usages of Parliament . A Member of the Middle Temple . Scott, Webster, and Geary . London. 1838. 38, 70. Google Books.
