Bridgnorth (UK Parliament constituency)

Bridgnorth
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
County Shropshire
Major settlements Bridgnorth
1295–1885
Seats 1295–1868:Two
1868–1885: One
Replaced by Ludlow

Bridgnorth was a parliamentary borough in Shropshire which was represented in the House of Commons of England from 1295 until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain until 1800, and in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until its abolition in 1885.

It was represented by two burgesses until 1868, when it was reduced to one Member of Parliament (MP).

Boundaries

According to the 1881 census, the borough of Bridgnorth comprised the parishes of Quatford, part of Quatt, St. Leonard and St Mary (in Bridgnorth town), Astley Abbotts, Eardingdon, Oldbury, Romsley and Tasley. This was smaller than the municipal borough, which only contained the first four.

History

By the eighteenth century Bridgnorth had one of the widest franchises in England, consisting of "the burgesses and freement within and without the borough". There were more than a thousand voters in the contested elections of 1727, 1734 and 1741 although in 1920 it was noted as 700. Between 1661 and 1870 at least one of the MPs for Bridgnorth came from the Whitmore family.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1295–1640

MPs 1295-1640 — MPs 1640-1868 — MPs 1868-1885 — Elections — See also — Notes and references — Sources

Parliament First member Second member
1388 (Feb) John Farnales William Palmer I
1388 (Sep) William Palmer I William Goldsmith
1390 (Jan) William Palmer I John Farnales
1390 (Nov)
1391 William Palmer I Thomas Horde
1393 William Palmer I John Farnales
1394 William Palmer I John Farnales
1395 William Palmer I John Farnales
1397 (Jan) William Palmer I John Blockley
1397 (Sep)
1399 William Palmer I Thomas Horde
1402 Hugh Harnage John Bruyn
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406 Hugh Harnage Walter Green
1407 Walter Green John Cook
1410 ... Lange
1411 Thomas Hopton Hugh Stanford
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May) Hugh Stanford Thomas Green
1414 (Apr) Richard Parlour Thomas Odyes
1414 (Nov) Richard Horde Richard Parlour
1415
1416 (Mar) Richard Horde Richard Parlour
1416 (Oct)
1417 Richard Horde Richard Parlour
1419 Richard Horde Richard Parlour
1420 Richard Horde William Stapeley
1421 (May) Thomas Green Robert Aylesbury
1421 (Dec) Thomas Green Richard Parlour
1425 John Bruyn
1510-1523 No names known
1529 Humphrey Goldston George Hayward
1536 ?
1539 ?
1542 Edward Hall William Grey
1545 Edward Hall Henry Blount
1547 Roger Smith John Pulley
1553 (Mar) Ambrose Gilberd Roger Smith
1553 (Oct) Sir George Blount Jerome Horde
1554 (Apr) Jerome Horde William Acton
1554 (Nov) John Horde Jerome Horde
1555 Jerome Horde William Acton
1558 John Broke Thomas Bromley
1559 Sir George Blount Richard Prince
1562–3 John Broke Edward Cordell
1571 Henry Townshend Thomas Otley
1572 Henry Townshend Thomas Seckford, died
and replaced in 1580 by Edmund Molyneux
1584 Jerome Corbet Walter Lee
1586 Edward Bromley John Lutwich
1588 Edward Bromley John Lutwich
1593 Edward Bromley John Lutwich
1597 Edward Bromley John Lutwich
1601 Thomas Horde Edward Bromley
1604 Sir Lewis Lewknor Edward Bromley,
replaced by Francis Lacon
1614 John Pierse Richard Singe
1621-1622 Sir John Hayward William Whitmore
1624 Sir William Whitmore George Smith
1625 Sir William Whitmore George Vernon
1626 Sir Richard Shelton George Vernon
1628-1629 Sir Richard Shelton Sir George Paule
1629–1640 No Parliaments summoned

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MPs 1640–1868

Elected First member First party Second member Second party
April 1640 Edward Acton Royalist (Sir) Thomas Whitmore
November 1640 (Sir) Thomas Whitmore Royalist
February 1644 Acton and Whitmore disabled to sit - both seats vacant
1646 Robert Clive Robert Charlton
December 1648 Clive and Charlton not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge
1653 Bridgnorth was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654 William Crown Bridgnorth had only one seat in the First and
Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656 Edmund Waring
January 1659 Edmund Waring John Humphrys
May 1659 Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660 Sir Walter Acton John Bennet
1661 Sir William Whitmore, Bt
1663 Sir Thomas Whitmore
1685 Roger Pope
1689 Sir Edward Acton, Bt Tory
1694 Roger Pope
1702 Sir Humphrey Brigges, Bt
1705 William Whitmore
1710 Whitmore Acton Richard Cresswell Tory
1713 William Whitmore John Weaver
1725 St John Charlton
1734 Thomas Whitmore Grey James Grove
1741 William Whitmore
1747 Arthur Weaver
1754 Hon. John Grey William Whitmore
1768 The Lord Pigot
1771 Thomas Whitmore Tory
1778 Hugh Pigot Whig
1784 Isaac Hawkins Browne Tory
1795 John Whitmore Tory
1806 Thomas Whitmore Tory
1812 Hon. Charles Jenkinson Tory
1818 Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt Jones Tory
1820 William Wolryche-Whitmore Whig
1831 James Foster Whig
1832 Robert Pigot Tory Thomas Charlton Whitmore Tory
1834 Conservative Conservative
1837 Henry Hanbury-Tracy Whig
1838 by-election Sir Robert Pigot Conservative
1852 Henry Whitmore Conservative
1853 by-election John Pritchard Conservative
1865 Sir John Dalberg-Acton, Bt Liberal
1866 Henry Whitmore Conservative
1868 Representation reduced to one Member

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MPs 1868–1885

Election Member Party
1868 Henry Whitmore Conservative
1870 by-election William Henry Foster Liberal
1880 Conservative
1885 Constituency abolished under the Redistribution of Seats Act

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Elections

1830s – 1840s – 1850s – 1860s – 1870s – 1880s – See also – Notes and references – Sources

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Bridgnorth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Thomas Whitmore 721 41.0
Whig William Wolryche-Whitmore 669 38.0
Tory Richard Arkwright 369 21.0
Turnout 986 1,759
Majority 52 3.0
Tory hold Swing
Majority 300 17.0
Whig hold Swing
General election 1831: Bridgnorth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig William Wolryche-Whitmore Unopposed
Whig James Foster Unopposed
Whig hold
Whig gain from Tory
General election 1832: Bridgnorth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Robert Pigot Unopposed
Tory Thomas Charlton Whitmore Unopposed
Registered electors 746
Tory gain from Whig
Tory gain from Whig
General election 1835: Bridgnorth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Charlton Whitmore 490 38.7 N/A
Conservative Robert Pigot 423 33.4 N/A
Whig Henry Hanbury-Tracy 353 27.9 New
Majority 70 5.5 N/A
Turnout 698 88.2 N/A
Registered electors 791
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General election 1837: Bridgnorth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Charlton Whitmore 429 36.8 −1.9
Whig Henry Hanbury-Tracy 371 31.8 +3.9
Conservative Robert Pigot 367 31.4 −2.0
Turnout 727 92.0 +3.8
Registered electors 790
Majority 58 5.0 −0.5
Conservative hold Swing −1.9
Majority 4 0.4 N/A
Whig gain from Conservative Swing +3.9

Hanbury-Tracy resigned, by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, after a petition was lodged against his election.

By-election, 20 February 1838: Bridgnorth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Pigot Unopposed
Conservative gain from Whig

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Bridgnorth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Charlton Whitmore 496 39.3 +2.5
Conservative Robert Pigot 475 37.6 +6.2
Whig Frederick John Howard 225 17.8 +1.9
Whig Nicholas Throckmorton 66 5.2 −10.7
Majority 250 19.8 +14.8
Turnout 703 86.8 −5.2
Registered electors 810
Conservative hold Swing +3.5
Conservative gain from Whig Swing +5.3
General election 1847: Bridgnorth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Charlton Whitmore 611 44.7 +8.4
Conservative Robert Pigot 388 28.4 −9.2
Radical John Easthope 368 26.9 +3.9
Majority 20 1.5 −18.3
Turnout 684 (est) 81.6 (est) −5.2
Registered electors 838
Conservative hold Swing +3.2
Conservative hold Swing −5.6

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Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Bridgnorth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Whitmore 443 40.8 −3.9
Conservative Robert Pigot 360 33.1 +4.7
Whig Frederick William Cadogan 283 26.1 −0.8
Majority 77 7.0 +5.5
Turnout 685 (est) 95.5 (est) +13.9
Registered electors 717
Conservative hold Swing −1.8
Conservative hold Swing +2.6

Pigot's election was declared void on petition due to bribery, causing a by-election.

By-election, 22 March 1853: Bridgnorth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Pritchard Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1857: Bridgnorth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Whitmore Unopposed
Conservative John Pritchard Unopposed
Registered electors 678
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Whitmore was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 3 March 1858: Bridgnorth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Whitmore Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1859: Bridgnorth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Whitmore Unopposed
Conservative John Pritchard Unopposed
Registered electors 708
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

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Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Bridgnorth (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Pritchard 299 34.1 N/A
Liberal John Dalberg-Acton 289 33.0 New
Conservative Henry Whitmore 288 32.9 N/A
Turnout 583 (est) 94.9 (est) N/A
Registered electors 614
Majority 10 1.1 N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Majority 1 0.1 N/A
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing N/A

On 22 March 1866, after scrutiny, Dalberg-Acton was unseated and Whitmore was duly elected in his place.

Whitmore was then appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 21 Jul 1866: Bridgnorth (1 seat)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Whitmore Unopposed
Conservative hold

The seat was reduced to one member for the 1868 election.

General election 1868: Bridgnorth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Whitmore 548 52.4 −14.6
Liberal John Dalberg-Acton 497 47.6 +14.6
Majority 51 4.8 +3.7
Turnout 1,045 81.7 −13.2
Registered electors 1,279
Conservative hold Swing −14.6

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Elections in the 1870s

Whitmore resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 16 Feb 1870: Bridgnorth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Henry Foster Unopposed
Liberal gain from Conservative
General election 1874: Bridgnorth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Henry Foster 701 71.8 +24.2
Conservative George Barbour 275 28.2 −24.2
Majority 426 43.6 N/A
Turnout 976 77.0 −4.7
Registered electors 1,267
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +24.2

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Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Bridgnorth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Henry Foster 641 66.6 +38.4
Liberal Edward Reid Vyvyan 321 33.4 −38.4
Majority 320 33.2 N/A
Turnout 962 78.6 +1.6
Registered electors 1,224
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +38.4

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See also