Down (UK Parliament constituency)

For other constituencies of the same name, see Down (disambiguation).

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.

County Down
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	County
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Down (IHC)
Replaced by	East Down, North Down, South Down and West Down
1922–1950
Seats	2
Created from	East Down, Mid Down, North Down, South Down and West Down
Replaced by	North Down and South Down

Boundaries

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.

Members of Parliament

1801–1885

Election		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
1801		Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	Tory		Francis Savage
1802
1805		Hon. John Meade	Whig[1]
1806
1807
May 1812					Hon. Robert Ward
October 1812					Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	Tory[1]
1817		Lord Arthur Hill	Whig[1]
1818
1820
1821					Mathew Forde	Tory
1826					Frederick Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	Tory[1]
1830
1831
1834						Conservative[1]
1832
1835
1836		Earl of Hillsborough	Conservative[1]
1837
1841
1845		Lord Arthur Hill-Trevor	Conservative
1847
1852					David Stewart Ker	Conservative
1857					William Brownlow Forde	Conservative
1859
1865
1868
1874					James Sharman Crawford	Liberal
1878					Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	Conservative
1880		Lord Arthur Hill	Conservative
1884					Richard Ker	Conservative
1885	constituency abolished: see East Down, West Down, South Down and North Down

1922–1950

Election		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
1922		David Reid	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

Elections

Elections in the 1940s

1946 Down by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	C. H. Mullan	50,699	51.4	+30.5
	NI Labour	Desmond Donnelly	28,846	29.3	New
	Ind. Unionist	J. Hastings-Little	16,895	17.1	−23.3
	Ind. Unionist	James Brown	2,125	2.2	−16.9
Majority			21,853	22.1	N/A
Turnout			98,565
	UUP gain from Ind. Unionist		Swing

General election 1945: Down (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Unionist	James Little	46,732	40.4	N/A
	UUP	Walter Smiles	24,148	20.9	−22.6
	UUP	John Blakiston Houston	22,730	19.6	−26.8
	Ind. Unionist	James Brown	22,163	19.1	New
Majority			24,002	20.8	N/A
Turnout			115,773	39.8	−16.9
	Ind. Unionist gain from UUP		Swing	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

1939 Down by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	James Little	Unopposed
	UUP hold

General election 1935: Down (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	David Reid	66,324	46.4	N/A
	UUP	Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart	58,777	43.5	N/A
	Ind. Republican	Patrick O'Hagan	20,236	13.3	New
Majority			38,541	30.2	N/A
Turnout			145,337	56.7	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

1931 general election: Down (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	David Reid	Unopposed
	UUP	Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart	Unopposed
	UUP hold
	UUP hold

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Down (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	David Reid	54,073	36.3	−10.2
	UUP	John Simms	53,943	36.2	−10.2
	Ulster Liberal	Robert Pollock	20,999	14.1	New
	Ulster Liberal	David Johnston	20,013	13.4	New
Majority			32,944	22.1	−17.2
Turnout			149,028	58.5	−7.3
	UUP hold		Swing
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1924: Down (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	David Reid	58,929	46.5	N/A
	UUP	John Simms	58,777	46.4	N/A
	Sinn Féin	Michael Murney	8,941	7.1	New
Majority			49,836	39.3	N/A
Turnout			117,706	65.8	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1923: Down (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	David Reid	Unopposed
	UUP	John Simms	Unopposed
	UUP hold
	UUP hold

General election 1922: Down (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	David Reid	Unopposed
	UUP	John Simms	Unopposed
	UUP win (new seat)
	UUP win (new seat)

Elections in the 1880s

By-election, 8 July 1885: Down^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Hill	5,097	52.0	−15.2
	Liberal	John Shaw Brown	4,696	48.0	+15.3
Majority			401	4.0	+3.9
Turnout			9,793	78.9	−7.6
Registered electors			12,412
	Conservative hold		Swing	−15.3

• Caused by Hill's appointment as Comptroller of the Household.

By-election, 27 Nov 1884: Down (1 seat)^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Ker	4,387	52.3	−14.9
	Liberal	Arthur Crawford (Liberal politician)	3,998	47.7	+15.0
Majority			389	4.6	+4.5
Turnout			8,385	67.6	−18.9 (est)
Registered electors			12,412
	Conservative hold		Swing	−15.0

The electorate was 12,718 in 1881.

• Caused by Vane-Tempest's succession to the peerage, becoming Marquess of Londonderry.

General election 1880: Down (2 seats)^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Hill	5,873	34.4	−0.2
	Conservative	Charles Vane-Tempest	5,599	32.8	+0.6
	Liberal	John Crawford (Liberal politician)	5,579	32.7	−0.4
Majority			20	0.1	−1.4
Turnout			11,452 (est)	86.5 (est)	+4.5
Registered electors			13,236
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.4

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.^[3]

Elections in the 1870s

By-election, 17 May 1878: Down^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Vane-Tempest	6,076	56.4	−10.4
	Liberal	William Drennan Andrews	4,701	43.6	+10.5
Majority			1,375	12.8	N/A
Turnout			10,777	84.1	+2.1
Registered electors			12,814
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	−10.5

• Sharman Crawford's death caused a by-election.

General election 1874: Down^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edwin Hill-Trevor	5,029	34.6	N/A
	Liberal	James Sharman Crawford	4,814	33.1	New
	Conservative	William Brownlow Forde	4,683	32.2	N/A
Turnout			9,670 (est)	82.0 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			11,797
Majority			215	1.5	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			131	0.9	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Down^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edwin Hill-Trevor	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Brownlow Forde	Unopposed
Registered electors			11,646
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1865: Down^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edwin Hill-Trevor	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Brownlow Forde	Unopposed
Registered electors			11,435
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

The electorate was 11,470 in 1862.

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1859: Down^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edwin Hill	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Brownlow Forde	Unopposed
Registered electors			11,367
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Down^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edwin Hill	5,839	39.1	−0.1
	Conservative	William Brownlow Forde	5,341	35.8	+1.2
	Peelite	David Stewart Ker[4]	3,735	25.0	−1.2
Majority			1,606	10.8	+2.4
Turnout			9,325 (est)	86.7 (est)	+11.9
Registered electors			10,759
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.9

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.

General election 1852: Down^[2][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edwin Hill	4,654	39.2	N/A
	Conservative	David Stewart Ker	4,117	34.6	N/A
	Radical	William Sharman Crawford[6][7][8]	3,113	26.2	New
Majority			1,004	8.4	N/A
Turnout			7,499 (est)	74.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			10,028
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

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.

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1847: Down^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edwin Hill	Unopposed
	Conservative	Frederick Stewart	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,446
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

By-election, 3 June 1845: Down^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edwin Hill	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

• Caused by Hill's succession to the peerage, becoming 4th Marquess of Downshire

General election 1841: Down^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Hill	Unopposed
	Conservative	Frederick Stewart	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,215
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1837: Down^[2][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Arthur Hill	Unopposed
	Conservative	Frederick Stewart	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,525
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Whig

By-election, 30 August 1836: Down^[2][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Arthur Hill	Unopposed
	Conservative gain from Whig

• Caused by Arthur Hill's succession as 2nd Baron Sandys

General election 1835: Down^[2][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Arthur Hill	Unopposed
	Conservative	Frederick Stewart	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,729
	Whig hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1832: Down^[2][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Arthur Hill	Unopposed
	Tory	Frederick Stewart	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,130
	Whig hold
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Down^[2][1][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Arthur Hill	1,671	45.7	+12.7
	Tory	Frederick Stewart	1,067	29.2	−7.5
	Radical	William Sharman Crawford	917	25.1	New
Turnout			c. 1,828	c. 91.8	c. +12.9
Registered electors			1,990
Majority			604	16.5	+13.7
	Whig hold		Swing	+10.1
Majority			150	4.1	+0.4
	Tory hold		Swing	−10.1

General election 1830: Down^[2][1][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Frederick Stewart	930	36.7	−12.6
	Whig	Arthur Hill	837	33.0	−16.5
	Whig	Mathew Forde	766	30.2	N/A
Turnout			1,570	78.9
Registered electors			1,990
Majority			93	3.7	−44.4
	Tory hold		Swing
Majority			71	2.8	−45.5
	Whig hold		Swing

Elections in the 1820s

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.

General election 1826: Down

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Arthur Hill	667	49.5	N/A
	Tory	Frederick Stewart	665	49.3	N/A
	Tory	John Stewart	16	1.2	N/A
Majority			649	48.1	N/A
Turnout			1,348
	Whig hold		Swing
	Tory hold		Swing

At the by-election on 9 May 1821 following Robert Stewart vacating his seat, Mathew Forde was returned unopposed.

Elections in the 1810s

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.

General election 1812: Down

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Robert Stewart	55	50.9	N/A
	Nonpartisan	John Meade	52	48.1	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Eldred Pottinger	13	12.0	N/A
Majority			39	36.1	N/A
Turnout			118
	Tory hold		Swing
	Nonpartisan hold		Swing

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".^[10]

Elections in the 1800s

At the 1806 and 1807 general elections, Francis Savage and John Meade were elected unopposed.

Down by-election, 1805

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	John Meade	1,973	57.1	N/A
	Tory	Robert Stewart	c. 1481	42.9	N/A
Majority			492	14.2	N/A
Turnout			3,454
	Nonpartisan gain from Whig		Swing

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.

References

1. Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. p. 222. Retrieved 14 May 2020 – via Google Books.
2. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 207–208, 268–269. ISBN 0901714127.
3. "County Of Down Election". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 253. Commons. 1 July 1880. col. 1237–1238. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
4. "Belfast Mercury". 7 April 1857. p. 3. Retrieved 30 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Newry Telegraph". 22 July 1852. p. 2. Retrieved 30 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "William Sharman Crawford (1781–1861; Irish politician)". Manuscripts and Special Collections. University of Nottingham. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
7. Lee, Sidney (1888). "Crawford, William Sharman" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 13. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
8. Navickas, Katrina (2016). Protest and the Politics of Space and Place, 1789–1848. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-7190-9705-8. Retrieved 1 July 2018 – via Google Books.
9. Farrell, Stephen. "Co. Down". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
10. Peter Jupp, County Down Elections, 1783–1831, Irish Historical Studies 18, no. 70 (1972): P 186

• The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) - including pre-1832 party allegiances.
• Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127. - including post-1832 party allegiances.
• ElectionsIreland.org
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)