Launceston (UK Parliament constituency)

Launceston, also known at some periods as Dunheved, was a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall which returned two Members of Parliament to the British House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, and one member from 1832 until 1918. It was a parliamentary borough until 1885, and a county constituency thereafter.

Launceston
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1295–1885
Seats	Two (1295–1832); one (1832–1885)
Replaced by	Launceston

Cornwall, North-Eastern or Launceston
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	One
Created from	East Cornwall, Launceston
Replaced by	North Cornwall

Boundaries

1832–1885: The old Borough of Launceston and the Parish of St Stephen, and all such parts of the several Parishes of Lawhitton, St Thomas the Apostle, and South Petherwin as are without the old Borough of Launceston.^[1]

1885–1918: The Sessional Division of East Middle, East North, Lesnewth, and Stratton, and part of the Sessional Division of Trigg.

History

Launceston was one of 21 parliamentary boroughs in Cornwall between the 16th and 19th centuries; unlike many of these, which had been little more than villages even when established and were rotten boroughs from the start, Launceston had been a town of reasonable size and importance though much in decline by the 19th century. The borough consisted of only part of the present town, as Newport was a separate borough in itself from 1554, though Newport and Launceston were joined as Dunheved, collectively returning members, earlier in that century.

The right to vote was vested theoretically in the Mayor, aldermen and those freemen of the borough who were resident at the time they became freemen; but in practice the vote was exercised only by members of the corporation, who were chosen mainly with a view to maintaining the influence of the "patron". Up to 1775, this was generally the head of the Morice family,^[2] who also controlled Newport, but in that year Humphry Morice sold his interest in both boroughs to the Duke of Newcastle, whose family retained hold on both until the Reform Act. There were about 17 voters in Launceston in 1831, by which time the borough was as rotten as any of the others in Cornwall.

In 1831 the borough had a population of 2,669 and 429 houses. Under the Great Reform Act of 1832 the boundaries were extended to encompass the whole town (including Newport, which was abolished as a separate borough), bringing the population up to 5,394. This was sufficient for Launceston to retain one of its two seats.

The borough was eventually abolished in 1885, but the name of the town was transferred to the new county constituency in which it was placed, strictly the North-Eastern or Launceston Division of Cornwall, which also elected a single member. This covered a much larger, rural, area including Callington, Calstock and Bude-Stratton. This constituency in its turn was abolished in 1918, being absorbed mostly into the new Cornwall North constituency.

A list of MPs for Launceston appears in "The Histories of Launceston and Dunheved, in the County of Cornwall." by Richard Peter and Otho Bathurst Peter. 1885. p.387, and many of the names differ from those in the list below.^[3]

Members of Parliament

Launceston borough

MPs 1295–1629

• Constituency created (1295)

Parliament	First member	Second member
1358	John Hamely[4]
1386	John Cokeworthy I	Roger Leye[5]
1388 (Feb)	John Cokeworthy I	William Bodrugan[5]
1388 (Sep)	Thomas Trereise	Thomas Treuref[5]
1390 (Jan)	John Cokeworthy I	John Syreston[5]
1390 (Nov)
1391	John Cokeworthy I	Richard Lovyn[5]
1393	John Cokeworthy I	Richard Lovyn[5]
1394
1395	John Cokeworthy I	Richard Lovyn[5]
1397 (Jan)	John Cokeworthy I	Richard Tolle[5]
1397 (Sep)	Roger Menwenick	William Holt[5]
1399	John Cokeworthy I	John Goly[5]
1401
1402	Thomas Colyn	Richard Raddow[5]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	Walter Tregarya	John Colet[5]
1407	Richard Brackish	?John Pengersick[5]
1410	Edward Burnebury	John Cory[5]
1411	Edward Burnebury	Richard Trelawny[5]
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	Edward Burnebury	John Mayhew[5]
1414 (Apr)
1414 (Nov)	Edward Burnebury	John Cory[5]
1415
1416 (Mar)	Oliver Wyse	Edward Burnebury[5]
1416 (Oct)
1417	Edward Burnebury	John Cory[5]
1419	Edward Burnebury	Edward Burnebury[5]
1420	Simon Yurle	Edward Burnebury[5]
1421 (May)	Simon Yurle	John Cory[5]
1421 (Dec)	John Treffriowe	Edward Burnebury[5]
1431	Nicholas Aysshton
1432	Nicholas Aysshton
1510–1523	No names known[6]
1529	Sir Edward Ryngley	John Rastell[6]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	William Cordell	Robert Taverner[6]
1547	William Cordell	Nicholas Carminowe[6]
First Parliament of 1553	William Ley alias Kempthorne	John Ley alias Kempthorne I[6]
Second Parliament of 1553	Robert Monson
Parliament of 1554	Arthur Welsh
Parliament of 1554–1555	William Bendlow
Parliament of 1555	Robert Grenville	John Ley alias Kempthorne II[6]
Parliament of 1558	Thomas Roper[7]	Robert Monson	John Heydon
Parliament of 1559	George Basset	Ayshton Aylworth	William Gibbes[8]
Parliament of 1563–1567	Richard Grenville	Henry Chiverton
Parliament of 1571	George Grenville	Sampson Lennard
Parliament of 1572–1581	George Blyth	George Grenville
Parliament of 1584–1585	Roland Watson	John Glanville
Parliament of 1586–1587		John Spurling
Parliament of 1588–1589
Parliament of 1593		George Grenville
Parliament of 1597–1598	Herbert Croft	Sir William Bowyer[9]
Parliament of 1601	John Parker	Gregory Downhall
Parliament of 1604–1611	Sir Thomas Lake	Ambrose Rous
Addled Parliament (1614)	Sir Charles Wilmot	William Croft
Parliament of 1621–1622	John Harris	Thomas Bond
Happy Parliament (1624–1625)	Sir Francis Crane	Miles Fleetwood
Useless Parliament (1625)	Sir Bevil Grenville	Richard Scott
Parliament of 1625–1626
Parliament of 1628–1629
No Parliament summoned 1629–1640

MPs 1640–1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640		Sir Bevil Grenville	Royalist		Ambrose Manaton	Royalist
November 1640		William Coryton[10]
1641		John Harris	Parliamentarian
January 1644				Manaton disabled from sitting – seat vacant
1645					Thomas Gewen
December 1648	Harris and Gewen excluded in Pride's Purge – both seats vacant
1653	Launceston was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		Robert Bennet		Launceston had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656		Thomas Gewen
January 1659					Robert Bennet
May 1659		Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Edward Eliot			Thomas Gewen
June 1660		John Cloberry
1661		Richard Edgcumbe			Sir Charles Harbord
February 1679		Bernard Granville
September 1679		Sir John Coryton			Sir Hugh Piper
1680		Lord Lansdowne
1681		William Harbord
1685		John Granville
1689		William Harbord			Edward Russell	Whig
1690					Bernard Granville
1692		Lord Hyde	Tory
1695					William Cary
1710					Francis Scobell
1711		George Clarke
1713		Edward Herle			John Anstis
1721		Alexander Pendarves	Tory
1722					John Freind[11]
1724					John Willes
1725		John Freind
1726					Henry Vane	Whig
1727		Hon. John King			Arthur Tremayne
1734					Sir William Morice
1735		Sir William Irby
1747		Sir John St Aubyn
1750					Humphry Morice	Whig
1754		Sir George Lee
1758		Sir John St Aubyn
1759		Peter Burrell
1768		William Amherst
1774		John Buller
September 1780		Viscount Cranborne			Thomas Bowlby
November 1780		Hon. Charles Perceval[12]	Tory[13]
1783					Sir John Jervis	Whig
1784					George Rose	Tory[13]
1788					Sir John Swinburne, Bt
1790		Hon. John Rodney	Tory[13]		Sir Henry Clinton	Tory[13]
1795					William Garthshore	Tory[13]
1796		Hon. John Rawdon	Tory[13]		James Brogden	Tory[13]
1802		Richard Bennet	Whig[13]
1806		Earl Percy	Tory[13]
1807		Captain Richard Bennet	Whig[13]
May 1812		Jonathan Raine
October 1812		Pownoll Pellew	Tory[13]
1830		Sir James Gordon	Tory[13]
1831		Sir John Malcolm	Tory[13]
1832	Representation reduced to one member

MPs 1832–1885

Election		Member	Party
	1832	Sir Henry Hardinge	Conservative[13]
	1844 by-election	William Bowles	Conservative
	1852	Hon. Josceline Percy	Conservative
	1859	Thomas Chandler Haliburton	Conservative
	1865	Alexander Henry Campbell	Conservative
	1868 by-election	Henry Lopes	Conservative
	February 1874	James Henry Deakin (senior)[14]	Conservative
	July 1874 by-election	James Henry Deakin (junior)	Conservative
	1877 by-election	Sir Hardinge Giffard	Conservative
	July 1885 by-election	Richard Webster	Conservative
	1885	Borough abolished; name transferred to county constituency

North-Eastern or Launceston Division of Cornwall

MPs 1885–1918

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Sir Thomas Dyke-Acland	Liberal
	1892	Thomas Owen	Liberal
	1898 by-election	Sir John Fletcher Moulton	Liberal
	1906	Sir George Croydon Marks	Liberal
	1918	constituency abolished

Elections

North Cornwall electoral history

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Launceston^[13][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	James Brogden	Unopposed
	Tory	James Willoughby Gordon	Unopposed
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

Gordon resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 9 April 1831: Launceston^[13][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John Malcolm	Unopposed
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Launceston^[13][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	James Brogden	Unopposed
	Tory	John Malcolm	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 17
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

General election 1832: Launceston^[13][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Henry Hardinge	115	51.6
	Whig	David Howell	108	48.4
Majority			7	3.2
Turnout			223	91.8
Registered electors			243
	Tory hold

General election 1835: Launceston^[13][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Hardinge	163	66.0	+14.4
	Whig	David Howell	84	34.0	−14.4
Majority			79	32.0	+28.8
Turnout			247	76.5	−15.3
Registered electors			323
	Conservative hold		Swing	+14.4

General election 1837: Launceston^[13][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Hardinge	Unopposed
Registered electors			353
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Launceston^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Hardinge	Unopposed
Registered electors			342
	Conservative hold

Hardinge was appointed Secretary at War, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 15 September 1841: Launceston^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Hardinge	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Hardinge resigned after being appointed Governor-General of India, causing a by-election.

By-election, 20 May 1844: Launceston^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Bowles	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Launceston^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Bowles	Unopposed
Registered electors			369
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Launceston^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Josceline Percy	Unopposed
Registered electors			361
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Launceston^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Josceline Percy	Unopposed
Registered electors			438
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: Launceston^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Chandler Haliburton	Unopposed
Registered electors			438
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Launceston^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alexander Henry Campbell	Unopposed
Registered electors			371
	Conservative hold

Campbell resigned, causing a by-election.

1868 Launceston by-election^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Lopes	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: Launceston^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Lopes	Unopposed
Registered electors			749
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Launceston^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Henry Deakin (senior)	453	67.7	N/A
	Liberal	Henry Charles Drinkwater[17]	216	32.3	New
Majority			237	35.4	N/A
Turnout			669	84.7	N/A
Registered electors			790
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

The election was declared void on petition, due to corrupt practices including Deakin allowing his tenants to "kill rabbits the eve of the election", causing a by-election.^[18]

1874 Launceston by-election^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Henry Deakin (junior)	417	64.1	−3.6
	Liberal	John Dingley[19]	233	35.8	+3.5
	Conservative	Hardinge Giffard	1	0.2	N/A
Majority			184	28.3	−7.1
Turnout			651	82.4	−2.3
Registered electors			790
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.5

Deakin's resignation caused a by-election.

1877 Launceston by-election^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hardinge Giffard	392	58.9	−8.8
	Liberal	Robert Collier[20]	274	41.1	+8.8
Majority			118	17.8	−16.6
Turnout			666	80.6	−4.1
Registered electors			826
	Conservative hold		Swing	-8.8

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Launceston ^[21][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hardinge Giffard	439	56.8	−10.9
	Liberal	Robert Collier[22]	334	43.2	+10.9
Majority			105	13.6	−21.8
Turnout			773	91.8	+7.1
Registered electors			842
	Conservative hold		Swing	-10.9

Giffard resigned upon his appointment as Lord Chancellor and elevation to the peerage, becoming Lord Halsbury, causing a by-election.

1885 Launceston by-election^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Webster	417	52.7	−4.1
	Liberal	William Pethick[23]	374	47.3	+4.1
Majority			43	5.4	−8.2
Turnout			791	92.7	+0.9
Registered electors			853
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.1

General election 1885: Launceston ^[24][25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Dyke Acland	4,690	64.4	+21.2
	Conservative	Thomas Northmore Lawrence	2,587	35.6	−21.2
Majority			2,103	28.8	N/A
Turnout			7,277	78.3	−3.5
Registered electors			9,297
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+21.2

General election 1886: Launceston ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Dyke Acland	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1890s

Thomas Owen

General election 1892: Launceston ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Owen	3,897	57.2	N/A
	Liberal Unionist	Lewis Molesworth	2,913	42.8	New
Majority			984	14.4	N/A
Turnout			6,810	74.2	N/A
Registered electors			9,178
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: Launceston ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Owen	3,633	55.0	−2.2
	Liberal Unionist	Frederick Wills	2,975	45.0	+2.2
Majority			658	10.0	−4.4
Turnout			6,608	70.1	−4.1
Registered electors			9,423
	Liberal hold		Swing	-2.2

1898 Launceston by-election^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Fletcher Moulton	3,951	58.0	+3.0
	Liberal Unionist	Frederick Wills	2,863	42.0	−3.0
Majority			1,088	16.0	+6.0
Turnout			6,814	71.7	+1.6
Registered electors			9,508
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.0

Elections in the 1900s

Moulton

General election 1900: Launceston ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Fletcher Moulton	3,831	58.3	+3.3
	Liberal Unionist	Foster Cunliffe	2,737	41.7	−3.3
Majority			1,094	16.6	+6.6
Turnout			6,568	68.3	−1.8
Registered electors			9,616
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.3

Marks

General election 1906: Launceston ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Croydon Marks	4,658	63.0	+4.7
	Liberal Unionist	George Sandys	2,736	37.0	−4.7
Majority			1,922	26.0	+9.4
Turnout			7,394	75.0	+6.7
Registered electors			9,858
	Liberal hold		Swing	+4.7

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Launceston ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Croydon Marks	4,703	56.9	−6.1
	Liberal Unionist	Horace Bere Grylls	3,564	43.1	+6.1
Majority			1,139	13.8	−12.2
Turnout			8,267	83.9	+8.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	-6.1

General election December 1910: Launceston ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Croydon Marks	4,373	57.4	+0.5
	Conservative	Edward Treffry	3,249	42.6	−0.5
Majority			1,124	14.8	+1.0
Turnout			7,622	77.3	−6.6
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.5

General Election 1914/15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: George Marks
• Unionist: Edward Treffry^[26]

Notes

1. The Parliamentary Boundary Act 1832
2. Page 147, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
3. The Histories of Launceston and Dunheved, in the County of Cornwall by Richard Peter and Otho Bathurst Peter. 1885.
4. "HAMELY (HAMYLYN), Sir John (aft.1324-1399), of Wimborne St. Giles, Dorset". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
5. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
6. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
7. "ROPER, Thomas (1533/34-98), of Eltham, Kent. | History of Parliament Online".
8. "GIBBES, William I (d.1570), of Venton and Rewe, Devon. | History of Parliament Online".
9. "BOWYER, Sir William I (1558-1616), of Denham Court, Bucks. and Westminster". History of Parliament. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
10. Expelled from the House, August 1641. Coryton was Vice-Warden of the Stannaries and as such had the responsibility for making the return of members (officially notifying the House of Commons who had been elected) for some of the Cornish boroughs. He himself was returned as Member for both Launceston and Grampound, and initially sat for Launceston, but having been found guilty of falsifying the return for Bossiney the House resolved "That Mr. Coryton shall not be admitted to sit as a Member in this Parliament" on 18 August 1641
11. On petition concerning a dispute over who had the right to vote, Freind was found not to have been duly elected, and Willes was declared elected in his place
12. The Lord Arden (in the peerage of Ireland) from 1784
13. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 41–43. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
14. This election was held void on petition, and a by-election was held
15. Jenkins, Terry. "Launceston (Dunheved)". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
16. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
17. "The Representation of Launceston". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 27 February 1877. p. 3. Retrieved 4 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
18. "The Launceston Election Petition". Bolton Evening News. 6 June 1874. p. 4. Retrieved 4 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
19. "The Representation of Launceston". The Morning Post. 1 July 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 4 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
20. "To the Electors of the Borough of Launceston". Cornish & Devon Post. 18 October 1879. p. 4. Retrieved 4 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
21. "Launceston Election". The Cornishman. No. 90. 1 April 1880. p. 5.
22. "Eye and Launceston Elections". Pall Mall Gazette. 2 July 1885. p. 10. Retrieved 3 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
23. "The Polling at Launceston". Eastern Evening News. 2 July 1885. p. 3. Retrieved 3 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
24. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
25. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
26. Western Times, 23 January 1914

References

• Cornwall portal

• 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)
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
• J. E. Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
• J. Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847, Volume 1 (London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co, 1844)
• Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. p. 1.
• Frederic A. Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)
• House of Commons journals and other records at British History Online
• The History of Parliament Trust, Launceston (Dunheved), Borough from 1386 to 1868
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)