Malton (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Maldon (UK Parliament constituency).

Malton, also called New Malton, was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England in 1295 and 1298, and again from 1640, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until 1868, among them the political philosopher Edmund Burke, and by one member from 1868 to 1885.

Malton
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1640–1885
Replaced by	Thirsk and Malton Buckrose

The constituency was divided between the new Thirsk and Malton division of the North Riding of Yorkshire and the Buckrose division of the East Riding of Yorkshire from 1885.

Boundaries

The constituency consisted of parts of the St Leonard's and St Michael's parishes of New Malton in the North Riding until the Great Reform Act of 1832; the borough at that point included 791 houses and had a population of 4,173 in the 1831 census. The Reform Act expanded the boundaries to include the whole of those two parishes, as well as that of Old Malton and of the adjoining town of Norton in the East Riding, increasing the population to 7,192 and encompassing 1,401 houses.

Franchise

The right of election in Malton was vested in the scot and lot householders of the borough, of whom there were about 800 in 1832. In practice the seats were generally in the gift of the landowner, Earl Fitzwilliam (and were frequently held by one of that family, often by the heir to the Earldom who had the courtesy title Viscount Milton); at an earlier period the borough was similarly dominated by the Watson-Wentworth family, and was used as a form of government patronage when the Marquess of Rockingham was Prime Minister.

Members of Parliament

New Malton re-enfranchised by Parliament in November 1640

MPs 1640–1868

Year			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
		November 1640	Thomas Hebblethwaite	Royalist	Henry Cholmley	Parliamentarian
		November 1644	Hebblethwaite disabled to sit - seat vacant
		1645	Richard Darley
		December 1648			Cholmley excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant
		1653	Malton was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
		1654,1656	Malton was unrepresented in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
		January 1659[a]	Philip Howard		George Marwood
		May 1659	Richard Darley		One seat vacant
		April 1660	Thomas Hebblethwaite		Philip Howard
		April (?) 1661			Thomas Danby
		December 1661			Sir Thomas Gower
		1668	William Palmes
		1673			James Hebblethwaite
		1679			Sir Watkinson Payler
		1685	Hon. Thomas Fairfax		Thomas Worsley
		1689	William Palmes	Junto Whig	Sir William Strickland	Junto Whig
		1698			Thomas Worsley
		1701			Sir William Strickland	Junto Whig
		1708			William Strickland	Whig
		1713	Thomas Watson-Wentworth
		1715			Thomas Watson-Wentworth (the younger)
		1722	Sir William Strickland	Whig
		1724 by-election	Henry Finch
		1727			Wardell Westby
		1731 by-election			Sir William Wentworth
		May 1741			Lord James Cavendish
		Dec 1741 by-election			John Mostyn
		1761 by-election	Savile Finch	Whig[1]
		1768			The Viscount Downe
		1774			Edmund Burke[b]	Rockinghamite Whig[1]
		1775 by-election			William Weddell	Whig[1]
		1780 by-election	Edmund Burke	Whig[1]
		April 1784			Sir Thomas Gascoigne	Whig[1]
		Aug 1784 by-election			William Weddell	Whig[1]
		1792 by-election			Hon. George Damer[c]	Whig
		1794 by-election	Richard Burke (died 1794)	Whig[1]
		1795 by-election	William Baldwin	Whig[1]
		1798 by-election			Bryan Cooke	Whig[1]
		1798 by-election	Charles Lawrence Dundas	Whig[1]
		1805 by-election	Henry Grattan	Whig[1]
		1806	Viscount Milton	Whig
		1807	Hon. Charles Winn-Allanson [d]	Tory[1]	Robert Lawrence Dundas	Whig[1]
		Mar 1808 by-election	Bryan Cooke	Whig[1]
		1812	John Ramsden	Whig[1]	Viscount Duncannon	Whig[1]
		1826			Viscount Normanby	Canningite Tory[1]
		1830			Sir James Scarlett	Whig[e][1]
		April 1831 by-election			Francis Jeffrey[f]	Whig[1]
		May 1831	Henry Gally Knight	Whig[1]
		Jul 1831 by-election			William Cavendish	Whig[1]
		Sep. 1831 by-election			Charles Pepys	Whig[1]
		1832	William Fitzwilliam [g]	Whig[1]
		1833 by-election	John Ramsden	Whig[1]
		1836 by-election			John Walbanke-Childers	Whig[1][2][3][4]
		1837 by-election	Viscount Milton [h]	Whig[1][5][6][7]
		1841	Evelyn Denison	Whig[1][8][9][2][3]
		1846 by-election			Viscount Milton	Whig[1][5][6][7]
		1847			John Walbanke-Childers	Whig[1][2][3][4]
		1852			Hon. Charles Wentworth-Fitzwilliam	Whig[10][11]
		1857	James Brown	Whig
		1859		Liberal		Liberal
1868			Representation reduced to one member

MPs 1868–1885

Year		Member	Party
	1868	Hon. Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Liberal
1885		constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Malton^[1][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Charles Ramsden	Unopposed
	Whig	James Scarlett	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 500
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Scarlett resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 6 April 1831: Malton^[1][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Francis Jeffrey	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 500
	Whig hold

General election 1831: Malton^[1][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Francis Jeffrey	Unopposed
	Whig	Henry Gally Knight	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 500
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Jeffrey was also elected for Perth Burghs and opted to sit there, causing a by-election.

By-election, 13 July 1831: Malton^[1][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Cavendish	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 500
	Whig hold

Cavendish resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 30 September 1831: Malton^[1][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Charles Pepys	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 500
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Malton^[1][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Unopposed
	Whig	Charles Pepys	Unopposed
Registered electors			667
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Wentworth-FitzWilliam resigned in order to contest a by-election at North Northamptonshire, causing a by-election.

By-election, 8 March 1833: Malton^[1][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Charles Ramsden	Unopposed
	Whig hold

Pepys was appointed as Solicitor General for England and Wales, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 4 March 1834: Malton^[1][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Charles Pepys	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1835: Malton^[1][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Charles Ramsden	Unopposed
	Whig	Charles Pepys	Unopposed
Registered electors			616
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Pepys was appointed as First Lord Commissioner for the Custody of the Great Seal, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 19 May 1835: Malton^[1][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Charles Pepys	Unopposed
	Whig hold

Pepys resigned after being appointed as Lord Chancellor and being elevated to the peerage, becoming 1st Earl of Cottenham, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 12 February 1836: Malton^[1][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Walbanke-Childers	Unopposed
	Whig hold

Ramsden's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 27 January 1837: Malton^[1][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Malton^[1][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Walbanke-Childers	Unopposed
	Whig	William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam	Unopposed
Registered electors			603
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Malton^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Walbanke-Childers	Unopposed
	Whig	Evelyn Denison	Unopposed
Registered electors			572
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Childers resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

By-election, 15 April 1846: Malton^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1847: Malton^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Walbanke-Childers	Unopposed
	Whig	Evelyn Denison	Unopposed
Registered electors			535
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Malton^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Unopposed
	Whig	Evelyn Denison	Unopposed
Registered electors			539
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1857: Malton^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Unopposed
	Whig	James Brown	Unopposed
Registered electors			594
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1859: Malton^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Unopposed
	Liberal	James Brown	Unopposed
Registered electors			595
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Malton^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Unopposed
	Liberal	James Brown	Unopposed
Registered electors			600
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Seat reduced to one member

General election 1868: Malton^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,218
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Malton^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam	603	56.0	N/A
	Conservative	Robert Hartley Bower[14]	474	44.0	New
Majority			129	12.0	N/A
Turnout			1,077	86.9	N/A
Registered electors			1,240
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Malton^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam	809	64.5	+8.5
	Conservative	William Worsley[15]	445	35.5	−8.5
Majority			364	29.0	+17.0
Turnout			1,254	90.9	+4.0
Registered electors			1,379
	Liberal hold		Swing	+8.5

Notes

Footnotes

1. The Returning Officer made a double return after a dispute over the franchise: the Committee of Elections and Privileges ruled in favour of Howard and Marwood, and against their opponents Luke Robinson and Robert Lilburne on the grounds that Old Malton as well as New Malton was entitled to vote. (House of Commons Journal, 7 March 1659 )
2. In 1774 Burke was also elected for Bristol, and did not sit for Malton in this Parliament
3. Styled Viscount Milton from 1792
4. Dundas and Winn-Allanson won in a contested election in which Bryan Cooke came third. On petition, Winn-Allanson's election was declared void and a by-election held at which Cooke was elected.
5. Scarlett took the Chiltern Hundreds in April 1831, after switching from the Whigs to the Tories
6. Jeffrey was also elected for Perth District of Burghs at the 1831 general election and chose to represent that constituency
7. Fitzwilliam became Viscount Milton in 1833 when his father succeeded as Earl Fitzwilliam, and resigned to contest his father's Northamptonshire, Northern seat)
8. Not the same Viscount Milton who held the seat in 1806-7 or in 1833

Citations

1. Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 156–158. Retrieved 26 November 2018 – via Google Books.
2. Crosby's Political Record of Parliamentary Elections in Great Britain and Ireland with Select Biographical Notices and Speeches of Distinguished Statesmen. York: George Crosby. 1843. pp. 256–257. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
3. Ollivier, John (1842). "Alphabetical List of the House of Commons". Ollivier's parliamentary and political director. pp. 19, 20. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
4. "General Election, 1841". Morning Post. 29 June 1841. pp. 2–4. Retrieved 28 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. p. 160. Retrieved 26 November 2018 – via Google Books.
6. Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1847). Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Volume 15. Dod's Parliamentary Companion. p. 208. Retrieved 26 November 2018 – via Google Books.
7. Mosse, Richard Bartholomew (1838). The Parliamentary Guide: a concise history of the Members of both Houses, etc. p. 195. Retrieved 26 November 2018 – via Google Books.
8. "Biography of John Evelyn Denison, Viscount Ossington (1800–1873)". Manuscripts and Special Collections. University of Nottingham. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
9. Harratt, Simon; Farrell, Stephen (2009). "DENISON, John Evelyn (1800–1873), of Ossington Hall, Notts". The History of Parliament.
10. Rix, Kathryn (28 November 2014). "MP of the Month: the Fitzwilliams of Wentworth Woodhouse". The Victorian Commons. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
11. Howe, Anthony; Morgan, Simon; Banneman, Gordon, eds. (2010). The Letters of Richard Cobden: Volume II ~ 1848–1853. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-19-921196-8. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
12. Casey, Martin. "Malton". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
13. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
14. "Conservative Banquet at Malton". Leeds Mercury. 11 April 1874. p. 7. Retrieved 6 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
15. "Malton". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 13 March 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 20 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

References

• Michael Brock, The Great Reform Act (London: Hutchinson, 1973)
• 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)
• 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" (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
• Robert Walcott, "English Politics in the Early Eighteenth Century" (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1956)
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 1)