Mayo (UK Parliament constituency)

This article is about the 19th-century constituency of the UK Parliament. For the contemporary Irish constituency, see Mayo (Dáil constituency).

County Mayo was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885.

County Mayo
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	County Mayo
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Mayo (IHC)
Replaced by	East Mayo North Mayo South Mayo West Mayo

History

The constituency was created in 1801 under the Acts of Union 1800, succeeding the earlier County Mayo constituency in the pre-union Parliament of Ireland. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 it was divided into four new single-seat constituencies: East Mayo, North Mayo, South Mayo and West Mayo.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the whole of County Mayo.

Members of Parliament

Year	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1801, 1 January		Denis Browne			George Jackson
1802, 22 July					Henry Dillon-Lee
1814, 5 March					Dominick Browne	Whig[1]
1818, 4 July		James Browne	Tory[2]
1826, 24 June					Lord Bingham	Non Partisan[3]
1830, 14 August					Dominick Browne	Whig[1]
1831, 19 May		John Denis Browne	Whig[1]
1835, 24 January		Sir William Brabazon, Bt	Repeal Association[1][4]
1836, 6 May					Robert Dillon Browne	Repeal Association[1][4]
1840, 16 December		Mark Blake	Repeal Association[1][4]
1846, 2 March		Joseph Myles McDonnell	Repeal Association[4]
1847, 14 August		George Henry Moore[5]	Whig[6][7][8]
1850, 29 July					George Gore Ousley Higgins	Whig[9][10][11]
1852, 26 July			Independent Irish[4]			Independent Irish[4]
1857, 10 April					Roger Palmer	Conservative[4]
1857, 30 December		Lord John Browne	Whig[12]
1859, 13 May			Liberal[4]
1865, 19 July					Lord Bingham	Conservative[4]
1868, 23 November		George Henry Moore	Liberal[4]
1870, 12 May		George Eakins Browne	Liberal[4]
1874, 7 Feb[13]			Home Rule League[4]		Thomas Tighe	Home Rule League[4]
1874, 1 June					John O'Connor Power	Home Rule League[4]
1880, 15 April		Charles Stewart Parnell[14]	Parnellite Home Rule League[4]
1880, 26 May		Isaac Nelson	Home Rule League[4]
1882[15]			Irish Parliamentary Party			Irish Parliamentary Party
1885	Constituency divided: see East Mayo, North Mayo, South Mayo and West Mayo

Elections

The elections in this constituency took place using the first past the post electoral system.^{[citation needed]}

Elections in the 1830s

General Election 1830: Mayo^[4][1][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	James Browne	402	40.4
	Whig	Dominick Browne	376	37.8
	Whig	Joseph Myles McDonnell	217	21.8
	Nonpartisan	George Vaughan Jackson	1	0.1
Turnout			624	59.1
Registered electors			1,055
Majority			26	2.6
	Tory hold
Majority			159	16.0
	Whig gain from Nonpartisan

General Election 1831: Mayo^[4][1][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Denis Browne	469	43.0	N/A
	Whig	Dominick Browne	415	38.1	+0.3
	Whig	Joseph Myles McDonnell	206	18.9	−2.9
Majority			209	19.2	+3.2
Turnout			c. 545	c. 51.7	c. −7.4
Registered electors			1,055
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	+0.3

General Election 1832: Mayo^[4][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Denis Browne	666	35.0	−8.0
	Whig	Dominick Browne	628	33.0	−5.1
	Irish Repeal	William Brabazon	611	32.1	New
Majority			17	0.9	−18.3
Turnout			1,234	91.4	c. +39.7
Registered electors			1,350
	Whig hold		Swing	−8.0
	Whig hold		Swing	−5.1

General Election 1835: Mayo^[4][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	William Brabazon	828	42.6	+14.5
	Whig	Dominick Browne	623	32.1	−0.9
	Whig	John Denis Browne	430	22.1	−12.9
	Conservative	John D Ellard	62	3.2	New
Turnout			c. 972	c. 75.3	c. −16.1
Registered electors			1,290
Majority			205	10.5	N/A
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig		Swing	+10.5
Majority			193	10.0	+9.1
	Whig hold		Swing	−4.1

Browne was elevated to the peerage, becoming 1st Baron Oranmore and causing a by-election.

By-election, 6 May 1836: Mayo^[4][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Robert Dillon Browne	599	66.3	+23.7
	Whig	John Denis Browne	305	33.7	−20.5
Majority			294	32.4	+21.9
Turnout			904	60.6	c. −14.7
Registered electors			1,491
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig		Swing	+22.1

• Note (1836): Walker suggests 609 votes were placed for Robert Browne, and none for John Browne, but Stooks Smith's figures have been used above.

General Election 1837: Mayo^[4][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	William Brabazon	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Robert Dillon Browne	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,028
	Irish Repeal hold
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig

Elections in the 1840s

Brabazon's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 16 December 1840: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	Mark Blake	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal hold

General election 1841: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	Mark Blake	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal	Robert Dillon Browne	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,064
	Irish Repeal hold
	Irish Repeal hold

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

By-election, 2 March 1846: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	Joseph Myles McDonnell	477	53.4	N/A
	Whig	George Henry Moore	417	46.6	New
Majority			60	6.8	N/A
Turnout			894	57.6	N/A
Registered electors			1,551 (1847 figure)
	Irish Repeal hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1847: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Henry Moore	504	61.3	N/A
	Irish Repeal	Robert Dillon Browne	254	30.9	N/A
	Irish Repeal	Joseph Myles McDonnell	53	6.4	N/A
	Irish Repeal	John Denis Browne	11	1.3	N/A
Majority			250	30.4	N/A
Turnout			411 (est)	26.5 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			1,551
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A
	Irish Repeal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s

Browne's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 29 July 1850: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Gore Ousley Higgins	141	60.3	−1.0
	Conservative	Isaac Butt	93	39.7	New
Majority			48	20.6	−9.8
Turnout			234	15.1	−11.4
Registered electors			1,551
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A

General election 1852: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Irish	George Henry Moore	692	40.7	−20.6
	Independent Irish	George Gore Ousley Higgins	649	38.2	N/A
	Conservative	James McAlpine	360	21.2	N/A
Majority			289	17.0	−13.4
Turnout			960 (est)	68.8 (est)	+42.3
Registered electors			1,395
	Independent Irish gain from Whig		Swing	N/A
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Palmer	1,225	35.9	+14.7
	Independent Irish	George Henry Moore	1,150	33.7	−7.0
	Whig	George Gore Ousley Higgins	1,037	30.4	−7.8
Turnout			1,706 (est)	73.0 (est)	+4.2
Registered electors			2,338
Majority			75	2.2	N/A
	Conservative gain from Independent Irish		Swing	+14.8
Majority			113	3.3	−13.7
	Independent Irish hold		Swing	−7.2

On petition, Moore was unseated, causing a by-election.

By-election, 30 December 1857: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Browne	Unopposed
	Whig gain from Independent Irish

General election 1859: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Browne	Unopposed
	Conservative	Roger Palmer	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,779
	Liberal hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Browne	Unopposed
	Conservative	George Bingham	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,679
	Liberal hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Henry Moore	Unopposed
	Conservative	George Bingham	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,783
	Liberal hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

Moore's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 12 May 1870: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Eakins Browne	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1874: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	George Eakins Browne	Unopposed
	Home Rule	Thomas Tighe	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,608
	Home Rule gain from Conservative
	Home Rule gain from Liberal

On petition, Browne and Tighe were unseated.

By-election, 29 May 1874: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	George Eakins Browne	1,330	33.9	N/A
	Home Rule	John O'Connor Power	1,319	33.6	N/A
	Home Rule	Thomas Tighe	1,279	32.6	N/A
Majority			40	1.0	N/A
Turnout			1,964 (est)	54.4 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,608
	Home Rule hold
	Home Rule hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	John O'Connor Power	1,645	42.9	N/A
	Home Rule	Charles Stewart Parnell	1,565	40.8	N/A
	Home Rule	George Eakins Browne	628	16.4	N/A
Majority			937	24.4	N/A
Turnout			2,273 (est)	70.6 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,221
	Home Rule hold		Swing	N/A
	Home Rule hold		Swing	N/A

Parnell was also elected MP for Cork City and opted to sit there, causing a by-election.

By-election, 25 May 1880: Mayo^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Isaac Nelson	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,221
	Home Rule hold

Notes

1. Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 235–236. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via Google Books.
2. Salmon, Philip. "BROWNE, James (1793-1854), of Claremont House, co. Mayo". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
3. Salmon, Philip. "Co. Mayo". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
4. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 230–231, 302–303. ISBN 0901714127.
5. Following the general election in April 1857, the election of George Henry Moore was declared void on 14 July 1857. The writ was suspended until December 1857
6. "Galway Mercury, and Connaught Weekly Advertiser". 17 July 1847. p. 4. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Ireland". Worcestershire Chronicle. 11 March 1846. p. 7. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Leeds Intelligencer". 28 August 1847. p. 4. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Notice". Tipperary Free Press. 10 July 1850. p. 3. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Dublin Weekly Nation". 20 July 1850. p. 8. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "The Mayo Election". Galway Vindicator, and Connaught Advertiser. 31 July 1850. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Northern Whig". 9 January 1858. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. Following the general election in February 1874, the election of the two sitting members (Browne and Tighe) was declared void on 7 May 1874
14. Parnell was also returned for both Meath and Cork. He chose to sit for Cork
15. There was no election in 1882, but in that year the Home Rule League was renamed as the Irish Parliamentary Party

References

• 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)
• Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 2)