South Warwickshire (UK Parliament constituency)

South Warwickshire was a parliamentary constituency in the county of Warwickshire in England. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

South Warwickshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	Warwickshire
1832–1885
Seats	Two
Created from	Warwickshire
Replaced by	Rugby Stratford-on-Avon

History

The constituency was created under the Reform Act 1832, when the former Warwickshire constituency was divided into two new divisions: North Warwickshire and South Warwickshire.

South Warwickshire was itself abolished in 1885, when the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 replaced it with four new single-member constituencies: Nuneaton, Rugby, Stratford-on-Avon and Tamworth.

Boundaries

1832–1885: The Hundreds of Barlichway and Kington, and the Kenilworth and Southam Divisions of the Hundred of Knightlow.^[1]

Members of Parliament

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1832		Sir Grey Skipwith, Bt	Whig[2]		Sir George Philips, Bt	Whig[2][3]
1835		Sir John Mordaunt, Bt	Conservative		Edward Sheldon	Radical[3][4]
1836 by-election					Evelyn Shirley	Conservative
1845 by-election		Lord Brooke	Conservative
1849 by-election					Lord Guernsey	Conservative
1853 by-election		Evelyn Shirley	Conservative
1857					Edward Bolton King	Whig[2][5]
1859					Sir Charles Mordaunt, Bt	Conservative
1865		Henry Christopher Wise	Conservative
1868					John Hardy	Conservative
1874		Hugh Seymour	Conservative		Sir John Eardley-Wilmot, Bt	Conservative
1880		Hon. Gilbert Leigh	Liberal
1884 by-election		Sampson Lloyd	Conservative
constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: South Warwickshire^[6][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Grey Skipwith	1,396	38.5
	Whig	George Philips	1,121	30.9
	Tory	Evelyn Shirley	1,108	30.6
Majority			13	0.3
Turnout			2,249	88.2
Registered electors			2,550
	Whig win (new seat)
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: South Warwickshire^[6][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Radical	Edward Sheldon (MP)	Unopposed
	Conservative	John Mordaunt	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,901
	Radical gain from Whig
	Conservative gain from Whig

Sheldon's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 1 July 1836: South Warwickshire^[6][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Evelyn Shirley	1,885	58.1
	Whig	Grey Skipwith	1,360	41.9
Majority			525	16.2
Turnout			3,245	81.2
Registered electors			3,997
	Conservative gain from Radical

General election 1837: South Warwickshire^[6][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Mordaunt	Unopposed
	Conservative	Evelyn Shirley	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,304
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Radical

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: South Warwickshire^[6][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Mordaunt	Unopposed
	Conservative	Evelyn Shirley	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,261
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Mordaunt's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 5 November 1845: South Warwickshire^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Greville	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: South Warwickshire^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Greville	Unopposed
	Conservative	Evelyn Shirley	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,066
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

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

By-election, 7 June 1849: South Warwickshire^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Heneage Finch	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: South Warwickshire^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Greville	Unopposed
	Conservative	Heneage Finch	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,980
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Greville succeeded to the peerage, becoming 4th Earl of Warwick and causing a by-election.

By-election, 3 December 1853: South Warwickshire^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Evelyn Shirley	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: South Warwickshire^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Evelyn Shirley	Unopposed
	Whig	Edward Bolton King	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,522
	Conservative hold
	Whig gain from Conservative

General election 1859: South Warwickshire^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Evelyn Shirley	Unopposed
	Conservative	Charles Mordaunt	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,470
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: South Warwickshire^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Christopher Wise	1,585	35.8	N/A
	Conservative	Charles Mordaunt	1,517	34.3	N/A
	Liberal	Viscount Duncan	1,321	29.9	New
Majority			196	4.4	N/A
Turnout			2,872 (est)	81.7 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,517
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: South Warwickshire^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Christopher Wise	2,581	25.8	−10.0
	Conservative	John Hardy	2,501	25.0	−9.3
	Liberal	Robert Hamilton	2,472	24.7	+9.7
	Liberal	Edward Villiers	2,453	24.5	+9.5
Majority			29	0.3	−4.1
Turnout			5,004 (est)	80.6 (est)	−1.1
Registered electors			6,205
	Conservative hold		Swing	−9.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−9.5

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: South Warwickshire^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Earl of Yarmouth	2,832	36.3	+10.5
	Conservative	John Eardley-Wilmot	2,801	35.9	+10.9
	Liberal	Robert Hamilton	2,170	27.8	−21.4
Majority			631	8.1	+7.8
Turnout			4,987 (est)	78.7 (est)	−1.9
Registered electors			6,340
	Conservative hold		Swing	+10.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+10.8

Seymour was appointed Comptroller of the Household, causing a by-election.

By-election, 21 Feb 1879: South Warwickshire^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Seymour	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: South Warwickshire^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Eardley-Wilmot	2,644	34.3	−1.6
	Liberal	Gilbert Leigh	2,550	33.1	+5.3
	Conservative	Hugh Seymour	2,507	32.6	−3.7
Turnout			5,123 (est)	79.7 (est)	+1.0
Registered electors			6,429
Majority			94	1.2	−6.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.7
Majority			43	0.5	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.7

Leigh's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 10 Nov 1884: South Warwickshire^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sampson Lloyd	3,095	61.7	−5.2
	Liberal	William Compton	1,919	38.3	+5.2
Majority			1,176	23.4	N/A
Turnout			5,014	76.1	−3.6
Registered electors			6,590
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	−5.2

References

1. "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. XLV: An Act to amend the Representation of the People in England and Wales". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 154–206. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
2. 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. 96–97, 102. Retrieved 18 August 2018 – via Google Books.
3. Churton, Edward (1836). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. pp. 142, 159. Retrieved 3 June 2019 – via Google Books.
4. "Leamington Spa Courier". 3 January 1835. p. 1. Retrieved 3 June 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Coventry Herald". 3 April 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 18 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 476–477. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)