East Cumberland (UK Parliament constituency)

East Cumberland is a former county constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system of election.

East Cumberland
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Form 1832-1868 and this area was left intact until 1885. Extract from 1837 result: the central 'singly' orange area which omits to mention the other incumbent, of the same party.
1832–1885
Seats	two
Created from	Cumberland
Replaced by	Cockermouth, Eskdale and Penrith

Boundaries

1832–1885: The Wards of Cumberland, Eskdale and Leath.^[1]

In 1832 the historic county of Cumberland, in north west England, was split for parliamentary purposes into two county divisions. These were the East division (with a place of election at Carlisle) and West Cumberland (where voting took place at Cockermouth). Each division returned two members to Parliament.

The only parliamentary borough included in the East division, between 1832 and 1885, (whose non-resident 40-shilling freeholders could vote in the county constituency) was Carlisle. (Source: Stooks Smith).

History

The first two Members of Parliament for this division were the last pair of representatives for the undivided county before the 1832 general election.

On the formation of Earl Grey's administration in 1830 Sir James Graham had received the post of First Lord of the Admiralty, with a seat in the cabinet. He resigned over the Irish Church question in 1834, and eventually joined the Conservatives in 1837. His former constituents did not re-elect Sir James when he sought election as a Tory at the 1837 general election.

The division proved to be favourable to the Liberal Party as no Conservative was elected until after the Reform Act 1867 and the party never held both seats simultaneously. In 1868 and again in 1880 a Conservative MP was returned.

The Howard family (whose head was the Earl of Carlisle) seem to have had influence in the constituency. The sixth son of the 6th Earl of Carlisle, the Honourable Charles Howard, represented the division from 1840 until his death in 1879. He was joined by Edward Howard in the representation of the constituency in 1876. Charles Howard's son George was the third Howard to sit for the constituency.

In 1885 this division was abolished, when the East and West Cumberland county divisions were replaced by four new single-member county constituencies. These were Cockermouth, Egremont (the Western division), Eskdale (Northern division) and Penrith (Mid division). In addition there were two remaining Cumberland borough constituencies; Carlisle and Whitehaven.

Members of Parliament

• Constituency created (1832)

Election			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
		1832	William Blamire	Whig[2][3][4]	Sir James Graham, Bt a	Whig[2][5]
		1836 by-election	William James	Radical[2][6][7][8][9]
		1837			Francis Aglionby	Radical[7][9]
		1840 by-election			Hon. Charles Howard	Whig[2][10][11][12]
		1847	William Marshall	Whig[13][14][15]
		1859		Liberal		Liberal
		1868	William Nicholson Hodgson	Conservative
		1876 by-election	Stafford Howard	Liberal
		1879 by-election			George Howard	Liberal
		1880			Sir Richard Musgrave, Bt	Conservative
		1881 by-election			George Howard	Liberal
		1885	Constituency abolished

Notes:-

• ^a Graham contested the 1837 United Kingdom general election as a Conservative candidate, although he lost.

See also

• List of former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: East Cumberland^[2][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Blamire	Unopposed
	Whig	James Graham	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,035
	Whig win (new seat)
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: East Cumberland^[2][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Blamire	Unopposed
	Whig	James Graham	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,992
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Blamire resigned after being appointed as Chief Commissioner for the Commutation of Tithes, causing a by-election.

By-election, 2 September 1836: East Cumberland^[2][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Radical	William James	Unopposed
	Radical gain from Whig

General election 1837: East Cumberland^[2][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Radical	Francis Aglionby	2,294	38.1
	Radical	William James	2,124	35.3
	Conservative	James Graham	1,605	26.6
Majority			519	8.7
Turnout			3,699	79.8
Registered electors			4,638
	Radical gain from Whig
	Radical gain from Whig

Elections in the 1840s

Aglionby's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 20 July 1840: East Cumberland^[2][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Charles Howard	Unopposed
	Whig gain from Radical

General election 1841: East Cumberland^[2][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Charles Howard	2,086	34.9	N/A
	Radical	William James	1,988	33.2	−40.2
	Conservative	William W Stephenson[17]	1,906	31.9	+5.3
Turnout			c. 3,943	c. 81.4	c. +1.6
Registered electors			4,842
Majority			98	1.7	N/A
	Whig gain from Radical		Swing	N/A
Majority			82	1.3	−7.4
	Radical hold		Swing	−22.8

General election 1847: East Cumberland^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Charles Howard	Unopposed
	Whig	William Marshall	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,348
	Whig hold
	Whig gain from Radical

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: East Cumberland^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Charles Howard	2,375	36.0	N/A
	Whig	William Marshall	2,255	34.2	N/A
	Conservative	Thomas Salkeld[18]	1,964	29.8	New
Majority			291	4.4	N/A
Turnout			4,279 (est)	80.0 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			5,351
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: East Cumberland^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Charles Howard	Unopposed
	Whig	William Marshall	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,693
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1859: East Cumberland^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Howard	Unopposed
	Liberal	William Marshall	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,582
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: East Cumberland^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Howard	Unopposed
	Liberal	William Marshall	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,455
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: East Cumberland^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Nicholson Hodgson	2,626	34.7	New
	Liberal	Charles Howard	2,546	33.6	N/A
	Liberal	William Marshall	2,397	31.7	N/A
Majority			229	3.0	N/A
Turnout			5,098 (est)	76.2 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			6,694
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: East Cumberland^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Howard	2,943	35.9	+2.3
	Conservative	William Nicholson Hodgson	2,629	32.1	−2.6
	Conservative	Richard Musgrave	2,622	32.0	N/A
Majority			321	3.9
Turnout			5,569 (est)	77.1 (est)	+0.9
Registered electors			7,225
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.5

Hodgson's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 28 Apr 1876: East Cumberland^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stafford Howard	2,939	51.4	+15.5
	Conservative	Richard Musgrave	2,783	48.6	−15.5
Majority			156	2.8	N/A
Turnout			5,722	78.1	+1.0
Registered electors			7,323
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+15.5

Charles Howard's death led to a by-election.

By-election, 25 Apr 1879: East Cumberland^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Howard	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: East Cumberland^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Musgrave	3,161	34.1	−30.0
	Liberal	Stafford Howard	3,083	33.2	+15.2
	Liberal	George Howard	3,039	32.7	+14.7
Majority			78	0.9
Turnout			6,244 (est)	80.1 (est)	+3.0
Registered electors			7,798
	Conservative hold		Swing	−15.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	+15.1

Musgrave's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 28 Feb 1881: East Cumberland^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Howard	3,071	50.2	−15.7
	Conservative	James Lowther	3,041	49.8	+15.7
Majority			30	0.6	N/A
Turnout			6,112	77.1	−3.0 (est)
Registered electors			7,928
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	−15.7

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. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 52. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
3. Creighton, Mandell (1886). "Blamire, William" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 05. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
4. Kain, Roger J. P.; Prince, Hugh C. (1985). The tithe surveys of England and Wales. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-521-24681-1. LCCN 84-7100. Retrieved 5 April 2019 – via Google Books.
5. Creighton, Mandell (1890). "Graham, James Robert George" . In Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney (eds.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 22. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
6. Escott, Margaret. "JAMES, William (1791–1861), of Barrock Lodge, Lower Heskett, Cumb". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
7. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. pp. 13–14, 131–132. Retrieved 21 August 2018 – via Google Books.
8. "William James MP". Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
9. "The Elections". Morning Post. 3 July 1837. p. 1. Retrieved 5 April 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Representation of East Cumberland". Dublin Evening Mail. 17 July 1840. p. 2. Retrieved 30 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. Gent, David Christopher (2010). Aristocratic Whig Politics in Early-Victorian Yorkshire: Lord Morpeth and His World (PDF) (PhD). University of York. p. 36.
12. "East Cumberland Election". Sherborne Mercury. 27 July 1840. p. 4. Retrieved 30 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. Casey, Martin. "Marshall, William (1796-1872)". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
14. "Election Intelligence". Morning Post. 28 July 1847. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 22 April 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
15. Carlisle Patriot. 27 December 1834. pp. 2–4 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000365/18341227/023/0004. Retrieved 22 April 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
16. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 367–368. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
17. "Cumberland Pacquet, and Ware's Whitehaven Advertiser". 22 June 1841. p. 2. Retrieved 5 April 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
18. "The General Election". Morning Post. 16 July 1852. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 30 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
• The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 6)