Great Marlow (UK Parliament constituency)

Great Marlow, sometimes simply called Marlow, was a parliamentary borough in Buckinghamshire. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of England between 1301 and 1307, and again from 1624 until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1868. It elected one member from 1868 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.

Great Marlow
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1624–1885
Seats	two (1311-1868); one (1868-1885)
Replaced by	Aylesbury

History

In the 17th century a solicitor named William Hakewill, of Lincoln's Inn, rediscovered ancient writs confirming that Amersham, Great Marlow, and Wendover had all sent members to Parliament in the past, and succeeded in re-establishing their privileges (despite the opposition of James I), so that they resumed electing members from the Parliament of 1624. Hakewill himself was elected for Amersham in 1624.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1624–1640

Year	First member	Second member
Constituency re-enfranchised by Parliament in 1624
1624	Henry Borlase	Thomas Cotton
1625	John Backhouse	Thomas Cotton
1626	John Backhouse	Sir William Hicks, 1st Baronet
1628	Sir John Backhouse	Miles Hobart

MPs 1640–1868

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640		John Borlase	Royalist		Sir William Hicks
November 1640[a]					Gabriel Hippesley
1640		Bulstrode Whitelocke	Parliamentarian		Peregrine Hoby	Parliamentarian
December 1648				Hoby excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant
1653	Great Marlow was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		William Borlase			Peregrine Hoby
May 1659		Bulstrode Whitelocke		One seat vacant
April 1660		William Borlase			Peregrine Hoby
1666		Charles Cheyne
1679		John Borlase			Sir Humphrey Winch
1681					Thomas Hoby
1685		Sir John Borlase			Sir Humphrey Winch
January 1689					The Viscount Falkland
February 1689		John Hoby
December 1689		Sir William Whitelock
1690					James Chase
1695		Sir James Etheridge
1710					George Bruere
1715		The Lord Shelburne
1722		Edmund Waller			Sir John Guise
1727					John Clavering
1731					George Robinson[b]
1732 by-election					Sir Thomas Hoby
1741		Samuel Tufnell
1744 by-election					William Ockenden
1747		Merrick Burrell
1754		Charles Churchill			Daniel Moore
1761		William Clayton (elder)			William Mathew Burt
1768					William Dickinson
1774					(Sir) John Borlase Warren[c]
1783 by-election		William Clayton (later 4th Bt)
1784					Captain Sir Thomas Rich
1790		Thomas Williams	Tory[1]		William Lee-Antonie	Whig[1]
1796					Owen Williams	Whig[1]
1802 by-election		Pascoe Grenfell	Whig[1]
1820		Thomas Peers Williams	Whig[1]
1832			Tory[1]		(Sir) William Clayton[d]	Whig[1][2][3]
1834			Conservative[1]
1842[d]					Renn Hampden	Conservative[1]
1847					Brownlow William Knox	Conservative
1868	Representation reduced to one member

1. The election of Borlase and Hippesley to the Long Parliament were declared void.^{[citation needed]}
2. Expelled from the House of Commons for "indirect and fraudulent Practices in the Affairs of the Charitable Corporation, and for having never attended the Service of the House, although required to do so".
3. Created a baronet, 1775
4. At the 1841 general election (Sir) William Clayton, who succeeded as baronet in January 1834, was initially declared re-elected by 1 vote in 1841, but on petition and after scrutiny his election was declared void and his opponent, Hampden, was declared elected instead.

MPs 1868–1885

Election		Member	Party
1868		Thomas Owen Wethered	Conservative
1880		Owen Williams	Conservative
1885	Constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Great Marlow^[1][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Owen Williams	209	36.5
	Whig	Thomas Peers Williams	192	33.6
	Whig	William Clayton	171	29.9
Majority			21	3.7
Turnout			360	c. 90.0
Registered electors			c. 400
	Whig hold		Swing
	Whig hold		Swing

General election 1831: Great Marlow^[1][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Owen Williams	196	34.1	New
	Tory	Thomas Peers Williams	192	33.4	New
	Whig	William Clayton	187	32.5	+2.6
Majority			5	0.9	−2.8
Turnout			374	c. 93.5	c. +3.5
Registered electors			c. 400
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing	−1.9
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing	−0.8

Owen Williams' death caused a by-election.

By-election, 3 March 1832: Great Marlow^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Clayton	Unopposed
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1832: Great Marlow^[1][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Thomas Peers Williams	Unopposed
	Whig	William Clayton	Unopposed
Registered electors			457
	Tory hold
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1835: Great Marlow^[1][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Clayton	201	47.9
	Conservative	Thomas Peers Williams	185	44.0
	Radical	William Carpenter	34	8.1
Turnout			240	64.3
Registered electors			373
Majority			16	3.9
	Whig hold
Majority			151	35.9
	Conservative hold

General election 1837: Great Marlow^[1][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Clayton	Unopposed
	Conservative	Thomas Peers Williams	Unopposed
Registered electors			369
	Whig hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Great Marlow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Peers Williams	233	40.7	N/A
	Whig	William Clayton	170	29.7	N/A
	Conservative	Renn Hampden	169	29.5	N/A
Turnout			333	90.2	N/A
Registered electors			354
Majority			63	11.0	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			1	0.2	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing

On petition, Clayton was unseated on 11 April 1842 due to bribery and Hampden was declared elected in his place.^[6]

General election 1847: Great Marlow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Peers Williams	238	41.2	+0.5
	Conservative	Renn Hampden	178	30.8	+1.3
	Whig	William Clayton	161	27.9	−0.8
Majority			17	2.9	−8.1
Turnout			289 (est)	77.8 (est)	−12.4
Registered electors			371
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.5
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+0.9

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Great Marlow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Peers Williams	242	45.1	+3.9
	Conservative	Brownlow William Knox	198	36.9	+6.1
	Whig	Jacob Bell[7][8][9]	96	17.9	−10.0
Majority			102	19.0	+16.1
Turnout			316 (est)	89.3 (est)	+11.5
Registered electors			354
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.6

General election 1857: Great Marlow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brownlow William Knox	Unopposed
	Conservative	Thomas Peers Williams	Unopposed
Registered electors			343
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: Great Marlow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Peers Williams	229	43.7	N/A
	Conservative	Brownlow William Knox	175	33.4	N/A
	Liberal	John Webb Probyn[10]	120	22.9	New
Majority			55	10.5	N/A
Turnout			322 (est)	94.7 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			354
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Great Marlow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brownlow William Knox	Unopposed
	Conservative	Thomas Peers Williams	Unopposed
Registered electors			349
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Seat reduced to one member

General election 1868: Great Marlow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Owen Wethered	345	52.4	N/A
	Liberal	Edmund Verney	314	47.6	New
Majority			31	4.8	N/A
Turnout			659	86.7	N/A
Registered electors			760
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Great Marlow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Owen Wethered	Unopposed
Registered electors			856
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Great Marlow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Owen Williams	505	58.7	N/A
	Liberal	James Olliff Griffits[11]	355	41.3	New
Majority			150	17.4	N/A
Turnout			860	91.4	N/A
Registered electors			941
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

References

1. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
2. "General Election, 1841". Morning Post. 29 June 1841. pp. 2–4. Retrieved 5 November 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Marlow". Bell's Weekly Messenger. 12 July 1841. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 5 November 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. Fisher, David R. "Great Marlow". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
5. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
6. "Dublin Evening Mail". 13 April 1842. p. 3. Retrieved 5 November 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "St Albans". Newcastle Courant. 27 December 1850. p. 3. Retrieved 12 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Summary". Liverpool Mercury. 27 December 1850. p. 8. Retrieved 12 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "St. Alban's Election". Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser. 28 December 1850. p. 17. Retrieved 12 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Marlow". Reading Mercury. 30 April 1859. p. 4. Retrieved 12 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Griffits, James Olliff" . Men-at-the-Bar – via Wikisource.

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• 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)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)