Northern West Riding of Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Northern West Riding of Yorkshire was a parliamentary constituency covering part of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.

Northern West Riding of Yorkshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	West Riding of Yorkshire
1865–1885
Seats	Two
Created from	West Riding of Yorkshire
Replaced by	Elland, Keighley, Shipley, Skipton and Sowerby

History

The constituency was created when the two-member West Riding of Yorkshire constituency was divided for the 1865 general election into two new constituencies, each returning two members: Northern West Riding of Yorkshire and Southern West Riding of Yorkshire. The extra seats were taken from parliamentary boroughs which had been disenfranchised for corruption.

In the redistribution which took effect for the 1868 general election the two divisions were redistributed into three. Eastern West Riding of Yorkshire was created and the Northern and Southern divisions modified. Each of the three divisions returned two members.

All three were abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election. The Northern division was replaced by five new single-member constituencies: Elland, Keighley, Shipley, Skipton and Sowerby.

Boundaries

The place of election was initially at Leeds (1861 Act), later at Bradford (1868 Act).

From 1865 to 1868 the constituency comprised the north half of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The Birkenhead Enfranchisement Act 1861 provided that it was to contain the wapentakes of Staincliffe and Ewecross, Claro, Skyrack, and Morley.^[1]

The Reform Act 1867 re-defined the constituency as the wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewcross, Claro, Skyrack, Barkston Ash, and Osgoldcross.^[2]

The Boundary Act 1868 again re-defined the constituency as the wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewcross with part of the wapentake of Morley (the parishes of Bradford and Halifax and the townships of Boston and Idle).^[3]

Members of Parliament

Election	1st member		1st party	2nd member		2nd party
1865		Sir Francis Crossley	Liberal		Lord Frederick Cavendish	Liberal
1872		Francis Powell	Conservative
1874		Sir Mathew Wilson, Bt	Liberal
1882					Isaac Holden	Liberal
1885	constituency abolished: see Elland, Keighley, Shipley, Skipton and Sowerby

Election results

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Northern West Riding of Yorkshire^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Cavendish	Unopposed
	Liberal	Francis Crossley	Unopposed
Registered electors			22,792
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1868: Northern West Riding of Yorkshire^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Cavendish	Unopposed
	Liberal	Francis Crossley	Unopposed
Registered electors			16,918
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

Crossley's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 3 Feb 1872: Northern West Riding of Yorkshire^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Powell	6,961	50.2	New
	Liberal	Isaac Holden	6,917	49.8	N/A
Majority			44	0.4	N/A
Turnout			13,878	81.2	N/A
Registered electors			17,084
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Cavendish was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 27 Aug 1873: Northern West Riding of Yorkshire^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Cavendish	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1874: Northern West Riding of Yorkshire^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Cavendish	8,681	26.4	N/A
	Liberal	Mathew Wilson	8,598	26.2	N/A
	Conservative	Francis Powell	7,820	23.8	N/A
	Conservative	William Fison[5]	7,725	23.5	N/A
Majority			778	2.4	N/A
Turnout			16,412 (est)	81.5 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			20,130
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Northern West Riding of Yorkshire^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Cavendish	10,818	30.2	+3.8
	Liberal	Mathew Wilson	10,732	30.0	+3.8
	Conservative	Samuel Lister	7,140	20.0	−3.5
	Conservative	Francis Powell	7,096	19.8	−4.0
Majority			3,592	10.0	+7.6
Turnout			17,893 (est)	81.9 (est)	+0.4
Registered electors			21,840
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.7
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.9

Cavendish was appointed Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, causing a by-election. However, on 6 May 1882, just hours after taking the oath for the position, Cavendish was assassinated in Dublin in the Phoenix Park Murders.

By-election, 20 May 1882: Northern West Riding of Yorkshire^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Isaac Holden	9,892	55.7	−4.5
	Conservative	Alfred Gathorne-Hardy[6]	7,865	44.3	+4.5
Majority			2,027	11.4	+1.4
Turnout			17,757	80.2	−1.7
Registered electors			22,138
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.5

References

1. Birkenhead Enfranchisement Act 1861 (c.112), section 1.
2. "Representation of the People Act 1867" (PDF). Retrieved 23 May 2020.
3. "A Collection of the Public General Statutes: 1867/68. Cap. XLVI. An Act to settle and describe the Limits of certain Boroughs and the Divisions of certain Counties in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament". London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1868. pp. 119–166. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
4. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 493. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
5. "To the Electors of the Northern Division of the West Riding of Yorkshire". Todmorden & District News. 6 February 1874. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 24 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Representation of Yorkshire". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 10 May 1882. p. 4. Retrieved 24 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "Y"