Swansea District (UK Parliament constituency)

Swansea District before 1885 also known as Swansea District of Boroughs was a borough constituency. It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Swansea District
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1832–1918
Seats	one
Created from	Cardiff[1]
Replaced by	Aberavon and Neath

Overview

The seat was created for the 1832 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election. Swansea District was a strongly Liberal constituency, dominated by the tinplate and steel industries, together with coal.

Boundaries

Upon its creation in 1832 it comprised five small boroughs: Swansea, Neath, Aberavon, Kenfig and Loughor. A small increase in their limits occurred in 1868.

In 1885, the seat was split into two, with the central part of Swansea borough forming the Swansea Town constituency, and the northern part of Swansea borough centred on Morriston, together with the four smaller boroughs, forming the seat Swansea District.

The first member after 1885 was Henry Vivian, who had represented Glamorgan county 1857–1885.

Members of Parliament

• Constituency created (1832)

Year		Member	Whip
	1832	John Henry Vivian	Whig[2][3][4][5]
	1855	Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn	Whig[6][7][8]
	1859		Liberal
	1885	Sir Henry Vivian	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1887		Liberal
	1893	William Williams	Liberal
	1895	Sir David Brynmor Jones	Liberal
	1915	Thomas Jeremiah Williams	Liberal
1918		constituency abolished

Electoral history

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: Swansea District^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Henry Vivian	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,307
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: Swansea District^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Henry Vivian	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,303
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Swansea District^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Henry Vivian	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,349
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Swansea District^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Henry Vivian	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,287
	Whig hold

General election 1847: Swansea District^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Henry Vivian	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,563
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Swansea District^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Henry Vivian	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,694
	Whig hold

Vivian's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 27 February 1855: Swansea District^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1857: Swansea District^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,901
	Whig hold

General election 1859: Swansea District^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,921
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Swansea District^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,967
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Swansea District^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn	Unopposed
Registered electors			7,543
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Swansea District^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn	5,215	65.8	N/A
	Conservative	Charles Bath[10]	2,708	34.2	New
Majority			2,507	31.6	N/A
Turnout			7,923	63.5	N/A
Registered electors			12,476
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Swansea District^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn	Unopposed
Registered electors			13,631
	Liberal hold

General election 1885: Swansea District^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Vivian	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

In 1886, Vivian briefly joined the Liberal Unionists but was nevertheless returned unopposed and returned to the Gladstonian fold soon after the election.

General election 1886: Swansea District^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Henry Vivian	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Swansea District ^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Vivian	5,959	86.5	New
	Conservative	Herbert Monger[13]	933	13.5	New
Majority			5,026	73.0	N/A
Turnout			6,892	68.6	N/A
Registered electors			10,047
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

In 1893, when he was elevated to the peerage becoming Lord Swansea, he was succeeded by the Morriston tinplate owner, William Williams.

By-election, 19 Jun 1893: Swansea District ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Williams	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Williams served for only two years before being replaced in 1895 by Brynmor Jones. Jones had strong nonconformist connections but his political career was undistinguished and he concentrated on his legal career.^[14]

General election 1895: Swansea District ^[11][12][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Brynmor Jones	3,850	49.9	−36.6
	Independent Liberal-Labour	Ernest Hall Hedley	2,018	26.1	New
	Conservative	John Wright	1,851	24.0	+10.5
Majority			1,832	23.8	−49.2
Turnout			7,719	75.4	+6.8
Registered electors			10,237
	Liberal hold		Swing	−23.6

Elections in the 1900s

Jones

General election 1900: Swansea District ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Brynmor Jones	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Jones

General election 1906: Swansea District ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Brynmor Jones	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Swansea District ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Brynmor Jones	8,488	77.9	N/A
	Conservative	Robert Campbell	2,415	22.1	New
Majority			6,073	55.8	N/A
Turnout			10,903	84.0	N/A
Registered electors			12,983
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

1910 Swansea District by-election^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Brynmor Jones	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election December 1910: Swansea District ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Brynmor Jones	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

1914 Swansea District by-election^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Brynmor Jones	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Williams

1915 Swansea District by-election^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Williams	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

References

1. Escott, Margaret. "Cardiff Boroughs". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
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. p. 65. Retrieved 22 August 2018 – via Google Books.
3. Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1847). Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Volume 15. Dod's Parliamentary Companion. p. 250. Retrieved 22 August 2018 – via Google Books.
4. Churton, Edward (1836). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1836. p. 229. Retrieved 22 August 2018 – via Google Books.
5. "SWANSEA". Drogheda Conservative Journal. 10 July 1841. p. 1. Retrieved 22 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Wiltshire Independent". 8 March 1855. p. 3. Retrieved 22 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Shrewsbury Chronicle". 2 March 1855. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 22 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "John Bull". 3 March 1855. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 22 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 514. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
10. "Swansea". London Evening Standard. 2 February 1874. p. 6. Retrieved 21 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 462. ISBN 9781349022984.
12. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
13. "Herbert Monger". Griffiths Family Group Sheets. Archived from the original on 30 August 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
14. Morgan, Kenneth O. (1960). "Democratic Politics in Glamorgan, 1884-1914". Morgannwg. 4: 5–27. see page 12.
15. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901

Further reading

• Thomas, Daniel Lleufer (1911). "Swansea" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 181.
• Morgan, Kenneth O (1991). Wales in British Politics 1868–1922 (3rd ed.). Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0708311240.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)