Western Division of Suffolk

See also: West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency)

The Western Division of Suffolk was a county constituency in Suffolk, England. It elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the bloc vote system of election.

West Suffolk
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	Suffolk
1832–1885
Seats	Two
Created from	Suffolk
Replaced by	Stowmarket, Sudbury and Eye

History

The seat was created under the Reform Act 1832 as one of two divisions, together with the Eastern Division, of the Parliamentary County of Suffolk. This resulted in a more representative allocation, with a total of four MPs instead of two for the former entire county at large, which still allowed for double voting (or more) of those Forty Shilling Freeholders who also were householders or landlords of any particular boroughs within the county. This Act retained the four largest boroughs of the seven before 1832.

With two heirs to their title serving the seat, the Marquesses of Bristol, the Hervey family, were major landowners in the county. The modern seat is at Ickworth, with part of its grand house now being a luxury hotel.

Further sweeping changes took place as a result of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 which saw the 2 two-member Suffolk divisions being replaced by five single-member constituencies. The Western Division was largely replaced by the North-Western or Stowmarket Division and the Southern or Sudbury Division. A small area in the east was included in the North-Eastern or Eye Division.

Boundaries

1832–1885: The Liberty of Bury St. Edmund's, and the Hundreds of Hartesmere, and Stow.^[1]

MPs

Election	Member[2]		Party	Member		Party [3]
1832		Charles Tyrell	Whig[4]		Sir Hyde Parker, Bt	Whig[4]
1835		Henry Wilson	Whig[4][5]		Robert Rushbrooke	Conservative[4]
1837		Robert Hart Logan	Conservative[4]
1838 by-election		Harry Spencer Waddington	Conservative[4]
1845 by-election					Philip Bennet	Conservative
1859		Frederick Hervey[n 1]	Conservative		William Parker	Conservative
1864 by-election		Lord Augustus Hervey	Conservative
June 1875 by-election		Fuller Maitland Wilson	Conservative
October 1875 by-election		Thomas Thornhill	Conservative
1880					William Biddell	Conservative
1885	constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: West Suffolk^[6][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Charles Tyrell	1,832	38.4
	Whig	Hyde Parker	1,664	34.9
	Tory	Harry Spencer Waddington	1,272	26.7
Majority			392	8.2
Turnout			2,920	87.8
Registered electors			3,326
	Whig win (new seat)
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: West Suffolk^[6][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Wilson	1,723	27.6	−10.8
	Conservative	Robert Rushbrooke	1,655	26.5	+13.2
	Conservative	Robert Hart Logan	1,509	24.2	+10.9
	Whig	John Turner Hales	1,350	21.6	−13.3
Turnout			3,256	87.3	−0.5
Registered electors			3,731
Majority			68	1.1	−7.1
	Whig hold		Swing	−11.4
Majority			146	2.3	N/A
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+12.6

General election 1837: West Suffolk^[6][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Hart Logan	2,217	29.7	+5.5
	Conservative	Robert Rushbrooke	2,173	29.1	+2.6
	Whig	Henry Bunbury	1,560	20.9	−0.7
	Whig	Henry Wilson	1,505	20.2	−7.4
Majority			613	8.2	+5.9
Turnout			3,810	76.8	−10.5
Registered electors			4,959
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.8
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+3.3

Logan's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 7 May 1838: West Suffolk^[6][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Harry Spencer Waddington	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: West Suffolk^[6][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Spencer Waddington	Unopposed
	Conservative	Robert Rushbrooke	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,091
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Rushbrooke's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 7 July 1845: West Suffolk^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philip Bennet	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: West Suffolk^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Spencer Waddington	Unopposed
	Conservative	Philip Bennet	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,913
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: West Suffolk^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Spencer Waddington	Unopposed
	Conservative	Philip Bennet	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,379
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: West Suffolk^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Spencer Waddington	Unopposed
	Conservative	Philip Bennet	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,084
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: West Suffolk^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Hervey	1,958	42.2	N/A
	Conservative	William Parker	1,379	29.7	N/A
	Conservative	Philip Bennet	1,300	28.0	N/A
Majority			79	1.7	N/A
Turnout			2,319 (est)	55.6 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			4,172
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

Hervey succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Marquess of Bristol and causing a by-election.

By-election, 8 December 1864: West Suffolk^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Augustus Hervey	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1865: West Suffolk^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Augustus Hervey	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Parker	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,269
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: West Suffolk^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Parker	2,500	37.9	N/A
	Conservative	Augustus Hervey	2,389	36.2	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Lamport[7]	1,705	25.9	New
Majority			684	10.3	N/A
Turnout			4,150 (est)	74.3 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			5,583
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: West Suffolk^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Augustus Hervey	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Parker	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,949
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Hervey's death caused a by-election.

June 1875 West Suffolk by-election^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fuller Maitland Wilson	2,780	72.4	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Easton[8]	1,061	27.6	New
Majority			1,719	44.8	N/A
Turnout			3,841	66.1	N/A
Registered electors			5,811
	Conservative hold

Wilson's death caused a by-election.

October 1875 West Suffolk by-election^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Thornhill	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: West Suffolk^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Biddell	Unopposed
	Conservative	Thomas Thornhill	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,700
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

References

1. This is the courtesy title given to the eldest son of the Marquess of Bristol as his main subsidiary title.

1. "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. LXIV. An Act to settle and describe the Divisions of Counties, and the Limits of Cities and Boroughs, in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 300–383. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
3. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 464–364. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
4. 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. 53. Retrieved 28 May 2019 – via Google Books.
5. Churton, Edward (1836). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1836. pp. 185–186. Retrieved 28 May 2019 – via Google Books.
6. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 463–464. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
7. "West Suffolk Election". Bury Free Press. 14 November 1868. p. 5. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Election News". Bradford Observer. 8 June 1875. p. 3. Retrieved 21 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.