Wilton (UK Parliament constituency)

Wilton was the name of a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire. It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1295 to 1707, then in the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It had two Members of Parliament (MPs) until 1832, but from 1832 to 1885 only one member, as a result of the Reform Act 1832 where it also absorbed the former rotten borough of Old Sarum.^[1] In 1885 the borough was abolished, but the name of the constituency was then transferred to a new county constituency electing one Member from 1885 until 1918.

Wilton
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	Wiltshire
Major settlements	Wilton
1885–1918
Seats	One
Created from	South Wiltshire
Replaced by	Salisbury and Westbury
1295–1885
Seats	1295–1832: Two 1832–1885: One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Borough of Salisbury, the Sessional Divisions of Amesbury, Hindon, and Salisbury, and the civil parishes of Figheldean, Fisherton-de-la-Mere, Milston, and Wily.

Stonehenge was within the constituency from 1885 until the seat disappeared in 1918, since when it has been in the Salisbury seat.

Members of Parliament

Wilton borough

MPs 1295–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1386	Thomas Cuttyng	Thomas Moleyns[2]
1388 (Feb)	Thomas Cuttyng	William Chitterne[2]
1388 (Sep)	Thomas Cuttyng	John Hulle[2]
1390 (Jan)	Thomas Cuttyng	William Chitterne[2]
1390 (Nov)
1391
1393	John Cole	Henry Bont[2]
1394	Thomas Cuttyng	John Cole[2]
1395	Thomas Cuttyng	John Hardy[2]
1397 (Jan)	John Hardy	William Chitterne[2]
1397 (Sep)	John Hardy	Thomas Cuttyng[2]
1399	Thomas Cuttyng	William Chitterne[2]
1401
1402	John Bottenham	William Chitterne[2]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406 Robert Frye	John Hardy[2]
1407 Robert Frye	Robert Lardiner[2]
1410 Robert Frye	John Harleston[2]
1411 Robert Frye	John Harleston[2]
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	Robert Frye	John Lambarde[2]
1414 (Apr)	John Valeys	John Harleston[2]
1414 (Nov)	John Harleston	John Whithorne[2]
1415	John Harleston	John Whithorne[2]
1416 (Mar)
1416 (Oct)
1417	John Harleston	John Whithorne[2]
1419	John Harleston	John Whithorne[2]
1420	John Harleston	John Whithorne[2]
1421 (May)	John Harleston	John Whithorne[2]
1421 (Dec)	John Harleston	John Whithorne[2]
1510-1523	No names known[3]
1529	Geoffrey Pole	Edmund Knightley[3]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	Sir Edward Bayntun[4]	William Herbert[3]
1545	Sir Thomas Lee	Christopher Willoughby[3]
1547	Robert Watson	Robert Warner[3]
1553 (Mar)	William Damsell[5]	William Wightman[3]
1553 (Oct)	Nicholas Chowne	Henry Creed[3]
1554 (Apr)	William Clerke	Matthew Colthurst[3]
1554 (Nov)	William Clerke	Henry Creed[3]
1555	Henry Creed	William Clerke[3]
1558	William Clerke	Henry Creed[3]
1559	Henry Bodenham	Thomas Highgate[6]
1562–3	William Wightman	Thomas Highgate[6]
1571	William Wightman	Thomas Highgate[6]
1572	William Clerke	Francis Vaughan[6]
1584	John Penruddock	Roger Earthe[6]
1586	Edward Penruddock	Henry Martyn[6]
1588	Thomas Cavendish	Robert Penruddock[6]
1593	Sir Thomas Morgan	Robert Penruddock[6]
1597	Thomas Muffet[7]	Robert Penruddock[6]
1601	Sir Edmund Morgan	Hugh Sanford[6]
1604-1611	Sir Thomas Edmonds	Hugh Sandford
1614	Sir Robert Sidney	Thomas Morgan
1621	Henry Nevill, 9th Baron Bergavenny ennobled 1622 replaced by Thomas Morgan	Sir Thomas Tracy
1624	Sir Thomas Morgan	Sir Percy Hobart
1625	Sir Thomas Morgan	Sir William Harrington
1626	Sir Thomas Morgan	Sir John Evelyn
1628	John Pooley	Sir Thomas Morgan
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640		Sir Henry Vane (the elder)	Parliamentarian		Sir Benjamin Rudyerd	Parliamentarian
November 1640
December 1648				Rudyerd excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant
1653	Wilton was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		Richard Howe			Hon. John Herbert
May 1659	Wilton was not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Richard Howe			Francis Swanton
April 1661		John Nicholas[8]			Thomas Mompesson
June 1661		John Berkenhead
February 1679		Hon. Thomas Herbert			Thomas Penruddocke
August 1679					Sir John Nicholas
1685		Oliver Nicholas
1689		Thomas Penruddocke			Thomas Wyndham
1690		Sir Richard Howe
1695		John Hawles			John Gauntlett
1698		Sir Henry Ashurst
January 1701		Thomas Phipps
November 1701		Sir Henry Ashurst
July 1702		Sir John Hawles			George Boddington
November 1702					John Gauntlett
1705		William Nicholas
1708		Sir Lambert Blackwell			Charles Mompesson
1710		John London[9]
1711		Peter Bathurst
1713		John London			Thomas Pitt[10]
1722		Hon. Robert Sawyer Herbert
1727					Thomas Martin
1734					Colonel the Hon. William Herbert
1757					Hon. Nicholas Herbert
1768		Henry Herbert
1775					Captain Charles Herbert
1780		Lord Herbert	Tory[11]		William Gerard Hamilton	Tory[11]
1785		Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Goldsworthy	Tory[11]
1788		Lord Herbert	Tory[11]
1790					The Viscount FitzWilliam	Tory[11]
1794		Major General Philip Goldsworthy	Tory[11]
1801		John Spencer	Tory[11]
1804		Ralph Sheldon	Tory[11]
1806					Captain the Hon. Charles Herbert	Tory[11]
1807					Captain Charles Herbert	Tory[11]
1816					Viscount FitzHarris	Tory[11]
1821		John Penruddocke	Tory[11]
1823					Edward Baker	Tory[11]
1830					Henry Bulwer	Tory[11]
1831					James Dawkins	Tory[11]
1832	Representation reduced to one member

MPs 1832–1885

Election		Member	Party
	1832	John Penruddocke	Tory[11]
	1834		Conservative[11]
	1837	Edward Baker	Conservative[11]
	1841	James Harris	Conservative[11]
	1841 by-election	James Agar	Conservative[11]
	1847		Peelite[12][13]
	1852	Charles A'Court	Peelite[14][15]
	1855 by-election	(Sir) Edmund Antrobus[16]	Peelite[17]
	1859		Liberal
	1877 by-election	Hon. Sidney Herbert	Conservative
	1885	Borough abolished - name transferred to county division

Wiltshire, Southern or Wilton Division

MPs 1885–1918

Year		Member	Party
	1885	Sir Thomas Grove	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1892	Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie	Conservative
	1900	James Morrison	Conservative
	1906	Levi Lapper Morse	Liberal
	1910	Sir Charles Bathurst	Conservative
	1918	Hugh Morrison	Unionist
	1918	Constituency abolished

Election results

Decades:

1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Wilton ^[11][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John Penruddocke	Unopposed
	Tory	Henry Bulwer	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 30
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Wilton^[11][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John Penruddocke	Unopposed
	Tory	James Dawkins	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 30
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

General election 1832: Wilton ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John Penruddocke	Unopposed
Registered electors			204
	Tory hold

General election 1835: Wilton ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Penruddocke	Unopposed
Registered electors			203
	Conservative hold

General election 1837: Wilton ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Edward Baker	Unopposed
Registered electors			210
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Wilton ^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Harris	Unopposed
Registered electors			194
	Conservative hold

Harris succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Earl of Malmesbury, causing a by-election.

By-election, 6 October 1841: Wilton ^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Agar	Unopposed
Registered electors			205
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Wilton ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	James Agar	Unopposed
Registered electors			216
	Peelite gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Wilton ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Charles A'Court	125	82.8	N/A
	Conservative	Jeremiah Greene Jones Greene[21]	26	17.2	N/A
Majority			99	65.6	N/A
Turnout			151	70.3	N/A
Registered electors			219
	Peelite hold		Swing	N/A

A'Court resigned after being appointed a Special Commissioner of Property and Income Tax in Ireland, causing a by-election.

By-election, 28 March 1855: Wilton ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Edmund Antrobus	Unopposed
	Peelite hold

General election 1857: Wilton ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Edmund Antrobus	Unopposed
Registered electors			251
	Peelite hold

General election 1859: Wilton ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edmund Antrobus	Unopposed
Registered electors			258
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Wilton ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edmund Antrobus	Unopposed
Registered electors			265
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Wilton ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edmund Antrobus	Unopposed
Registered electors			931
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Wilton ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edmund Antrobus	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,040
	Liberal hold

Antrobus resigned, causing a by-election.

1877 Wilton by-election^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sidney Herbert	751	80.1	New
	Liberal	John Freeman Norris[22]	187	19.9	N/A
Majority			564	60.2	N/A
Turnout			938	86.3	N/A
Registered electors			1,087
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Wilton ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sidney Herbert	819	67.4	N/A
	Lib-Lab	Joseph Arch[23]	397	32.6	N/A
Majority			422	34.8	N/A
Turnout			1,216	86.8	N/A
Registered electors			1,401
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

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

1885 Wilton by-election Wilton ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sidney Herbert	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Herbert

General election 1885: Wilton ^[24][25][26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Grove	4,151	55.5	+22.9
	Conservative	Sidney Herbert	3,329	44.5	−22.9
Majority			822	11.0	N/A
Turnout			7,480	86.2	−0.6
Registered electors			8,675
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+22.9

General election 1886: Wilton ^[24][25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Thomas Grove	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1890s

Folkestone

General election 1892: Wilton ^[24][25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie	3,743	52.9	N/A
	Liberal	Thomas Grove	3,336	47.1	New
Majority			407	5.8	N/A
Turnout			7,079	79.1	N/A
Registered electors			8,951
	Conservative hold

General election 1895: Wilton ^[24][25][27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie	3,828	51.8	−1.1
	Liberal	Lionel Edward Pyke	3,565	48.2	+1.1
Majority			263	3.6	−2.2
Turnout			7,393	86.9	+7.8
Registered electors			8,511
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.1

Elections in the 1900s

1900 Wilton by-election^[24][25][27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Morrison	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1900: Wilton ^[24][25][27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Morrison	3,733	56.3	+4.5
	Liberal	Martin White	2,892	43.7	−4.5
Majority			841	12.6	+9.0
Turnout			6,626	80.7	−6.2
Registered electors			8,205
	Conservative hold

Morse

General election 1906: Wilton ^[24][25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Levi Lapper Morse	4,272	54.6	+10.9
	Conservative	James Morrison	3,548	45.4	−10.9
Majority			724	9.2	N/A
Turnout			7,820	90.6	+9.9
Registered electors			8,632
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+10.9

Elections in the 1910s

Verney

General election January 1910: Wilton ^[24][27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Bathurst	4,541	53.8	+8.4
	Liberal	Harry Verney	3,894	46.2	−8.4
Majority			647	7.6	N/A
Turnout			8,435	93.0	+2.4
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+8.4

General election December 1910: Wilton ^[24][27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Bathurst	4,356	53.6	−0.2
	Liberal	Francis Rogers	3,769	46.4	+0.2
Majority			587	7.2	−0.4
Turnout			8,125	89.6	−3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.2

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Charles Bathurst
• Liberal: Charles Leach

1918 Wilton by-election^[24][28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Hugh Morrison	Unopposed
	Unionist hold

References

1. "Division Of Counties And Boundaries Bill". Retrieved 10 October 2023.
2. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
3. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
4. Wall, Alison. "Baynton family". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/71877. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
5. Stanley T. Bindoff, The House of Commons|| 1509-1558, vol. 4, p. 9
6. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
7. "Moffett, Thomas" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
8. Nicholas was also elected for West Looe and Ripon. He chose to represent Ripon, and did not sit for Wilton in this parliament
9. On petition, London was found not to have been duly elected
10. Created The Lord Londonderry 1719 and The Viscount Londonderry 1726, both titles being in the Peerage of Ireland
11. 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. pp. 123–125. Retrieved 6 January 2019 – via Google Books.
12. "The Elections". London Daily News. 2 August 1847. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "Hampshire Advertiser". 7 August 1847. p. 5. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
14. "Wilton". Morning Post. 8 July 1852. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
15. Morton, Edward, ed. (1854). Adam's Parliamentary Handbook: Comprising a Pocket Peerage and Parliamentary Companion (Third ed.). London: Henry Adams; C. Westerton; Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. p. 278. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via Google Books.
16. Succeeded to a baronetcy, May 1870
17. "Berkshire Chronicle". 31 March 1855. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
18. Farrell, Stephen. "Wilton". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
19. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 333. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
20. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 91–92. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
21. "Hampshire Advertiser". 10 July 1852. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
22. "Wilton". Swindon Advertiser and North Wilts Chronicle. 17 February 1877. p. 5. Retrieved 23 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
23. "Candidature of Mr Joseph Arch at Wilton". Daily News. 20 March 1880. p. 2. Retrieved 15 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
24. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 418. ISBN 9781349022984.
25. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
26. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
27. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
28. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1918

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
• The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
• 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 "W" (part 4)