County Down (Parliament of Ireland constituency)

54.557°N 6.311°W / 54.557; -6.311

County Down
Former county constituency
for the Irish House of Commons
CountyCounty Down
 () ( ())–1801 (1801)
Seats2
Replaced byDown (UKHC)
Not to be confused with Downpatrick (Parliament of Ireland constituency).

County Down was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons until 1800.

History

In the Patriot Parliament of 1689 summoned by James II, Down was represented with two members.[1]

Members of Parliament
ElectionFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party
1585 Sir Nicholas Bagnoll of The Newry, County Down Sir Hugh Magennies of Rathfriland, County Down
1613 Sir James Hamilton of Bangor and Killileagh, County Down Sir Hugh Montgomery of Newtown, County Down
1634 Sir Hugh Montgomery of Newtown, County Down Sir James Hamilton of Bangor and Killileagh, County Down
1639 Sir Edward Trevor of Rosetrevor, County Down Sir James Montgomery of Rosemount, Greyabbey, County Down
1661 Marcus Trevor of Rosetrevor, County Down Arthur Hill of Hillsborough, County Down
1662 by-election[note 1] Vere Essex Cromwell
1665 by-election[note 2] Marcus Trevor of Rosetrevor, County Down[note 3]
1689 Patriot Parliament Murtagh Magennis of Greencastle, County Down Ever Magennis of Castlewellan, County Down
1692 James Hamilton Sir Arthur Rawdon, 2nd Bt
1695 James Hamilton
1695 by-election[note 4] Nicholas Price
1703 John Hawkins Magill
1713 Michael Ward
1715 Trevor Hill
1717 by-election[note 5] Sir John Rawdon, 3rd Bt
1724 by-election[note 6] Robert Hawkins Magill
1727 Arthur Hill[note 7]
1745 by-election[note 8] Bernard Ward
1761
1766 by-election[note 9] Henry Seymour-Conway[2]
1768 Roger Hall
1771 by-election[note 10] Robert Stewart
1776 Arthur Hill, Viscount Kilwarlin[note 11]
1783 Hon. Edward Ward
1790 Hon. Robert Stewart[note 12]
1794 by-election[note 13] Francis Savage
1801 Succeeded by the Westminster constituency Down

Notes
    1. Caused by the creation of Trevor as Viscount Dungannon
    2. Caused by death of Hill in April 1663
    3. A son of the man elected in 1661 - see Edward M. Furgol, ‘Trevor, Marcus , first Viscount Dungannon (1618–1670)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008 accessed 15 May 2014
    4. Caused by the death of Rawdon
    5. Caused by Hill's creation as Viscount Hillsborough
    6. Caused by the death of Rawdon
    7. Changed surname to Hill-Trevor in 1759
    8. Caused by the death of Hawkins-Magill
    9. Caused by Hill-Trevor's creation as Viscount Dungannon
    10. Caused by Ward's creation as Baron Bangor
    11. Styled as Earl of Hillsborough from 1789
    12. Styled as Viscount Castlereagh from 1796
    13. Caused by Hill's succession as second Marquess of Downshire

    Elections

    Elections in the 1790s

    At the 1797 general election Francis Savage and Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh were elected unopposed.[3]

    At the by-election in 1793 following Hill's succession as second Marquess of Downshire, Francis Savage was returned unopposed.[4]

    General Election 1790: Down[5]
    Party Candidate Votes % ±%
    Nonpartisan Arthur Hill, Earl of Hillsborough 3534 N/A
    Tory Hon. Robert Stewart 3114 N/A
    Nonpartisan Hon. Edward Ward 2958 N/A
    Nonpartisan Captain George Matthews 2223 N/A

    Election in the 1780s
    General Election 1783: Down[6]
    Party Candidate Votes % ±%
    Nonpartisan Arthur Hill, Viscount Kilwarlin 2831 N/A
    Nonpartisan Hon. Edward Ward 2071 N/A
    Tory Robert Stewart 1957 N/A

    Elections in the 1770s

    At the 1776 general election Arthur Hill, Viscount Kilwarlin and Robert Stewart were elected unopposed.[7]

    At the by-election in 1771 following Ward's creation as Baron Bangor

    Elections in the 1760s

    At the 1768 general election Roger Hall and Bernard Ward were elected unopposed.[7]

    Election in the 1610s
    General Election 1613: Down[8]
    Party Candidate Votes % ±%
    Nonpartisan Sir James Hamilton 131 N/A
    Nonpartisan Sir Hugh Montgomery 131 N/A
    Nonpartisan Sir Arthur Magennis 101 N/A
    Nonpartisan Rowland Savage 101 N/A

    "In the co. of Down, May-day was the county court day for the election, which the sheriff held at Newry, at which day the sheriff proceeding to the election, moved the freeholders to choose Sir Richard Wingfield and Sir James Hamilton, being recommended to him by the Lord Deputy; but the natives named Sir Arthur Magenisse and Rowland Savage; whereupon all the British freeholders, being 131, cried “Hamilton and Montgomery”, omitting Wingfield; and the Irish, to the number of 101, cried “Magenisse and Savage”. Exception being presently taken to divers of the British for want of freehold, 14 were examined on oath by the sheriff and deposed they were freeholders, and thereupon the sheriff returned Hamilton and Montgomery; to which some of the Irish made objections, which were found partly untrue, and partly frivolous."

    References
    1. O'Hart 2007, p. 501.
    2. Biographies of Members of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800
    3. Jupp (1972), p. 183
    4. Jupp (1972), p. 183
    5. Jupp (1972), p. 183 note 19
    6. Jupp (1972), p. 182, note 18
    7. Johnston-Liik 2002, p. 95.
    8. Irish patent rolls of James I; facsimile of the Irish Record Commission's calendar prepared prior to 1830. Author:Great Britain. Commissioners on the Public Records of Ireland.; Irish Manuscripts Commission. Publisher: Dublin, Stationery Off. for the Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1966. P 397

    Bibliography
    • O'Hart, John (2007). The Irish and Anglo-Irish Landed Gentry: When Cromwell came to Ireland. Vol. II. Heritage Books. ISBN 978-0-7884-1927-0.
    • Leigh Rayment's historical List of Members of the Irish House of Commons. Cites: Johnston-Liik, Edith Mary (2002). The History of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800 (6 volumes). Ulster Historical Foundation.
    • Peter Jupp, County Down Elections, 1783–1831, Irish Historical Studies 18, no. 70 (1972): 177–206
    • Johnston-Liik, Edith Mary (2002). History of the Irish Parliament 1692–1800, Volume II, Commons, Constituencies and Statutes. Ulster Historical Foundation. ISBN 1-903688-71-X.
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