North Hampshire (UK Parliament constituency)

North Hampshire (formally the Northern division of Hampshire) was a constituency as one of two in the county of Hampshire proper, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament between 1832 and 1885. Its members were elected by the bloc vote version of the first-past-the-post system.

North Hampshire
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyHampshire
1832–1885
SeatsTwo
Created fromHampshire
Replaced byBasingstoke or Northern Hampshire,
Andover or West Hampshire,
Petersfield or East Hampshire

It was created under the Great Reform Act for the 1832 general election, and abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election.

Creation, boundaries and abolition

The county was created as one of three divisions of Hampshire as Hampshire formerly included the Isle of Wight to make up a large area and large-electorate two-member seat due to a growing number of tiny electorate increasingly rotten boroughs since the 13th century until this was abolished under the Great Reform Act 1832.

1832–1885: The Petty Sessional Divisions of Alton, Andover, Basingstoke, King's Clere [Kingsclere], Droxford, Odiham, Petersfield and Winchester.[1]

Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the seat was abolished; replaced by three seats:

Members of Parliament
Election1st Member1st PartyNotes2nd Member2nd PartyNotes
1832 Charles Shaw-Lefevre Whig[3][4] Speaker from 1839 to 1857; Created Lord Eversley in 1857 James Winter Scott Whig[3]
1837 Sir William Heathcote, Bt Conservative
1849 by-election Melville Portal Conservative
1857 William Wither Bramston Beach Conservative George Sclater-Booth Conservative Created Lord Basing
1885 constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s
General election 1832: North Hampshire[5][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Charles Shaw-Lefevre 1,111 30.7
Whig James Winter Scott 1,082 29.9
Tory Arthur Wellesley 723 20.0
Tory Walter Long 701 19.4
Majority 359 9.9
Turnout 1,810 74.7
Registered electors 2,424
Whig win (new seat)
Whig win (new seat)
General election 1835: North Hampshire[5][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Charles Shaw-Lefevre Unopposed
Whig James Winter Scott Unopposed
Registered electors 2,694
Whig hold
Whig hold
General election 1837: North Hampshire[5][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Charles Shaw-Lefevre Unopposed
Conservative William Heathcote Unopposed
Registered electors 3,616
Whig hold
Conservative gain from Whig

Elections in the 1840s
General election 1841: North Hampshire[5][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Heathcote Unopposed
Speaker Charles Shaw-Lefevre Unopposed
Registered electors 3,668
Conservative hold
Speaker gain from Whig
General election 1847: North Hampshire[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Heathcote Unopposed
Speaker Charles Shaw-Lefevre Unopposed
Registered electors 3,411
Conservative hold
Speaker hold

Heathcote resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

By-election, 6 April 1849: North Hampshire[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Melville Portal 1,199 58.0 N/A
Conservative William Shaw[6] 868 42.0 N/A
Majority 331 16.0 N/A
Turnout 2,067 62.6 N/A
Registered electors 3,303
Conservative hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1850s
General election 1852: North Hampshire[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Melville Portal Unopposed
Speaker Charles Shaw-Lefevre Unopposed
Registered electors 3,596
Conservative hold
Speaker hold
General election 1857: North Hampshire[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Wither Bramston Beach 1,419 38.8 N/A
Conservative George Sclater 1,365 37.4 N/A
Whig Dudley Carleton, 4th Baron Dorchester 869 23.8 New
Majority 496 13.6 N/A
Turnout 2,261 (est) 71.8 (est) N/A
Registered electors 4,185
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative gain from Whig Swing N/A
General election 1859: North Hampshire[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Wither Bramston Beach Unopposed
Conservative George Sclater-Booth Unopposed
Registered electors 3,649
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s
General election 1865: North Hampshire[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Wither Bramston Beach 1,844 36.4 N/A
Conservative George Sclater-Booth 1,724 34.1 N/A
Liberal Henry St John-Mildmay[7] 1,493 29.5 New
Majority 231 4.6 N/A
Turnout 3,277 (est) 78.3 (est) N/A
Registered electors 4,185
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
General election 1868: North Hampshire[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Wither Bramston Beach Unopposed
Conservative George Sclater-Booth Unopposed
Registered electors 5,744
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s
General election 1874: North Hampshire[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Wither Bramston Beach Unopposed
Conservative George Sclater-Booth Unopposed
Registered electors 6,033
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Sclater-Booth was appointed President of the Local Government Board, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 14 Mar 1874: North Hampshire[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Sclater-Booth Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s
General election 1880: North Hampshire[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Wither Bramston Beach Unopposed
Conservative George Sclater-Booth Unopposed
Registered electors 5,783
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Sources
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 1)
  • Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 393. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.

Notes and references
  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. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  2. The public general acts. Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. 1884.
  3. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 123. ISBN 0-900178-13-2. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  4. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. p. 142. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via Google Books.
  5. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 393. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  6. "North Hants Election". Salisbury and Winchester Journal. 7 April 1849. p. 2. Retrieved 18 April 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "North Hampshire Election". Hampshire Advertiser. 29 July 1865. pp. 10–11. Retrieved 15 February 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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