West Surrey (UK Parliament constituency)

West Surrey (formally the Western division of Surrey) was a parliamentary constituency in the county of Surrey, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.

"Surrey West" redirects here. For the former European parliamentary constituency, see Surrey West (European Parliament constituency).

West Surrey
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
This two-member area shaded light green
CountySurrey
1832–1885
SeatsTwo
Created fromHaslemere and Surrey
Replaced byEpsom
Chertsey
Guildford
Reigate
also called Mid, N.W. S.W. and S.E. Surrey
During its existence contributed to new seat(s) of:none

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

Boundaries

1832–1885: The Hundreds of Blackheath, Copthorne, Effingham, Elmbridge, Farnham, Godalming, Godley and Chertsey, Woking and Wotton.[1]

The constituency was therefore the more extensive and more rural of the two divisions of Surrey established in 1832. Its main existing towns were urbanising with railway stations built; Woking became a town towards the end of its existence. Elections were conducted at Guildford; other most populous towns were Leatherhead, Dorking, Epsom, Ewell, Farnham, Godalming, Haslemere, Chertsey, Egham, Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge and Woking. Guildford was a parliamentary borough represented in its own right, but those of its freeholders not qualifying for a vote as such could vote for the county division MPs.

Subdivision in 1885
Main article: Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

On its abolition in 1885 its contents made up all or some of four single-member seats and the overlapping seat (1295-1867 a constituency returning two members), Guildford parliamentary borough, was abolished. The outcome was as follows:

Members of Parliament
Election1st Member1st PartyMain home2nd Member2nd PartyMain home
1832 William Joseph Denison Whig[6][7] Denbies, Dorking John Leech or Leach (d. 16 April 1847) Whig[6] Lea, Witley,[8] Surrey[9]
1835 Charles Barclay[10] Conservative Bury Hill, Dorking[11][12]
1837 Hon. George Perceval Conservative Nork House, Banstead and
Cowdray Park, Midhurst and
26 St James's Place, St James's
1840 by-election John Trotter Conservative Horton Place (manor), Epsom
1847 Henry Drummond Conservative Albury Park, Albury
1849 by-election William John Evelyn Conservative Wotton House, Wotton (west of Dorking)
1857 John Ivatt Briscoe Whig[13][14][6][7] Botleys, Chertsey
then Foxhills, Chertsey
1859 Liberal
1860 by-election George Cubitt Conservative Denbies, Dorking
1870 by-election Lee Steere Conservative Jayes (Jayes Park), Wotton
1880 Hon. St John Brodrick Conservative Peper Harow House, Peper Harow, near Godalming
1885 constituency abolished

The Times obituary of Leech reads:

On the 16th, inst[ant (this month)], died, at the age of 86, after a short illness, John Leech, Esq. He lived and died at his parternal mansion at Lea, in the county of Surrey. He was elected member for the western division of that county in the year 1832. Mr Leech was the very type of an old English country gentleman: benevolent, active, intelligent, upright, honourable, and of a truly independent and manly mind. His memory will be long cherished by his friends, and his death deplored by a wide circle of intimate acquaintance.

— The Times[9]

Election results

Elections in the 1830s
General election 1832: West Surrey[15][6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig William Joseph Denison 1,517 36.6
Whig John Leech (Surrey MP) 1,427 34.5
Tory George Holme Sumner[16] 1,198 28.9
Majority 229 5.6
Turnout 2,527 86.8
Registered electors 2,912
Whig win (new seat)
Whig win (new seat)
General election 1835: West Surrey[15][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig William Joseph Denison 1,488 36.5 −0.1
Conservative Charles Barclay (Surrey MP) 1,316 32.2 +3.3
Whig Henry Lawes Long 1,285 31.4 −3.1
Turnout 2,550 85.9 −0.9
Registered electors 2,967
Majority 172 4.2 −1.4
Whig hold Swing −0.9
Majority 31 0.8 N/A
Conservative gain from Whig Swing +3.3
General election 1837: West Surrey[15][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig William Joseph Denison 1,586 33.7 −2.8
Conservative George Perceval 1,578 33.5 +1.3
Whig Henry Lawes Long[17] 1,543 32.8 +1.4
Turnout 2,970 80.5 −5.4
Registered electors 3,688
Majority 8 0.2 −4.0
Whig hold Swing −1.7
Majority 35 0.7 −0.1
Conservative hold Swing +1.4

Elections in the 1840s

Perceval (of the with-heirs-male inheritee branch of the Earls of Egmont) was in 1802 given his peerage becoming Lord Arden which caused a by-election.

By-election, 31 July 1840: West Surrey[15][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Trotter Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1841: West Surrey[15][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig William Joseph Denison Unopposed
Conservative John Trotter Unopposed
Registered electors 3,993
Whig hold
Conservative hold
General election 1847: West Surrey[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig William Joseph Denison Unopposed
Conservative Henry Drummond Unopposed
Registered electors 3,778
Whig hold
Conservative hold

Denison's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 27 September 1849: West Surrey[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William John Evelyn 1,144 53.7 N/A
Whig Richard Wyatt Edgell[lower-alpha 1][18][19] 988 46.3 N/A
Majority 156 7.4 N/A
Turnout 2,132 58.4 N/A
Registered electors 3,651
Conservative gain from Whig Swing N/A
  1. later of Strawberry Hill, Lympstone, Devon died, 79, in 1875.

Elections in the 1850s
General election 1852: West Surrey[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William John Evelyn 1,646 35.5 N/A
Conservative Henry Drummond 1,610 34.7 N/A
Whig Thomas-Chaloner Bisse-Challoner[20] 1,385 29.8 N/A
Majority 225 4.9 N/A
Turnout 3,013 (est) 77.3 (est) N/A
Registered electors 4,081
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative gain from Whig Swing N/A
General election 1857: West Surrey[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig John Ivatt Briscoe 1,439 35.7 +5.9
Conservative Henry Drummond 1,386 34.4 −0.3
Conservative Henry Currie[21][lower-alpha 1] 1,204 29.9 −5.6
Majority 53 1.3 N/A
Turnout 2,734 (est) 69.7 (est) −7.6
Registered electors 3,920
Whig gain from Conservative Swing +5.9
Conservative hold Swing −1.6
  1. of West Horsley Place, died 74, in 1873
General election 1859: West Surrey[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Ivatt Briscoe Unopposed
Conservative Henry Drummond Unopposed
Registered electors 3,958
Liberal hold
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

Drummond's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 10 March 1860: West Surrey[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Cubitt Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1865: West Surrey[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Ivatt Briscoe Unopposed
Conservative George Cubitt Unopposed
Registered electors 4,081
Liberal hold
Conservative hold
General election 1868: West Surrey[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Cubitt 3,000 39.6 N/A
Liberal John Ivatt Briscoe 2,826 37.3 N/A
Liberal Frederick Pennington[lower-alpha 1] 1,757 23.2 N/A
Majority 174 2.3 N/A
Turnout 5,292 (est) 78.9 (est) N/A
Registered electors 6,708
Liberal hold
Conservative hold
  1. Soon after, MP for Stockport until standing down for a seat lost by 12 votes, in 1885; the notable international merchant, socialite and speaker lived at Broome Hall, Holmwood in the county when not in town

Elections in the 1870s

Briscoe's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 8 Sep 1870: West Surrey[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Lee Steere Unopposed
Conservative gain from Liberal
General election 1874: West Surrey[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Lee Steere Unopposed
Conservative George Cubitt Unopposed
Registered electors 7,314
Conservative hold
Conservative gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1880s
General election 1880: West Surrey[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Brodrick Unopposed
Conservative George Cubitt Unopposed
Registered electors 7,779
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

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. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  2. CHERTSEY PETTY SESSIONAL DIVISION: RECORDS (summary of PS1-PS7 of Surrey History Centre, 7 Petty Sessional Divisions scope The National Archives: Browse records of other archives: 176 Surrey History Centre. Accessed 2019-12-04
  3. H.E. Malden, ed. (1911). "The hundred of Woking: Introduction and map". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  4. Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 Appendix D - county constituencies
  5. Combined petty sessional division: Kingston and Elmbridge as dealt with under heading Kingston sessional division in the 1885 Act Dickens's Dictionary of London, Charles Dickens, Jr., 1879 - "Petty Sessional Divisions"
  6. 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 18 August 2018 – via Google Books.
  7. A Member of the Middle Temple (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: With An Abstract of the Law of Election, and the Usages of Parliament. London: Scott, Webster, and Geary. pp. 38, 70 – via Google Books.
  8. 'Parishes: Witley', in A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3, ed. H E Malden (London, 1911), pp. 61-69. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol3/pp61-69 [accessed 5 December 2019].
  9. The Times (London, England), Wednesday, April 21, 1847, Issue 19529, p.7.
  10. Charles Barclay historic Hansard index, UK Parliament, earlier for Dundalk and Southwark.
  11. The Times (London, England), Friday, December 7, 1855, Issue 22231, p.1.
  12. "Dorking: Bury Hill and the Barclays".
  13. "John Ivatt Briscoe". Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  14. "Pamphlet: A Letter on the Nature and Effects of the Tread-Wheel". British Library. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  15. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 468–469. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  16. Spencer, Howard. "HOLME SUMNER (formerly SUMNER), George (1760-1838), of Hatchlands Park, East Clandon, nr. Guildford, Surr". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  17. "Election Intelligence". Morning Advertiser. 5 August 1837. p. 1. Retrieved 3 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. "West Surrey Election". Dublin Evening Mail. 26 September 1849. p. 2. Retrieved 3 June 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. "The Scotsman". 26 September 1849. p. 2. Retrieved 3 June 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  20. "Staffordshire Advertiser". 24 July 1852. p. 4. Retrieved 18 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. "Mr. Currie at Guildford". Sussex Agricultural Express. 21 March 1857. p. 7. Retrieved 18 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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