Cumberland (UK Parliament constituency)

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Cumberland
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1290–1832
Number of memberstwo
Replaced byCumberland East and Cumberland West

Cumberland is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Knights of the Shire. It was divided between the constituencies of Cumberland East and Cumberland West in 1832.

Members of Parliament[]

  • Constituency created 1290

MPs 1290–1640[]

Parliament First member Second member
1301
1305
1306
1312 Andrew Harclay
1313
1316
1324 Hugh de Lowther
1325 Robert Parning
1327 Robert Parning
1328 Robert Parning
1331 Robert Parning
1332 Robert Parning
1337
1342 Hugh de Lowther
1344 Hugh de Lowther
1345 Hugh de Lowther
1368 James Pickering
1377 Sir
1377
1378
1380 (Jan)
1380 (Nov)
1383
1385
1386 [1]
1388 (Feb) Sir John de Derwentwater [1]
1388 (Sep) [1]
1390 (Jan) [1]
1390 (Nov) [1]
1391 [1]
1393 [1]
1394 [1]
1395 [1]
1397 (Jan) [1]
1397 (Sep) [1]
1399 [1]
1401 [1]
1402 [1]
1404 (Jan) [1]
1404 (Oct) [1]
1406 [1]
1407 [1]
1410 [1]
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May) [1]
1414 (Apr) [1]
1414 (Nov) Sir Christopher Curwen [1]
1415
1416 (Mar) [1]
1416 (Oct)
1417 [1]
1419 Richard Restwold I[1]
1420 [1]
1421 (May) Richard Restwold II[1]
1421 (Dec) [1]
1422
1423 Sir Christopher Curwen
1425 Sir Christopher Curwen
1426
1427 Sir Christopher Curwen
1431 Sir Christopher Curwen
1432 Sir Christopher Curwen
1445 Sir Thomas Parr
1446
1467 Sir John Huddleston
1491
1510–1515 No Names Known [2]
1523 ? ? [2]
1529 [2]
1536
1539
1542 ?Sir Thomas Wharton ?Hon. Sir Thomas Wharton[2]
1545 Hon. Sir Thomas Wharton [2]
1547 Hon. Sir Thomas Wharton Richard Musgrave[2]
1553 (Mar) (Sir) Richard Musgrave [2]
1553 (Oct) Hon. Sir Thomas Wharton Thomas Dacre[2]
1554 (Apr) [2]
1554 (Nov) [2]
1555 [2]
1558 Leonard Dacre [2]
1558–1559 Leonard Dacre William Musgrave[3]
1563 (Jan) Leonard Dacre [3]
1571 Sir Henry Percy,
sat for Northumberland and repl. by ?		 [3]
1572 ,
died and repl. Nov 1580 by Sir Thomas Boynton?[3]
1584 Thomas Scrope Robert Bowes I[3]
1586 Robert Bowes I [3]
1588–9 Sir Thomas Scrope Robert Bowes I[3]
1593 Wilfred Lawson[3]
1597 Christopher Pickering[3]
1601 (Oct) William Huddleston [3]
1604–1611 Sir Wilfred Lawson
1614 Sir Wilfred Lawson Sir Thomas Penruddock
1621–2 Sir George Dalston Sir Henry Curwen
1624 Sir George Dalston
1625 Sir George Dalston Patricius Curwen
1626 Sir George Dalston Patricius Curwen
1628 Sir George Dalston Sir Patricius Curwen, Bt
1629–1640 No Parliament summoned

MPs 1640–1832[]

Year First member First party Second member Second party
April 1640 Sir Patricius Curwen, Bt Sir George Dalston
November 1640 Sir George Dalston Royalist
March 1643 Curwen and Dalston disabled to sit – both seats vacant
1646 William Airmine[4] Richard Tolson
December 1648 Tolson excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant
1653 Cumberland was not separately represented in the Barebones Parliament.
The following were nominated for The Four Northern Counties collectively:
Major-General Charles Howard, Robert Fenwick, ,
1654 Colonel William Briscoe Major-General Charles Howard
1656
January 1659 Sir Wilfrid Lawson
May 1659 Not represented in the restored Rump, Airmine having died in the interim
April 1660 Sir Wilfrid Lawson Charles Howard
1661 Sir Patricius Curwen, Bt Sir George Fletcher, Bt
1665 Sir John Lowther, Bt
February 1679
August 1679 Viscount Morpeth
1681 Sir George Fletcher, Bt
1685 The Viscount Preston
1689 Sir George Fletcher, Bt
January 1701 Richard Musgrave Gilfrid Lawson
December 1701 George Fletcher Whig
1702 Richard Musgrave Gilfrid Lawson
1705 George Fletcher Whig
1708 James Lowther Gilfrid Lawson
1722 Sir Christopher Musgrave, Bt
1727 James Lowther
1734 Sir Joseph Pennington, Bt
1745
1755 Sir William Lowther, Bt
1756
1757 Sir James Lowther, Bt
1761 Sir Wilfrid Lawson, Bt
1762 Sir James Lowther, Bt Tory
March 1768 Whig
December 1768 Sir Henry Fletcher, Bt[5] Whig
1774 Sir James Lowther, Bt Tory
1784 Sir William Lowther, Bt Tory
1790 Humphrey Senhouse Tory
1796 John Lowther[6] Tory
1806 Viscount Morpeth Tory
1820 John Christian Curwen Whig
1829 Sir James Graham, Bt Whig
1831 William Blamire Whig
  • Constituency abolished (1832)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "History of Parliament". Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "History of Parliament". Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "History of Parliament". Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  4. ^ Sir William Airmine, Bt., from 1651
  5. ^ At the general election of 1768, Lowther defeated Fletcher by two votes, but on petition the result was overturned and Fletcher declared elected
  6. ^ Created a baronet as Sir John Lowther, 1824

Elections[]

The county franchise, from 1430, was held by the adult male owners of freehold land valued at 40 shillings or more. Each elector had as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings, which took place in the town of Cockermouth. The expense and difficulty of voting at only one location in the county, together with the lack of a secret ballot contributed to the corruption and intimidation of electors, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system.

The expense, to candidates, of contested elections encouraged the leading families of the county to agree on the candidates to be returned unopposed whenever possible. Contested county elections were therefore unusual.

Election results[]

Election results taken from the History of Parliament Trust series.

Elections in the 18th century[]

General election 1715: Cumberland (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan James Lowther Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Gilfrid Lawson Unopposed N/A N/A
General election 1722: Cumberland (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan Christopher Musgrave Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Gilfrid Lawson Unopposed N/A N/A
General election 1727: Cumberland (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan James Lowther Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Gilfrid Lawson Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Note: James Lowther succeeded his brother as baronet in 1731
General election 1734: Cumberland (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan James Lowther Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Joseph Pennington Unopposed N/A N/A
General election 1741: Cumberland (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan James Lowther Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan Joseph Pennington Unopposed N/A N/A
  • Death of Pennington
: Cumberland
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan John Pennington Unopposed N/A N/A
General election 1747: Cumberland (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Non Partisan James Lowther Unopposed N/A N/A
Non Partisan John Pennington Unopposed N/A N/A
  • incomplete
General election 1768: Cumberland (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig 2,139 26.8 N/A
Tory James Lowther 1,977 24.8 N/A
Whig Henry Fletcher 1,975 24.7 N/A
Tory Humphrey Senhouse 1,891 23.7 N/A
  • On petition, Fletcher returned in place of Lowther, 16 December 1768
General election 1774: Cumberland (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory James Lowther 976 45.2 N/A
Whig Henry Fletcher 876 40.6 N/A
Tory Joseph Pennington 305 14.1 N/A
  • incomplete
General election 1820: Cumberland (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory John Lowther 166 41.5 N/A
Whig John Christian Curwen 138 34.5 N/A
Tory George Howard 96 24.0 N/A

See also[]

References[]

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