Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (UK Parliament constituency)

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Weymouth and Melcombe Regis
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1570–1885
Number of membersfour (1570–1832), two (1832–1885)
Replaced bySouth Dorset

Weymouth and Melcombe Regis was a parliamentary borough in Dorset represented in the English House of Commons, later in that of Great Britain, and finally in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was formed by an Act of Parliament of 1570 which amalgamated the existing boroughs of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. Until 1832, the combined borough continued to elect the four Members of Parliament (MPs) to which its constituent parts had previously been entitled; the Great Reform Act reduced its representation to two Members, and the constituency was abolished altogether in 1885, becoming part of the new South Dorset constituency.

Members of Parliament[]

Members for Weymouth (1348–1570)[]

Parliament First member Second member
1386 John Gosselyn John Hughelot[1]
1388 (Feb) John Wake [1]
1388 (Sep) [1]
1390 (Jan) [1]
1390 (Nov)
1391 [1]
1393 [1]
1394 [1]
1395 [1]
1397 (Jan) [1]
1397 (Sep) [1]
1399 [1]
1401
1402 [1]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406 [1]
1407 [1]
1410 [1]
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May) [1]
1414 (Apr) [1]
1414 (Nov) [1]
1415
1416 (Mar)
1416 (Oct)
1417 [1]
1419 [1]
1420 [1]
1421 (May) [1]
1421 (Dec) [1]
1423 John Abbot[2]
1450
1472-5 [3]
1510–1523 No names known[4]
1529 Robert Aley[4]
1536 ?
1539 ?
1542 [4]
1545 Richard Duke[4]
1547 John Cornelius alias Johnson alias Welbored [4]
1553 (Mar) ?Richard Phelips ?[4]
1553 (Oct) [4]
1554 (Apr) John Wadham [4]
1554 (Nov) [4]
1555 [4]
1558 [4]
1559 John Fowler[5]
1562/3 Robert Eyre [5]

Members for Melcombe Regis (1319–1570)[]

Parliament First member Second member
1386 [1]
1388 (Feb) [1]
1388 (Sep) [1]
1390 (Jan) [1]
1390 (Nov)
1391 [1]
1393 John Abbot[2] Robert Veel[1]
1394 Robert Veel[1]
1395 [1]
1397 (Jan) [1]
1397 (Sep) William Coventre II[1]
1399 [1]
1401
1402 [1]
1404 (Jan) [1]
1404 (Oct)
1406 Richard Hurst [1]
1407 [1]
1410 John Ford (_) Lane[1]
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May) [1]
1414 (Apr) Henry Barbour [1]
1414 (Nov) [1]
1415
1416 (Mar)
1416 (Oct)
1417 John Gardener[1]
1419 [1]
1420 Robert Abbot[1]
1421 (May) Robert Abbot[1]
1421 (Dec) or John Alysaundre[1]
1437 William Abbot[2]
1510–1523 No names known[4]
1529 Richard Phelips Oliver Lawrence[4]
1536 ?
1539 ?
1542 ?
1545 Anthony Cokett Thomas Poley[4]
1547 John Leweston[4]
1553 (Mar) John Wadham ?Owen Reynolds[4]
1553 (Oct) John Leweston Owen Reynolds[4]
1554 (Apr) [4]
1554 (Nov) John Hannam[4]
1555 John Leweston William Crowche[4]
1558 John Mill Richard Shaw[4]
1559 Richard Shaw
1563-7 Thomas Colby

Members for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (1570–1885)[]

1570–1629[]

Parliament First member Second member Third member Fourth member
Parliament of 1571 Thomas Hussey d. by 1581
Then Laurence Thompson
Parliament of 1572–1581 John Wolley died
1576 Moyle Finch
Parliament of 1584–1585 Francis Bacon[6]
1586 Edward Bacon 		George Grenville
Parliament of 1586–1587 Edward Phelips
Parliament of 1588–1589 William Hody
Parliament of 1593 William Weston Thomas Stafford
Parliament of 1597–1598[7] Francis Leigh
Parliament of 1601 John Peyton Walter Cope
Parliament of 1604–1611 died
1610 Viscount Cranborne 		Vacated seat
replaced 1610 by
Addled Parliament (1614) Sir Charles Caesar Robert Bateman
Parliament of 1621–1622 Matthew Pitt[8]
Died 1624
1624 (Sir) Thomas Myddelton 		Giles Green John Freke Christopher Erle[9]
Happy Parliament (1624–1625)
Useless Parliament (1625) (Sir) John Strangways Giles Green[10]
Parliament of 1625–1626
Parliament of 1628–1629[11] Sir Robert Napier Lewis Dyve
No Parliament summoned 1629–1640

1640–1832[]

Year First member Party Second member Party Third member Party Fourth member Party
April 1640 (Sir) John Strangways Royalist Giles Strangways Royalist Richard King Royalist
November 1640 (Sir) Gerrard Napier[12] Royalist Sir Walter Erle Parliamentarian
September 1642 Strangways disabled from sitting – seat vacant
February 1643 King disabled from sitting – seat vacant
January 1644 Napier disabled from sitting – seat vacant
1645 William Sydenham John Bond Matthew Allen
December 1648 Erle, Allen and Bond all excluded in Pride's Purge – seats vacant
1653 Weymouth and Melcombe Regis was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654 Denis Bond Weymouth and Melcombe Regis had only one seat in the First and
Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656
January 1659 John Trenchard John Clark Peter Middleton
May 1659 William Sydenham Three seats vacant
April 1660 Edward Montagu Sir William Penn Peter Middleton Henry Waltham
June 1660 Bullen Reymes
1661 Winston Churchill Sir John Strangways
1667 Sir John Coventry
1670 Lord Ashley
1673 John Man
February 1679
August 1679 Sir John Morton
1680
1685 George Strangways
1689 Sir Robert Napier
1690 Nicholas Gould
1691 Thomas Freke
1695 Maurice Ashley
March 1698
August 1698 Arthur Shallett
January 1701 Henry Thynne Charles Churchill Maurice Ashley
November 1701 George St Loe Sir Christopher Wren
February 1702 Anthony Henley
July 1702 Henry Thynne
1705 Maurice Ashley
1709
1710[13] James Littleton William Betts
May 1711 Tory
December 1711
1713[14] John Baker Rear-Admiral James Littleton Lieutenant-General Daniel Harvey Whig William Betts
1714 Tory
1715 John Baker Lieutenant-General Daniel Harvey Whig William Betts
1717 Edward Harrison
1722 Sir James Thornhill Thomas Pearse [15]
1726 John Willes
January 1727 Edward Tucker
August 1727 Thomas Pearse[16]
1730 George Dodington
1734 George Bubb Dodington[17]
1735 John Tucker
1737 John Olmius
1741 Joseph Damer James Steuart
1747 Welbore Ellis Richard Plumer George Dodington
1751 Lord George Cavendish
1754 Lord John Cavendish George Dodington John Tucker
1761 Sir Francis Dashwood John Olmius[18] Richard Glover
1762 Richard Jackson
1763 Charles Walcott
1768 The Lord Waltham Sir Charles Davers Jeremiah Dyson
1774 Welbore Ellis William Chaffin Grove John Purling
1778 Gabriel Steward
September 1780
November 1780 Gabriel Steward
1781
1784 Sir Thomas Rumbold
1786 George Jackson
1788 Gabriel Steward
1790 Colonel Sir James Murray[19] Tory (Sir) Richard Bempde Johnstone[20] Andrew Stuart Thomas Jones
1791 Lieutenant-Colonel Sir James Johnstone
1794 Gabriel Tucker Steward Tory[21]
1796 William Garthshore Tory[21]
1801 Charles Adams Tory[21]
1806 Tory[21]
1810 Sir John Lowther Johnstone
1811 General Sir John Murray
January 1812 Joseph Hume Tory
October 1812[22] John Broadhurst Thomas Wallace Henry Trail
1813 Viscount Cranborne Tory[21] Christopher Idle Tory[21] Masterton Ure Tory[21]
1817 Adolphus Dalrymple Tory[21]
1818 Whig[21] Fowell Buxton[21] Whig Thomas Wallace Tory[21]
1826 Colonel John Gordon Tory[21]
1828 Edward Sugden Tory[21]
May 1831 Richard Weyland[23] Whig[21]
August 1831 Charles Baring Wall Tory[21]
1832 Representation reduced to two Members

1832–1885[]

Year First member First party Second member Second party
1832 Sir Frederick Johnstone Tory[21] Fowell Buxton Whig[21]
1834 Conservative[21]
1835 William Burdon Whig[21]
1837 Viscount Villiers Conservative[21] George William Hope Conservative[21]
1842[24] Ralph Bernal Whig[21][25][26][27][28][29] William Dougal Christie Whig[30][21][29]
August 1847 William Freestun Whig[30]
December 1847 Hon. Frederick Child Villiers Conservative
1852 George Butt Conservative
1857 Robert Campbell Whig[31]
1859 Robert Brooks Conservative Viscount Grey de Wilton Conservative
1865 Henry Gridley Liberal
1867 Henry Edwards Liberal
1868 Charles J. T. Hambro Conservative
1874 Sir Frederick Johnstone Conservative
1885 Constituency abolished

Election results[]

Elections in the 1830s[]

General election 1830 Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[21][32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Fowell Buxton Unopposed
Tory John Gordon Unopposed
Tory Masterton Ure Unopposed
Tory Edward Sugden Unopposed
Whig hold
Tory hold
Tory hold
Tory hold
General election 1831 Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[21][32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Richard Weyland 14 23.7
Tory Masterton Ure 13 22.0
Tory John Gordon 13 22.0
Whig Fowell Buxton 13 22.0
Tory Michael Prendergast 2 3.4
Whig Henry William Tancred 2 3.4
Whig Thomas Bulkeley 2 3.4
Turnout c. 15 c. 2.1
Registered electors c. 700
Majority 1 1.7
Whig gain from Tory
Majority 0 0.0
Tory hold
Tory hold
Majority 11 18.6
Whig hold

Weyland was also elected for Oxfordshire and opted to sit there, causing a by-election.

Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[21][32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Charles Baring Wall 425 72.0 +24.6
Whig Michael Prendergast 165 28.0 −24.5
Majority 260 44.0 +44.0
Turnout 590 c. 84.3 c. +82.2
Registered electors c. 700
Tory gain from Whig Swing +24.6

Representation reduced to two members.

General election 1832 Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[21][33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Fowell Buxton 238 28.3 +2.1
Tory Frederick Johnstone 215 25.5 +1.8
Whig William Burdon 214 25.4 −0.9
Tory George Bankes 176 20.9 −2.8
Turnout 431 90.7 c. +88.6
Registered electors 475
Majority 23 2.8 +1.1
Whig hold Swing +1.3
Majority 1 0.1 +0.1
Tory hold Swing +0.6
General election 1835 Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[21][33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Fowell Buxton 268 40.8 +12.5
Whig William Burdon 239 36.4 +11.0
Conservative George Child Villiers 150 22.8 −23.6
Majority 89 13.6 +10.8
Turnout c. 329 c. 63.4 c. −27.3
Registered electors 518
Whig hold Swing +12.2
Whig gain from Conservative Swing +11.4
General election 1837 Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[21][33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Child Villiers 291 31.6 +20.2
Conservative George William Hope 268 29.1 +17.7
Whig Fowell Buxton 211 22.9 −17.9
Whig George Stephen 151 16.4 −20.0
Majority 57 6.2 N/A
Turnout 481 81.7 c. +18.3
Registered electors 589
Conservative gain from Whig Swing +19.6
Conservative gain from Whig Swing +18.3

Elections in the 1840s[]

General election 1841 Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[33][21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Child Villiers 259 25.4 −6.2
Conservative George William Hope 257 25.2 −3.9
Whig Ralph Bernal 254 24.9 +2.0
Whig William Dougal Christie 251 24.6 +8.2
Majority 3 0.3 −5.9
Turnout 511 (est) 85.4 (est) c. +3.7
Registered electors 598
Conservative hold Swing −5.7
Conservative hold Swing −4.5

On petition the result was overturned on 4 April 1842 and the opponents, Bernal and Christie, were seated in their place.

General election 1847 Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig William Dougal Christie 274 25.1 +0.5
Whig William Freestun 274 25.1 +0.2
Conservative George Butt 272 24.9 −0.3
Conservative Frederick Child Villiers 271 24.8 −0.6
Majority 2 0.2 N/A
Turnout 546 (est) 87.3 (est) +1.9
Registered electors 625
Whig gain from Conservative Swing +0.5
Whig gain from Conservative Swing +0.3

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

: Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Frederick Child Villiers Unopposed
Conservative gain from Whig

Elections in the 1850s[]

General election 1852 Weymouth[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Butt 386 38.4 −11.3
Whig William Freestun 336 33.4 −16.8
Peelite Alexander Haldane Oswald[34] 283 28.2 N/A
Turnout 503 (est) 74.0 (est) −13.3
Registered electors 679
Majority 50 5.0 N/A
Conservative gain from Whig Swing +2.8
Majority 53 5.2 +5.0
Whig hold Swing −2.8
General election 1857 Weymouth[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig William Freestun 446 41.8 +8.4
Whig Robert Campbell 349 32.7 +4.5
Conservative George Butt 272 25.5 −12.9
Majority 77 7.2 +2.0
Turnout 534 (est) 78.3 (est) +4.3
Registered electors 681
Whig hold Swing +7.4
Whig gain from Conservative Swing +5.5
General election 1859 Weymouth[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Brooks 341 26.5 +13.7
Conservative Arthur Egerton 340 26.4 +13.6
Liberal William Freestun 311 24.1 −17.7
Liberal Robert Campbell 297 23.0 −9.7
Majority 29 2.3 N/A
Turnout 645 (est) 86.2 (est) +7.9
Registered electors 748
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +13.7
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +13.7

Elections in the 1860s[]

General election 1865 Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robert Brooks 381 47.6 +21.1
Liberal Henry Gridley 378 47.2 +23.1
Conservative Arthur Egerton 28 3.5 −22.9
Liberal Henry Edwards 14 1.7 −21.3
Turnout 759 (est) 83.8 (est) −2.4
Registered electors 906
Majority 3 0.4 −1.9
Conservative hold Swing +10.1
Majority 350 43.7 N/A
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +12.0

A late compromise between the Conservatives and Liberals, whereby Mr Brooks and Mr Gridley would be elected, came too late to cancel the election.

: Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Edwards Unopposed
Liberal hold

The 1867 by-election followed the resignation of Henry Gillett Gridley.

General election 1868 Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles J. T. Hambro 750 39.4 −11.7
Liberal Henry Edwards 701 36.8 −10.4
Liberal John Joseph Powell 452 23.8 +22.1
Majority 49 2.6 +2.2
Turnout 952 (est) 70.8 (est) −13.0
Registered electors 1,343
Conservative hold Swing −11.7
Liberal hold Swing +0.7

Elections in the 1870s[]

General election 1874 Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Edwards 944 49.7 −10.9
Conservative Frederick Johnstone 504 26.5 +6.8
Conservative Charles J. T. Hambro 452 23.8 +4.1
Majority 440 23.2 N/A
Turnout 1,422 (est) 96.9 (est) +26.1
Registered electors 1,467
Liberal hold Swing −10.9
Conservative hold Swing +8.9

Elections in the 1880s[]

General election 1880 Weymouth and Melcombe Regis[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Edwards 1,156 44.2 +19.3
Conservative Frederick Johnstone 807 30.8 −19.5
Liberal Alexander Coghill Wylie 653 25.0 +0.1
Turnout 1,308 (est) 81.1 (est) −15.8
Registered electors 1,612
Majority 349 13.4 N/A
Liberal hold Swing +14.5
Majority 154 5.8 −17.4
Conservative hold Swing −4.8

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 ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  2. ^ a b c ABBOT, John, of Melcombe Regis, Dorset., History of Parliament Online
  3. ^ Biographical notes by I.S. Rogers, 2005
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  5. ^ a b "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  6. ^ Francis Bacon was re-elected in 1586, but had also been elected for Taunton, which he chose to represent
  7. ^ Browne Willis, working from the Parliamentary records, gives two names for Weymouth and four for Melcombe, remarking of these "Double return, as it seems to me". But it may equally be that two of the six were recorded against the wrong constituency (especially as, in the same Parliament, he has the same pair of the names with only minor variations for Corfe Castle and Wareham.
  8. ^ Matthew Pitt was re-elected to the Happy Parliament in January 1624, but died on 18 April. (Sir) Thomas Myddelton was returned in his stead on 10 May 1624.
  9. ^ Listed in some sources as Walter Erle; Alumni Oxonienses allocates Christopher to the seat
  10. ^ Sir Thomas Myddelton was re-elected to the Useless Parliament, but had also been elected for Denbighshire, which he chose to represent. Giles Green was returned in his stead.
  11. ^ Browne Willis suggests represented the boroughs in this Parliament, but other sources, including the official History of Parliament, confirm Sir Robert Napier was the representative
  12. ^ Created a baronet, June 1641
  13. ^ On petition, the election of Littleton and Betts was declared void, and a writ for a by-election was issued. Both were returned at the by-election, but were once again declared not to have been duly elected.
  14. ^ On petition, Baker, Harvey and Betts were all declared not to have been duly elected
  15. ^ Expelled from the House of Commons 1726 following his conviction for forgery
  16. ^ News Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer, Saturday, 10 February 1728; Issue 142
  17. ^ Dodington was also elected for Bridgwater, which he chose to represent, and did not sit in this parliament for Weymouth & Melcombe Regis
  18. ^ Created The Lord Waltham (in the Peerage of Ireland), June 1762
  19. ^ Major-General from 1793, Lieutenant-General from 1799; adopted the surname Murray-Pulteney on his marriage in July 1794
  20. ^ Created a baronet, July 1795
  21. ^ 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 ac ad Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 94–97. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
  22. ^ On petition, the election of Wallace, Broadhurst and Trail was declared void, and a by-election was held; Murray's election was not disturbed
  23. ^ Weyland was also elected for Oxfordshire, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Weymouth & Melcombe Regis
  24. ^ At the election of 1841, the two sitting Conservative members, Villiers and Hope, were initially declared re-elected, by margins of 5 votes and 3 votes respectively, but on petition the result was overturned and the opponents, Bernal and Christie, were seated in their place
  25. ^ Farrell, Stephen (2009). "BERNAL, Ralph (1783–1854), of 11 Park Crescent, Mdx". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  26. ^ "Ralph Bernal". Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  27. ^ Thompson, Thomas Perronet (1843). Exercises, Political and Others: Vol. IV (2nd ed.). London: Effingham Wilson. p. 222. Retrieved 2 July 2018 – via Internet Archive.
  28. ^ Rubinstein, William D.; Jolles, Michael A.; Rubinstein, Hilary L., eds. (2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Ango-Jewish History (eBook ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 84. doi:10.1057/978023034666 (inactive 31 October 2021). ISBN 978-0-230-30466-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of October 2021 (link)
  29. ^ a b "Morning Post". 30 June 1841. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  30. ^ a b "Members Returned". Norfolk News. 7 August 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  31. ^ "Election Intelligence". Globe. 21 March 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  32. ^ a b c Farrell, Stephen. "Weymouth and Melcombe Regis". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  33. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 327–328. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
  34. ^ "Bell's Weekly Messenger". 12 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

References[]

  • Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
  • F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
  • Grey's Debates of the House of Commons: volume 8 (1769), pp. 373–381 [2]
  • Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
  • J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
  • J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
  • Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig – Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 3)
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