Ripon was a constituency sending members to the House of Commons of England, Great Britain and the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1983, centred on the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire.
History Ripon was first represented in the Model Parliament of 1295, and also returned members in 1307 and 1337, but it was not permanently represented until 1553, after which it returned two Members of Parliament. It was a parliamentary borough consisting only of the town of Ripon itself until the Great Reform Act 1832; the right to vote was vested in the holders of the tightly controlled burgage tenements — count-of-head polls were accordingly rare — for, the last contested election in Ripon before the Reform Act 1832 was in 1715. By 1832 it was estimated that there were 43 men qualified to vote; the total of adult males over age 20 in the township in 1831 was recorded at 3,571.http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10465813/cube/OCC_PAR1831_TOT University of Portsmouth and others.
Such a burgeoning middle class population when considered under the Reform Act 1832 made for Ripon a relatively major borough; its qualifying freehold-owning or more expensive house-leasing electorate were supplemented by such electors in neighbouring Aismunderby-cum-Bondgate. The sum of these male electors returned two members to each parliament. The Reform Act 1867 which came into force at the 1868 election reduced Ripon's representation from two MPs to one and enfranchised many of the under-represented high-growth areas of Britain.
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 abolished the borough of Ripon; instead the county constituency in which the town was placed as a result was named Ripon (strictly speaking, at first, "The Ripon Division of the West Riding of Yorkshire"), and this continued as a single member constituency, with intervening boundary changes until it was abolished before the 1983 general election. Until 1950 it included, as well as Ripon itself, the towns of Harrogate and Knaresborough; the post-1950 guise took in Ilkley and Otley.
Boundaries 1885–1918: The Borough of Ripon, the Sessional Divisions of Claro and Kirkby Malzeard, and the Liberty of Ripon.
1918–1950: The Boroughs of Ripon and Harrogate, the Urban District of Knaresborough, the Rural Districts of Knaresborough, Pateley Bridge, and Ripon, and part of the Rural District of Great Ouseburn.
1950–1983: The Borough of Ripon, the Urban Districts of Ilkley and Otley, and the Rural Districts of Ripon and Pateley Bridge, and Wharfedale.
Members of Parliament Constituency re-created (1553)
MPs 1553–1640 ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1553 (Oct) Marmaduke Wyvill Edward Beseley 1554 (Apr) William Rastell John Temple 1554 (Nov) Thomas More II Thomas Seckford 1555 John Holmes Thomas Poley 1558 William Heath Thomas Lewknor 1559 Francis Kempe John Sapcote 1562–3 George Leighe Richard Pratt 1571 Martin Birkhead Anthony Roane 1572 Martin Birkhead John Scott 1584 William Spencer Gervase Lee 1586 William Spencer Samuel Sandys 1588 Peter York William Smith 1593 Anthony Wingfield William Bennet 1597 Sir John Bennet Christopher Perkins 1601 John Thornborough Christopher Perkins 1604 Sir John Mallory Sir John Bennet 1614 Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby William Mallory 1621 Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby William Mallory 1624 Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby William Mallory 1625 Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby William Mallory 1626 Thomas Best Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby 1628 Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby William Mallory 1629–1640 No Parliaments summoned
MPs 1640–1867 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party November 1640 William Mallory Royalist John Mallory RoyalistSeptember 1642William Mallory disabled to sit - seat vacantJanuary 1644John Mallory disabled to sit - seat vacant1645 Sir Charles Egerton Miles Moody (d. March 1647) 1647 Sir John BourchierDecember 1648Egerton excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant1653Ripon was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659 Edmund Jennings Jonathan Jennings May 1659Not represented in the restored Rump April 1660Henry ArthingtonEdmund Jennings 1661John NicholasThomas Burwell 1673Sir Edmund Jennings February 1679Richard Sterne August 1679Christopher Wandesford 1685Sir Gilbert Dolben, 1st BaronetSir Edmund Jennings 1689Sir Jonathan JenningsSir Edward Blackett, Bt 1690Sir Edmund Jennings 1691Jonathan Jennings 1695John AislabieTory 1701John Sharp 1702Sir William Hustler 1705John AislabieExpelled from the House of Commons in 1721 for his role in the South Sea Bubble. Tory, later Country Whig 1715The Viscount Castlecomer 1719William Aislabie I 1721William Aislabie IITory 1722John Scrope 1727William Aislabie III 1734Thomas Duncombe 1741Hon. Henry VaneWhig 1747Sir Charles Vernon 1761William Lawrence 1768Charles Allanson 1775William LawrenceTory 1780Frederick RobinsonTory 1781William LawrenceTory 1787Sir John Goodricke, BtTory 1789Sir George Allanson-Winn, BtLord Headley (in the peerage of Ireland) from 1797.Tory April 1798John HeathcoteTory October 1798Sir James Graham, BtTory 1806The Lord HeadleyTory 1807F. J. RobinsonToryGeorge GippsTory 1826Lancelot ShadwellTory 1827Louis Hayes PetitTory 1828Sir Robert InglisTory 1829George SpenceTory 1831WhigWhig 1832Thomas StaveleyWhigJoshua CromptonWhig 1835Sir Charles DalbiacConservativeThomas PembertonConservative 1837Sir Edward SugdenConservative 1841Sir George CockburnConservative 1843Thomas Cusack-SmithConservative 1846Hon. Edwin LascellesConservative 1847Sir James Graham, BtPeelite 1852William BeckettConservative 1857 John Ashley WarreWhigJohn GreenwoodWhig 1859Liberal Liberal 1860Reginald VynerLiberal 1865Sir Charles WoodLiberalRobert KearsleyLiberal 1866Lord John HayLiberal1868 Representation reduced to one member
MPs 1868–1983 ElectionMemberParty 1868 Lord John Hay Liberal 1871 by-election Sir Henry Knight Storks Liberal 1874 Earl de Grey Liberal 1880 George Goschen Liberal1885 Ripon parliamentary borough abolished, replaced by Ripon Division of the West Riding (county constituency) 1885 William Harker Liberal 1886 John Lloyd Wharton Conservative 1906 H. F. B. Lynch Liberal Jan. 1910 Hon. Edward Wood Conservative 1925 by-election John Hills Conservative 1939 by-election Christopher York Conservative 1950 Sir Malcolm Stoddart-Scott Conservative 1973 by-election David Austick Liberal Feb 1974 Dr Keith Hampson Conservative1983 constituency abolished
Election results Elections in the 1830s
Elections in the 1840s
Sugden resigned after being appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland, causing a by-election.
Pemberton resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election,
Cusack-Smith resigned after being appointed Master of the Rolls in Ireland, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1850s
Elections in the 1860s Warre's death caused a by-election.
Lees retired before polling day.
Wood was elevated to the peerage becoming 1st Viscount Halifax and causing a by-election.
Hay was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, requiring a by-election.
Seat reduced to one member
Hay was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1870s Hay resigned, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
General election 1914–15:
Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; Unionist: Edward Wood Liberal:
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
See also 1973 Ripon by-election
References
D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954) "Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803" (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) F. W. S. Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885" (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989) F. W. S. Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949" (Glasgow: Political Reference Publications, 1969) 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 F. W. S. Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973) Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991) "The Constitutional Year Book for 1913" (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)