Dorset was a county constituency covering Dorset in southern England, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs), traditionally known as knights of the shire, to the House of Commons of England from 1290 until 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom until 1832.

The Great Reform Act increased its representation to three MPs with effect from the 1832 general election, and under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the constituency was abolished for the 1885 election, and replaced by four single-member divisions: North Dorset, South Dorset, East Dorset and West Dorset.

When elections were contested, the bloc vote system was used, but contests were rare. Even after the 1832 Reforms, only three of the nineteen elections before 1885 were contested; in the others, the nominated candidates were returned without a vote.

Members of Parliament

Before 1640

ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1371Sir John Hamely 1376Sir John Hamely Sir Thomas Blount 1377 (Jan) Sir John Hamely 1386 Sir Stephen Derby John Frome 1388 (Feb) Sir Robert Turberville John Frome 1388 (Sep) Sir Humphrey Stafford Sir John Moigne 1390 (Jan) Sir Humphrey Stafford John Frome 1390 (Nov) Sir Stephen Derby Theobald Wykeham 1391 Sir Humphrey Stafford Sir John Hamely 1393 Sir Humphrey Stafford Sir John Moigne 1394 Sir Stephen Derby John Perle 1395 Sir Humphrey Stafford Theobald Wykeham 1397 (Jan) Sir Humphrey Stafford Sir John Moigne 1397 (Sep) John Bathe William Martin 1399 Sir Humphrey Stafford John Frome 1401 Sir Humphrey Stafford John Frome 1402 Sir William Cheyne John Bathe 1404 (Jan) Sir Humphrey Stafford John Frome 1404 (Oct) Sir John Devereux John Frampton 1406 Sir Humphrey Stafford Sir Ivo Fitzwaryn 1407 Sir Humphrey Stafford Sir Ivo Fitzwaryn 1410 Sir Humphrey Stafford William Stourton 1411 1413 (Feb) 1413 (May) Thomas Brooke William Stourton 1414 (Apr) Sir Humphrey Stafford II William Filoll 1414 (Nov) Sir Humphrey Stafford II John Chideock 1415 1416 (Mar) 1416 (Oct) 1417 Sir Humphrey Stafford II Robert More 1419 Sir Humphrey Stafford II Ralph Bush 1420 Sir Humphrey Stafford II William Carent 1421 (May) Sir Humphrey Stafford II Robert Lovell 1421 (Dec) Sir John Horsey John Roger 1426William Carent 1427William Carent 1431 John Hody 1439 William Browning (born 1400) 1450 William Browning (born 1400) 1455 William Browning (born 1400) 1510–1523 No names known 1529 Sir Giles Strangways I John Horsey 1536 ? 1539 Sir Giles Strangways I Sir John Horsey 1542? 1545 Sir Thomas Arundell Sir John Rogers 1547 Sir Thomas Arundell Sir John Rogers 1553 (Mar) ?1553 (Oct)Sir John HorseySir Giles StrangewaysParliament of 1554John LewestonParliament of 1554-1555Sir Henry AshleyRichard PhelipsParliament of 1555Sir John RogersSir Giles StrangewaysParliament of 1558Sir Oliver LaurenceParliament of 1559Sir John RogersParliament of 1563-1567Sir Henry AshleyThomas HowardParliament of 1571John HorseySir William PauletParliament of 1572-1581Richard RogersJohn StrodeParliament of 1584-1585George TrenchardJohn FitzjamesParliament of 1586-1587Ralph HorseyAndrew RogersParliament of 1588-1589Sir John WolleyParliament of 1593Thomas HusseyArthur GorgesParliament of 1597-1598Sir Ralph HorseySir Walter RaleighParliament of 1601George TrenchardSir Edmund UvedallParliament of 1604-1611Sir Thomas FrekeJohn WilliamsAddled Parliament (1614)Sir Mervyn AudleySir John StrangwaysParliament of 1621-1622Sir Thomas TrenchardHappy Parliament (1624-1625)Sir George HorseyUseless Parliament (1625)Sir Walter ErleSir Nathaniel NapierParliament of 1625-1626Sir George MortonSir Thomas FrekeParliament of 1628-1629Sir George HusseySir John StrangwaysNo Parliament summoned 1629-1640

MPs 1640–1832 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640Lord DigbyRoyalistRichard RogersRoyalistNovember 16401641John BrowneParliamentarianSeptember 1642Rogers disabled from sitting - seat vacant1645Sir Thomas TrenchardDecember 1648Trenchard did not sit after Pride's Purge - seat vacant1653William SydenhamJohn BinghamDorset had six seats in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate1654William Sydenham, John Bingham, Sir Walter Earle, John Fitzjames, John Trenchard, Henry Henley1656William Sydenham, John Bingham, Robert Coker, John Fitzjames, John Trenchard, James DeweyDorset reverted to two seats in the Third Protectorate ParliamentJanuary 1659Sir Walter EarleJohn BinghamMay 1659Not represented in the restored RumpApril 1660John Fitzjames Robert Coker Apr 1661 John Strode Giles Strangways 1675 Lord Digby 1677 Thomas Browne 1679 Thomas Strangways I Thomas Freke 1701 Thomas Trenchard 1702 Thomas Chafin 1711 Richard Bingham 1713 George Chafin Thomas Strangways II Jan 1727 George Pitt Sep 1727 Edmund Morton Pleydell 1747George PittTory later Independent1754 Humphrey Sturt 1774 Hon. George Pitt1784 Francis John Browne 1790 William Morton Pitt Tory1806 Edward Berkeley Portman I Whig1823 Edward Portman IIWhig1826 Henry Bankes ToryMay. 1831 John CalcraftWhigSep. 1831 Lord AshleyTory1832Representation increased to 3 members

MPs 1832–1885 ElectionFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyThird memberThird party 1832 Lord Ashley Tory William John Bankes Tory Hon. William Ponsonby Whig 1834 ConservativeConservative 1835 Henry Sturt Conservative 1837Hon. John Fox-Strangways Whig 1841 George Bankes Conservative 1846 by-election Henry Ker Seymer Conservative John Floyer Conservative 1856 by-election Henry Sturt Conservative 1857 Hon. Henry Portman Whig 1859 Liberal 1864 by-election John Floyer Conservative 1876 by-electionHon. Edward Digby Conservative 1885Constituency divided among North, South, East, and West Dorset.

Election results Elections in the 1830s

Calcraft's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1840s

Ashley-Cooper and Sturt both resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1850s Bankes was appointed Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces, requiring a by-election.

Bankes' death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s Seymer resigned, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s

Sturt was elevated to the peerage, becoming Lord Alington.

Elections in the 1880s

Notes

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) 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) Heywood Townshend, Historical Collections:: or, An exact Account of the Proceedings of the Four last Parliaments of Q. Elizabeth (1680) British History Online - 'List of members nominated for Parliament of 1653', Diary of Thomas Burton esq, volume 4: March - April 1659 (1828),