Lancaster 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 1867, centred on the historic city of Lancaster in north-west England. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until the constituency was disenfranchised for corruption in 1867.
Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Lancaster was re-established for the 1885 general election as a county constituency. It then returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, with elections held under the first-past-the-post system. This constituency in turn was abolished when it was largely replaced by the new Lancaster and Wyre constituency for the 1997 general election.
History
Lancaster returned Members to Parliament between 1295 and 1331 but is not known to have done so again, on the grounds of the poverty of the town's burgesses, until the election of William Banester in 1523.
Representation was reduced during the protectorate: Lancaster was not represented in the Barebones Parliament and sent only one Member to the first and second Protectorate Parliaments.
The two Member constituency was disenfranchised in 1867 for corruption and representation not restored until 1885 as a one Member constituency. The constituency was abolished in 1997 and replaced by the constituency of Lancaster and Wyre.
Boundaries
1885–1918: The Borough of Lancaster, the Sessional Divisions of Garstang and Hornby, and part of the Sessional Division of South Lonsdale.
1918–1950: The Boroughs of Lancaster and Morecambe, the Urban Districts of Heysham and Preesall, the Rural District of Garstang, and part of the Rural District of Lancaster.
1950–1983: The Borough of Lancaster, the Urban District of Carnforth, the Rural District of Lunesdale, and in the Rural District of Lancaster the parishes of Ashton with Stodday, Cockerham, Elllel, Heaton with Oxcliffe, Middleton, Overton, Over Wyresdale, Scotforth, and Thurnham.
1983–1997: The City of Lancaster wards of Bulk, Castle, Caton, Ellel, Hornby, John O'Gaunt, Scotforth East, Scotforth West, Skerton Central, Skerton East, and Skerton West, and the Borough of Wyre wards of Brock, Calder, Catterall, Duchy, Garstang, Great Eccleston, Pilling, and Wyresdale.
Members of Parliament
Lancaster borough
1295–1640
ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1523 William Banester ?Lawrence Starkey 1529 Lawrence Starkey Richard Southworth 1536 ? 1539 ? 1542 ? 1545 Sir John Baker Sir Nicholas Hare 1547 Sir Thomas Chaloner Stephen Vaughan died and repl. by Jan 1552 by William Ward 1553 (Mar) John Caryll Thomas Carus 1553 (Oct) Sir Thomas Tresham Thomas Carus 1554 (Apr) John Heywood George Felton 1554 (Nov) Richard Baker Richard Weston 1555Thomas Carus Thomas Hungate 1558 Sir Clement Heigham William Rice 1559 (Jan) Sir Thomas Benger William Fleetwood 1562–1563 John Hales William Fleetwood 1571Henry Sadler Miles Sandys 1572 Thomas Sadler Henry Sadler 1584 (Nov) Henry Sadler Thomas Gerard 1586Thomas Gerard Henry Sadler 1588Roger Dalton John Atherton 1593John Preston John AwdeleyAwdeley was also elected for Stockbridge 1597 (Oct) Sir Thomas Hesketh Edward Hubberd 1601 (Oct) Sir Jerome Bowes Sir Carew Reynell 1604 Sir Thomas Hesketh, died and repl. 1605 by Sir Thomas Howard Thomas Fanshawe 1614 Thomas Fanshawe William Fanshawe 1621 Sir Humphrey May Thomas Fanshawe 1624 Sir Humphrey May, sat for Leicester and repl. by John Selden Thomas Fanshawe 1625 Sir Humphrey May Sir Thomas Fanshawe 1626 Sir Thomas Fanshawe Thomas Jermyn 1628 Sir Thomas Fanshawe Francis Bindlosse 1629–1640 No Parliaments summoned
1640–1867
YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640 Roger Kirkby John Harrison November 1640Thomas FanshaweRoyalistJohn HarrisonRoyalistSeptember 1642Fanshawe disabled from sitting – seat vacantSeptember 1643Harrison disabled from sitting – seat vacant1645 Thomas FellSir Robert BindlosseDecember 1648Bindlosse excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant1653Lancaster was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament1654 Major Henry Porter Lancaster had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate1656January 1659Henry Porter, juniorColonel William WestMay 1659Thomas FellOne seat vacantApril 1660 Sir Gilbert Gerard William West 1661 Richard Kirkby Sir John Harrison 1669 Richard Harrison 1679 William Spencer 1685 Roger Kirkby Henry Crispe January 1689 Curwen Rawlinson Thomas Preston November 1689 Roger Kirkby 1697 Fitton Gerard 1698 Robert Heysham 1702 Sir William Lowther 1705 William Heysham 1715 Dodding Bradyll Whig 1716 William Heysham, junior 1722 Sir Thomas Lowther 1727 Christopher Tower 1734 Robert Fenwick 1745 Francis Reynolds 1747 Edward Marton 1758 (Sir) George WarrenKnighted (KB), 1761 1773 Lord Richard Cavendish 1780 Wilson Braddyll Abraham Rawlinson 1784 Captain Francis Reynolds 1786 Sir George Warren 1790 John Dent 1796 Richard Penn 1802 Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton Whig 1806 John Fenton-Cawthorne Tory 1807 Peter Patten 1812 John Fenton-Cawthorne Tory Gabriel Doveton Whig 1818 John Gladstone Tory 1820 John Fenton-Cawthorne Tory 1824 Thomas Greene Tory 1831 Patrick Maxwell Stewart Whig 1834 Conservative 1837 George Marton Conservative 1847 Samuel GregsonOn petition, Gregson's election was declared void and a by-election was held Whig Peelite 1848 Robert Baynes ArmstrongOn petition, Armstrong's re-election in 1852 was declared void and a by-election was held Radical 1852 Samuel Gregson Whig 1853 Thomas Greene Peelite 1857 William Garnett Conservative 1859 Liberal 1864 Edward Matthew Fenwick Liberal 1865 Henry Schneider Liberal1867 Constituency disfranchised for corruption Fenwick and Schneider were re-elected at the general election of 1865, but on petition their election was declared void. The constituency's writ was suspended, and a Royal Commission appointed to investigate. Following the Commission's report that it had found evidence of extensive bribery, the constituency was abolished and incorporated into the Northern Lancashire county division from the start of the next Parliament.
Lancaster county constituency
1885–1997 ElectionMemberParty 1885Constituency re-created 1885 George Marton Conservative 1886 James Williamson Liberal 1895 William Foster Conservative 1900 Norval Helme Liberal 1918 Archibald Hunter Coalition Conservative 1922 John Singleton Conservative 1923 John O'Neill Liberal 1924 Gerald Strickland Conservative 1928 by-election Robert Tomlinson Liberal 1929 Herwald Ramsbotham Conservative 1941 by-election Fitzroy Maclean Conservative 1959 Humphry Berkeley Conservative 1966 Stan Henig Labour 1970 Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman Conservative1997 constituency abolished: see Lancaster and Wyre
Elections Elections in the 1830s
Fenton-Cawthorne's death caused a by-election.
Elections in the 1840s
Gregson's election was declared void on petition due to bribery, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1850s
Armstrong's election was declared void due to corruption and bribery, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1860s Garnett resigned, causing a by-election.
Gregson's death caused a by-election.
Extensive bribery caused both members to be unseated on 23 April 1866, and the seat to lose its right to return a member of Parliament under the Reform Act 1867. It was incorporated into North Lancashire.
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; Liberal: Norval Helme Unionist:
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
George H Bryans was adopted as Liberal candidate but in October 1931 had a heart attack and withdrew.
Elections in the 1940s General Election 1939–40:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected; Conservative: Herwald Ramsbotham Liberal: William Ross Labour: Albert Farrer
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1990s
Notes and references
Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. .
Sources Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) 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) The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913) 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) Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig – Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)