Westbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Westbury was a parliamentary constituency in Wiltshire from 1449 to 2010. It was represented in the House of Commons of England until 1707, and then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 2010.

Until 1885, it was a parliamentary borough, returning two Members of Parliament (MPs) until 1832 and only one from 1832 to 1885. The parliamentary borough was abolished in 1885, when the name was transferred to a county constituency returning one MP. Elections used the bloc vote system when two MPs were returned, and the first-past-the-post system of election when one seat was contested.

Westbury returned a Conservative Member at every election after 1924.

Boundaries

{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Ambox }} }} 1885–1918: The Sessional Divisions of Bradford-on-Avon, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury, and Whorwellsdon, and part of the Sessional Division of Warminster.

1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Bradford-on-Avon, Melksham, Trowbridge, Warminster, and Westbury, and the Rural Districts of Bradford-on-Avon, Melksham, Mere, Warminster, and Westbury and Whorwellsdown.

1950–1974: The Urban Districts of Bradford-on-Avon, Melksham, Trowbridge, Warminster, and Westbury, and the Rural Districts of Bradford-on-Avon and Melksham, Mere and Tisbury, and Warminster and Westbury.

1974–1983: As prior but with redrawn boundaries.

1983–1997: The District of West Wiltshire, and the District of Salisbury wards of Knoyle, Mere, and Western.

1997–2010: The District of West Wiltshire wards of Adcroft, Bradford-on-Avon North, Bradford-on-Avon South, college, Corsley, Dilton Marsh, Drynham, Ethandune, Holt, John O'Gaunt, Manor Vale, Mid Wylye Valley, Park, Paxcroft, Shearwater, Summerham, Warminster East, Warminster West, Weavers, Westbrook, Westbury with Storridge, and Wylye Valley, and the District of Salisbury wards of Knoyle, Mere, and Western.

Originally a small pocket borough, covering only a small part of the parish of Westbury, in 1885 the parliamentary borough became a county constituency in Wiltshire. At the time of the constituency's abolition in 2010 it included the towns of Westbury, Warminster, Trowbridge, and Bradford-on-Avon, and the surrounding rural areas as far south as Mere. Until boundary changes in 1997, it also included Melksham.

Boundary review, 2005

Following a review of parliamentary representation in Wiltshire, the Boundary Commission for England created two new constituencies in the county. Chippenham was created mostly from the adjoining North Wiltshire constituency, plus the town of Bradford-on-Avon at the northern end of the Westbury constituency, while the rest of Westbury saw minor changes to its composition and was renamed South West Wiltshire. These changes were approved in 2005, to take effect at the following general election, which ultimately took place in 2010.

Members of Parliament

Westbury borough (before 1885)

MPs 1449–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1491	Sir Thomas Long of Draycot
1510-1523	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1529	Thomas Kirton	Thomas Temys<ref name = HoP2/>
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	William Hartgill	Geoffrey Carter<ref name = HoP2/>
1547	John Stokes	Kenelm Throckmorton<ref name = HoP2/>
1553 (Mar)	?
1553 (Oct)	Andrew Baynton	Griffin Curteys<ref name = HoP2/>
1554 (Apr)	Griffin Curteys	Peter Morgan<ref name = HoP2/>
1554 (Nov)	William Bennett	Griffin Curteys<ref name = HoP2/>
1555	Sir Thomas Throckmorton	William Hoskins<ref name = HoP2/>
1558	John Buckland	William Allen Helyer<ref name = HoP2/>
1559	Anthony Carleton	Ralph Skinner<ref name = HoP3>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1562–3	Hugh Ryley	John Dyster<ref name = HoP3/>
1571	Francis Blount	Thomas Long<ref name = HoP3/>
1572	William Brouncker	Henry Brouncker<ref name = HoP3/>
1584		Edward Midwinter<ref name = HoP3/>
1586	Robert Baynard	Henry Whitaker<ref name = HoP3/>
1588	Sir Henry Fanshawe	John Bennett<ref name = HoP3/>
1593	William Jordyn	Sir Henry Fanshawe<ref name = HoP3/>
1597	Matthew Ley	James Ley<ref name = HoP3/><ref>Wilfrid Prest, ‘Ley, James, first earl of Marlborough (1550–1629)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004	online edn, Jan 2008 [1], accessed 22 Jan 2009.</ref>
1601		Henry Jackman<ref name = HoP3/>
1604		James Ley
1605		Alexander Chocke
1609		James Ley
1614		Henry Ley
1621	Sir James Ley replaced by Walter Long	Sir Miles Fleetwood
1624	Sir Henry Ley	Sir Henry Mildmay
1625	Sir Walter Long	Gifford Long
1626		Thomas Hopton
1628	Maximilian Petty	Charles Thynne
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1832

Year		First member<ref name="rayment">Template:Rayment-hc</ref>	First party		Second member<ref name="rayment"/>	Second party
April 1640		Sir Thomas Penyston			John Ashe
November 1640		John Ashe	Parliamentarian		William Wheler	Parliamentarian
December 1648				Wheler excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant
1653	Westbury was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		Robert Villiers, alias Danvers			William Eyre
May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump, Ashe having died in the interim
April 1660		Richard Lewis			William Brouncker
1661					Thomas Wancklyn<ref>Expelled from the House of Commons for corrupt misuse of Parliamentary Privilege</ref>
1678					Henry Bertie
February 1679					William Trenchard
August 1679					Henry Bertie
1680		Edward Norton			William Trenchard
1681		John Ashe
1685		Richard Lewis			James Herbert
1689					Peregrine Bertie
1695					Robert Bertie
1701		Henry Bertie
July 1702 <ref name="1702petition">In December 1702,William Trenchard and Thomas Phipps were returned. A petition was lodged, and the result was overturned on 1 December 1702 in favour of Robert Bertie and Henry Bertie</ref>		William Trenchard			Thomas Phipps
December 1702 <ref name="1702petition" />		Henry Bertie			Robert Bertie
1708					Francis Annesley
January 1715<ref name="1715petition">At the general election in January 1715, Willoughby Bertie and Francis Annesley were returned. A petition was lodged, and the result was overturned on 1 June 1715 in favour of the runners-up Lord Carbery and Charles Allanson</ref>		Willoughby Bertie
June 1715 <ref name="1715petition" />		The Lord Carbery			Charles Allanson
1722		James Bertie<ref name="1723-by-election">At the 1722 general election, James Bertie was also elected for Middlesex, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Westbury. A by-election for his seat was held in March 1723</ref>			Francis Annesley
March 1723 by-election <ref name="1723-by-election" />		The Lord Carbery
1727		John Hoskins Gifford
1734		Hon. George Evans			John Bance
1741					Joseph Townsend
1747<ref name="1747petition">At the 1747 general election, John Bance and Paul Methuen were returned. A petition was lodged, and the result was overturned on 16 March 1748 in favour of the runners-up Chauncy Townsend and Paul Methuen</ref>		John Bance			Paul Methuen
1748 <ref name="1747petition" />		Chauncy Townsend	Pro-Government		Matthew Michell
1753 by-election <ref>The by-election in 1753 was caused by the death of Matthew Michell</ref>					Peregrine Bertie
1768		William Blackstone
1770 by-election <ref>The by-election in 1770 was caused by the appointment of William Blackstone as a judge of the King's Bench</ref>		Hon. Charles Dillon
1774		Hon. Thomas Wenman<ref>later Regius Professor of Civil Law at Oxford</ref>			Nathaniel Bayly
1779 by-election					Samuel Estwick I
1780		(Sir) John Whalley-Gardiner<ref>Created a baronet, December 1782</ref>
1784		Chaloner Arcedeckne
1786 by-election		John Madocks
1790		Ewan Law
January 1795 by-election		Samuel Estwick II
November 1795 by-election					Edward Wilbraham-Bootle
May 1796		Sir Henry St John-Mildmay, Bt			George Ellis<ref>Ellis was also elected for Seaford, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Westbury</ref>
October 1796 by-election					George Harcourt
1800 by-election					John Simon Harcourt
1802		William Baldwin			Charles Smith
1806		William Jacob			John Woolmore
May 1807	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Edward Lascelles	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>	rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Glynn Wynn	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
July 1807 by-election	rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Henry Lascelles	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1809 by-election	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			Francis Whittle	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1810 by-election				John de Ponthieu
1812	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Benjamin Hall	Whig<ref>National Library of Wales: National Library of Wales Journal, vol12, no 1, 1 July 1961, "The Halls of Pembrokeshire, ancestors of Benjamin Hall, afterwards Lord Llanover of Llanover and Abercarn", p11 https://journals.library.wales/view/1277425/1281562/20#?xywh=-2325%2C238%2C7784%2C2934</ref>		Benjamin Shaw
1814 by-election	rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Ralph Franco	Tory
1818				Lord Francis Conyngham
1819 by-election		style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	William Leader Maberly			Whig<ref name="stookssmith"/>
March 1820	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Jonathan Elford	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Nathaniel Barton	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
November 1820 by-election	rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes, Bt	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Philip John Miles	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1826	rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			Sir George Warrender	Canningite Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1829 by-election	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Robert Peel	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1830	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Sir Alexander Grant, Bt	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Michael Prendergast	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
May 1831	rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Sir Ralph Lopes, Bt	Whig<ref name="stookssmith"/>	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	Henry Hanmer	Tory<ref name="stookssmith"/>
July 1831 by-election	style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |			Henry Frederick Stephenson	Whig<ref name="stookssmith"/>
1832	Representation reduced to one MP

MPs 1832–1885

Election		Member	Party
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1832	Sir Ralph Lopes	Whig<ref name="stookssmith">Template:Cite book</ref>
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1837	John Ivatt Briscoe	Whig<ref name="stookssmith"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="parliamentarybio">Template:Cite book</ref>
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1841	Sir Ralph Lopes	Conservative<ref name="stookssmith"/>
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1847	James Wilson	Whig<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1857	Sir Massey Lopes	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1868	John Lewis Phipps<ref>The election of 1868 was held void on petition, and a by-election held</ref>	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1869 by-election	Charles Paul Phipps	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1874	Abraham Laverton	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1880	Charles N. P. Phipps	Conservative
	1885	Borough abolished - named transferred to county division

Westbury County constituency (1885–2010)

Election		Member<ref name="rayment"/>	Party
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1885	George Fuller	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1895	Richard Chaloner	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1900	John Fuller	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1911 by-election	Hon. Geoffrey Howard	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1918	George Palmer	Coalition Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1922	Charles Darbishire	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1924	Captain W. W. Shaw	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1927 by-election	Richard Long	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1931	Sir Robert Grimston<ref>Created a baronet, 1952</ref>	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1964	Sir Dennis Walters	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1992	David Faber	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	2001	Andrew Murrison	Conservative
	2010	Constituency abolished: see South West Wiltshire and Chippenham

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

Hanmer resigned, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

The 1868 election was declared void on petition, due to intimidation of the electorate, causing a by-election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Elections in the 1900s

File:John Fuller.jpg

John Fuller

Elections in the 1910s

File:Geoffrey Howard 1906 transparent.png

Geoffrey Howard

Template:Election box begin Template:Election box winning candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box majority Template:Election box turnout Template:Election box registered electors Template:Election box hold with party link Template:Election box end 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 Party: Geoffrey Howard
• Unionist Party:George Palmer

Elections in the 1920s

File:Charles Darbishire.jpg

C. Darbishire

Elections in the 1930s

Template:Election box begin Template:Election box winning candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box majority Template:Election box turnout Template:Election box hold with party link Template:Election box end Template:Election box begin Template:Election box winning candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box majority Template:Election box turnout Template:Election box hold with party link Template:Election box end 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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Robert Grimston
• Liberal: Harcourt Johnstone<ref>The Liberal Magazine, 1939</ref>
• Labour: George Ward<ref>Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939</ref>

Notes and references

Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. Template:ISBN. Template:Reflist

Sources

• Guardian Unlimited (2004). Ask Aristotle - Westbury. Retrieved 16 November 2004.
• 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) [2]

External links

• Westbury UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK