Dorchester (UK Parliament constituency)

Dorchester was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Dorchester in Dorset. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England, Great Britain and House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1295 to 1868, when its representation was reduced to one member.

The constituency was abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, after which Dorchester was placed in the new Dorset South constituency. In 1918 it was transferred to Dorset West, where it has remained since.

Members of Parliament

1295-1629

1640-1868

1868-1885

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

Ashley-Cooper resigned, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1840s

Graham was appointed Home Secretary, requiring a by-election.

Elections in the 1850s

Sturt resigned in order to contest the 1856 by-election in Dorset, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

Seat reduced to one member

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1880s

Notes

1. "Dorchester". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
2. "HUSSEY, Thomas I, of North Bowood, Dorset. | History of Parliament Online".
3. "BROUNCKER, Henry (C.1550-1607), of Erlestoke, Wilts. And West Ham, Essex. | History of Parliament Online".
4. Ashley resigned his place in favour of Sir Thomas Edmondes but was rechosen when Edmondes chose to sit for another constituency
5. Disabled from sitting January 1648 but re-instated June 1648
6. On petition (in a dispute over the franchise), Browne was declared not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Janssen, was seated in his place
7. On petition, Pleydell was declared not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Chapple, was seated in his place
8. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 85–87. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
9. Damer was declared re-elected in 1790, but on petition was found not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Ashley, was seated in his place
10. Sheridan was the grandson of his celebrated namesake Richard Brinsley Sheridan
11. "London Electoral History — Steps Towards Democracy: 6.2 History of Elections in Westminster, 1749–1852" (PDF). London Electoral History 1700-1850. Newcastle University. p. 11. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
12. Roberts, Andrew. "Biographies of Honorary (Unpaid) Lunacy Commissioners 1828-1912". THE LUNACY COMMISSION, A STUDY OF ITS ORIGIN, EMERGENCE AND CHARACTER. Middlesex University. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
13. The Illustrated London News, Volume 6. Illustrated London News & Sketch Limited. 1845. p. 151. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
14. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
15. Farrell, stephen. "Dorchester". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 11 April 2020.

References

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
• 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]
• 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)
• M Stenton (ed), Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885 (The Harvester Press, 1976)
• Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. p. 1.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 2)