South Essex (UK Parliament constituency)

South Essex (formally the Southern division of Essex) was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1885. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) using the bloc vote system.

South Essex
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Context of 1832-1868. Extract from 1837 result: the blue land at centre.
County	Essex
1832–1885
Number of members	Two
Replaced by	South East Essex Romford West Ham North West Ham South Walthamstow Epping Chelmsford
Created from	Essex
During its existence contributed to new seat(s) of:	East Essex

History

The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832, with effect from the general election in December 1832, when the former Essex constituency was divided into Northern and Southern divisions.

Areas covered

Hundred/Liberty	1832	1868	After 1885 (post-abolition)[1]
Becontree (West and East Ham etc)	South Essex	South Essex	West Ham North and West Ham South
Becontree (Dagenham etc)			Romford
Becontree (Walthamstow, Low Leyton and Woodford)			Walthamstow
Chafford (Brentwood end) [2]			Chelmsford (aka Mid Essex)
Chafford (Aveley, Grays and Thurrock end)[2]			South East Essex
Barstable (Billericay and Shenfield etc) [2]			Chelmsford (aka Mid Essex)
Barstable (Orsett, Tilbury and Canvey Island)[2]			South East Essex
Rochford			South East Essex
Liberty of Havering/Liberty of Havering-atte-Bower		Romford
Dengie (Maldon (burgage of town excluded) to Burnham and Tillingham)		East Essex	South East Essex
Chelmsford		West Essex	Chelmsford (aka Mid Essex)
Harlow			Epping
Ongar
Waltham (Nazeing to Chingford)

[3][4] The place for "holding of courts for election of members" from 1867 became Brentwood under the 1867 Act.[4]

Boundaries

1832–1868: The Hundreds of Barstable, Becontree, Chafford, Chelmsford, Dengie, Harlow, Ongar, Rochford, and Waltham, and the Liberty of Havering.[5]

1868–1885: The Hundreds of Becontree, Chafford, Barstable, and Rochford, with the Liberty of Havering.[6]

Members of Parliament

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1832		Robert Westley Hall-Dare	Tory[7]		Sir Thomas Barrett-Lennard, Bt	Whig[7][8]
1834			Conservative[7]
1835					Thomas William Bramston	Conservative[7]
1836 by-election		George Palmer	Conservative[7]
1847		Sir Edward Buxton, Bt	Whig[9][10][11]
1852		Sir William Bowyer-Smijth, Bt	Conservative
1857		Richard Wingfield-Baker	Whig[12][13][14]
1859		John Perry-Watlington	Conservative
1865		Henry Selwin-Ibbetson	Conservative		Lord Eustace Cecil	Conservative
1868		Richard Wingfield-Baker	Liberal		Andrew Johnston	Liberal
1874		Thomas Charles Baring	Conservative		William Makins	Conservative
1885	Constituency divided

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: South Essex[15][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Robert Westley Hall-Dare	2,088	41.3
	Whig	Thomas Barrett-Lennard	1,538	30.4
	Whig	William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley	1,432	28.3
Turnout			3,592	80.0
Registered electors			4,488
Majority			550	10.9
	Tory win (new seat)
Majority			106	2.1
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: South Essex[15][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Westley Hall-Dare	2,212	41.4	+20.8
	Conservative	Thomas William Bramston	2,118	39.7	+19.1
	Whig	Champion Edward Branfill[16]	1,010	18.9	−39.8
Majority			1,108	20.7	+9.8
Turnout			3,151	67.7	−12.3
Registered electors			4,655
	Conservative hold		Swing	+20.4
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+19.5

Dare's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 9 June 1836: South Essex[15][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Palmer	2,103	57.9	−23.2
	Whig	Champion Edward Branfill[16]	1,527	42.1	+23.2
Majority			576	15.8	-4.9
Turnout			3,630	68.7	+1.0
Registered electors			5,286
	Conservative hold		Swing	−23.2

General election 1837: South Essex[15][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas William Bramston	2,511	39.7	±0.0
	Conservative	George Palmer	2,260	35.8	−5.6
	Whig	Champion Edward Branfill[16]	1,550	24.5	+5.6
Majority			710	11.3	-9.4
Turnout			3,933	70.9	+3.2
Registered electors			5,547
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.2

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: South Essex[15][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas William Bramston	2,310	45.1	+5.4
	Conservative	George Palmer	2,230	43.5	+7.7
	Whig	Rowland Gardner Alston[17]	583	11.4	−13.1
Majority			1,647	32.1	+20.8
Turnout			c. 2,853	c. 50.7	c. −20.2
Registered electors			5,632
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.1

General election 1847: South Essex[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas William Bramston	2,158	38.7	−6.4
	Whig	Edward Buxton	1,729	31.0	+19.6
	Conservative	William Bowyer-Smijth	1,694	30.4	−13.1
Turnout			2,791 (est)	52.4 (est)	+1.7
Registered electors			5,326
Majority			429	7.7	−24.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.1
Majority			35	0.6	N/A
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+19.6

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: South Essex[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas William Bramston	2,651	38.4	−0.3
	Conservative	William Bowyer-Smijth	2,457	35.6	+5.2
	Whig	Edward Buxton	1,803	26.1	−4.9
Majority			654	9.5	+1.8
Turnout			4,357 (est)	74.9 (est)	+22.5
Registered electors			5,819
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+3.8

General election 1857: South Essex[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas William Bramston	2,332	35.6	−2.8
	Whig	Richard Wingfield	2,119	32.3	+6.2
	Conservative	William Bowyer-Smijth	2,102	32.1	−3.5
Turnout			4,336 (est)	70.3 (est)	−4.6
Registered electors			6,169
Majority			213	3.3	−6.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.0
Majority			17	0.2	N/A
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.2

General election 1859: South Essex[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas William Bramston	2,896	36.9	+1.3
	Conservative	John Perry-Watlington	2,704	34.5	+2.4
	Liberal	Richard Wingfield-Baker	2,245	28.6	−3.7
Majority			459	5.9	+2.6
Turnout			5,045 (est)	75.6 (est)	+5.3
Registered electors			6,669
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.1

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: South Essex[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Selwin	2,817	35.6	−1.3
	Conservative	Eustace Cecil	2,710	34.3	−0.2
	Liberal	Richard Wingfield-Baker	2,382	30.1	+1.5
Majority			328	4.2	−1.7
Turnout			5,146 (est)	70.1 (est)	−5.5
Registered electors			7,338
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.5

General election 1868: South Essex[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Wingfield-Baker	Unopposed
	Liberal	Andrew Johnston	Unopposed
Registered electors			7,127
	Liberal gain from Conservative
	Liberal gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: South Essex[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Charles Baring	3,646	28.9	New
	Conservative	William Makins	3,528	27.9	New
	Liberal	Richard Wingfield-Baker	2,735	21.6	N/A
	Liberal	Andrew Johnston	2,728	21.6	N/A
Majority			793	6.3	N/A
Turnout			6,319 (est)	72.5 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			8,713
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: South Essex[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Charles Baring	4,841	26.8	−2.1
	Conservative	William Makins	4,726	26.2	−1.7
	Liberal	Edward Buxton	4,324	24.0	+2.4
	Liberal	Leonard Lyell[18]	4,147	23.0	+1.4
Majority			402	2.2	−4.1
Turnout			9,019 (est)	75.5 (est)	+3.0
Registered electors			11,950
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.6

References

1. Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. https://archive.org/stream/publicgeneralac01walegoog#page/n155/mode/2up
2. 'Map of Essex', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex, Volume 1, North West (London, 1916), p. xxxvii. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/essex/vol1/xxxvii [accessed 18 August 2017].
3. "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Anni 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. LXIV. An Act to settle and describe the Divisions of Counties, and the Limits of Cities and Boroughs, in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 300–383. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
4. "Representation of the People Act 1867, Schedule D at scanned page 26 of 36 of the Act" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-07-27.
5. "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. LXIV. An Act to settle and describe the Divisions of Counties, and the Limits of Cities and Boroughs, in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 300–383. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
6. "Representation of the People Act 1867" (PDF). Retrieved 23 May 2020.
7. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 105. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
8. Churton, Edward (1836). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1836. p. 161. Retrieved 9 April 2019 – via Google Books.
9. "Essex (South)". Bell's Weekly Messenger. 14 August 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 3 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Essex Standard". 13 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 3 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. Barrell, Helen (2016). Poison Panic: Arsenic Deaths in 1840s Essex. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. p. 76. ISBN 978-1-47385-207-5. Retrieved 3 August 2018 – via Google Books.
12. "South Essex". The Ipswich Journal. 4 April 1857. p. 3. Retrieved 3 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "The Elections". Herts Guardian, Agricultural Journal, and General Advertiser. 4 April 1857. p. 5. Retrieved 3 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
14. "Essex (South)". Coventry Standard. 3 April 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 3 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
15. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) |format= requires |url= (help) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 387. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
16. Newlin, George, ed. (1995). "General Elections in the Metropolis". Everyone in Dickens: Volume I. London: Greenwood Press. p. 139. ISBN 0-313-29580-8. LCCN 95-2453. Retrieved 1 May 2020 – via Google Books.
17. "The Elections". Hertford Mercury and Reformer. 10 July 1841. p. 4. Retrieved 9 April 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
18. "Representation of South Essex". Bury and Norwich Post. 27 January 1880. p. 7. Retrieved 20 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)
• Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 387. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.