Wolverhampton (UK Parliament constituency)

Wolverhampton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Wolverhampton in Staffordshire. It elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Wolverhampton
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1832–1885
Number of members	Two
Replaced by	Wolverhampton East, Wolverhampton South and Wolverhampton West
Created from	Staffordshire

History

The constituency was created under the Great Reform Act, and first used at the 1832 general election. It was abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, when it was replaced for the 1885 general election by three new single-member constituencies: Wolverhampton East, Wolverhampton South and Wolverhampton West.

Members of Parliament

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1832		William Wolryche-Whitmore	Whig[1][2]		Richard Fryer	Whig[1][3]
1835		Charles Pelham Villiers	Radical[4][5][3]		Thomas Thornely	Radical[6][7]
1859			Liberal		Sir Richard Bethell	Liberal
1861 by-election					Thomas Matthias Weguelin	Liberal
1880					Henry Fowler	Liberal
1885	constituency divided: see Wolverhampton East, Wolverhampton South and Wolverhampton West.

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: Wolverhampton[8][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Wolryche-Whitmore	850	32.3
	Whig	Richard Fryer	810	30.8
	Tory	Francis Holyoake	615	23.4
	Radical	John Nicholson	358	13.6
Majority			195	7.4
Turnout			1,463	86.1
Registered electors			1,700
	Whig win (new seat)
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: Wolverhampton[8][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Charles Pelham Villiers	776	30.0	N/A
	Radical	Thomas Thornely	776	30.0	N/A
	Conservative	Dudley Fereday	658	25.5	+2.1
	Radical	John Nicholson	374	14.5	+0.9
Majority			118	4.5	N/A
Turnout			1,498	81.5	−4.6
Registered electors			1,839
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing	N/A
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

General election 1837: Wolverhampton[8][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Charles Pelham Villiers	1,068	32.1	+2.1
	Radical	Thomas Thornely	1,024	30.8	+0.8
	Conservative	Ryder Burton[9]	623	18.7	+6.0
	Conservative	John Benbow	613	18.4	+5.7
Majority			401	12.1	+7.6
Turnout			1,675	77.2	−4.3
Registered electors			2,170
	Radical hold		Swing	−1.9
	Radical hold		Swing	−3.3

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Wolverhampton[8][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Charles Pelham Villiers	Unopposed
	Radical	Thomas Thornely	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,571
	Radical hold
	Radical hold

General election 1847: Wolverhampton[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Charles Pelham Villiers	Unopposed
	Radical	Thomas Thornely	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,692
	Radical hold
	Radical hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Wolverhampton[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Charles Pelham Villiers	Unopposed
	Radical	Thomas Thornely	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,587
	Radical hold
	Radical hold

Villiers was appointed Judge-Advocate-General of the Armed Forces, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 4 January 1853: Wolverhampton[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Charles Pelham Villiers	Unopposed
	Radical hold

General election 1857: Wolverhampton[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Charles Pelham Villiers	Unopposed
	Radical	Thomas Thornely	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,611
	Radical hold
	Radical hold

General election 1859: Wolverhampton[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Pelham Villiers	Unopposed
	Liberal	Richard Bethell	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,821
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Bethell was appointed Attorney General for England and Wales, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 27 June 1859: Wolverhampton[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Bethell	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Villiers was appointed President of the Poor Law Board, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 9 July 1859: Wolverhampton[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Pelham Villiers	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

Bethell resigned after being appointed Lord Chancellor, causing him to become Lord Westbury and a by-election to be called.

By-election, 3 July 1861: Wolverhampton[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Matthias Weguelin	1,363	48.7	N/A
	Liberal	Samuel Griffiths[10]	772	27.6	N/A
	Conservative	Alexander Staveley Hill[11]	665	23.8	New
Majority			591	21.1	N/A
Turnout			2,800	68.1	N/A
Registered electors			4,110
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1865: Wolverhampton[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Pelham Villiers	1,623	50.9	N/A
	Liberal	Thomas Matthias Weguelin	1,519	47.6	N/A
	Conservative	Thomas Thornycroft[12]	47	1.5	N/A
Majority			1,472	46.1	N/A
Turnout			1,618 (est)	33.5 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			4,830
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: Wolverhampton[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Pelham Villiers	Unopposed
	Liberal	Thomas Matthias Weguelin	Unopposed
Registered electors			15,772
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Wolverhampton[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Pelham Villiers	10,358	43.1	N/A
	Liberal	Thomas Matthias Weguelin	10,036	41.8	N/A
	Conservative	Walter Williams[13]	3,628	15.1	New
Majority			6,408	26.7	N/A
Turnout			13,825 (est)	59.4 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			23,257
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Wolverhampton[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Pelham Villiers	12,197	41.1	−2.0
	Liberal	Henry Fowler	11,606	39.1	−2.7
	Conservative	Alfred Hickman	5,874	19.8	+4.7
Majority			5,732	19.3	−7.4
Turnout			17,776 (est)	77.9 (est)	+18.5
Registered electors			22,821
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.5

See also

• List of Members of Parliament for Wolverhampton
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Wolverhampton

References

1. Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 50–51. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google Books.
2. Hyman, Anthony (1982). Charles Babbage: Pioneer of the Computer. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 80. ISBN 0691083037. LCCN 81-48078. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google Books.
3. Swift, Roger (2017). Charles Pelham Villiers: Aristocratic Victorian Radical. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 47, 148. ISBN 978-1-315-26797-5. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via Google Books.
4. Howe, A. C. (8 October 2009) [2004]. "Villiers, Charles Pelham (1802–1898)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28286. Retrieved 22 July 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
5. "District News". Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser. 26 June 1841. p. 3. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. The Christian Reform; Or, Unitarian Magazine and Review: New Series, Vol. XVIII. London: Edward T. Whitfield. 1862. pp. 361–384. Retrieved 23 July 2018 – via Internet Archive.
7. Turner, Michael J. (2014). Liberty and Liberticide: The Role in Nineteenth-Century British Radicalism. Lanham: Lexington Books. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-7391-7817-1. Retrieved 23 July 2018 – via Google Books.
8. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) |format= requires |url= (help) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 338–339. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
9. "Page 1". Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser. 12 July 1837. Retrieved 30 April 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Advertisements & Notices". Birmingham Daily Post. 2 July 1861. p. 1. Retrieved 24 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "To the Electors of the Borough of Wolverhampton". Staffordshire Advertiser. 29 June 1861. p. 4. Retrieved 24 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Wolverhampton". Evening Mail. 14 July 1865. p. 3. Retrieved 25 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "Wolverhampton Borough Election". Birmingham Daily Post. 4 February 1874. p. 1. Retrieved 23 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)
• Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.