Taunton was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors from 1295 to 2010, taking its name from the town of Taunton in Somerset . Until 1918, it was a parliamentary borough , electing two Member of Parliaments (MPs) between 1295 and 1885 and one from 1885 to 1918; the name was then transferred to a county constituency , electing one MP.
In the boundary changes that came into effect at the general election of 2010 , the Boundary Commission for England replaced Taunton with a modified constituency called Taunton Deane , to reflect the district name. The new constituency's boundaries are coterminous with the local government district of the same name.
History
Famous MPs for the borough include Thomas Cromwell .
The 1754 by-election was so fiercely contested that rioting broke out in which two people died.
In the 2005 general election , the victorious Liberal Democrats candidate in Taunton required the smallest percentage swing from the Conservative MP for them to take the seat.
Boundaries
1918–1950 : The Borough of Taunton, the Urban Districts of Wellington and Wiveliscombe, and the Rural Districts of Dulverton, Taunton, and Wellington.
1950–1974 : As above less Wiveliscombe Urban District. This had been absorbed by Wellington Rural District in 1933. The constituency boundaries remained unchanged.
1974–1983 : As 1950 but with redrawn boundaries.
1983–2010 : The Borough of Taunton Deane, and the District of West Somerset wards of Dulverton and Brushford, Exmoor, Haddon, and Quarme.
Members of Parliament
Constituency created (1295)
Parliament
First member
Second member
1362
William Portman
?
1363, 1365, 1366,
Unknown
1372
William Portman
?
1373, 1376, 1377 (Jan),
Unknown
1379
William Portman
?
1380 (Jan)
?
1380 (Nov), 1381, 1382 (May),
Unknown
1384 (Nov)
William Portman
?
1385
?
1386
William Marchaunt
1388 (Feb)
1388 (Sep)
William Damarle
1390 (Jan)
John Porter
1390 (Nov)
Unknown
1391
William Portman
William Marchaunt
1393
John Porter
1394
1395
Walter Puryham
1397 (Jan)
Robert Coullyng
Robert Eysel
1397 (Sept)
Richard Marchaunt
John Northmore
1399
Walter Puryham
Edmund Rokes
1401
Unknown
1402
William Portman
Ralph Sargor
1404 (Jan), 1404 (Oct)
Unknown
1406
William Portman
Robert Bathe
1407
Richard Marchaunt
John Northmore
1410
Thomas Bacot
Thomas Edward
1411, 1413 (Feb)
Unknown
1413 (May)
John Rydon
Lewis John
1414 (Apr)
John Marchaunt
Edmund Dyer
1414 (Nov)
1415, 1416 (Mar), 1416 (Oct)
Unknown
1417
John Rydon
Walter Portman
1419
Walter Portman
Robert Croke
1420
Robert Croke
William Borde
1421 (May)
Walter Portman
1421 (Dec)
John Bowe
1422
?
1423
Unknown
1425
Walter Portman
?
1426
?
1427
?
1429
Unknown
1431
Walter Portman
?
1432, 1433
Unknown
1435
Walter Portman
?
1437, 1439, 1442,
Unknown
1455
Ralph Legh
?
1459, 1460, 1461, 1463
Unknown
1467
Sir William Danvers
Robert Ashetill
1470
Sir William Danvers
Edward Aysshton
1472
Sir William Danvers
?
1478
Edward Aysshton
Robert Lovelord
1483–1523
Unknown
1529
Thomas Cromwell
William Portman
1536
?Richard Pollard
?William Portman
1547
Sir Nicholas Hare
John Caryll
1553 (Mar)
John Mason
?
1553 (Oct)
James Basset
Jacques Wingfield
1554 (Apr)
William Barne
Oliver Vachell
1554 (Nov)
Thomas Eden
John Norres
1555
Dr Valentine Dale
?
1558
Richard Myrfield
1559
?
1563–7
Miles Sandys
Anthony Leigh
1571
Robert Hill
Richard Blount
1572–81
Roger Hill
Richard Blount [ 1] Edmund Hodges
1584–5
Maurice Horner
William Goldwell
1586–7
Francis Bacon
John Goldwell
1588–9
Thomas Fisher
1593
William Aubrey, DCL
John Davidge
1597–8
Edward Barker
Edward Hext
1601
John Bond
Daniel Donne, DCL
1604–11
Edward Hext
Addled Parliament (1614)
James Clarke
John Donne
1621–2
Lewis Pope
Thomas Brereton
Happy Parliament (1624–5)
Roger Prowse
Useless Parliament (1625)
Hugh Portman
Thomas Brereton
1625–6
Sir Robert Gorges
George Browne
1628
Hugh Portman
1629–40
No Parliament summoned
MPs since 1885
Elections
Elections in the 1840s
Bainbridge resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds , causing a by-election.
Labouchere was appointed Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1850s
Mills' election was declared void on petition.
Labouchere was appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies , requiring a by-election.
Labouchere was elevated to the peerage, becoming Lord 1st Baron Taunton and causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1860s
On petition, Cox's election was scrutinised, and some of his votes were found to have been acquired by bribery, and were then struck off. This caused him to be unseated on 8 March 1869 and James was declared elected.[ 24] [ 19]
Elections in the 1870s
James was appointed Solicitor-General for England and Wales , causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1880s
James was appointed Attorney General for England and Wales , requiring a by-election.
Palliser's death caused a by-election.
Jessel Allsopp succeeded to the peerage, becoming Lord Hindlip, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1900s
Smith
Elections in the 1910s
Peel Wills 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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
Elections in the 1920s
John Simpson Andrew Gault
Elections in the 1930s
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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 2000s
Jeremy Browne
See also
Notes and references
^ Blount died during the 1572 Parliament, and Hodges was elected in his place in 1575.
^ "Taunton" . The History of Parliament . The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 24 September 2012 .^ Cassidy, Irene. "Taunton 1660-1690" . The History of Parliament . The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 24 September 2012 . ^ Cobbett records Admiral Robert Blake as being elected for Taunton and Palmer for Bridgwater; but Brunton & Pennington agree with the Dictionary of National Biography that Blake was MP for Bridgwater and Palmer for Taunton.
^ At the general election of 1715, Warre and Portman were initially declared re-elected, but on petition (in a dispute over the franchise) they were adjudged not to have been duly elected and their opponents, Pynsent and Smith, were seated in their place
^ Styled Lord Cockermouth from October 1749
^ Created Earl of Tyrconnell (in the Peerage of Ireland ), May 1761
^ Succeeded as The Lord Farnham , August 1759; created Viscount Farnham, September 1760 and Earl of Farnham, May 1763 (all these titles being in the Peerage of Ireland ).
^ On petition, Stratford and Webb were adjudged not to have been duly elected, and their opponents, Halliday and Popham, were seated in their place
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive . Retrieved 18 December 2018 – via Google Books . ^ Matthew, H. C. G.; Barker, G. F. R. (4 October 2008) [2004]. "Labouchere, Henry, Baron Taunton (1798–1869)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography doi :10.1093/ref:odnb/15838 . Retrieved 14 July 2018 . (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) ^ Barker, George Fisher Russell (1892). "Labouchere, Henry" Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography ^ Jenkins, Terry (2009). Fisher, D. R. (ed.). "Taunton" . The History of Parliament . Retrieved 14 July 2018 . ^ a b "Worcester Journal" . Retrieved 14 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive .^ "The Scotsman" . Retrieved 14 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive .^ "Taunton Election - Final Close of the Poll" Leeds Intelligencer . 19 February 1842. p. 4. Retrieved 14 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive .^ On petition, Mills' election was declared void and a by-election was held
^ On petition, the election of Cox was declared void and after scrutiny of the votes his opponent, James, was declared to have been duly elected
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Craig, F. W. S. , ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3 ^ "Taunton Election: Close of the Poll" Elgin Courier . 6 May 1853. p. 2. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive .^ "Taunton" Cheltenham Mercury . 21 March 1857. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive .^ "Taunton Election" Sherborne Mercury . 3 May 1859. p. 6. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive .^ "Election Intelligence" Bristol Times and Mirror . p. 3. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive .^ "Untitled" The Scotsman . Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive .^ "Election Intelligence" The Globe . Retrieved 12 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive .^ Craig, F. W. S. , ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918 . London: Macmillan Press. p. 198. ISBN 9781349022984 ^ a b c d e f g h i British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
^ "Election of Lieut-Colonel E. T. R. Wickham" Taunton Courier . 20 November 1935. Retrieved 14 January 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive .^ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
^ "Election Data 1983" . Electoral Calculus . Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015 .^ "Election Data 1987" . Electoral Calculus . Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015 .^ "Election Data 1992" . Electoral Calculus . Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015 .^ "Politics Resources" . Election 1992 . Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010 .^ "Election Data 1997" . Electoral Calculus . Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015 .^ "Election Data 2001" . Electoral Calculus . Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015 .^ "Election Data 2005" . Electoral Calculus . Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015 .
Sources
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] Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X .
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)
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 ... 1 .Frederic A Youngs, jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I (London: Royal Historical Society , 1979)
The BBC/ITN Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies (Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services, 1983)Concise Dictionary of National Biography
List of speakers: Parliaments of 1656 and 1658-9 , Diary of Thomas Burton esq, volume 4: March - April 1659 (1828) at British History Online
External links
