County Waterford (UK Parliament constituency)

County Waterford
County Waterford
Former county constituency; for the House of Commons
	County Waterford within Ireland
County	County Waterford
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Waterford (IHC)
Replaced by	East Waterford; West Waterford;
1918–1922
Seats	1
Created from	East Waterford; West Waterford;
Replaced by	Waterford–Tipperary East

County Waterford was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the British House of Commons.

Boundaries and boundary changes

This constituency comprised County Waterford, except for the parliamentary boroughs of Dungarvan (1801–1885) and Waterford City (1801–1885 and 1918–1922). It returned two Members of Parliament 1801–1885 and one 1918–1922.

It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.

Between 1885 and 1918 the area had been divided between the constituencies of East Waterford and West Waterford. From 1922 it was no longer represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

Politics

In the 1918 election Sinn Féin defeated by 3 to 1 the Nationalist candidate J. J. O'Shee representing the Irish Parliamentary Party.

The newly elected Sinn Féin MP for the constituency was Cathal Brugha. Like other Sinn Féin MPs elected that year, he did not take his seat at Westminster but instead, took a seat in the revolutionary First Dáil which assembled in Dublin on 21 January 1919. As better known figures were under arrest, Brugha became the first presiding officer (with the title of Ceann Comhairle) and a day later the first head of government (with the title of President of Dáil Éireann), of the Irish Republic.

The First Dáil

Sinn Féin contested the general election of 1918 on the platform that instead of taking up any seats they won in the United Kingdom Parliament, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin. In republican theory every MP elected in Ireland was a potential Deputy to this assembly. In practice only the Sinn Féin members accepted the offer.

The revolutionary First Dáil assembled on 21 January 1919 and last met on 10 May 1921. The First Dáil, according to a resolution passed on 10 May 1921, was formally dissolved on the assembling of the Second Dáil. This took place on 16 August 1921.

In 1921 Sinn Féin used the UK authorised elections for the Northern Ireland House of Commons and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland as a poll for the Irish Republic's Second Dáil. This area was part of the five-seat Dáil constituency of Waterford–Tipperary East.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1801–1885

Year	1st Member		1st Party		2nd Party
1801		Hon. John Beresford		Richard Power	Whig^[1]
21 Jul 1802		Hon. John Beresford		Edward Lee	Whig^[1]
6 Jan 1806		John Claudius Beresford	Tory^[1]	Edward Lee	Whig^[1]
18 Nov 1806		John Claudius Beresford	Tory^[1]	Richard Power	Whig^[1]
28 Jun 1811		Sir William Beresford	Tory	Richard Power	Whig^[1]
25 Apr 1814		Sir William Beresford	Tory	Richard Power	Whig^[1]/Catholic Association
25 May 1814		Lord George Beresford	Tory^[1]
1 Jul 1826		Henry Villiers-Stuart	Whig^[1]
2 Mar 1830		Lord George Beresford	Tory^[1]
13 Aug 1830		Lord George Beresford	Tory^[1]	Daniel O'Connell	Repeal/Catholic Association^[1]
11 May 1831		Sir Richard Musgrave, Bt	Whig	Robert Power	Whig^[1]
26 Dec 1832		John Matthew Galwey	Repeal Association^[1]^[2]	Sir Richard Keane, Bt	Whig^[1]^[3]
19 Jan 1835		Sir Richard Musgrave, Bt	Repeal Association^[2]	Patrick Power	Whig^[1]^[3]
21 Sep 1835		Sir Richard Musgrave, Bt	Repeal Association^[2]	William Villiers-Stuart	Whig^[1]^[4]^[3]
9 Aug 1837		John Power	Whig^[1]^[3]
24 Aug 1840		Hon. Robert Carew	Whig^[1]^[3]
11 Aug 1847		Nicholas Mahon Power	Repeal^[2]	Robert Keating	Repeal^[2]
26 Jul 1852			Independent Irish^[2]	Sir John Esmonde, Bt	Independent Irish^[2]
2 Apr 1857			Radical^[5]		Whig^[6]
12 May 1859		Walter Talbot	Conservative^[2]		Liberal^[2]
18 Jul 1865		Earl of Tyrone	Conservative^[2]
31 Dec 1866		Edmond de la Poer	Liberal^[2]
5 Jul 1873		Henry Villiers-Stuart	Liberal^[2]
10 Feb 1874		Lord Charles Beresford	Conservative^[2]		Home Rule League^[2]
24 Jan 1877		Lord Charles Beresford	Conservative^[2]	James Delahunty	Home Rule League^[2]
9 Apr 1880		Henry Villiers-Stuart	Liberal^[2]	John Aloysius Blake	Home Rule League^[2]
25 Aug 1884		Henry Villiers-Stuart	Liberal^[2]	Patrick Joseph Power	Irish Parliamentary Party^[2]
1885	Constituency divided: see East Waterford and West Waterford

MPs 1918–1922

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Cathal Brugha	Sinn Féin
1922		Constituency abolished

Elections

The single-member elections in this constituency took place using the first past the post electoral system. Multi-member elections used the plurality-at-large voting system.

Elections in the 1830s

Villiers Stuart resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 2 March 1830: County Waterford^[2]^[1]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	George Beresford	461	59.2
	Whig	John Barron	318	40.8
Majority			143	18.4
Turnout			779	100.0
Registered electors			779
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing

General election 1830: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]^[1]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	George Beresford	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal	Daniel O'Connell	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,210
	Tory gain from Whig
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig

General election 1831: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]^[1]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Richard Musgrave	Unopposed
	Whig	Robert Power (British politician)	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,210
	Whig gain from Tory
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal

General election 1832: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Irish Repeal	John Matthew Galwey	443	41.1
	Whig	Richard Keane	332	30.8
	Whig	Robert Power (British politician)	303	28.1
Turnout			675	46.6
Registered electors			1,448
Majority			140	13.0
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig
Majority			29	2.7
	Whig hold

General election 1835: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Richard Musgrave	Unopposed
	Whig	Patrick Power	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,478
	Irish Repeal hold
	Whig hold

Power's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 21 September 1835: County Waterford^[2]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Villiers-Stewart	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1837: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	William Villiers-Stuart	Unopposed
	Whig	John Power (Irish MP)	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,563
	Whig hold
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal

Elections in the 1840s

Power resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

By-election, 24 August 1840: County Waterford^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Robert Carew	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1841: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Robert Carew	Unopposed
	Whig	William Villiers-Stuart	Unopposed
Registered electors			802
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1847: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal	Nicholas Mahon Power	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal	Robert Keating	Unopposed
Registered electors			872
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Irish	Nicholas Mahon Power	1,404	36.1	*N/A*
	Independent Irish	John Esmonde	1,261	32.4	*N/A*
	Conservative	Richard Hely-Hutchinson	1,228	31.5	New
Majority			33	0.9	N/A
Turnout			2,561 (est)	78.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,248
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Radical	Nicholas Mahon Power	Unopposed
	Whig	John Esmonde	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,293
	Radical gain from Independent Irish
	Whig gain from Independent Irish

General election 1859: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	John Esmonde	Unopposed
	Conservative	Walter Talbot	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,384
	Liberal hold
	Conservative gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	John Beresford	Unopposed
	Liberal	John Esmonde	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,477
	Conservative hold
	Liberal hold

Esmonde was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, causing a by-election.

By-election, 7 June 1866: County Waterford^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	John Esmonde	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,477
	Liberal hold

Beresford succeeded as 5th Marquess of Waterford, causing a by-election.

By-election, 31 December 1866: County Waterford^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edmond de la Poer	1,481	60.1	*N/A*
	Conservative	Walter Talbot	984	39.9	N/A
Majority			497	20.2	N/A
Turnout			2,465	70.9	N/A
Registered electors			3,477
	Liberal gain from Conservative

General election 1868: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Edmond de la Poer	Unopposed
	Liberal	John Esmonde	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,445
	Liberal hold
	Liberal gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1870s

de la Poer resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 5 Jul 1873: County Waterford (1 seat)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Henry Villiers-Stuart	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,407
	Liberal hold

General election 1874: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Beresford	1,767	49.0	*New*
	Home Rule	John Esmonde	1,390	38.6	*New*
	Home Rule	Abraham Pearson Longbottom^[8]	446	12.4	New
Majority			377	10.4	N/A
Turnout			3,157 (est)	95.2 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,317
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Esmonde's death caused a by-election.

1877 County Waterford by-election (1 seat)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	James Delahunty	1,799	77.1	+26.1
	Liberal	Frederick Lehmann	534	22.9	New
Majority			1,265	54.2	N/A
Turnout			2,333	71.2	−24.0
Registered electors			3,276
	Home Rule hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: County Waterford (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Villiers-Stuart	1,751	41.2	*N/A*
	Home Rule	John Aloysius Blake	1,625	38.3	−12.7
	Conservative	Charles Beresford	870	20.5	−28.5
Turnout			2,558 (est)	81.6 (est)	−13.6
Registered electors			3,135
Majority			881	20.7	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A
Majority			755	17.8	N/A
	Home Rule hold		Swing	+0.8

Blake resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 21 Aug 1884: County Waterford^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Parliamentary	Patrick Joseph Power	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,060
	Irish Parliamentary hold

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 14 December 1918: County Waterford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Sinn Féin	Cathal Brugha	12,890	75.3
	Irish Parliamentary	J. J. O'Shee	4,217	24.7
Majority			8,673	50.6
Turnout			17,107	70.0
Registered electors			24,439
	Sinn Féin win (new seat)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 241–242. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via Google Books.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 241–242, 318–319, 397. ISBN 0901714127.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Broderick, Eugene (2009). Waterford's Anglicans: Religion and Politics, 1819-1872. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 196. ISBN 978-1-4438-1399-0. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via Google Books.
^ Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. p. 217. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via Google Books.
^ "The Irish Elections". Globe. 6 August 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Morning Advertiser". 27 July 1852. p. 5. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b ^c Salmon, Philip. "Co. Waterford". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
^ "New Parliament". Western Times. 10 February 1874. p. 7. Retrieved 22 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Royal Irish Academy.
Stenton, M.; Lees, S., eds. (1978). Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume II 1886–1918. The Harvester Press.
Stenton, M.; Lees, S., eds. (1979). 'Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume III 1919–1945. The Harvester Press.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)