North Northamptonshire (UK Parliament constituency)

North Northamptonshire
North Northamptonshire
Former county constituency; for the House of Commons
County	Northamptonshire
1832–1918
Seats	1832–1885: Two; 1885–1918: One
Created from	Northamptonshire and Higham Ferrers
Replaced by	Wellingborough, Kettering and Peterborough

North Northamptonshire was a county constituency in Northamptonshire, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This constituency included the majority of the Soke of Peterborough (also known as the 'Liberty of Peterborough'), with the exception of the actual city of Peterborough itself, which was a borough constituency that returned its own MP.

Boundaries

1832–1885: The Liberty of Peterborough, and the Hundreds of Willybrook, Polebrook, Huxloe, Navisford, Corby, Higham Ferrers, Rothwell, Hamfordshoe and Orlingbury.^[1]

1885–1918: The Sessional Divisions of Oundle and Thrapstone, part of the Sessional Division of Kettering (with the exceptions below), the Liberty of the Soke of Peterborough, and the part of the Municipal Borough of Stamford in the county of Northamptonshire. (The part of the Sessional Division of Kettering included in North Northamptonshire excluded the parishes of Broughton, Cransley, Kettering and Pytchley, which were assigned to East Northamptonshire, and also excluded the parishes of Draughton, Faxton, Glendon, Harrington, Loddington, Mawsley, Orton, Rothwell and Thorpe Malsor, which were assigned to Mid Northamptonshire). ^[2]

The constituency was created by the Great Reform Act for the 1832 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election, when it was merged into Peterborough.

Members of Parliament

From 1832 until 1885, the constituency returned two Members of Parliament elected by the bloc vote system. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, with effect from the 1885 general election, its area was reduced and representation reduced to one member, elected by the first past the post voting system.

1832 - 1885

Election		1st Party		2nd Party
1832	Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Whig^[3]	James Brudenell	Tory^[3]
1833	William Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Whig^[3]		Tory^[3]
1834	William Wentworth-FitzWilliam	Whig^[3]		Conservative^[3]
1835	Thomas Philip Maunsell	Conservative^[3]		Conservative^[3]
1837			George Finch-Hatton	Conservative^[3]
1841			Augustus Stafford	Conservative^[3]
Apr. 1857	William Cecil	Conservative	Augustus Stafford	Conservative^[3]
Dec. 1857	William Cecil	Conservative	George Ward Hunt	Conservative
1867	Sackville Stopford-Sackville	Conservative	George Ward Hunt	Conservative
1877	Sackville Stopford-Sackville	Conservative	Brownlow Cecil	Conservative
1880	Hon. Charles Spencer	Liberal	Brownlow Cecil	Conservative

1885 - 1918

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Lord Burghley	Conservative
	1895	Edward Monckton	Conservative
	1900	Sackville Stopford-Sackville	Conservative
	1906	George Nicholls	Liberal
	1910	Henry Brassey	Conservative
1918		constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: North Northamptonshire (2 seats) ^[4]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Charles Wentworth-Fitzwilliam	1,562	26.8
	Tory	James Brudenell	1,541	26.4
	Whig	William Hanbury	1,455	25.0
	Tory	Thomas Tryon	1,269	21.8
Turnout			3,063	91.1
Registered electors			3,363
Majority			21	0.4
	Whig win (new seat)
Majority			86	1.4
	Tory win (new seat)

Wentworth-Fitzwilliam succeeded to the peerage, becoming 5th Earl Fitzwilliam and causing a by-election.

By-election, 9 March 1833: North Northamptonshire^[4]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Charles Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, Viscount Milton	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1835: North Northamptonshire (2 seats) ^[4]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	William Charles Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, Viscount Milton	Unopposed
	Conservative	James Brudenell	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,552
	Whig hold
	Conservative hold

Wentworth-Fitzwilliam's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 21 December 1835: North Northamptonshire^[4]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Thomas Philip Maunsell	1,841	59.6
	Whig	William Hanbury	1,247	40.4
Majority			594	19.2
Turnout			3,088	85.1
Registered electors			3,627
	Conservative gain from Whig

General election 1837: North Northamptonshire (2 seats) ^[4]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Thomas Philip Maunsell	1,842	36.5
	Conservative	George Finch-Hatton	1,801	35.7
	Whig	William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam	1,404	27.8
Majority			397	7.9
Turnout			3,164	84.2
Registered electors			3,757
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Whig

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: North Northamptonshire (2 seats) ^[4]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Augustus O'Brien	Unopposed
	Conservative	Thomas Philip Maunsell	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,166
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: North Northamptonshire (2 seats) ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Augustus Stafford	Unopposed
	Conservative	Thomas Philip Maunsell	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,065
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: North Northamptonshire (2 seats) ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Augustus Stafford	562	48.6	*N/A*
	Conservative	Thomas Philip Maunsell	560	48.4	*N/A*
	Whig	George Wentworth-FitzWilliam^[5]	34	2.9	New
Majority			526	45.5	N/A
Turnout			595 (est)	15.3 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,900
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: North Northamptonshire (2 seats) ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Augustus Stafford	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Cecil	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,800
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Stafford's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 16 December 1857: North Northamptonshire ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Ward Hunt	1,461	56.6	*N/A*
	Whig	Fitzpatrick Vernon^[6]	1,119	43.4	New
Majority			342	13.2	N/A
Turnout			2,580	67.9	N/A
Registered electors			3,800
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: North Northamptonshire (2 seats) ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Cecil	1,849	36.8	*N/A*
	Conservative	George Ward Hunt	1,831	36.4	*N/A*
	Liberal	Fitzpatrick Vernon	1,344	26.8	N/A
Majority			487	9.6	N/A
Turnout			3,184 (est)	84.3 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,777
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: North Northamptonshire (2 seats) ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	George Ward Hunt	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Cecil	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,016
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Cecil was appointed Treasurer of the Household, requiring a by-election.

1866 North Northamptonshire by-election (1 seat) ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Cecil	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Cecil succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Marquess of Exeter, causing a by-election.

1867 North Northamptonshire by-election^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sackville Stopford	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Hunt was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, requiring a by-election.

1868 North Northamptonshire by-election^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Ward Hunt	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: North Northamptonshire (2 seats) ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	George Ward Hunt	Unopposed
	Conservative	Sackville Stopford	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,310
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: North Northamptonshire (2 seats) ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	George Ward Hunt	Unopposed
	Conservative	Sackville Stopford-Sackville	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,215
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Hunt was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, causing a by-election.

1874 North Northamptonshire by-election (1 seat) ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Ward Hunt	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Hunt's death caused a by-election.

1877 North Northamptonshire by-election (1 seat) ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brownlow Cecil	2,261	60.5	*N/A*
	Liberal	Edmund Wyatt-Edgell^[7]	1,475	39.5	New
Majority			786	21.0	N/A
Turnout			3,736	74.2	N/A
Registered electors			5,033
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: North Northamptonshire (2 seats) ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Spencer	2,425	33.9	*N/A*
	Conservative	Brownlow Cecil	2,405	33.7	*N/A*
	Conservative	Sackville Stopford-Sackville	2,316	32.4	N/A
Majority			109	1.5	N/A
Turnout			4,830 (est)	82.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			5,833
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1885: North Northamptonshire ^[8]^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brownlow Cecil	4,467	51.0	−15.1
	Liberal	James Carmichael	4,296	49.0	+15.1
Majority			171	2.0	N/A
Turnout			8,763	90.0	+7.2 (est)
Registered electors			9,741
	Conservative hold		Swing	−15.1

1886 general election: North Northamptonshire ^[8]^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brownlow Cecil	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Cecil was appointed Groom in Waiting, requiring a by-election.

1886 North Northamptonshire by-election^[8]^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brownlow Cecil	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: North Northamptonshire ^[8]^[9]^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brownlow Cecil	4,505	54.0	*N/A*
	Liberal	John Turner Stockburn	3,836	46.0	New
Majority			669	8.0	N/A
Turnout			8,341	83.4	N/A
Registered electors			9,999
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: North Northamptonshire ^[8]^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Philip Monckton	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: North Northamptonshire ^[8]^[9]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sackville Stopford-Sackville	4,559	58.0	*N/A*
	Liberal	Frederick Barlow	3,303	42.0	New
Majority			1,256	16.0	N/A
Turnout			7,862	77.0	N/A
Registered electors			10,209
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1906: North Northamptonshire ^[8]^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Lib-Lab	George Nicholls	4,880	53.8	+11.8
	Conservative	Sackville Stopford-Sackville	4,195	46.2	−11.8
Majority			685	7.6	N/A
Turnout			9,075	84.9	+7.9
Registered electors			10,688
	Lib-Lab gain from Conservative		Swing	+11.8

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: North Northamptonshire ^[8]^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Brassey	5,520	55.5	+9.3
	Lib-Lab	George Nicholls	4,429	44.5	−9.3
Majority			1,091	11.0	N/A
Turnout			9,949	92.4	+7.5
	Conservative gain from Lib-Lab		Swing	+9.3

General election December 1910: North Northamptonshire ^[8]^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Brassey	5,272	55.5	0.0
	Liberal	James Rennie Wilkinson	4,221	44.5	0.0
Majority			1,051	11.0	0.0
Turnout			9,493	88.2	−4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.0

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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Unionist: Henry Brassey
Liberal:

References

^ "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. XLV: An Act to amend the Representation of the People in England and Wales". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 154–206. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
^ "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 48 & 49 Victoria. Ch. 23: Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Schedule 7". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1885. pp. 166–167. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 232. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t 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.
^ "Staffordshire Advertiser". 17 July 1852. p. 7. Retrieved 11 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "General Intelligence". Coventry Standard. 25 December 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "The Late Captain Wyatt-Edgell". Aldershot Military Gazette. 2 August 1879. p. 3. Retrieved 13 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g The Liberal Year Book, 1907
^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1896
^ ^a ^b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
^ ^a ^b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916

Sources

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 3)

[1] "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. XLV: An Act to amend the Representation of the People in England and Wales". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 154–206. Retrieved 27 July 2017.

[2] "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 48 & 49 Victoria. Ch. 23: Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Schedule 7". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1885. pp. 166–167. Retrieved 19 December 2023.

[stooks-smith-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 232. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.

[craig1832-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t 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.

[5] "Staffordshire Advertiser". 17 July 1852. p. 7. Retrieved 11 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[6] "General Intelligence". Coventry Standard. 25 December 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[7] "The Late Captain Wyatt-Edgell". Aldershot Military Gazette. 2 August 1879. p. 3. Retrieved 13 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[ReferenceA-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig

[ReferenceB-9] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g The Liberal Year Book, 1907

[10] Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886

[11] Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1896

[ReferenceC-12] Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901

[ReferenceD-13] Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916

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