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Bandon
Bandon
Former borough constituency; for the House of Commons
County	County Cork
Borough	Bandon
1801–1885
Seats	1
Created from	Bandonbridge
Replaced by	South East Cork

Bandon (sometimes called Bandon Bridge or Bandonbridge) was a parliamentary constituency representing the town of Bandon in County Cork, Ireland from 1801 to 1885. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Bandon was a borough constituency with two representatives in the Irish House of Commons before 1801. The borough retained one member after the Acts of Union, until the borough was disenfranchised in 1885.

Boundaries

This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Bandon, County Cork.

In 1832 a new boundary was formed for electoral purposes closely encircling the town, and comprising an area of 439 acres (1.78 km²). It was defined in the Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 as:

"From the Point at which the Eastern Road to Macroom leaves the old or Northern Road to Cork, in a straight Line in a Westerly Direction, to the North-western Corner of Mr. Swanson's Garden; thence along the Wall of the said Garden to the South-western Corner thereof; thence in a straight Line across the River Bandon, and across the Enniskane Road, to the Point at which the old Road to Clonakilty is joined by a Bye Road which runs thereto from the new Road to Clonakilty; thence along the said Bye Road to the Point at which the same joins the new Road to Clonakilty; thence towards Bandon, along the new Road to Clonakilty, to that Point thereof which is nearest to the Northern Pillar of the Gate of Mr. M'Creight's House; thence in a straight Line to the said Northern Pillar; thence in a straight Line across the centre Kilbritten Road to the Point at which the Eastern Kilbritten Road is joined by a small Bye Road running Westward to the Fields, about Three hundred and thirty Yards to the South of the Point at which the Eastern Kilbritten Road leaves the Innishannon Road; thence in a straight Line to the Southern Corner, on the Ballinade Road, of the Premises of Mr Ormond's Distillery; thence, Eastward, along the Boundary of the Premises of Mr. Ormond's Distillery to the Point at which the same meets the Southernmost Road to Innishannon; thence in a straight Line across the River Bandon to the Point at which the old Innishannon Road is joined by a Bye Road which runs North-west in the Direction of the Kilbrogan Chapel; thence in a straight Line to the Northern Pillar of a Gateway on the old Cork Road, about Four hundred and thirty Yards to the North of the Point at which the same leaves the Innishannon Road; thence in a straight Line to the Point first described."

History

Local government

The borough had an oligarchic constitution. The corporation of the borough was formally known as "The Provost, Free Burgesses, and Commonalty of the Borough of Bandon-Bridge" and consisted of a provost, 12 burgesses, and an unlimited number of freemen. The common council, a body not mentioned in the borough charter, was constituted by a by-law of the corporation made in 1621. It consisted of twelve members, who were elected from the freemen by the corporation at large, as vacancies arose. The burgesses were chosen from the common council, on vacancies occurring, by the provost and burgesses.

The provost was elected annually from and by the burgesses at midsummer, and took office at Michaelmas. The freedom was acquired by birth for the eldest son of a freeman, and nomination of the provost, who during the year of his office had the privilege of naming one. The freemen were elected by a majority of the body at large assembled in a court of D'Oyer Hundred; neither residence nor any other qualification was considered necessary.

The municipal corporation was abolished by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840.

Parliamentary constituency

Before 1832 the parliamentary franchise for this constituency was extremely restricted. Only the provost (who was the returning officer for the borough) and the twelve burgesses were enfranchised. The population of the town, in 1821, was 10,179. All the elections in this period were unopposed returns; except for one election in 1831, where only ten voters participated and eleven votes were cast (including the returning officer's casting vote).

Stooks Smith gives an account of this contested election. It was the second by-election of 1831. As his book is out of copyright, the whole passage is set out below.

This election took place on 22 July. After the Provost, (John Swete, Esq.) had been sworn, the Hon. W.S. Bernard rose, and without preface or remark, proposed Sir Augustus William Clifford, Kt., (the Duke of Devonshire's nominee) as a fit and proper representative for the borough of Bandon in Parliament; John Leslie, Esq., seconded the proposition. The Rev. Somers Payne then rose and proposed Viscount Lowther to the burgesses; the Rev. Richard Meade seconded the nomination. By way of ruse, or pairing off, Viscount Bernard was proposed by John Beamish, Esq., and seconded by Ambrose Hikey, Esq., two gentlemen of opposite opinions.
No other candidate being proposed, the Town Clerk asked the Provost for whom he would vote, in his official capacity? This was objected by Mr. Meade and Mr. Payne, who stated that, though a long time connected with the Corporation, they never knew this line of proceeding to be adopted. This was over-ruled by the assessor, who quoted in support of his opinion, an election case in the borough of Harwich, decided by a majority in the House of Commons. This point disposed of, the polling commenced, when the numbers were declared as follows.

For Sir A. W. Clifford, 4 (Hon. William Smyth Bernard, Hon. Richard Boyle Bernard, John Leslie, Esq., John Swete, Esq.)

For Viscount Lowther, 4 (W.H. Kingston, Esq., Rev. Richard Meade, Rev. Somers Payne, Benjamin Swete, Esq.)

For Viscount Bernard, 2 (John Beamish, Esq., Ambrose Hickey, Esq.)
The Provost, as returning officer, then gave his vote for Sir A.W. Clifford, who was about to be duly elected, when Mr. Payne said, I object to the monopoly of the Provost, He has no right to more than one vote. The assessor (A. Connell, Esq.):- We shall take your objection if you state it in writing. A protest was then entered by Mr. Payne and those who voted for Viscount Lowther; and Sir A.W. Clifford was declared duly elected.

The franchise was expanded in 1832 under the Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1832, when the £10 householders were added to the electorate and the registration of voters was introduced. In the election later that year, there were 266 registered electors in Bandon and 233 votes were cast in the general election. It appears, from the list of MPs and the report of the 1831 election, that the choice of the borough electorate both before and after 1832 was influenced by aristocratic patrons like the Duke of Devonshire and the Bernard family (whose head had the title of Earl of Bandon). If a Bernard was not elected then quite prominent political figures, notably the future Whig leaders George Tierney and Lord John Russell, were sometimes returned for the borough.

In 1868 the incumbent Bernard MP was defeated by William Shaw, standing in the Liberal interest. Later in his career Shaw was an associate of Isaac Butt in the Home Rule League. After Butt's death in 1879, Shaw became the leader of the Home Rule League until he was replaced by Charles Stewart Parnell in 1880.

The constituency was disenfranchised in 1885.^[1] The area was then represented in Parliament as part of South East Cork, one of seven divisions of the former constituency of County Cork.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[2]	Party	Note
	1801, 1 January	Sir Broderick Chinnery, Bt	Whig	1801: Co-opted
	1806, 15 November	Hon. Courtenay Boyle	Tory
	1807, 15 May	Henry Boyle, Viscount Boyle	Tory	Succeeded as the 3rd Earl of Shannon
	1807, 3 August	Rt Hon. George Tierney	Whig
	1812, 16 October	Hon. Richard Bernard	Tory	Resigned
	1815, 24 March	William Sturges Bourne	Tory
	1818, 27 June	Augustus Clifford	Whig
	1820, 13 March	James Bernard, Viscount Bernard	Tory
	1826, 17 June	John Ponsonby, Viscount Duncannon	Whig	Also returned by and elected to sit for County Kilkenny
	1826, 19 December	Lord John Russell	Whig	Later Prime Minister 1846–1852 and 1865–1866
	1830, 7 August	James Bernard, Viscount Bernard	Tory^[3]	Succeeded as the 2nd Earl of Bandon
	1831, 6 January	Francis Bernard, Viscount Bernard	Tory^[3]	Resigned
	1831, 22 July	Sir Augustus Clifford	Whig^[3]
	1832, 15 December	Hon. William Smyth Bernard	Conservative^[3]
	1835, 14 January	Joseph Devonsher Jackson	Conservative^[3]	Appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland
	1842, 14 February	Francis Bernard, Viscount Bernard	Conservative^[3]	Succeeded as the 3rd Earl of Bandon
	1857, 14 February	Hon. William Smyth Bernard	Conservative	Died
	1863, 27 February	Hon. Henry Boyle Bernard	Conservative
	1868, 21 November	William Shaw	Liberal
	1874, 3 February	Alexander Swanston	Liberal
	1880, 2 April	Percy Bernard	Conservative	Resigned
	1880, 25 June	Richard Allman	Liberal	Last MP for the constituency
1885		Constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

By-election, 25 June 1880: Bandon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Allman	217	55.8	+7.7
	Conservative	John Warren Payne	172	44.2	−7.7
Majority			45	11.6	N/A
Turnout			389	90.5	+1.0
Registered electors			430
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.7

Caused by Bernard's resignation.

General election 1880: Bandon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Percy Bernard	200	51.9	+2.6
	Liberal	Richard Allman	185	48.1	−2.6
Majority			15	3.8	N/A
Turnout			385	89.5	−6.2
Registered electors			430
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.6

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Bandon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Swanston	180	50.7	0.0
	Conservative	James Bernard	175	49.3	0.0
Majority			5	1.4	0.0
Turnout			355	95.7	+1.5
Registered electors			371
	Liberal hold		Swing	0.0

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Bandon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Shaw	141	50.7	+1.9
	Conservative	Henry Boyle Bernard	137	49.3	−1.9
Majority			4	1.4	N/A
Turnout			278	94.2	+0.3
Registered electors			295
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+1.9

General election 1865: Bandon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Boyle Bernard	111	51.2	*N/A*
	Liberal	William Shaw	106	48.8	N/A
Majority			5	2.4	N/A
Turnout			217	93.9	N/A
Registered electors			231
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

By-election, 27 February 1863: Bandon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Boyle Bernard	124	60.8	*N/A*
	Liberal	Thomas Kingston Sullivan	80	39.2	New
Majority			44	21.6	N/A
Turnout			204	88.3	N/A
Registered electors			231
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Caused by Bernard's death

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1859: Bandon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Smyth Bernard	Unopposed
Registered electors			229
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Bandon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Smyth Bernard	Unopposed
Registered electors			201
	Conservative hold

By-election, 14 February 1857: Bandon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Smyth Bernard	101	60.1	*N/A*
	Radical	William Shaw^[5]	67	39.9	New
Majority			34	20.2	N/A
Turnout			168	83.6	N/A
Registered electors			201
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Caused by Bernard's succession to the peerage, becoming 3rd Earl of Bandon

General election 1852: Bandon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Francis Bernard	Unopposed
Registered electors			209
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1847: Bandon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Francis Bernard	Unopposed
Registered electors			467
	Conservative hold

By-election, 14 February 1842: Bandon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Bernard	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Caused by Jackson's appointment as Solicitor-General for Ireland

General election 1841: Bandon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Joseph Devonsher Jackson	Unopposed
Registered electors			355
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1837: Bandon^[4]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Devonsher Jackson	133	62.1	+3.7
	Whig	William George Cavendish	81	37.9	−3.7
Majority			52	24.3	+7.5
Turnout			214	57.1	−7.7
Registered electors			375
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.7

General election 1835: Bandon^[4]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Devonsher Jackson	111	58.4	+1.3
	Whig	James Redmond Barry	79	41.6	−1.3
Majority			32	16.8	+2.6
Turnout			190	64.8	−22.8
Registered electors			293
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.3

General election 1832: Bandon^[4]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	William Smyth Bernard	133	57.1
	Whig	Jacob Biggs	100	42.9
Majority			33	14.2
Turnout			233	87.6
Registered electors			266
	Tory hold

By-election, 22 July 1831: Bandon^[4]^[3]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Augustus Clifford	5	45.5
	Tory	William Lowther	4	36.4
	Tory	Francis Bernard	2	18.2
Majority			1	9.1
Turnout			11	84.6
Registered electors			13
	Whig gain from Tory

Note [1831 (July)]: By-election caused by Bernard's resignation. Clifford was elected on the Returning Officer's casting vote. The Returning Officer John Swete was also Provost and had already cast one of the four votes for Clifford, so this was actually his second vote.^[7]

General election 1831: Bandon^[4]^[3]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	Francis Bernard	Unopposed
Registered electors			13
	Tory hold

By-election, 6 January 1831: Bandon^[4]^[3]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	Francis Bernard	Unopposed
Registered electors			13
	Tory hold

Caused by Bernard's succession to the peerage, becoming 2nd Earl of Bandon

General election 1830: Bandon^[4]^[3]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	James Bernard	Unopposed
Registered electors			13
	Tory gain from Whig

References

^ First Schedule Part I: Boroughs to cease to exist as such. "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, 48 & 49 Vict. C. 23". The public general acts. Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales.
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 215–216.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 198, 252–253. ISBN 0901714127.
^ "Bandon". Northern Standard. 21 February 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Salmon, Philip. "Bandon Bridge". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^ "Chapter 25, History of Bandon". www.paulturner.ca. Retrieved 8 July 2017.

External links

Part of the Library Ireland: Irish History and Culture website containing the text of A Topographical Directory of Ireland, by Samuel Lewis (a work published by S. Lewis & Co of London in 1837) including an article on Bandon

Sources

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. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.