Wexford Borough (UK Parliament constituency)

For other similarly named constituencies, see Wexford (disambiguation).

Wexford Borough
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyCounty Wexford
BoroughWexford
1801–1885
Seats1
Created fromWexford Borough (IHC)
Replaced bySouth Wexford

Wexford Borough was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency, in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament (MP). It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.

Boundaries

This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Wexford in County Wexford.

Members of Parliament

Election Member Party Note
1801-01-01 Francis Leigh 1801: Co-opted; Resigned (appointed Escheator of Munster)
1801-02-20 Ponsonby Tottenham
1802-07-09 Richard Nevill 1 Tory
1806-11-10 Sir Robert Wigram, Bt Tory[1]
1807-05-21 Richard Nevill 1 Tory Resigned (appointed Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds)
1810-03-03 Captain Peter Parker R.N. Tory Resigned (appointed Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds)
1811-07-01 Richard Nevill 1 Tory Resigned (appointed Steward of the Manor of East Hendred)
1813-03-03 Vice Admiral John Fish Tory Resigned (appointed Escheator of Munster)
1814-08-09 Richard Nevill 1 Tory Resigned (appointed Escheator of Ulster)
1819-03-01 Captain Henry Evans R.N. Tory
1820-03-20 William Wigram Tory[1]
1826-06-19 Rear Admiral Henry Evans Tory Resigned (appointed Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds)
1829-06-03 Robert Wigram 2 Tory[1] Unseated on petition
1830-03-15 3 Sir Edward Dering, Bt Tory[1] Declared duly elected
1830-08-07 William Wigram Tory[1] Unseated on petition
1831-02-21 3 Sir Edward Dering, Bt Ultra-Tory Declared duly elected
1831-05-06 Charles Arthur Walker Whig Re-elected as a candidate of the Repeal Association
1832-12-14 Repeal Association[2] Re-elected as a candidate of a Liberal/Repealer pact
1841-07-12 Sir Thomas Esmonde, Bt Whig[1][3]
1847-08-04 John Thomas Devereux Repeal Association[2] Re-elected as an Independent Irish candidate
1852-07-09 Ind. Irish[2] Re-elected as a Liberal candidate
1857-03-20 Whig
1859-05-03 John Edward Redmond Liberal[2] The grand uncle of John Redmond (1856–1918)
1865-07-17 Richard Joseph Devereux Liberal[2] Resigned
1872-04-26 William Archer Redmond Home Rule League[2] The grandfather of William Redmond (1886–1932). Died 1880.
1880-11-24 Tim Healy Home Rule League[2] Joined new organisation
1882 4 Irish Parliamentary[2] Resigned to contest Monaghan
1883-07-17 Willie Redmond Irish Parliamentary[2] Last MP for the constituency
1885-11-18 Constituency abolished

Notes:-

  • 1 Stooks Smith names the MP 1802-1806 as Richard Neville Furness, 1807-1810 as Richard Neville, 1811-1813 as Robert Neville and 1814-1819 as Richard Neville. Walker names the MP for all these terms as Richard Nevill.
  • 2 From 1832 known as Robert Fitzwygram.
  • 3 Not an election - date when the previous member was unseated and the petitioner was declared duly elected.
  • 4 Not an election - change of party allegiance.

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Wexford Borough[2][1][4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Tory William Wigram 31 52.5
Ultra-Tory Edward Dering 28 47.5
Majority 3 5.0
Turnout 59 c. 36.9
Registered electors c. 160
Tory hold
  • On petition, Wigram was unseated and Dering was declared elected.
General election 1831: Wexford Borough[2][1][4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Charles Arthur Walker Unopposed
Registered electors 160
Whig gain from Tory
General election 1832: Wexford Borough[2][1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Irish Repeal Charles Arthur Walker Unopposed
Registered electors 269
Irish Repeal gain from Whig
General election 1835: Wexford Borough[2][1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Irish Repeal (Whig) Charles Arthur Walker Unopposed
Registered electors 373
Irish Repeal hold
General election 1837: Wexford Borough[2][1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Irish Repeal (Whig) Charles Arthur Walker Unopposed
Registered electors 361
Irish Repeal hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Wexford Borough[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Thomas Esmonde 145 59.2 N/A
Conservative James Bourne 100 40.8 New
Majority 45 18.4 N/A
Turnout 245 81.4 N/A
Registered electors 301
Whig gain from Irish Repeal Swing N/A
General election 1847: Wexford Borough[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Repeal John Thomas Devereux Unopposed
Registered electors 375
Irish Repeal gain from Whig

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Wexford Borough[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Irish John Thomas Devereux Unopposed
Registered electors 348
Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal
General election 1857: Wexford Borough[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig John Thomas Devereux Unopposed
Registered electors 314
Whig gain from Independent Irish
General election 1859: Wexford Borough[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Redmond Unopposed
Registered electors 301
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Wexford Borough[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Richard Joseph Devereux 153 58.8 N/A
Liberal John Redmond 107 41.2 N/A
Majority 46 17.6 N/A
Turnout 260 77.8 N/A
Registered electors 334
Liberal hold Swing N/A
General election 1868: Wexford Borough[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Richard Joseph Devereux Unopposed
Registered electors 520
Liberal hold

On petition, Devereux was unseated due to "informality" in the return, causing a by-election at which he was re-elected.[5]

By-election, 26 February 1869: Wexford Borough[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Richard Joseph Devereux Unopposed
Registered electors 520
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

Devereux resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 26 Apr 1872: Wexford Borough[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Home Rule William Archer Redmond 321 86.3 New
Home Rule Walter Redmond 51 13.7 New
Majority 270 72.6 N/A
Turnout 372 69.5 N/A
Registered electors 535
Home Rule gain from Liberal Swing N/A
General election 1874: Wexford Borough[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Home Rule William Archer Redmond 323 81.6 N/A
Liberal Sir Frederick Hughes, 7th Baronet 73 18.4 N/A
Majority 250 63.2 N/A
Turnout 396 79.0 N/A
Registered electors 501
Home Rule gain from Liberal Swing N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Wexford Borough[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Home Rule William Archer Redmond 292 75.5 −6.1
Liberal Sir Frederick Hughes, 7th Baronet 95 24.5 +6.1
Majority 197 51.0 −12.2
Turnout 387 80.8 +1.8
Registered electors 479
Home Rule hold Swing −6.1

Redmond's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 24 Nov 1880: Wexford Borough[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Home Rule Tim Healy Unopposed
Registered electors 479
Home Rule hold

Healy resigned to stand at the 1883 by-election in Monaghan, causing a by-election.

By-election, 17 July 1883: Wexford Borough[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Willie Redmond 307 70.9 −4.6
Liberal Charles Owen O'Conor 126 29.1 +4.6
Majority 181 41.8 −9.2
Turnout 433 83.0 +2.2
Registered electors 522
Irish Parliamentary hold Swing −4.6

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 243. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ 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 Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 243–244, 321. ISBN 0901714127.
  3. ^ "Evening Mail". 21 June 1841. p. 3. Retrieved 26 August 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ a b Salmon, Philip. "Wexford". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  5. ^ "To the Electors of the Borough of Wexford". Wexford Independent. 24 February 1869. p. 3. Retrieved 22 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.