Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1330–1974
Tavistock was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Devon between 1330 and 1974. Until 1885 it was a parliamentary borough , consisting solely of the town of Tavistock ; it returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1868 , when its representation was reduced to one member. From 1885, the name was transferred to a single-member county constituency covering a much larger area. (Between 1885 and 1918, the constituency had the alternative name of West Devon .)
The constituency was abolished for the February 1974 general election , when it was largely replaced by the new West Devon constituency.
1885–1918 : The Municipal Boroughs of Devonport and Plymouth, and the Sessional Divisions of Hatherleigh, Holsworthy, Lifton, Midland Roborough, and Tavistock.
1918–1950 : The Urban Districts of Holsworthy, Ivybridge, and Tavistock, the Rural Districts of Broadwoodwidger, Plympton St Mary, and Tavistock, and part of the Rural District of Holsworthy.
1950–1951 : The Urban Districts of Holsworthy and Tavistock, the Rural Districts of Broadwoodwidger, Holsworthy, and Tavistock, and the Rural District of Plympton St Mary except the parishes of Bickleigh and Tamerton Foliot.[ 1]
1951–1974 : The Urban Districts of Holsworthy and Tavistock, the Rural Districts of Broadwoodwidger, Holsworthy, and Tavistock, and the Rural District of Plympton St Mary less the parts of the parishes of Bickleigh and Tamerton Foliot added to the county borough of Plymouth by the Plymouth Extension Act 1950.[ 2]
In 1965 Tavistock was one of the largest seats in England, in terms of land area. It included the towns of Plympton and Plymstock (effectively eastern suburbs of Plymouth ). It also included a great deal of rural land, including two-thirds of Dartmoor .[ 3]
Members of Parliament [ edit ] Elections in the 1830s [ edit ] Fortescue chose to sit for Devon where he had also been elected, causing a by-election.
John Russell was also elected for Devon and opted to sit there, causing a by-election.
William Russell resigned, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1840s [ edit ] Rundle resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds , causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1850s [ edit ] Trelawny resigned to seek re-election after voting against the disestablishment of the Church of England when he had promised his constituents he would vote for it.[ 38]
On petition, Carter was unseated in 1853 and Phillimore was declared elected in his place.
Byng resigned in order to contest a by-election in Middlesex , causing a by-election.[ 39]
Elections in the 1860s [ edit ] Seat reduced to one member
Elections in the 1870s [ edit ] Elections in the 1880s [ edit ] Ebrington Elections in the 1890s [ edit ] Hugh Luttrell Elections in the 1900s [ edit ] Elections in the 1910s [ edit ] 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;
Elections in the 1920s [ edit ] Maxwell Thornton Elections in the 1930s [ edit ] Elections in the 1940s [ edit ] 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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;
Conservative : Colin Patrick Liberal : Frank Milton Labour : J Finnigan Elections in the 1950s [ edit ] Elections in the 1960s [ edit ] Elections in the 1970s [ edit ] ^ "Representation of the People Act 1948: Schedule 1" , legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives , 1948 c. 65 (sch. 1), retrieved 28 February 2023 ^ "The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) (No. 10) Order 1951. SI 1951/432". Statutory Instruments 1951 . Vol. II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office . 1952. pp. 431–434. ^ Crick 1997, pp117-8 ^ "CROCKER, John, of Tavistock and Hele, Devon. | History of Parliament Online" . Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016 . ^ a b "RAYMOND, Thomas (D.1418), of Simpson in Holsworthy, Devon. | History of Parliament Online" . Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013 . ^ "HADLEY, Peter, of Exeter, Devon. | History of Parliament Online" . Archived from the original on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2013 . ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "History of Parliament" . History of Parliament Trust. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2011 . ^ a b c d e f "History of Parliament" . History of Parliament Trust. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2011 . ^ Manaton was initially returned as re-elected in 1710, but on petition he was adjudged not to have been duly elected ^ Cope was re-elected in 1727, but had also been elected for Hampshire , which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Tavistock ^ Succeeded as The Viscount Fane (in the Peerage of Ireland ), July 1744 ^ Leveson-Gower was also elected for Lichfield , which he chose to represent, and never sat for Tavistock ^ 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 Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 75–77 . ISBN 0-900178-13-2 . ^ Wyndham was also elected for Midhurst , which he chose to represent, and never sat for Tavistock ^ Ebrington was re-elected in 1830, but had also been elected for Devon , which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Tavistock ^ Russell was re-elected in 1831, but had also been elected for Devon , which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Tavistock ^ Styled Marquess of Tavistock from 1839 ^ a b Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838 . pp. 198–199. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2018 – via Google Books . ^ Mosse, Richard Bartholomew (1838). The Parliamentary Guide: a concise history of the Members of both Houses, etc . p. 212. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2018 – via Google Books . ^ a b "General Election, 1841" . Morning Post . 28 June 1841. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 21 December 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ a b Hoppen, K. Theodore (2016). Governing Hibernia: British Politicians and Ireland 1800-1921 . Oxford : Oxford University Press . p. 133. ISBN 9780198207436 . Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2018 . ^ a b "Bedford Election" . Worcester Journal . 9 December 1854. pp. 7–8. Retrieved 8 April 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ a b "Bedford Election" . Leeds Intelligencer . 9 December 1854. p. 3. Retrieved 8 April 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ a b c "Tavistock Election" . The Suffolk Chronicle; or Weekly General Advertiser & County Express . 7 August 1847. p. 1. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ "Election Intelligence" . Morning Post . 26 July 1847. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ Carter's re-election in 1853 was declared void and his opponent, Phillimore, was seated in his place. ^ Crail, Mark (19 March 2017). "Samuel Carter, Chartist MP, 1814 - 1903" . Chartist Ancestors . Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018 . ^ "Election Intelligence" . London Evening Standard . 27 April 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ "Latest News" . York Herald . 5 September 1857. p. 7. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ "Coventry" . Evening Mail . 27 March 1857. p. 7. Retrieved 6 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ "Election Movements" . Coventry Standard . 20 March 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 6 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ "Western Courier, West of England Conservative, Plymouth and Devonport Advertiser" . 14 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ "Representation of Tavistock" . London Evening Standard . 3 September 1857. p. 6. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ "Nottingham Journal" . 11 September 1857. p. 3. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ Styled Lord Arthur Russell from 1872 ^ a b c d e f g h Fisher, David R. "Tavistock" . The History of Parliament . Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020 . ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Craig, F. W. S. , ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3 . ^ McKie, David (26 October 2006). "No sense in self-denial" . The Guardian . Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018 . ^ "The Election for the County of Middlesex". The Times . 4 September 1857. p. 9. ^ "North Wales Chronicle" . 12 September 1857. p. 12. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ "Domestic" . Royal Cornwall Gazette . 11 September 1857. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ "To the Electors of Tavistock" . Western Morning News . 5 July 1865. p. 1. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ Roberts, Steven (2012). "Captain Alexander Blakely RA" . p. 3. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2018 . ^ "Tavistock" . Western Morning News . 6 February 1874. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 21 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ a b c d e f g h Craig, F. W. S. , ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918 . London: Macmillan Press. p. 259. ISBN 9781349022984 . ^ Western Times 13 Mar 1914 ^ a b c F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949 ^ a b British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Craig, F. W. S. ^ a b c d e British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig ^ a b F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973 Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) 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) The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913) F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989) F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949 (Glasgow: Political Reference Publications, 1969) Michael Crick, Michael Heseltine: A Biography , Hamish Hamilton, 1997, ISBN 0-241-13691-1 . 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) J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965) Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973) 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 ... London. p. 1 . Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)