Southwark (/ˈsʌðərk/ⓘSUDH-ərk)[1] was a constituency centred on the Southwark district of South London. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the English Parliament from 1295 to 1707, to the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and to the UK Parliament until its first abolition for the 1885 general election. A seat of the same name, covering a smaller area than the last form of the earlier seat in the west of the original and beyond its boundaries to the southwest, was created in 1950 and abolished in 1974.
Southwark in London, 1868–85Southwark in London, 1950–74
In its last creation the seat's broad electorate heavily supported the three successive Labour candidates, who won Southwark with a majority of greater than 36% of the votes cast at its eight elections – an extremely safe seat.
Creation, boundaries, abolition
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First creation – or Southwark dual-member constituency
The constituency was created in 1295 as a parliamentary borough (also known as burgh) when its electorate was restricted to the owners of certain properties in its main streets of its burgage, returning two 'burgesses' as they were sometimes called. Its electorate was expanded to a more standard franchise in 1832. In 1833 the electorate was 4,775 adult males and this had risen to 23,472 by 1880.[2]
A seat taking the old constituency name was established for the 1950 general election. Its boundaries were unaltered in the 1955 corrective review and it was abolished for the February 1974 general election.
^"Southwark", in The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World (1952), New York: Columbia University Press.
^F.W.S. Craig (ed.), British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (London: The Macmillan Press Ltd, 1977)
^"The public general acts : Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive". Internet Archive. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw"History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
^ abcdefghijklm"History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
^ abcdefghij"History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
^Died January 1645; the writ to fill both vacancies was issued in August 1645
^On petition, Halsey was found not to have been duly elected, and a new election was held
^The by-election in December 1765 was caused by death of William Hammond
^The by-election in December 1782 was caused by death of Nathaniel Polhill
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstStooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 70–72.
^The by-election in June 1784 was caused by death of Sir Barnard Turner
^ abThellusson's election in May 1796 was declared void in November 1796; a by-election was held at which he was re-elected but he was found to be ineligible to sit and Tierney was declared elected in his place
^The by-election in February 1815 was caused by death of Henry Thornton
^The by-election in November 1830 was caused by death of John Rawlinson Harris
^Spencer, Howard (2009). "BROUGHAM, William (1795–1886), of 12 Old Buildings, Lincoln's Inn, Mdx". The History of Parliament.
^Fisher, David R. (2009). "HARVEY, Daniel Whittle (1786–1863), of Feering House, Kelvedon, Essex and 7 Great George Street, Mdx". The History of Parliament.
^"The Elections—Sunderland and Southwark". Coventry Herald. 5 September 1845. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ abSteele, E. D. (1991). "At home". Palmerston and Liberalism, 1855–1865. Cambridge University Press. pp. 72, 118. ISBN 9780521400459.
^Weinstein, Benjamin (2011). Liberalism and Local Government in Early Victorian London. Boydell and Brewer. p. 91. ISBN 9780861933129.
^Hicks, Geoff; Charmley, John; Grosvenor, Bendor, eds. (2012). "The Second Derby Government". Documents on Conservative Foreign Policy, 1852–1878. Cambridge University Press. p. 112. ISBN 9781107035928.
^Hawkins, Angus (2015). "Shooting Niagara". Victorian Political Culture: 'habits of Heart and Mind' (Illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 259. ISBN 9780198728481.
^The by-election in December 1860 was caused by the death of Sir Charles Napier
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwCraig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 16–17. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
^"London and Suburbs Elections". Cobbett's Weekly Political Register. 15 December 1832 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"General Election". John Bull. 20 March 1880. p. 5.
Sources
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Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) A Chronological Register of Both Houses of the British Parliament, from the Union in 1708, to the Third Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in 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) Digital Bodleian
F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 4)