The Cardigan District of Boroughs was a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors, from 1542 until it was abolished for the 1885 general election. The borough constituency comprised the four towns of Cardigan, Aberystwyth, Lampeter and Adpar - geographically separated from each other but all within the county of Cardiganshire.

History For much of its existence, the constituency was dominated by a relatively small number of landed families. During the eighteenth century, representation was keenly contested between the county families.

At the turn of the nineteenth century, the county town of Cardigan remained the largest of the boroughs with a population of 1,911 in 1801, and was controlled by the Earl of Lisburne. Lisburne's heir, John Vaughan, held the seat unopposed from 1796. However, Aberystwyth experienced rapid population growth in this period and its population reached 1,758 by 1801. Aberystwyth was under the influence of Edward Loveden Loveden, of Gogerddan. Loveden had obtained the estate through his marriage to Margaret Pryse, and coveted a parliamentary seat for his son, Pryse Loveden, who had adopted the name Pryse Pryse upon inheriting the estate upon his mother's death in 1796.

However, the Lisburne interest remained predominant until after the closely contested election of 1812, when Vaughan defeated Herbert Evans of Highmead by eighty votes.

After this contest, Vaughan's position became untenable, and it was assumed that he would not to contest the next election. In 1816, following the death of Thomas Johnes, the member for the county, Pryse Pryse of Gogerddan withdrew in favour of William Edward Powell of Nanteos, in order to avoid a contest. This was a political as well as a personal compromise, since Powell was a Tory and Pryse a Whig. In 1818, Pryse was elected unopposed for the boroughs, and held the seat for over thirty years. In 1832 the Reform Act resulted in a larger electorate as householders of homes worth over £10 were enfranchised in the boroughs. The constituency was still dominated by the Loveden-Pryse family of Gogerddan. Pryse Pryse held the seat from 1818 until his death in 1849, except for the 1841 election (see below). By agreement between Pryse and William Edward Powell, who continued as member for the county until his resignation in 1854, neither challenged the other's domination and so elections were almost always unopposed.

The one exception was the 1841 election when there was a close contest with John Harford, which was characterized by allegations of coercion. The contest was attended by a great deal of confusion. The poll books for Aberystwyth were either lost or stolen and never reached the returning officer, who came to the view that he should declare both candidates elected due to the uncertainty (the Conservative was slightly ahead in the polls from the other three parts). Neither of the two candidates could actually speak in the House of Commons until a committee determined the election, and it accepted the evidence that the Liberal candidate (Pryse) had outpolled the Conservative (Harford) by 305 to 285, enough to make his election secure, so he was given the seat.

In 1842, largely as a result of this episode, Pryse declared his support for the secret ballot.

Apart from 1855, when John Lloyd Davies won a byelection by 12 votes, the Conservatives never won the borough.

The last member to represent the constituency was David Davies from 1874 until 1885. When the county and borough constituencies were merged to form the Cardiganshire seat in 1885, David Davies comfortably won the election. In 1886, however, Davies joined the Liberal Unionists and was narrowly defeated at the General Election that year by the Liberal Party candidate.

Members of Parliament Members of Parliament 1542-1640 As there were sometimes significant gaps between Parliaments held in this period, the dates of first assembly and dissolution are given. Where the name of the member has not yet been ascertained or (before 1558) is not recorded in a surviving document, the entry unknown is entered in the table.

ElectedAssembledDissolvedMemberNote 1542 16 January 1542 28 March 1544 unknown 1545 23 November 1545 31 January 1547 Jenkin ap Rhees 1547 4 November 1547 15 April 1552 John Cotton History of Parliament gives Gruffydd Done 1553 1 March 1553 31 March 1553 Edward ap Howell 1553 5 October 1553 5 December 1553 John Gwyn 1554 2 April 1554 3 May 1554 John Powell 1554 12 November 1554 16 January 1555 John Powell History of Parliament gives John Gwyn 1555 21 October 1555 9 December 1555 Thomas Phaer 1558 20 January 1558 17 November 1558 Thomas Phaer 1559 23 January 1559 8 May 1559 Thomas Phaer 1562–3 11 January 1563 2 January 1567 John Gwyn 1571 2 April 1571 29 May 1571 Edward Davies 1572 8 May 1572 19 April 1583 Edward Davies 1584 23 November 1584 14 September 1585 Francis Cheyne 1586 13 October 1586 23 March 1587 Francis Cheyne 1588 4 February 1589 29 March 1589 Alban Stepney 1593 18 February 1593 10 April 1593 Sir Ferdinando Gorges 1597 24 October 1597 9 February 1598 Thomas Rawlins 1601 27 October 1601 19 December 1601 William AubreyRichard Delabere Double return unresolved at the dissolution of Parliament 1604 19 March 1604 9 February 1611 William Bradshaw 1614 5 April 1614 7 June 1614 Robert Wolverstone 1620 16 January 1621 8 February 1622 Walter Overbury 12 January 1624 12 February 1624 27 March 1625 Rowland Pugh 4 March 1625 17 May 1625 12 August 1625 Rowland Pugh 12 January 1626 6 February 1626 15 June 1626 Walter Overbury 31 March 1628 17 March 1628 10 March 1629 John Vaughan 1640 13 April 1640 5 May 1640 John Vaughan

Members of Parliament 1640-1660 This sub-section includes the Long Parliament and the Rump Parliament, together with the Parliaments of the Commonwealth and the Protectorate (before the Convention Parliament of 1660).

Long Parliament YearMemberParty November 1640 writ delivered too late to make a return, new writ ordered December 1640 John Vaughan 1645Vaughan expelled - seat vacant 1646 Thomas Wogan 1653Cardigan was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliamentand the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate January 1659 Col. Rowland Dawkins May 1659Unrepresented in the restored Rump April 1660 James Philipps 1663 Sir Charles Cotterell 1679 Hector Phillips 1693 John Lewis 1698 Sir Charles Lloyd 1701 Henry Lloyd 1705 Lewis Pryse February 1710 Simon Harcourt Tory October 1710 John Meyrick 1712 Owen Brigstocke 1713 Sir George Barlow, 2nd Baronet 1715 Stephen Parry 1725 Thomas Powell 1727 Francis Cornwallis 1729 Richard Lloyd 1741 Thomas Pryse 1746 John Symmons 1761 Sir Herbert Lloyd, 1st Baronet 1768 Pryse Campbell Whig 1769 Ralph Congreve 1774 Sir Robert Smyth, 5th Baronet 1775 Thomas Johnes 1780 John Campbell Pittite 1796 Hon. John Vaughan 1818 Pryse Pryse Whig 1849 Pryse Loveden Whig 1855 John Lloyd Davies Conservative 1857 Edward Pryse Radical 1859 Liberal 1868 Sir Thomas Lloyd, 1st Baronet Liberal 1874 David Davies Liberal1885 Constituency abolished

Election results Elections in the 1830s

Elections in the 1840s

Originally, both Pryse and Harford were returned after the poll books for two polling stations at Aberystwyth were lost, with 226 votes recorded for Harford and 163 for Pryse. After extensive evidence, however, a committee determined the above results and Harford was declared unelected.

Pryse's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1850s

Loveden (as Pryse was known at the time) died, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1880s

References

Sources The Parliamentary History of the Principality of Wales