Carmarthenshire 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 until its representation was increased to two members for the 1832 general election.

At the 1885 general election, it was divided into two new single-member seats: East Carmarthenshire and West Carmarthenshire.

History For most of its history, the Carmarthenshire constituency was dominated by a small number of powerful families. Chief among these were the Rice family of Dynevor, who could claim descent from the medieval Lord Rhys of Deheubarth. They drew upon traditional loyalty and the connotations linked to the Dynevor name to maintain their status as the leading political family of the county and leaders of the Red or Tory faction.

In 1790 the influence of the Dynevor family was re-asserted when George Talbot Rice was elected unopposed. Four years later, he was elevated to the House of Lords and the family would not be in a position to represent the county again until 1820 when his yet unborn son would have came of age.

A celebrated contest took place in 1802 between James Hamlyn Williams and William Paxton. The contest was said to have cost Paxton a total of £15,000. This included 11,070 breakfasts, 36,901 dinners, 25,275 gallons of ale, 11,068 bottles of spirits, 8,879 bottles of porter, 460 of sherry, 509 of cider and gallons of milk punch. The contest became known as ‘Lecsiwn Fawr’ (the Great Election). Paxton was defeated and spent two years settling his debts.

In 1820, George Rice Trevor was elected MP for Carmarthenshire and held the seat until 1831, when he stood down over his opposition to reform.

Reformed elections Following the Reform Act 1832, the county was awarded a second seat. In 1832, Rice Trevor resumed his parliamentary career and served until 1852 when he was elevated to the House of Lords upon inheriting the title of Lord Dynevor. He was succeeded by David Jones of Pantglas, who served until 1868.

The second seat was held by supporters of the Whig party until John Jones of Ystrad unseated James Hamlyn-Williams in 1837. Jones was succeeded by another Tory, D.A. Saunders Davies who served until his death in 1857. At this point, however, the seat was occupied by David Pugh, who was regarded as a Liberal-Conservative, and who in later life migrated to the Liberal Party.

At the 1868 general election, following a lengthy and lively campaign characterized by accusations of coercion, Edward Sartoris captured a seat for the Liberals. He was defeated in 1874 but in 1880 the Liberals again captured a seat. Following the Third Reform Act the constituency was divided into two single-member seats.

Members of Parliament MPs 1542–1640 Parliament member 1542–1545 Unknown (returns lost) 1545 Hon. Richard Devereux. Died on day of re-election in October 1547 1548 Sir John Perrott 1553 Henry Jones 1555 Richard Jones 1558 Sir Thomas Jones (of Haroldston) 1559 Richard Jones 1563 Sir Henry Jones 1572 John Vaughan died and replaced 1576 by Walter Vaughan 1584 Walter Rice 1586 Sir Thomas Jones 1588 Herbert Croft 1593 Walter Vaughan 1597 Sir Thomas Jones 1601 John Vaughan 1604- The Dictionary of National Biography records Mansell as MP for Carmarthen borough in the 1604 Parliament and for the county only in 1614, but Cobbett's Parliamentary History names Mansell as MP for the county in 1604 and Sir Walter Rice as the borough MP 1620 Sir John Vaughan 1624 Richard Vaughan 1629–1640 No Parliament summoned

MPs during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1640–1653)

YearMemberPartyApril 1640 Henry Vaughan RoyalistFebruary 1644Vaughan disabled from sitting – seat vacant 1646 John Lloyd Royalist December 1648Lloyd excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant1653Carmarthenshire was not represented in the Barebones Parliament

MPs during the Protectorate (1653–1659)

YearFirst MemberSecond MemberRepresentation increased to two members in First Protectorate Parliament1654 John Claypole Rowland Dawkins1656 John Claypole,sat for Northants. 1656 Robert AtkynsClaypole chose for Northampton Representation reverted to one member from January 1659

MPs 1659-1832 YearMemberParty January 1659 Thomas Hughes May 1659Carmarthenshire was not represented in the restored RumpApril 1660 John Lloyd 1661 Francis Vaughan (died 1668) 1668 Sir Henry Vaughan (died 1676) 1677 Altham Vaughan 1679 John Vaughan 1685 John Vaughan 1689 Sir Rice Rudd 1701 Griffith Rice Whig 1710 Sir Thomas Powell Tory 1715 Charles Powlett Whig 1717 Sir Thomas Stepney 1722 Edward RiceOn petition, Rice was declared not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Sir Nicholas Williams, was seated in his place 1724 Sir Nicholas Williams 1745 John Vaughan I 1754 George Rice 1779 John Vaughan II 1784 Sir William Mansel 1790 Hon. George Rice Tory 1793 Sir James Hamlyn 1802 James Hamlyn-Williams 1806 Sir William Paxton Whig 1807 Lord Robert Seymour Tory 1820 Hon. George Rice-Trevor Tory 1831 Sir James Hamlyn-Williams Whig1832 Representation increased to two members by the Reform Act 1832

MPs 1832–1885 ElectionFirst memberFirst PartySecond memberSecond Party 1832 Hon. George Rice-Trevor Conservative Edward Hamlyn AdamsWhig 1835 Sir James Hamlyn-Williams Whig 1837 John Jones of Ystrad Conservative 1842 by-election David Arthur Saunders Davies Conservative 1852 by-election David Jones Conservative 1857 by-election David Pugh Peelite 1859 Liberal 1868 Edward John Sartoris Liberal John Jones Conservative 1874 Viscount Emlyn Conservative 1880 W. R. H. Powell Liberal1885 Constituency abolished: see East Carmarthenshire, West Carmarthenshire

Election results Elections in the 1830s

Elections in the 1840s

Jones' death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1850s Rice-Trevor succeeded to the peerage, becoming 4th Baron Dynevor and causing a by-election.

Davies' death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1880s

References

Bibliography

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) F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989) Welsh Biography Online