Newton (constituency)

Newton was a parliamentary borough in the county of Lancashire, in England. It was represented by two Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1559 to 1707 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until its abolition in 1832.

In 1885 a county constituency with the same name was created and represented by one Member of Parliament. This seat was abolished in 1983.

Parliamentary borough The borough consisted of the parish of Newton-le-Willows in the Makerfield district of South Lancashire. It was first enfranchised in 1558 (though the Parliament so summoned did not meet until the following year), and was a rotten borough from its inception: Newton was barely more than a village even at this stage, and so entirely dominated by the local landowner that its first return of members described it bluntly as "the borough of Sir Thomas Langton, knight, baron of Newton within his Fee of Markerfylde". By 1831, just before its abolition, the population of the borough had reached only 2,139, and contained 285 houses.

The right to vote was exercised by all freeholders of property in the borough valued at forty shillings or more, or by one representative of joint tenants of any such freeholds; Newton was the only borough where the forty-shilling freehold franchise (which applied in the counties) was the sole qualification to vote. In 1797, the borough's last contested election, 76 electors cast their votes; by 1831 it was estimated that the electorate had fallen to about 52. (As elsewhere, each elector had as many votes as there were seats to be filled and votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings.)

In practice, however, the townsmen of Newton had no say in choosing their representatives: as the owners of the majority of the qualifying freeholds, the lords of the manor exercised total control. During most of the Elizabethan period, Langton seems to have allowed the Duchy of Lancaster to nominate many of the members, which may have been a quid pro quo for Newton's being enfranchised in the first place, but later patrons could regard its parliamentary seats as their personal property. Langton's heir sold the manor to the Fleetwood family in 1594, the sale explicitly including the right of "the nomination, election and appointment" of the two burgesses representing the borough in Parliament, one of the earliest recorded instances of the right to elect MPs being bought and sold. By the first half of the next century it had passed to the Leghs, who owned it for the rest of its existence.

By the time of the Reform Act 1832, Newton was one of the most notorious of all England's pocket boroughs, mainly because the Legh control was more complete than that of the patrons in most other constituencies. It was one of the 56 boroughs to be totally disenfranchised by the Reform Act.

County constituency The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 created a new Newton constituency, as one of twenty-three divisions of the parliamentary county of Lancashire.

Boundaries 1885–1918 The constituency, officially designated as South-West Lancashire, Newton Division consisted of a number of townships and parishes around Newton le Willows namely: Ashton in Makerfield Billinge Chapel End Billinge Higher End Part of Eccleston Rainhill Winstanley

The electorate also included the freeholders of the municipal boroughs of St Helens and Warrington who were entitled to vote in the county.Seventh Schedule: Counties at Large: Number of Members and Names and Contents of Divisions, Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, (1885 c.23)

Boundaries 1918–1950

The Representation of the People Act 1918 reorganised constituencies throughout the United Kingdom. Boundaries were adjusted and seats were defined in terms of the districts created by the Local Government Act 1894. According to the schedules of the Act, the Lancashire, Newton Division comprised:Ninth Schedule - Part II, Parliamentary Counties: England, excluding Monmouthshire, Representation of the People Act 1918 (1918 c.64) Golborne Urban District Haydock Urban District Newton in Makerfield Urban District Leigh Rural District (except the civil parish of Astley) Warrington Rural District

Boundaries 1950–1983

The Representation of the People Act 1948 redistributed parliamentary seats, with the constituencies first being used in the general election of 1950. The term "county constituency" was introduced in place of "division". Newton County Constituency was redefined as consisting of the following districts:First Schedule: Parliamentary Constituencies, Representation of The People Act 1948, (1948 c.65) Golborne Urban District Haydock Urban District Irlam Urban District Newton-le-Willows Urban District Warrington Rural District

The changes reflected the fact that Leigh Rural District had been abolished in 1933, Newton in Makerfield Urban district had been renamed Newton le Willows in 1939. Irlam was transferred from the neighbouring Stretford constituency.F A Youngs Jr., Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.II: Northern England, London, 1991

The boundaries were unchanged at the next redistribution of seats in 1970.The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (S.I. 1970 No. 1674) Although local government was reorganised in 1972, boundaries were unchanged until 1983.

Abolition The constituency was abolished by the Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983, which reorganised seats on the lines of the 1974 counties and districts, by which time the Newton constituency had become vastly oversized with an electorate of over 80,000 in 1979. The bulk of the seat formed part of the new Makerfield County Constituency. Irlam was included in the Worsley County Constituency, while part of Golborne became part of both Leigh Borough Constituency and Warrington North Borough Constituency. The town of Newton itself, as well as Haydock, were incorporated into the St Helens North Borough Constituency.Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983 (S.I. 1983 No. 417)

Members of Parliament

MPs 1559–1660 ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1559 (Jan) Sir George Howard Richard Chetwode 1562–3 Francis Alford Ralph Browne 1571 Anthony Mildmay Richard Stoneley 1572 John Gresham John Savile 1584 Robert Langton Edward Savage 1586 (Oct) Robert Langton Edward Savage 1588 (Oct) Edmund Trafford Robert Langton 1593 Edmund Trafford Robert Langton 1597 William Cope Geoffrey Osbaldeston 1601 (Oct) Thomas Langton Richard Ashton 1604 Sir John Luke Richard Ashton 1614 William Ashton Roger Charnock 1620–1 (Jan) Sir George Wright Richard Kippax 1624 Thomas Charnock Edmund Breres 1625 Miles Fleetwood Sir Henry Edmonds 1626 Miles Fleetwood Sir Henry Edmonds 1627–8 Sir Henry Holcroft Sir Francis Onslow 1629–1640 No parliaments summoned 1640 (Apr) Sir Richard Wynn, 2nd Baronet, sat for Andover William Sherman 1640 (Nov) William Ashurst Peter Legh, died after duel and repl. by Sir Roger Palmer, disabled 1644 and repl. by Peter Brooke 1645 William AshurstPeter Brooke 1653–1658Newton not represented in Barebones and First and Second Protectorate Parliaments 1659 William Brereton Peter Legh

MPs 1660–1832

YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party 1660 Richard Legh William Banks April 1661 John Vaughan June 1661 Sir Philip Mainwaring October 1661 The Lord Gorges of Dundalk 1679 Sir John Chicheley Andrew Fountaine 1685 Peter Legh 1689 Francis Cholmondeley 1690 George Cholmondeley 1691 John Bennet 1695 Legh Banks Thomas Brotherton 1698 Thomas Legh 1701 Thomas Legh, junior July 1702 John Grubham Howe December 1702 Thomas Legh 1703 John Ward 1713 Abraham Blackmore Tory 1715 Sir Francis Leicester William Shippen 1727 Legh Master 1743 Peter Legh 1747 Sir Thomas Egerton 1754 Randle Wilbraham 1768 Anthony James Keck 1774 Robert Vernon Atherton Gwillym 1780 Thomas Peter Legh Thomas Davenport, KCKnighted, June 1783 1786 Thomas Brooke September 1797 Thomas Langford BrookeOn petition, Brooke's election was declared void and Patten was declared to have been duly elected December 1797 Peter Patten 1806 Colonel Peter Heron 1807 John Ireland Blackburne 1814 Thomas Legh 1818 Thomas Claughton 1825 Sir Robert Townsend-Farquhar 1826 Thomas Alcock 1830 Thomas Houldsworth 1832 Constituency abolished

MPs 1885–1983 ElectionMemberParty 1885 constituency re-established with one MP 1885 R. A. Cross Conservative 1886 by-election Thomas Legh Conservative 1899 by-election Richard Pilkington Conservative 1906 James Andrew Seddon Labour 1910 Roundell Palmer Conservative 1918 Robert Young Labour 1931 Reginald Essenhigh Conservative 1935 Robert Young Labour 1950 Fred Lee Labour Feb 1974 John Evans Labour 1983 constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

Cross was appointed Secretary of State for India and was elevated to the peerage, becoming Viscount Cross, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1890s

Legh is elevated to the peerage, becoming Lord Newton.

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

Newton (constituency)

Bron en licentie