Liverpool was a borough constituency in the county of Lancashire of the House of Commons for the Parliament of England to 1706 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885. It was represented by two Members of Parliament (MPs). In 1868, this was increased to three Members of Parliament.

The borough franchise was held by the freemen of the borough. Each elector had as many votes as there were seats to be filled (plurality block voting). Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings. In 1800 there were around 3000 electors, with elections in this seat being nearly always contested.

The borough returned several notable Members of Parliament including Prime Minister George Canning, William Huskisson, President of the Board of Trade, Banastre Tarleton, noted soldier in the American War of Independence and most notably, William Roscoe the abolitionist and Anti Slave Trade campaigner.

The constituency was abolished in 1885, the city being split into nine divisions of Abercromby, East Toxteth, Everton, Exchange, Kirkdale, Scotland, Walton, West Derby and West Toxteth.

History The borough of Liverpool exercised the privilege of sending two members to Parliament in 1295 and 1307, but then for 240 years the right was wholly suspended. In the first Parliament of Edward VI, which met 4 November 1547, though Elective Franchise was restored to the two Lancashire boroughs of Liverpool and Wigan and has since continued almost without further interruption.

Representation was increased to three Members in 1868 and the constituency abolished in 1885, to be replaced by the nine new constituencies of Abercromby, East Toxteth, Everton, Exchange, Kirkdale, Scotland, Walton, West Derby and West Toxteth.

Members of Parliament 1295–1640 ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1295 Adam fitz Richard Robert Pinklowe 1300–1307 Richard de la More John de la More 1545 Nicholas Cutler Gilbert Gerard 1547 Thomas Stanley ?Francis Cave or Richard Taverner 1553 (Mar) William Bromley Ralph Assheton 1553 (Oct) William Bromley Sir Giles Alington 1554 (Apr) William Bromley Sir William Norris 1554 (Nov) William Bromley John Beaumont 1555 Sir Richard Sherborn John Beaumont 1558 William Stopford George White 1559 (Jan) Sir Thomas Smith Ralph Browne 1562–3 Sir Richard Molyneux Ralph Sekerston 1571 Thomas Avery Ralph Sekerston 1572 Ralph Sekerston, died and repl. 1576 by Thomas Greenacres, died and repl. April 1583 by Arthur Atye Mathew Dale 1584 Arthur Atye John Molyneux 1586 John Poole William Cavendish 1588 (Oct) Edward Warren Francis Bacon 1593 Michael Doughty John Wroth 1597 (Oct) Thomas Gerard Peter Probie 1601 (Oct) Edward Anderson Hugh Calverley 1604 Giles Brook Thomas Remchinge 1614 Thomas Ireland Sir Hugh Beeston 1621–1622 Thomas May William Johnson 1624 Sir Thomas Gerard, 2nd Baronet George Ireland 1625 Lord Strange Edward Moore 1626 Edward Bridgeman Thomas Stanley 1628 Henry Jermyn John Newdigate 1629–1640No Parliaments summoned

1640–1868

ElectionFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party April 1640 Lord Cranfield John Holcroft November 1640Sir Richard Wynn, Bt.ParliamentarianJohn MooreParliamentarianDecember 1648Wynn excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacantWynn died in July 1649, and a by-election was held to replace him.October 1649Thomas BirchJune 1650Moore died June 1650 – seat left vacant1653Liverpool was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament1654Thomas Birch Liverpool had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate1656January 1659Gilbert IrelandThomas Blackmore May 1659Liverpool was unrepresented in the restored Rump April 1660 Sir Gilbert Ireland William Stanley 1670 Sir William Bucknall 1675 William Banks 1677 Sir Ralph Assheton, Bt. Richard Atherton 1679 Ruisshe Wentworth John Dubois 1685 Sir Richard Atherton Thomas Legh 1689 Richard Savage, Viscount Colchester Whig Thomas Norris 1694 Thomas Brotherton January 1695 Jasper Maudit November 1695 Sir William Norris, Bt. 1698 William Clayton 1701 (Dec) (Sir) Thomas JohnsonKnighted 1708. Whig 1708 Richard Norris 1710 John Cleiveland 1713 William Clayton 1715 Edward Norris 1722 William Cleiveland 1723 Langham Booth April 1724 Thomas Bootle November 1724 Thomas Brereton 1729 Sir Thomas Aston, Bt. 1734 Thomas BreretonChanged his surname to Salusbury on inheriting an estate from his father-in-law in 1734. Richard Gildart 1754 John Hardman 1755 (Sir) Ellis CunliffeCreated a baronet, March 1759. 1756 Charles Pole 1761 Sir William Meredith, Bt. Tory 1767 Richard Pennant Tory 1780 Bamber Gascoyne Tory Henry Rawlinson 1784 Richard Pennant Whig 1790 Banastre Tarleton Tory 1796 Isaac Gascoyne Tory/Ultra-Tory 1806 William Roscoe Whig 1807 Banastre Tarleton Tory 1812 George CanningThe future Prime Minister (in 1827), the Right Hon. George Canning was also returned in 1812 for the Irish borough of Sligo. He elected to sit for Liverpool. Tory 1823 William Huskisson Tory November 1830 William Ewart Radicals May 1831 Evelyn DenisonDenison was also elected for Nottinghamshire, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Liverpool. Whig October 1831 Dudley Ryder Tory 1834 Conservative 1837 Cresswell Cresswell Conservative 1842 Howard Douglas Conservative 1847 Edward Cardwell Peelite Sir Thomas Birch, Bt Whig 1852 Charles Turner Conservative William Forbes Mackenzie Conservative 1853 Thomas Horsfall Conservative Henry Liddell Conservative 1855 Joseph Christopher Ewart Whig 1859 Liberal 1865 Samuel Robert Graves Conservative

1868–1885

Constituency increased to three Members (1868)

ElectionFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyThird memberThird party 1868 Samuel Robert Graves Conservative Viscount Sandon Conservative William Rathbone Liberal 1873 by-election John Torr Conservative Feb 1880 by-election Edward Whitley Conservative 1880 John Ramsay Liberal Aug 1880 by-election Lord Claud Hamilton Conservative 1882 by-election Samuel Smith Liberal 1885Constituency abolished (Redistribution of Seats Act 1885)

Elections

Pre-1832

Huskisson's death caused a by-election.

The by-election was declared void but no new writ was issued before dissolution

Denison was also elected for Nottinghamshire and chose to sit there, causing a by-election.

1832–1868

Cresswell resigned after being appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, causing a by-election.

Election declared void on petition, due to bribery and treating by Mackenzie and Turner, causing a by-election.

Liddell succeeded to the peerage, becoming 2nd Baron Ravensworth and causing a by-election.

1868–1885 Seat increased to three members

Graves' death caused a by-election.

Ryder was appointed Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education, requiring a by-election.

Torr's death caused a by-election.

Ramsay succeeded to the peerage, becoming Earl of Dalhousie, causing a by-election.

Ryder succeeded to the peerage, becoming Earl of Harrowby, causing a by-election.

Notes and references Notes

References

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) J. E. Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)