Hertford was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire, which elected Members of Parliament (MPs) from 1298 until 1974.
History The Parliamentary Borough of Hertford was represented by two MPs in the House of Commons of England from 1298 to 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 onwards. Under the Boundary Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c. 46), its representation was reduced to one MP.
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (which followed on from the Representation of the People Act 1884) abolished the parliamentary borough and it gave its name to one of four divisions of the abolished three-member Parliamentary County of Hertfordshire, and was formally named as the Eastern or Hertford Division of Hertfordshire.
As well as the Borough of Hertford, the enlarged constituency included the towns of Ware, Bishop's Stortford and Hoddesdon. It remained largely unchanged until 1955, but was radically altered for the 1955 general election. It was abolished in 1974.
Boundaries and boundary changes 1885–1918 The Borough of Hertford; The Sessional Divisions of Bishop's Stortford and Cheshunt; Parts of the Sessional Divisions of Hertford and Ware; and In the Sessional Division of Aldbury, the parishes of Great Hadham and Little Hadham.
1918–1950 The Borough of Hertford; The Urban Districts of Bishop's Stortford, Cheshunt, Hoddesdon, Sawbridgeworth, and Ware; The Rural Districts of Hadham and Ware; and The Rural District of Hertford parishes of Bayford, Bengeo Rural, Bengeo Urban, Bramfield, Brickendon Liberty, Brickendon Rural, Hertingfordbury, Little Amwell, Little Berkhamsted, St Andrew Rural, St John Rural, Stapleford, and Tewin.
Minor changes to boundaries.
1950–1955 The Borough of Hertford; The Urban Districts of Bishop's Stortford, Cheshunt, Hoddesdon, Sawbridgeworth, and Ware; The Rural District of Ware; The Rural District of Braughing parishes of Albury, Braughing, Brent Pelham, Furneux Pelham, High Wych, Little Hadham, Much Hadham, Stocking Pelham, and Thorley; and The Rural District of Hertford parishes of Bayford, Bengeo Rural, Bengeo Urban, Bramfield, Brickendon Liberty, Brickendon Rural, Hertingfordbury, Little Amwell, Little Berkhamsted, St Andrew Rural, St John Rural, Stapleford, and Tewin.
Nominal changes only to reflect restructuring of rural districts.
1955–1974 The Borough of Hertford; The Urban District of Welwyn Garden City; and The Rural Districts of Hatfield, Hertford, and Welwyn.
Significant changes with only the Municipal Borough and the part of the Rural District of Hertford retained. The remainder of the constituency formed the basis of the new County Constituency of East Hertfordshire. The Urban District of Welwyn Garden City and the Rural District of Welwyn were transferred from St Albans; the Rural District of Hatfield from Barnet; and the remainder of the Rural District of Hertford from Hitchin.
The constituency was abolished in the redistribution taking effect for the February 1974 general election. The Municipal Borough and Rural District of Hertford were included in the new constituency of Hertford and Stevenage, with remaining areas forming the new constituency of Welwyn and Hatfield.
Members of Parliament
Hertford borough (1298–1885)
1298–1640
ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1376 Constituency franchise lapsed 1624 Constituency re-enfranchised by Parliament 1624 William Ashton Thomas Fanshawe 1625 William Ashton Thomas Fanshawe 1626 Sir William Harrington Sir Capell Bedell 1628 Sir Edward Howard ennobled and replaced by Sir Charles Morrison Sir Thomas Fanshawe 1629 John Carey, Viscount Rochford Sir Thomas Fanshawe 1629–1640No Parliaments summoned
1640–1868
YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640Viscount CranborneParliamentarianSir Thomas FanshaweRoyalistNovember 1640November 1643Fanshawe disabled from sitting - seat vacant1645William LemanDecember 1648Cranborne not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge1653Hertford was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament1654Isaac Pulter Hertford had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate1656January 1659 James Cowper May 1659Not represented in the restored RumpApril 1660 Arthur Sparke James Cowper 1661 Sir Edward Turnor Thomas Fanshawe 1673 Sir Thomas Byde 1675 Edmund Feilde 1677 Sir John Gore February 1679 Sir Charles Caesar September 1679 Sir William Cowper 1685 Sir Francis Boteler 1689 Sir William Cowper 1690 Sir William Leman 1695 William Cowper January 1701 Charles Caesar Thomas Filmer February 1701 Richard Goulston 1705 Sir Thomas Clarke 1708 William Monson 1710 Charles Caesar Richard Goulston 1715 At the general election of 1715, Caesar and Goulston were initially declared re-elected, but on petition the result was overturned and their opponents, Clarke and Boteler, were seated in their place Sir Thomas Clarke John Boteler 1722 Edward Harrison Charles CaesarOn petition, Caesar was adjudged not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Clarke, was declared elected in his place 1723 Sir Thomas Clarke 1727 George Harrison 1734 Nathaniel Brassey 1741 George Harrison 1759 George Cowper 1761 John Calvert Timothy Caswall 1768 William Cowper 1770 Paul Feilde 1780 Thomas, Baron DimsdaleDimsdale was a baron in the Russian peerage William Baker 1784 John Calvert 1790 Nathaniel, Baron Dimsdale 1802 Hon. Edward Spencer CowperWhig Nicolson Calvert Whig 1817 James Gascoyne-Cecil Tory 1823 Thomas Byron Tory 1826 Thomas Slingsby Duncombe Whig 1830 Henry Chetwynd-Talbot Tory 1831 John Currie Whig 1832 At the election of 1832 Ingestrie and Mahon were declared elected, but on petition was their election was declared void, Hertford's writ was suspended and the seats remained vacant until the next general election Henry Chetwynd-Talbot Tory Philip Stanhope Tory1832 writ suspended: both seats vacant until 1835 1835 Hon. William Cowper Whig Philip Stanhope Conservative 1852 Thomas Chambers Radical 1857 Sir Walter Townshend-Farquhar Conservative1859 Liberal 1866 Robert Dimsdale Conservative1868 Representation reduced to one MP
1868–1885 ElectionMemberParty 1868 Robert Dimsdale Conservative 1874 Arthur Balfour Conservative1885 Constituency abolished; name transferred to county division
Hertford county constituency (1885–1974) ElectionMemberPartyNotes 1885 Abel Smith ConservativeMember for Hertfordshire (1854–1857, 1859–1865, 1866–1885) 1898 by-election Evelyn Cecil Conservative 1900 Abel Henry Smith ConservativeMember for Christchurch (1892–1900) Jan 1910 Sir John Rolleston ConservativeMember for Leicester (1900–1906) 1916 by-election Noel Pemberton Billing Independent 1921 by-electionMurray Sueter Anti-Waste League/Independent Parliamentary Group Oct 1922 Conservative 1945 Derek Walker-Smith ConservativeContested East Hertfordshire following redistribution Constituency split, majority renamed East Hertfordshire, minority merged with part of Barnet 1955 Robert Lindsay ConservativeContested Welwyn Hatfield following redistributionFeb 1974 Constituency abolished - see Welwyn Hatfield and Hertford and Stevenage
Election results 1830–1885 Elections in the 1830s
The 1832 election was later declared void, but a new writ was not issued during the course of the parliament.
Cowper was appointed as a commissioner of Greenwich Hospital, requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1840s
Cowper was appointed a Civil Lord of the Admiralty, requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1850s
Cowper was appointed Civil Lord of the Admiralty, requiring a by-election.
Cowper was appointed president of the General Board of Health, requiring a by-election.
Cowper was appointed Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education, requiring a by-election.
Cowper was appointed Vice-President of the Board of Trade, requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1860s Cowper was appointed First Commissioner of Works, requiring a by-election.
Townshend-Farquhar's death caused a by-election.
Seat reduced to one member
Elections in the 1870s
Elections in the 1880s
Balfour was appointed President of the Local Government Board, requiring a by-election.
Election results 1885–1950 Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
Smith's death caused a by-election.
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
General Election 1914–15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; Unionist: John Rolleston Liberal: Independent: W. H. Rolfe
* Barnard was also the nominee of the National Farmers' Union
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1940s General Election 1939–40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected; Conservative: Murray Sueter Labour: Mitchell W. GordonReport of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
Elections in the 1950s
Election results 1955–1974 Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
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) F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949" (Glasgow: Political Reference Publications, 1969) Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)