Pontefract was an English parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Pontefract in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons briefly in the 13th century and again from 1621 until 1885, and one member from 1885 to 1974.
History In the unreformed Parliaments (1295–1832) Pontefract had representation in the Model Parliament of 1295, and in that which followed it in 1298, but gained a continuous franchise only from 1621. The constituency was a parliamentary borough, returning two members, consisting only of the town of Pontefract itself.
Until 1783, Pontefract was a burgage borough, where the right to vote was attached to the holders of about 325 specified properties in the borough. As in most burgage boroughs, the majority of the burgage tenements were concentrated in a small number of hands, giving their owners an effective stranglehold on the choice of representatives; but, since an individual could not vote more than once in person, however, many of the burgages he controlled, such a majority could only be exercised by conveying each of the properties to a reliable nominee at election time. In Pontefract the two chief landowners in the first half of the 18th century, George Morton Pitt and Lord Galway, owned between them a narrow majority of the burgages, but rather than putting in dummy voters to enforce their control they had preferred to reach an amicable settlement at each election with the remaining small burgage holders, who were mostly residents of the town. Consequently, the inhabitants generally had some voice in the choice of their MPs, as well as benefiting from the monetary outlay that the patrons expended to secure their goodwill.
However, in 1766 Pitt sold his burgages to John Walsh, who persuaded Galway to join him in abandoning canvassing and treating of the other voters, instead bringing in "faggot voters" to enforce their majority. At the next general election, in 1768, the indignant inhabitants put up their own candidates (Sir Rowland Winn and his brother), and a riot on polling day prevented the imported voters from reaching the polling booth. The election was declared void and Walsh's nominee duly returned at the by-election, but the townsmen refused to abandon their quest.
Defeated in 1774, when Charles James Fox stood as one of their candidates, they petitioned against the result, but the Commons upheld the burgage franchise. But in 1783, when they tried again, the Commons abandoned its usual practice of refusing to reconsider a decision on a constituency's franchise, and declared that the right to vote was properly vested in all the (male) resident householders; this remained the case for the final half-century of the unreformed Parliament.
By the time of the Great Reform Act 1832, roughly 800 householders qualified to vote, and 699 did so in the contested election of 1830; the borough at this period had a total population of just under 5,000. Nevertheless, Pontefract still classed as a pocket borough, where the Earl of Harewood had the effective power to choose one of its two MPs.
After the Reform Act 1832
The Reform Act 1832 extended the boundaries of the constituency, bringing in the neighbouring townships of Tanshelf, Monkhill, Knottingley, Ferrybridge and Carleton, as well as Pontefract Castle and Pontefract Park, which had previously been excluded. This doubled the population to just over 10,000, in 4,832 houses.
In 1872 Pontefract became the first British constituency to hold a parliamentary election by secret ballot, at a by-election held shortly after the act of Parliament ending the old practice of open voting had come into effect. There was considerable interest in the outcome, many observers believing that support for the parties might be drastically different once voters were able to make their choice in secret; but in the event the shares of the vote were much as they had been at the previous general election. Hugh Childers was re-elected on 15 August 1872 following his appointment as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The Pontefract museum holds the original ballot box, sealed in wax with a liquorice stamp.
The third Reform Act, which came into effect at the general election of 1885, reduced Pontefract's representation from two members to one, though the boundaries remained essentially unchanged. In 1918, Pontefract became a county constituency, with boundaries extended to cover a much wider area – Pontefract itself, the towns of Knottingley and Goole, and the Pontefract and Goole rural districts.
At the 1950 general election Pontefract regained its borough status, being redrawn as a wholly urban constituency consisting of Pontefract, Castleford and Featherstone. From February 1974, the constituency was renamed Pontefract and Castleford, although its composition remained unchanged.
Members of Parliament 1621–1640 ParliamentFirst memberSecond memberRight to return members restored, 1621 1621 George Shilleto Sir Edwin Sandys, jnr 1623Sir Henry Holcroft Sir Thomas Wentworth1623Sir John JacksonSir Thomas Wentworth 1625 Sir John Jackson Richard Beaumont 1626 Sir John Jackson Sir Francis Foljambe, 1st Baronet 1628 Sir John Ramsden Sir John Jackson 1629–1640 No Parliaments summoned
1640–1885 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party April 1640John RamsdenRoyalist Sir George Wentworth (1) Royalist November 1640 Sir George Wentworth (1) Royalist Sir George Wentworth (2) RoyalistSeptember 1642Wentworth disabled to sit – seat vacant January 1644Wentworth disabled to sit – seat vacant1645 Henry Arthington 1646William White1653Pontefract was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659 John Hewley John Lambert May 1659 William WhiteOne seat vacant 1660 William Lowther Sir George Savile, Bt. 1661 Sir John Dawnay 1679Sir Patience Ward 1685 Sir Thomas Yarburgh 1690 Henry Dawnay Sir John Bland, Bt. 1695 Sir William Lowther Robert Monckton 1698Sir John Bland, Bt. John Bright 1701 William Lowther 1710Robert Frank 1713 John DawnayDawnay had also been elected for Aldborough, but a petition against the result there had not been resolved by the time the Parliament was dissolved. Not being required to choose which constituency he would represent while there was an outstanding petition against one of the elections, he sat for both boroughs throughout the Parliament 1716 At the general election of 1715, Dawnay and Frank were declared re-elected, but on petition the result was overturned and their opponents, Bethell and Lowther, seated in their placeSir William Lowther, 1st Baronet Hugh Bethell 1722 John Lowther 1729 Sir William Lowther, 2nd Baronet 1730John Mordaunt 1734 John Monckton 1741 George Morton Pitt 1747 William Monckton 1749 John Monckton 1751 Robert Monckton 1754 William Monckton-Arundell Sambrooke Freeman 1761 William Gerard Hamilton March 1768 Sir Rowland Winn December 1768 Henry Strachey 1772 Henry Monckton-Arundell March 1774 Robert Monckton October 1774 Sir John Goodricke, Bt. Charles Mellish 1780William Nedham Robert Monckton-Arundell February 1783 Nathaniel Smith April 1783 John Smyth Whig 1784 William Sotheron 1796 Robert Monckton-Arundell 1802 Richard Benyon 1806 Robert Pemberton Milnes Tory 1807 John Savile Tory October 1812 Henry LascellesLascelles was also elected for Yorkshire, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Pontefract Tory December 1812 John Savile Tory 1818 Thomas Houldsworth Tory 1826 Le Gendre Starkie Tory 1830 Hon. Henry Stafford-Jerningham Whig Sir Culling Eardley, Bt. Tory 1831 John Savile Tory 1832 John Gully Whig 1835 John Savile Conservative 1837 Richard Monckton Milnes Conservative William Stanley-Massey-Stanley Whig 1841 John Savile Conservative 1847 Samuel Martin Whig 1851 Hon. Beilby LawleyLawley was ennobled as Baron Wenlock in May 1852 but no new writ was ordered.Whig 1852 Benjamin Oliveira Whig 1857Whig William Wood Whig 1859 Liberal William OverendConservative 1860 Hugh Childers Liberal 1863 Samuel Waterhouse Conservative 1880 Sidney Woolf Liberal1885 Representation reduced to one member
1885–1974 ElectionMemberPartyNotes 1885 reduced to one member 1885 Rowland Winn ConservativeSucceeded to the peerage as Baron St Oswald February 1893 by-election Harold Reckitt Liberal Election voided June 1893 by-election Thomas Willans Nussey Liberal 1910 Handel Booth Liberal Contested Wentworth following redistribution 1918 Joseph Compton-Rickett Coalition LiberalDied July 1919 1919 by-election Walter Forrest Coalition Liberal Jan 1922 National Liberal Nov 1922 Tom Smith Labour 1924 Christopher Brooke Unionist 1929 Tom Smith Labour 1931 Thomas E. Sotheron-Estcourt Conservative 1935 Adam Hills Labour Died June 1941 1941 by-election Percy Barstow Labour 1950 George Sylvester Labour Died October 1961 1962 by-election Joe Harper Labour Contested Pontefract and Castleford following redistribution Feb 1974 constituency abolished: see Pontefract & Castleford Notes
Elections Elections in the 1830s
Elections in the 1840s
Elections in the 1850s Martin resigned after being appointed a judge of the Court of the Exchequer, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1860s Overend resigned, causing a by-election.
Milnes was elevated to the peerage, becoming Lord Houghton and causing a by-election.
Childers was appointed a Civil Lord of the Admiralty, causing a by-election.
Childers was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1870s Childers was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1880s
Childers was appointed Secretary of State for War, requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1890s
Winn succeeded to the peerage, becoming Lord St Oswald.
The by-election was declared void on petition, requiring 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; Liberal: Handel Booth Unionist: Labour:
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Election in the 1970s
References
Robert Beatson, "A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament" (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) Bean, W. W., "The Parliamentary Representation of the Six Northern Counties of England" (Hull: Charles Henry Barnwell, 1890) John Brooke, The House of Commons 1754–1790: Introductory Survey (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968, reprinted from Volume I of Namier & Brooke, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754–1790, London: HMSO, 1964) "Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803" (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
J Holladay Philbin, "Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965) Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)
External links Pontefract elections