Wilton was the name of a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire. It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1295 to 1707, then in the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It had two Members of Parliament (MPs) until 1832, but from 1832 to 1885 only one member, as a result of the Reform Act 1832 where it also absorbed the former rotten borough of Old Sarum. In 1885 the borough was abolished, but the name of the constituency was then transferred to a new county constituency electing one Member from 1885 until 1918.

Boundaries 1885–1918: The Borough of Salisbury, the Sessional Divisions of Amesbury, Hindon, and Salisbury, and the civil parishes of Figheldean, Fisherton-de-la-Mere, Milston, and Wily.

Stonehenge was within the constituency from 1885 until the seat disappeared in 1918, since when it has been in the Salisbury seat.

Members of Parliament Wilton borough MPs 1295–1640

ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1386 Thomas Cuttyng Thomas Moleyns 1388 (Feb) Thomas Cuttyng William Chitterne 1388 (Sep) Thomas Cuttyng John Hulle 1390 (Jan) Thomas Cuttyng William Chitterne 1390 (Nov) 1391 1393 John Cole Henry Bont 1394 Thomas Cuttyng John Cole 1395 Thomas Cuttyng John Hardy 1397 (Jan) John Hardy William Chitterne 1397 (Sep) John Hardy Thomas Cuttyng 1399 Thomas Cuttyng William Chitterne 1401 1402 John Bottenham William Chitterne 1404 (Jan) 1404 (Oct) 1406 Robert Frye John Hardy 1407 Robert Frye Robert Lardiner 1410 Robert Frye John Harleston 1411 Robert Frye John Harleston 1413 (Feb) 1413 (May) Robert Frye John Lambarde 1414 (Apr) John Valeys John Harleston 1414 (Nov)John Harleston John Whithorne 1415 John Harleston John Whithorne 1416 (Mar) 1416 (Oct) 1417 John Harleston John Whithorne 1419 John Harleston John Whithorne 1420 John Harleston John Whithorne 1421 (May) John Harleston John Whithorne 1421 (Dec) John Harleston John Whithorne 1510-1523 No names known 1529 Geoffrey Pole Edmund Knightley 1536 ? 1539 ? 1542 Sir Edward Bayntun William Herbert 1545 Sir Thomas Lee Christopher Willoughby 1547 Robert Watson Robert Warner 1553 (Mar) William DamsellStanley T. Bindoff, The House of Commons|| 1509-1558, vol. 4, p. 9William Wightman 1553 (Oct) Nicholas Chowne Henry Creed 1554 (Apr) William Clerke Matthew Colthurst 1554 (Nov) William Clerke Henry Creed 1555 Henry Creed William Clerke 1558 William Clerke Henry Creed 1559 Henry Bodenham Thomas Highgate 1562–3 William Wightman Thomas Highgate 1571 William Wightman Thomas Highgate 1572 William Clerke Francis Vaughan 1584 John Penruddock Roger Earthe 1586 Edward Penruddock Henry Martyn 1588 Thomas Cavendish Robert Penruddock 1593 Sir Thomas Morgan Robert Penruddock 1597 Thomas Muffet Robert Penruddock 1601 Sir Edmund Morgan Hugh Sanford 1604-1611 Sir Thomas Edmonds Hugh Sandford 1614 Sir Robert Sidney Thomas Morgan 1621 Henry Nevill, 9th Baron Bergavenny ennobled 1622 replaced by Thomas Morgan Sir Thomas Tracy 1624 Sir Thomas Morgan Sir Percy Hobart 1625 Sir Thomas Morgan Sir William Harrington 1626 Sir Thomas Morgan Sir John Evelyn 1628 John Pooley Sir Thomas Morgan 1629–1640No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1832 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640Sir Henry Vane (the elder) ParliamentarianSir Benjamin RudyerdParliamentarianNovember 1640December 1648Rudyerd excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant1653Wilton was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659Richard Howe Hon. John HerbertMay 1659Wilton was not represented in the restored RumpApril 1660 Richard Howe Francis Swanton April 1661 John NicholasNicholas was also elected for West Looe and Ripon. He chose to represent Ripon, and did not sit for Wilton in this parliament Thomas Mompesson June 1661 John Berkenhead February 1679 Hon. Thomas Herbert Thomas Penruddocke August 1679 Sir John Nicholas 1685 Oliver Nicholas 1689 Thomas Penruddocke Thomas Wyndham 1690 Sir Richard Howe 1695 John Hawles John Gauntlett 1698 Sir Henry Ashurst WhigJanuary 1701 Thomas Phipps November 1701 Sir Henry Ashurst WhigJuly 1702 Sir John Hawles George Boddington November 1702 John Gauntlett 1705 William Nicholas 1708 Sir Lambert Blackwell Charles Mompesson 1710 John LondonOn petition, London was found not to have been duly elected 1711 Peter Bathurst 1713 John London Thomas PittCreated The Lord Londonderry 1719 and The Viscount Londonderry 1726, both titles being in the Peerage of Ireland 1722 Hon. Robert Sawyer Herbert 1727 Thomas Martin 1734 Colonel the Hon. William Herbert 1757 Hon. Nicholas Herbert 1768 Henry Herbert 1775 Captain Charles Herbert 1780 Lord Herbert Tory William Gerard Hamilton Tory 1785 Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Goldsworthy Tory 1788 Lord Herbert Tory 1790 The Viscount FitzWilliam Tory 1794 Major General Philip Goldsworthy Tory 1801 John Spencer Tory 1804 Ralph Sheldon Tory 1806 Captain the Hon. Charles Herbert Tory 1807 Captain Charles Herbert Tory 1816 Viscount FitzHarris Tory 1821 John Penruddocke Tory 1823 Edward Baker Tory 1830 Henry Bulwer Tory 1831 James Dawkins Tory1832 Representation reduced to one member

MPs 1832–1885 Election Member Party 1832 John Penruddocke Tory 1834 Conservative 1837 Edward Baker Conservative 1841 James Harris Conservative 1841 by-election James Agar Conservative 1847 Peelite 1852 Charles A'Court Peelite 1855 by-election (Sir) Edmund AntrobusSucceeded to a baronetcy, May 1870 Peelite 1859 Liberal 1877 by-election Hon. Sidney Herbert Conservative 1885 Borough abolished - name transferred to county division

Wiltshire, Southern or Wilton Division MPs 1885–1918 Year Member Party 1885 Sir Thomas Grove Liberal 1886 Liberal Unionist 1892 Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie Conservative 1900 James Morrison Conservative 1906 Levi Lapper Morse Liberal 1910 Sir Charles Bathurst Conservative 1918 Hugh Morrison Unionist1918 Constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

Elections in the 1840s

Harris succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Earl of Malmesbury, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1850s

A'Court resigned after being appointed a Special Commissioner of Property and Income Tax in Ireland, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1870s

Antrobus resigned, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1880s

Herbert was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

Elections in the 1890s

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: Charles Bathurst Liberal: Charles Leach

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) The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913) F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989) J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)