Grantham was a Parliamentary constituency in Lincolnshire, England.
The constituency was created in 1468 as a parliamentary borough which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until the union with Scotland, and then to the Parliament of Great Britain until the Act of Union 1800 established the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The parliamentary borough had its representation reduced to one MP in 1885, and was finally abolished in 1918, the name transferring to a new county division which elected one MP. The county constituency was abolished for the 1997 election, and the area formerly covered by this constituency is now mostly in Sleaford and North Hykeham. Grantham became part of the new constituency of Grantham and Stamford.
The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies proposes to re-establish the seat in its revised proposal.
Boundaries The constituency was based on Grantham, a market town on the River Witham.
Members of Parliament
MPs 1468–1640
YearFirst memberSecond member 1491John Mordaunt 1510–1523 No names known 1529 William Hussey Francis Hall 1536 ? 1539 ? 1542 ? 1545 Sir Edward Warner Edmund Hall 1547 1553 (Mar) Thomas Hussey 1553 (Oct) James Wallis 1554 (Apr) Thomas Hussey Richard Disney 1554 (Nov) Roger Johnson Richard Sharpe 1555 George Williams William Porter 1558 Henry Savile Anthony Thorold 1559 (Jan) Thomas Randolph William More 1562–3 Roger Manners William Cooke 1571 William Killigrew Arthur Hall 1572 John Vaughan Arthur HallExpelled from the Commons, 1581 1584 (Nov) Arthur Hall William Thorold 1586 (Oct) Sir Henry Bagenall, sat for Anglesey, repl. by William Ashby Robert Markham 1588–9 Richard More William Armyn 1593 Thomas Horsman Francis Neale 1597 (Oct) 1601 (Oct) Oliver Manners Thomas Horsman 1604 Sir George Manners Sir Thomas Horsman 1614 Sir George Reynell Richard Tufton 1621 Sir William Armyne Sir Clement Cotterell 1624 Sir George Manners 1625 Sir William Airmine 1626 John Wingfield Edward Stirmin 1628–1629 Thomas Hatcher Alexander Moor
MPs 1640–1885 ElectionFirst MemberFirst PartySecond MemberSecond PartyApril 1640 Sir Edward Bashe Henry Pelham November 1640 Thomas HusseyRoyalist Henry Pelham Parliamentarian1641 Sir William Airmine ParliamentarianDecember 1648Pelham excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant1653Grantham was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament1654 William Bury Grantham had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate1656 William Ellys January 1659 Thomas Skipwith Sir William Ellys May 1659Not represented in the restored Rump April 1660Thomas Skipwith Sir John Newton 1661 Sir William Thorold 1678 Sir Robert Markham 1679 Sir William Ellys 1685 Thomas Harrington John Thorold 1689 Sir John Brownlow Sir William Ellys 1697 Sir John Thorold Jan. 1701 Thomas Baptist Manners Nov. 1701 Richard Ellys 1705 Marquess of Granby 1711 Sir John Thorold 1713 Sir John Brownlow 1715 Edward Rolt John Heathcote 1722 Francis Fisher The Viscount Tyrconnel 1727 Sir Michael Newton 1741 Marquess of Granby 1743 Sir John Cust 1754 Lord George Manners 1770 Francis Cust1774 Sir Brownlow Cust 1776 Peregrine Cust 1780 Francis Cockayne-Cust George Manners-Sutton Tory1792 Philip Yorke 1793 Simon Yorke Tory 1802 Thomas Thoroton Sir William Earle Welby, Bt 1806 Russell Manners Whig1807 Sir William Earle Welby, Bt Tory1812 Robert Percy Smith1818 Edward Cust Tory March 1820 James Hughes Whig July 1820 Sir Montague Cholmeley, 1st Bt Whig1826 Frederick TollemacheTory Montague Cholmeley Whig1830 Glynne Welby 1831 James Hughes 1832 Hon. Algernon Tollemache Tory1834 Conservative Conservative 1837 Hon. Frederick Tollemache 1852 Lord Montagu Graham Conservative 1857William Welby Conservative Hon. Frederick Tollemache Peelite 1859 Liberal 1865John Thorold Conservative 1868 by-election Edmund Turnor 1868Sir Hugh Cholmeley, Bt Liberal Hon. Frederick Tollemache Liberal 1874 Henry Cockayne-Cust Conservative 1880 John William Mellor Charles Savile Roundell Liberal1885representation reduced to one member
MPs 1885–1997 ElectionMemberParty 1885John William MellorLiberal 1886 Malcolm Low Conservative 1892 Henry Lopes 1900 Arthur Priestley Liberal 1918 Edmund Royds Coalition Conservative 1922 Robert Pattinson Liberal 1923 Victor Warrender Conservative 1942 by-election Denis Kendall Independent 1950 Eric Smith Conservative 1951 Joseph Godber 1979 Douglas Hogg1997 constituency abolished: see Grantham and Stamford
Elections Elections in the 1830s
Elections in the 1840s
Elections in the 1850s
Elections in the 1860s
Welby resigned in order to contest the 1868 by-election in South Lincolnshire, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1870s
Elections in the 1880s
Mellor was appointed Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces, 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; Liberal: Ernest Bennett Unionist: Herbert Guy Snowden
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected; Conservative: Victor Warrender Labour: Montague William MooreReport of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1990s
See also List of parliamentary constituencies in Lincolnshire
Notes and references Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. .
Sources 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) J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)