Wexford Borough (UK Parliament constituency)

Wexford
Wexford
Former borough constituency; for the House of Commons
County	County Wexford
Borough	Wexford
1801–1885
Seats	1
Created from	Wexford (IHC)
Replaced by	South Wexford

The parliamentary borough of Wexford, Ireland, was represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885 by a borough constituency electing one Member of Parliament (MP), on the electoral system of first past the post.^[1]^[2] It succeeded the two-seat constituency of Wexford represented in the Irish House of Commons until the abolition of the Irish Parliament on 1 January 1801 under the Acts of Union 1800.^[3]

Boundaries

The boundaries of the constituency were defined in the Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 as:^[4]

From the Point on the South-east of the Town at which the Sea-shore is met by a Wall and Footpath which run a few Yards to the North of the Burial Ground which is near the Country House belonging to Mr. Talbot, along the said Wall to the Point at which the same meets the Fayeth Road; thence in a straight Line to the Flagstaff at the Signal Station; thence in a straight Line in the Direction of the Eastern Corner of Cromwell's Fort House to the Point at which such straight Line cuts the Wall of the Pleasure Grounds of Cromwell's Fort House; thence, Northward, along the Wall of the said Pleasure Grounds to the Duncormick Road; thence, Westward, still along the Wall of the said Pleasure Grounds, to the westernmost Point at which the same leaves the Duncormick Road, thus excluding the whole of the said Pleasure Grounds; thence in a straight Line in the Direction of the South-western Corner of the Distillery to the Point at which such straight Line cuts the Road which runs in front of the Distillery; thence along the last-mentioned Road to the Point at which the same crosses the Johnstown Road near the Bridge over the Bishop's Water; thence in a straight Line to the Point close to the Female Orphan House, at which the Northern Duncannon Road is met by a Road which leads therefrom into the New Ross Road; thence along the Road so leading into the New Ross Road to the Ruins of the southernmost of Two old Windmills; thence in a straight Line to a Point on the New Ross Road which is distant One hundred and sixty Yards (measured along the New Ross Road) to the North-west of the Obelisk; thence in a straight Line to the northernmost Point at which the Boundary of the Premises of Mr. Scallen, a Brewer, meets the Enniscorthy Road; thence, Westward, along the Enniscorthy Road to an Iron Gate in a Stone Wall distant about Three hundred and sixty Yards from the Centre of the Diocesan School; thence along the Road or Path which leads from the said Iron Gate to the Point at which the same meets the Sea-shore; thence along the Sea-shore to the Point first described.

Under the Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1868, its boundaries were extended to include all of the municipal borough of Wexford.^[5]

Members of Parliament

Election	MP		Note
1801-01-01	Francis Leigh		1801: Co-opted; Resigned (appointed Escheator of Munster)
1801-02-20	Ponsonby Tottenham
1802-07-09	Richard Nevill^[a]	Tory
1806-11-10	Sir Robert Wigram, Bt	Tory^[6]
1807-05-21	Richard Nevill^[a]	Tory	Resigned (appointed Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds)
1810-03-03	Capt. Peter Parker R.N.	Tory	Resigned (appointed Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds)
1811-07-01	Richard Nevill^[a]	Tory	Resigned (appointed Steward of the Manor of East Hendred)
1813-03-03	Vice Admiral John Fish	Tory	Resigned (appointed Escheator of Munster)
1814-08-09	Richard Nevill^[a]	Tory	Resigned (appointed Escheator of Ulster)
1819-03-01	Capt. Henry Evans R.N.	Tory
1820-03-20	William Wigram	Tory^[6]
1826-06-19	Rear Admiral Henry Evans	Tory	Resigned (appointed Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds)
1829-06-03	Robert Wigram^[b]	Tory^[6]	Unseated on petition
1830-03-15^[c]	Sir Edward Dering, Bt	Tory^[6]	Declared duly elected
1830-08-07	William Wigram	Tory^[6]	Unseated on petition
1831-02-21^[c]	Sir Edward Dering, Bt	Ultra-Tory	Declared duly elected
1831-05-06	Charles Arthur Walker	Whig	Re-elected as a candidate of the Repeal Association
1832-12-14	Charles Arthur Walker	Irish Repeal^[7]	Re-elected as a candidate of a Liberal/Repealer pact
1841-07-12	Sir Thomas Esmonde, Bt	Whig^[6]^[8]
1847-08-04	John Thomas Devereux	Irish Repeal^[7]	Re-elected as an Independent Irish candidate
1852-07-09		Independent Irish^[7]	Re-elected as a Liberal candidate
1857-03-20		Whig
1859-05-03	John Edward Redmond	Liberal^[7]
1865-07-17	Richard Joseph Devereux	Liberal^[7]	Resigned
1872-04-26	William Archer Redmond	Home Rule^[7]	Died 1880
1880-11-24	Tim Healy	Home Rule^[7]	Joined new organisation
1882^[d]	Tim Healy	Irish Parliamentary^[7]	Resigned to contest Monaghan
1883-07-17	Willie Redmond	Irish Parliamentary^[7]
1885-11-18	Constituency abolished

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Stooks Smith names the MP 1802–1806 as Richard Neville Furness, 1807–1810 as Richard Neville, 1811–1813 as Robert Neville and 1814–1819 as Richard Neville. Walker names the MP for all these terms as Richard Nevill.
^ From 1832 known as Robert Fitzwygram.
^ ^a ^b Not an election - date when the previous member was unseated and the petitioner was declared duly elected.
^ Not an election - change of party allegiance.

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Wexford^[7]^[6]^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	William Wigram	31	52.5
	Ultra-Tory	Edward Dering	28	47.5
Majority			3	5.0
Turnout			59	c. 36.9
Registered electors			c. 160
	Tory hold

On petition, Wigram was unseated and Dering was declared elected.

General election 1831: Wexford^[7]^[6]^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Charles Arthur Walker	Unopposed
Registered electors			160
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1832: Wexford^[7]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal	Charles Arthur Walker	Unopposed
Registered electors			269
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig

General election 1835: Wexford^[7]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Charles Arthur Walker	Unopposed
Registered electors			373
	Irish Repeal hold

General election 1837: Wexford^[7]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Charles Arthur Walker	Unopposed
Registered electors			361
	Irish Repeal hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Wexford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Esmonde	145	59.2	*N/A*
	Conservative	James Bourne	100	40.8	New
Majority			45	18.4	N/A
Turnout			245	81.4	N/A
Registered electors			301
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A

General election 1847: Wexford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Repeal	John Thomas Devereux	Unopposed
Registered electors			375
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Wexford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent Irish	John Thomas Devereux	Unopposed
Registered electors			348
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal

General election 1857: Wexford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	John Thomas Devereux	Unopposed
Registered electors			314
	Whig gain from Independent Irish

General election 1859: Wexford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	John Redmond	Unopposed
Registered electors			301
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Wexford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Joseph Devereux	153	58.8	*N/A*
	Liberal	John Redmond	107	41.2	N/A
Majority			46	17.6	N/A
Turnout			260	77.8	N/A
Registered electors			334
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: Wexford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Richard Joseph Devereux	Unopposed
Registered electors			520
	Liberal hold

On petition, Devereux was unseated due to "informality" in the return, causing a by-election at which he was re-elected.^[10]

By-election, 26 February 1869: Wexford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Richard Joseph Devereux	Unopposed
Registered electors			520
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

Devereux resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 26 Apr 1872: Wexford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	William Archer Redmond	321	86.3	*New*
	Home Rule	Walter Redmond	51	13.7	New
Majority			270	72.6	N/A
Turnout			372	69.5	N/A
Registered electors			535
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1874: Wexford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	William Archer Redmond	323	81.6	*N/A*
	Liberal	Sir Frederick Hughes, 7th Baronet	73	18.4	N/A
Majority			250	63.2	N/A
Turnout			396	79.0	N/A
Registered electors			501
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Wexford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	William Archer Redmond	292	75.5	−6.1
	Liberal	Sir Frederick Hughes, 7th Baronet	95	24.5	+6.1
Majority			197	51.0	−12.2
Turnout			387	80.8	+1.8
Registered electors			479
	Home Rule hold		Swing	−6.1

Redmond's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 24 Nov 1880: Wexford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Home Rule	Tim Healy	Unopposed
Registered electors			479
	Home Rule hold

Healy resigned to stand at the 1883 by-election in Monaghan, causing a by-election.

By-election, 17 July 1883: Wexford^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Willie Redmond	307	70.9	−4.6
	Liberal	Charles Owen O'Conor	126	29.1	+4.6
Majority			181	41.8	−9.2
Turnout			433	83.0	+2.2
Registered electors			522
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing	−4.6

References

^ Jupp, P. J. (1986). "Wexford". In Thorne, R. (ed.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820.
^ Salmon, Philip (2009). "Wexford". In Fisher, D.R. (ed.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1820-1832.
^ Johnston-Liik, Edith Mary. "County Sligo". History of the Irish Parliament. Ulster Historical Foundation.
^ "Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 (c. 89)". The law journal for the year 1832–1949. Abridgment of statutes. Vol. X. E. B. Ince. 1832. pp. 239–246.
^ "Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1868 (31 & 31 Vict., c. 49)" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 243. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via Google Books.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 243–244, 321. ISBN 0901714127.
^ "Evening Mail". 21 June 1841. p. 3. Retrieved 26 August 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b Salmon, Philip. "Wexford". The History of Parliament. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
^ "To the Electors of the Borough of Wexford". Wexford Independent. 24 February 1869. p. 3. Retrieved 22 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Sources

The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 3)

[nevill-6] Stooks Smith names the MP 1802–1806 as Richard Neville Furness, 1807–1810 as Richard Neville, 1811–1813 as Robert Neville and 1814–1819 as Richard Neville. Walker names the MP for all these terms as Richard Nevill.

[8] From 1832 known as Robert Fitzwygram.

[petition-9] Not an election - date when the previous member was unseated and the petitioner was declared duly elected.

[12] Not an election - change of party allegiance.

[1] Jupp, P. J. (1986). "Wexford". In Thorne, R. (ed.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820.

[2] Salmon, Philip (2009). "Wexford". In Fisher, D.R. (ed.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1820-1832.

[3] Johnston-Liik, Edith Mary. "County Sligo". History of the Irish Parliament. Ulster Historical Foundation.

[4] "Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 (c. 89)". The law journal for the year 1832–1949. Abridgment of statutes. Vol. X. E. B. Ince. 1832. pp. 239–246.

[5] "Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1868 (31 & 31 Vict., c. 49)" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives.

[stookssmith1842-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 243. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via Google Books.

[walker-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 243–244, 321. ISBN 0901714127.

[11] "Evening Mail". 21 June 1841. p. 3. Retrieved 26 August 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[hop1820-1832-13] Salmon, Philip. "Wexford". The History of Parliament. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2020.

[14] "To the Electors of the Borough of Wexford". Wexford Independent. 24 February 1869. p. 3. Retrieved 22 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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