Derbyshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Derbyshire is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Knights of the Shire.
History
Boundaries and franchise
The constituency, which first returned members to Parliament in 1290, consisted of the historic county of Derbyshire.In medieval times, the MPs would have been elected at the county court, by the suitors to the court, which meant the tiny handful of the local nobility who were tenants in chief of the Crown. However, from 1430, the Forty Shilling Freeholder Act extended the right to vote to every man who possessed freehold property within the county valued at £2 or more per year for the purposes of land tax; it was not necessary for the freeholder to occupy his land, nor even in later years to be resident in the county at all.
Except briefly during the period of the Commonwealth, Derbyshire had two MPs elected by the bloc vote method, under which each voter had two votes.
Character
From Elizabethan times, elections in Derbyshire were dominated by the Cavendish family at Chatsworth, later Dukes of Devonshire. This influence was originally established by the formidable Bess of Hardwick, whose second husband was a Cavendish and who in 1572 manoeuvred to secure her son from that marriage a seat as MP for the county - a considerable honour for a young man from what was then a family of only minor importance. She had meanwhile married the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, and her stepson, the future 7th Earl, was elected to the second seat for the county at the same time, despite being two-and-a-half years too young to take his seat. From this point onwards until the Reform Act, one of the two MPs was almost invariably a Cavendish or a Cavendish nominee, although the other seat was generally left to the other leading families of the county; the continuance of this dominance was all the more remarkable because Derbyshire did not have a rash of boroughs where the local gentry could find a seat when unable to secure election for Derbyshire - indeed, in the one borough that there was, Derby, the Dukes of Devonshire kept as tight hold on one of the two seats as they did in the county.As in most counties of any size, contested elections were avoided whenever possible because of the expense. Elections were held at a single polling place, Derby, and voters from the rest of the county had to travel to the county town to exercise their franchise; candidates were expected to meet the expenses of their supporters in travelling to the poll and to entertain them lavishly with food and drink when they got there. There were only four general elections between 1700 and 1832 when Derbyshire's seats were contested: on every other occasion the various competing interests in the county managed to reach agreement on who should represent the county without taking the matter to a poll.
In the pre-industrial era, Derbyshire was a flourishing agricultural county, but it was one of the English counties most dramatically affected by industrialisation in the 18th and early 19th centuries, becoming noted in particular for the manufacture of heavy machinery and of armaments. Its population grew swiftly ; but the electorate has been estimated at only 3,000 or 4,000 in the second half of the 18th century, and was probably not much higher by the time of the Reform Act. The Dukes of Devonshire were able to maintain much of their traditional influence, Cavendish members occupying one of the two seats as a Whig MP; but the county itself was predominantly Tory, and usually ensured that the other MP was returned in that interest.
Few of the industrial workers, of course, had the vote since they were not property owners, and in the early 19th century political unrest was common - most notably the "Pentrich Revolution" or "Derbyshire Rising" of 1817. Derbyshire soon became one of the most vocal centres of agitation for Parliamentary reform, and by 1830 this sentiment had spread to the voters as well. At the 1831 election their sitting Tory MP was summarily swept out of his seat for supporting a destructive amendment to the Reform Bill.
But the Duke of Devonshire, a supporter of Reform even though it entailed the loss of his own pocket boroughs around the country, was able to retain the voters' support, telling a county meeting in 1832:
The members of the aristocracy have sometimes been considered in an unfavourable light by the people. For much of this they are indebted to the manner in which the present constitution of Parliament has enabled them to interfere and dictate in the representation... Let them stand on their own merits; and I have no fear that the people of England will be unjust to the aristocracy of England, united by mutual kind feelings and good offices, and not by close boroughs and mock representation.
- Speech recorded in the Duke of Devonshire's diary, quoted in Brock
This seems to have sufficiently satisfied the Derbyshire voters that they allowed the Dukes to continue to "interfere and dictate in the representation" to the extent that they continued electing Cavendishes well into the 20th century.
Abolition
The constituency was abolished in 1832 by the Great Reform Act, which divided the county into two new two-member divisions, Northern Derbyshire and Southern Derbyshire.Members of Parliament
1290–1399
- Constituency created
| Parliament | First member | Second member |
| 1295 | Henry de Kniveton | Giles de Meynell |
| 1297 | Robert Dethick | Thomas Foljambe |
| 1298 | Henry de Brailsford | Henry FitzHerbert |
| 1300 | Geffry de Gresley | Robert de Frechville |
| 1300 | Ralf de Frechville | Geffry de Gresley |
| 1301 | Ralf de Frechville | Geffry de Gresley |
| 1302 | Thomas Foljambe | Robert de Touks |
| 1305 | Henry Foljambe | William Faunel |
| 1306 | Robert Dethick | Giles de Meynell |
| 1308 | Ralph Frechville | William Faunel |
| 1309 | Thomas Foljambe | - |
| 1311 | William Faunel | Thomas Foljambe |
| 1312 | William Ressol | William Faunel |
| 1313 | Ralph Frechville | - |
| 1315 | Ralph Frechville | Thomas Foljambe |
| 1315 | Robert Staunton | John Twyford |
| 1316 | John Beaufay | Robert Staunton |
| 1317 | Robert Staunton | John Deynecourt |
| 1319 | John de Twyford | Ralf de Cromwell |
| 1319 | John Deynecourt | John de Twyford |
| 1324 | Hugh de Meynell | Nicholas de Longford |
| 1325 | Ralf de Reseby | William Rosell |
| 1326 | William Rosell | John de Beaufay |
| 1327 | Thomas de Stanton | William Michell |
| 1327 | William de Samperton | Simon de Cestre |
| 1327 | William Michell | Robert Ingram de Etewell |
| 1328 | John de Beaufay | William Michell |
| 1328 | Robert de Meynell | John de Beaufay |
| 1330 | Edm. de Appleby | John de Verdon |
| 1330 | Hugh de Meynell | Robert de Meynell |
| 1331 | Hugh FitzHugh de Meynell | Roger de Okeover |
| 1332 | Robert de Meynell | William Michell |
| 1332 | Hugh de Meynell | Robert de Meynell |
| 1332 | Robert de Meynell | Peter de Wakebrigg |
| 1333 | William de Saperton | Simon de Chester |
| 1333 | Robert de Meynell | Peter de Wakebrigg |
| 1334 | Robert de Ingram | John de Hambury |
| 1334 | William de Saperton | Simon de Chester |
| 1335 | Henry de Kniveton | John Cockeyn |
| 1336 | Peter de Wakebrigg | Hugh de Muskham |
| 1337 | William Michell | Thomas? Adam |
| 1337 | Giles de Meynell | Robert Franceys |
| 1337 | Giles de Meynell | John Cockeyn |
| 1338 | Giles de Meynell | Robert Franceys |
| 1338 | John Cockeyn | Godfrey Foljambe |
| 1338 | John Deyncourts | John de Twyford |
| 1339 | John Cokeyn | Thomas Adam |
| 1339 | John Cockeyn | Robert de Chester |
| 1340 | Sir Godfrey Foljambe | John Cockayn |
| 1340 | Robert Ingram | Robert Gresley |
| 1340 | Robert Ingram | - |
| 1340 | Robert Touks | John Beausey |
| 1341 | John Cockeyn | Robert of Ireland |
| 1343 | Thomas Adam | Robert Asheburn |
| 1344 | John Cockeyn | John Foucher |
| 1346 | Giles de Meynell | Roger de Emerton |
| 1346 | William de Ashewell | John de Chellaston |
| 1347 | Roger de Enyton | Robert de Ashbourn |
| 1348 | John de Rochford | John de Chellaston |
| 1348 | Roger de Enynton | Robert de Ashbourn |
| 1350 | John Cockeyn | John Foucher |
| 1351 | John Cockeyn | John Foucher |
| 1352 | Roger de Padley | William de Chester |
| 1352 | Robert de Twyford | - |
| 1353 | Robert Franceys | - |
| 1354 | Henry de Braylesford | Robert Franceys |
| 1355 | Thomas Adam | John Beck |
| 1357 | Robert Franceys | Thomas Adam |
| 1357 | William de Wakebrigg | Mi. de Breideston |
| 1357 | Robert Franceys | Thomas Adam |
| 1358 | William de Wakebrigg | Roger Michell |
| 1360 | Robert Franceys | John Foucher |
| 1360 | Henry de Braylesford | John Cockayn |
| 1361 | Henry de Braylesford | John Cockayn |
| 1362 | John Cockayn | Robert Franceys |
| 1363 | Edmund de Appleby | - |
| 1364 | Sir Godfrey Foljambe | Henry de Braylesford |
| 1365 | Robert de Twyford | Ralph de Stathom |
| 1368 | Robert de Twyford | John Foucher |
| 1369 | Sir Godfrey Foljambe | Robert de Twyford |
| 1371 | Sir Godfrey Foljambe | John Foucher |
| 1371 | Sir Godfrey Foljambe | John Foucher |
| 1372 | Alured de Sulney | John Franceys |
| 1373 | William Bokepnys | Ralph de Stathom |
| 1377 | Edmund de Appleby | Ralph de Stathom |
| 1377 | John de la Pole de Hertingdon | E. Foucher |
| 1378 | Alured Sulwey | Sir Robert Twyford |
| 1379 | Oliver de Barton | Ralph de Stathom |
| 1379 | Alured Sulwey | John Curson de Ketilston |
| 1380 | Sir Thomas Marchington | Henry de Braylesford |
| 1381 | Oliver de Barton | William de Sallowe |
| 1382 | T. de Twyford | Sir Thomas Marchington |
| 1382 | Sir Thomas Marchington | Sir Philip Okeover |
| 1383 | Thomas de Wernesley | John Curson |
| 1383 | Sir Thomas Marchington | Ralph de Braylesford |
| 1384 | John Curson | Ralph de Braylesford |
| 1384 | Robert Franceys | William de Adderly |
| 1386 | Sir Thomas Wensley of Wensley | Sir William Dethick of Dethick |
| 1388 | Robert Franceys | William de Adderly |
| 1388 | Sir Nicholas Montgomery of Marston Montgomery | Robert Franceys |
| 1390 | Sir Thomas Wensley of Wensley | Sir Nicholas Montgomery of Marston Montgomery |
| 1390 | William Adderly | Thomas Foljambe |
| 1391 | Sir Philip Okeover | Thomas Foljambe |
| 1393 | John Dabrichecourt | Nicholas Gousill,jnr |
| 1394 | Sir Thomas Wensley of Wensley | John de la Pole |
| 1395 | Sir John Cokayne | Peter de Melbourne |
| 1397 | Sir William Dethick of Dethick | Roger de Bradburn |
| 1397 | John Dabrichecourt | William Meynell |
| 1399 | Walter Blount | John Curson |
1400–1499
1500–1640
1640–1653
1654–1658
- Representation increased to four members in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
| Year | First member | Second member | Third member | Fourth member |
| 1654 | Nathaniel Barton | Thomas Sanders | Edward Gell | John Gell |
| 1656 | Sir Samuel Sleigh | Thomas Sanders | German Pole | John Gell |
1659–1832
- Representation restored to two members in the Third Protectorate Parliament
Elections