Denbigh Boroughs
Former District of Boroughs constituency
for the House of Commons
Preserved countyDenbighshire
Major settlementsDenbigh, Holt, Ruthin, and Wrexham
1542–1918
SeatsOne
Replaced byDenbigh
Wrexham

Denbigh District of Boroughs (variously referred to as Denbigh District, Denbigh Boroughs or just Denbigh) was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Denbigh in Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the British House of Commons.

The constituency first returned an MP in 1542, to the English Parliament. From 1707 to 1800, the MPs sat in the Parliament of Great Britain, and after the Act of Union 1800, in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election.

Boundaries

From its first known general election in 1542 until 1918, the constituency consisted of a number of boroughs within the historic county of Denbighshire in Wales.

The seat should not be confused with the county constituency of Denbighshire, which existed from the sixteenth century until 1885. The county was divided into East Denbighshire and West Denbighshire between 1885 and 1918.

After 1918 Denbighshire was represented in Parliament by two single member county constituencies, which included all the boroughs formerly in the Denbigh District of Boroughs. One of these was Wrexham, but the other was the Denbigh division of Denbighshire.

Denbigh (1535–1832)

On the basis of information from several volumes of the History of Parliament, it is apparent that the history of the borough representation from Wales and Monmouthshire is more complicated than that of the English boroughs.

The Laws in Wales Act 1535 (26 Hen. 8. c. 26) provided for a single borough seat for each of 11 of the 12 Welsh counties and Monmouthshire. The legislation was ambiguous as to which communities were enfranchised. The county towns were awarded a seat, but this in some fashion represented all the ancient boroughs of the county as the others were required to contribute to the members wages. It was not clear if the burgesses of the contributing boroughs could take part in the election. The only election under the original scheme was for the 1542 parliament. It seems that only burgesses from the county towns actually took part. The Parliament Act 1543 (35 Hen. 8. c. 11) confirmed that the contributing boroughs could send representatives to take part in the election at the county town. As far as can be told from surviving indentures of returns, the degree to which the out boroughs participated varied, but by the end of the sixteenth century all the seats had some participation from them at some elections at least.

The original scheme was modified by later legislation and decisions of the House of Commons (which were sometimes made with no regard to precedent or evidence: for example in 1728 it was decided that only the freemen of the borough of Montgomery could participate in the election for that seat, thus disenfranchising the freemen of Llanidloes, Welshpool and Llanfyllin).

In the case of Denbighshire, the county town was Denbigh. The out boroughs were Chirk, Holt, and Ruthin. At some point, between 1603 and 1690, Chirk ceased to participate.

In 1690–1790 the freemen of the three remaining boroughs were entitled to vote. There were about 1,400 electors in 1715 (including non-resident freemen). This number was reduced to about 400 after 1744, when only resident freemen were allowed to vote. The electorate increased to about 500 in the 1754–1790 period.

Denbigh Boroughs (1832–1918)

This was a district of boroughs constituency, which grouped a number of parliamentary boroughs in Denbighshire into one single member constituency. The voters from each participating borough cast ballots, which were added together over the whole district to decide the result of the poll. The enfranchised communities in this district, from 1832, were the four boroughs of Denbigh, Holt, Ruthin, and Wrexham.

The exact boundaries of the parliamentary boroughs in the district were altered by the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1868, but the general nature of the constituency was unchanged. There were no further boundary changes in the 1885 redistribution of parliamentary seats.

After 1918

In the redistribution of seats which took place at the 1918, the Denbigh Boroughs constituency was abolished, along with the two county divisions of East Denbighshire and West Denbighshire. They were replaced by a new county division called Denbigh, which comprised the whole of the county, except for the Municipal Borough of Wrexham and part of the Chirk Rural District which formed the Wrexham division.

The local authorities in the Denbigh division were the Municipal Boroughs of Denbigh and Ruthin; the Urban Districts of Abergele and Pensarn, Colwyn Bay and Colwyn, Llangollen, and Llanrwst; as well as the Rural Districts of Llangollen, Llanrwst, Llansillin, Ruthin, St Asaph (Denbigh), Uwchaled, part of Chirk, and the part of Glan Conway not in Caernarvonshire.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1542–1660

As there were sometimes significant gaps between Parliaments held in this period, the dates of first assembly and dissolution are given. Where the name of the member has not yet been ascertained or is not recorded in a surviving document, the entry unknown is entered in the table.

ElectedAssembledDissolvedMemberNote
154216 January 154228 March 1544Richard Myddelton
154523 November 154531 January 1547George Salusbury
15474 November 154715 April 1552Robert Myddelton
15531 March 155331 March 1553Simon Thelwall
15535 October 15535 December 1553Simon Thelwall
15542 April 15543 May 1554John Salesbury
155412 November 155416 January 1555Fulk Lloyd
155521 October 15559 December 1555John Evans
155820 January 155817 November 1558John Salesbury
155923 January 15598 May 1559Simon Thelwall I
1562 or 156311 January 15632 January 1567Humphrey Llwyd
15712 April 157129 May 1571Simon Thelwall I
15728 May 157219 April 1583Richard Cavendish
158423 November 158414 September 1585Richard Cavendish
158613 October 158623 March 1587Robert Wrote
15884 February 158929 March 1589John Turbridge
159318 February 159310 April 1593Simon Thelwall II
159724 October 15979 February 1598John Panton
160127 October 160119 December 1601John Panton
160419 March 16049 February 1611Hugh Myddleton
16145 April 16147 June 1614Hugh Myddleton
162016 January 16218 February 1622Hugh Myddleton
162412 February 162427 March 1625Hugh Myddleton
162517 May 162512 August 1625Hugh Myddleton
16266 February 162615 June 1626Hugh Myddleton
162817 March 162810 March 1629Hugh Myddleton
164013 April 16405 May 1640John SalusburyShort Parliament
16403 November 16405 December 1648Simon ThelwallLong Parliament
...6 December 164820 April 1653Simon ThelwallRump Parliament
...4 July 165312 December 1653unrepresentedBarebones Parliament
16543 September 165422 January 1655unrepresentedFirst Protectorate Parliament
165617 September 16564 February 1658unrepresentedSecond Protectorate Parliament
1658–5927 January 165922 April 1659John ManleyThird Protectorate Parliament
...7 May 165920 February 1660unknownRump Parliament restored
...21 February 166016 March 1660unknownLong Parliament restored

MPs 1660–1918

YearMemberParty
1660 John Carter
1661 Sir John Salusbury
1685 Sir John Trevor
1689 Edward Brereton
1705 William Robinson
1708 Sir William Williams, Bt. Tory
1710 John Roberts
1713 John Wynne
1715 John Roberts
1722 Robert Myddelton Tory
1733 John Myddelton Tory
1741 John Wynn Whig
1747 Richard Myddelton
1788 Richard Myddelton
1797 Thomas Jones
1802 Hon. Frederick West
1806 Robert Myddelton Biddulph
1812 Viscount Kirkwall Tory[1]
1818 John Wynne Griffith Whig[1]
1826 Frederick Richard West Tory[1]
1830 Robert Myddleton-Biddulph Whig[1]
1832 John Edward Madocks Whig[1]
1835 Wilson Jones Conservative[1]
1841 Townshend Mainwaring Conservative[1]
1847 Frederick Richard West Conservative
1857 Townshend Mainwaring Conservative
1868 Watkin Williams Liberal
1880 Sir Robert Cunliffe, Bt Liberal
1885 Hon. George Thomas Kenyon Conservative
1895 William Tudor Howell Conservative
1900 Hon. George Thomas Kenyon Conservative
1906 Clement Edwards Liberal
1910 Hon. William Ormsby-Gore Conservative
1918 constituency abolished. See Denbigh and Wrexham

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Denbigh Boroughs[1][2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Robert Myddelton Biddulph Unopposed
Registered electors c. 817
Whig gain from Tory
General election 1831: Denbigh Boroughs[1][2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Robert Myddelton Biddulph Unopposed
Registered electors c. 817
Whig hold
General election 1832: Denbigh Boroughs[1][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig John Edward Maddocks Unopposed
Registered electors 1,131
Whig hold
General election 1835: Denbigh Boroughs[1][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative Wilson Jones (MP) 490 66.9
Whig John Edward Maddocks 242 33.1
Majority 248 33.8
Turnout 732 74.2
Registered electors 987
Conservative gain from Whig
General election 1837: Denbigh Boroughs[1][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Wilson Jones (MP) 411 54.9 −12.0
Whig Robert Myddelton Biddulph 338 45.1 +12.0
Majority 73 9.8 −24.0
Turnout 749 82.4 +8.2
Registered electors 909
Conservative hold Swing −12.0

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Denbigh Boroughs[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Townshend Mainwaring 365 54.2 −0.7
Whig Robert Myddelton Biddulph 309 45.8 +0.7
Majority 56 8.4 −1.4
Turnout 674 71.4 −11.0
Registered electors 944
Conservative hold Swing −0.7
General election 1847: Denbigh Boroughs[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Frederick Richard West Unopposed
Registered electors 841
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Denbigh Boroughs[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Frederick Richard West 362 55.7 N/A
Radical William Langford Foulkes[4] 288 44.3 New
Majority 74 11.4 N/A
Turnout 650 75.8 N/A
Registered electors 858
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General election 1857: Denbigh Boroughs[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Townshend Mainwaring 364 54.7 −1.0
Radical James Maurice[5][6] 302 45.3 +1.0
Majority 62 9.4 −2.0
Turnout 666 77.4 +1.6
Registered electors 861
Conservative hold Swing −1.0
General election 1859: Denbigh Boroughs[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Townshend Mainwaring Unopposed
Registered electors 852
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Denbigh Boroughs[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Townshend Mainwaring Unopposed
Registered electors 903
Conservative hold
General election 1868: Denbigh Boroughs[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Watkin Williams 1,319 58.3 New
Conservative Townshend Mainwaring 944 41.7 N/A
Majority 375 16.6 N/A
Turnout 2,263 81.3 N/A
Registered electors 2,785
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing N/A

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Denbigh Boroughs[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Watkin Williams 1,238 50.6 −7.7
Conservative George Thomas Kenyon 1,208 49.4 +7.7
Majority 30 1.2 −15.4
Turnout 2,446 85.0 +3.7
Registered electors 2,879
Liberal hold Swing −7.7

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Denbigh Boroughs[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Robert Cunliffe 1,424 50.3 −0.3
Conservative George Thomas Kenyon 1,409 49.7 +0.3
Majority 15 0.6 −0.6
Turnout 2,833 92.3 +7.3
Registered electors 3,071
Liberal hold Swing −0.3
Robert Cunliffe
General election 1885: Denbigh Boroughs[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Kenyon 1,761 54.8 +5.1
Liberal Robert Cunliffe 1,455 45.2 −5.1
Majority 306 9.6 N/A
Turnout 3,216 94.2 +1.9
Registered electors 3,414
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +5.1
John Barlow
General election 1886: Denbigh Boroughs[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Kenyon 1,657 53.4 −1.4
Liberal John Barlow 1,446 46.6 +1.4
Majority 211 6.8 −2.8
Turnout 3,103 90.9 −3.3
Registered electors 3,414
Conservative hold Swing −1.4

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Denbigh Boroughs[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Kenyon 1,664 51.5 −1.9
Liberal Howell Idris[9] 1,566 48.5 +1.9
Majority 98 3.0 −3.8
Turnout 3,230 91.7 +0.8
Registered electors 3,521
Conservative hold Swing −1.9
General election 1895: Denbigh Boroughs[10][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Tudor Howell 1,833 53.3 +1.8
Liberal Walter Herbert Morgan 1,604 46.7 −1.8
Majority 229 6.6 +3.6
Turnout 3,437 91.6 −0.1
Registered electors 3,751
Conservative hold Swing +1.8

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Denbigh Boroughs[10][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Kenyon 1,862 51.5 −1.8
Lib-Lab Clement Edwards 1,752 48.5 +1.8
Majority 110 3.0 −3.6
Turnout 3,614 87.4 −4.2
Registered electors 4,137
Conservative hold Swing −1.8
Clem Edwards
General election 1906: Denbigh Boroughs[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab Clement Edwards 2,533 56.4 +7.9
Conservative George Kenyon 1,960 43.6 -7.9
Majority 573 12.8 N/A
Turnout 4,493 94.5 +7.1
Registered electors 4,755
Lib-Lab gain from Conservative Swing +7.9

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Denbigh Boroughs[11][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Ormsby-Gore 2,437 50.1 +6.5
Lib-Lab Clement Edwards 2,427 49.9 −6.5
Majority 10 0.2 N/A
Turnout 4,864 94.8 +0.3
Registered electors 5,130
Conservative gain from Lib-Lab Swing +6.5

A petition was lodged but was withdrawn after a recount. The original count gave the Conservatives 2,438 votes and the Lib-Lab candidate 2,430 votes.

General election December 1910: Denbigh Boroughs[11][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Ormsby-Gore 2,385 50.1 0.0
Liberal Caradoc Rees 2,376 49.9 0.0
Majority 9 0.2 0.0
Turnout 4,761 92.8 −2.0
Registered electors 5,130
Conservative hold Swing 0.0

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 188–189.
  2. 1 2 Escott, Margaret. "Denbigh Boroughs". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  4. ↑ "The Denbighshire Boroughs Election". Chester Chronicle. 17 July 1852. p. 6. Retrieved 22 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ↑ "The Advocate; or Irish Industrial Journal". 18 March 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 22 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "The Denbighshire Boroughs". Wrexham Advertiser. 4 April 1857. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 22 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. 1 2 3 The Liberal Year Book, 1908
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  9. ↑ Collins, John (12 September 2006). "Liberal borrowing". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  10. 1 2 Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1901
  11. 1 2 Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1916
  • Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
  • The House of Commons 1509–1558, by S.T. Bindoff (Secker & Warburg 1982)
  • The House of Commons 1558–1603, by P.W. Hasler (HMSO 1981)
  • The House of Commons 1690–1715, by Eveline Cruickshanks, Stuart Handley and D.W. Hayton (Cambridge University Press 2002)
  • The House of Commons 1715–1754, by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970)
  • The House of Commons 1754–1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
  • The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 1)
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