Launceston, also known at some periods as Dunheved, was a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall which returned two Members of Parliament to the British House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, and one member from 1832 until 1918. It was a parliamentary borough until 1885, and a county constituency thereafter.

Boundaries

1832–1885: The old Borough of Launceston and the Parish of St Stephen, and all such parts of the several Parishes of Lawhitton, St Thomas the Apostle, and South Petherwin as are without the old Borough of Launceston.^[1]

1885–1918: The Sessional Division of East Middle, East North, Lesnewth, and Stratton, and part of the Sessional Division of Trigg.

History

Launceston was one of 21 parliamentary boroughs in Cornwall between the 16th and 19th centuries; unlike many of these, which had been little more than villages even when established and were rotten boroughs from the start, Launceston had been a town of reasonable size and importance though much in decline by the 19th century. The borough consisted of only part of the present town, as Newport was a separate borough in itself from 1554, though Newport and Launceston were joined as Dunheved, collectively returning members, earlier in that century.

The right to vote was vested theoretically in the Mayor, aldermen and those freemen of the borough who were resident at the time they became freemen; but in practice the vote was exercised only by members of the corporation, who were chosen mainly with a view to maintaining the influence of the "patron". Up to 1775, this was generally the head of the Morice family,^[2] who also controlled Newport, but in that year Humphry Morice sold his interest in both boroughs to the Duke of Newcastle, whose family retained hold on both until the Reform Act. There were about 17 voters in Launceston in 1831, by which time the borough was as rotten as any of the others in Cornwall.

In 1831 the borough had a population of 2,669 and 429 houses. Under the Great Reform Act of 1832 the boundaries were extended to encompass the whole town (including Newport, which was abolished as a separate borough), bringing the population up to 5,394. This was sufficient for Launceston to retain one of its two seats.

The borough was eventually abolished in 1885, but the name of the town was transferred to the new county constituency in which it was placed, strictly the North-Eastern or Launceston Division of Cornwall, which also elected a single member. This covered a much larger, rural, area including Callington, Calstock and Bude-Stratton. This constituency in its turn was abolished in 1918, being absorbed mostly into the new Cornwall North constituency.

Members of Parliament

Elections

North Cornwall electoral history

Elections in the 1890s

Thomas Owen

General election 1892: Launceston ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Owen	3,897	57.2	N/A
	Liberal Unionist	Lewis Molesworth	2,913	42.8	New
Majority			984	14.4	N/A
Turnout			6,810	74.2	N/A
Registered electors			9,178
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: Launceston ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Owen	3,633	55.0	−2.2
	Liberal Unionist	Frederick Wills	2,975	45.0	+2.2
Majority			658	10.0	-4.4
Turnout			6,608	70.1	-4.1
Registered electors			9,423
	Liberal hold		Swing	-2.2

1898 Launceston by-election^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Fletcher Moulton	3,951	58.0	+3.0
	Liberal Unionist	Frederick Wills	2,863	42.0	-3.0
Majority			1,088	16.0	+6.0
Turnout			6,814	71.7	+1.6
Registered electors			9,508
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.0

Elections in the 1900s

Moulton

General election 1900: Launceston ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Fletcher Moulton	3,831	58.3	+3.3
	Liberal Unionist	Foster Cunliffe	2,737	41.7	-3.3
Majority			1,094	16.6	+6.6
Turnout			6,568	68.3	-1.8
Registered electors			9,616
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.3

Marks

General election 1906: Launceston ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Croydon Marks	4,658	63.0	+4.7
	Liberal Unionist	George Sandys	2,736	37.0	-4.7
Majority			1,922	26.0	+9.4
Turnout			7,394	75.0	+6.7
Registered electors			9,858
	Liberal hold		Swing	+4.7

Notes

References

• 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)
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
• J. E. Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
• J. Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847, Volume 1 (London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co, 1844)
• Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. p. 1.
• Frederic A. Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)
• House of Commons journals and other records at British History Online
• The History of Parliament Trust, Launceston (Dunheved), Borough from 1386 to 1868
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)