Rochester (UK Parliament constituency)

Decades:

1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s

General election 1830: Rochester^[5][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Ralph Bernal	429	36.2
	Tory	George Child Villiers	417	35.2
	Tory	John Mills	339	28.6
Turnout			778	c. 74.1
Registered electors			c. 1,050
Majority			12	1.0
	Whig hold		Swing
Majority			78	6.6
	Tory hold		Swing

General election 1831: Rochester^[5][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Ralph Bernal	Unopposed
	Tory	John Mills	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 1,050
	Whig hold
	Tory hold

General election 1832: Rochester^[5][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Ralph Bernal	354	35.5
	Tory	John Mills	350	35.1
	Whig	George Lewes Newnham Collingwood	293	29.4
Turnout			650	66.8
Registered electors			973
Majority			4	0.4
	Whig hold
Majority			57	5.7
	Tory hold

General election 1835: Rochester^[5][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Ralph Bernal	502	36.2	+0.7
	Whig	Thomas Twisden Hodges	443	31.9	+2.5
	Conservative	Charles Wellesley	442	31.9	−3.2
Majority			1	0.0	−0.4
Turnout			873	90.3	+23.5
Registered electors			967
	Whig hold		Swing	+1.2
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.1

General election 1837: Rochester^[5][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Ralph Bernal	489	26.9	−41.2
	Radical	Thomas Hobhouse	473	26.0	N/A
	Conservative	James Douglas Stoddart Douglas	445	24.5	+8.6
	Conservative	Thomas Best[23]	412	22.6	+6.7
Turnout			913	90.0	−0.3
Registered electors			1,015
Majority			16	0.9	+0.9
	Whig hold		Swing	−28.3
Majority			28	1.5	N/A
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

General election 1841: Rochester^[17][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Douglas Stoddart Douglas	541	26.7	+2.2
	Conservative	William Bodkin	499	24.6	+2.0
	Whig	William Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound	497	24.5	+11.1
	Whig	Francis Dashwood[24][25]	489	24.1	+10.7
Majority			2	0.1	N/A
Turnout			1,019	89.5	−0.5
Registered electors			1,139
	Conservative gain from Radical		Swing	−4.4
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	−4.5

General election 1847: Rochester^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Ralph Bernal	637	29.2	+4.7
	Whig	Thomas Twisden Hodges	617	28.3	+4.2
	Conservative	William Bodkin	464	21.3	−3.3
	Conservative	James Douglas Stoddart Douglas	462	21.2	−5.5
Majority			153	7.0	N/A
Turnout			1,090 (est)	75.1 (est)	−14.4
Registered electors			1,451
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.6
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.3

General election 1852: Rochester^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Child Villiers	584	26.7	+5.4
	Conservative	Thomas Herbert Maddock	581	26.6	+5.4
	Whig	Ralph Bernal	514	23.5	−5.7
	Whig	Thomas Twisden Hodges	507	23.2	−5.1
Majority			67	3.1	N/A
Turnout			1,093 (est)	86.1 (est)	+11.0
Registered electors			1,269
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+5.4
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+5.4

Villiers resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 8 February 1856: Rochester^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Philip Wykeham Martin	560	52.9	+6.2
	Conservative	William Bodkin	499	47.1	−6.2
Majority			61	5.8	N/A
Turnout			1,059	90.5	+4.4
Registered electors			1,170
	Radical gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.2

General election 1857: Rochester^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Philip Wykeham Martin	Unopposed
	Radical	John Alexander Kinglake	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,180
	Radical gain from Conservative
	Radical gain from Conservative

General election 1859: Rochester^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Philip Wykeham Martin	665	28.6	N/A
	Liberal	John Alexander Kinglake	662	28.5	N/A
	Conservative	George Henry Money[26]	505	21.7	New
	Conservative	George Mitchell[27]	493	21.2	New
Majority			157	6.8	N/A
Turnout			1,163 (est)	81.9 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			1,419
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1865: Rochester^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Philip Wykeham Martin	855	41.5	+12.9
	Liberal	John Alexander Kinglake	792	38.4	+9.9
	Conservative	Alfred Smee	414	20.1	−22.8
Majority			378	18.3	+11.5
Turnout			1,238 (est)	84.9 (est)	+3.0
Registered electors			1,458
	Liberal hold		Swing	+12.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	+10.7

General election 1868: Rochester^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Philip Wykeham Martin	1,458	42.1	+0.6
	Liberal	John Alexander Kinglake	1,305	37.7	−0.7
	Conservative	Alfred Smee	703	20.3	+0.2
Majority			602	17.4	−0.9
Turnout			2,085 (est)	81.1 (est)	−3.8
Registered electors			2,569
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.4

Kinglake's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 19 Jul 1870: Rochester^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Julian Goldsmid	987	64.2	−15.6
	Ind. Conservative	Charles James Fox[28]	550	35.8	New
Majority			437	28.4	+11.0
Turnout			1,537	59.8	−21.3
Registered electors			2,571
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1874: Rochester^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Philip Wykeham Martin	1,206	37.9	−4.2
	Liberal	Julian Goldsmid	1,144	35.9	−1.8
	Conservative	Alfred Smee[29]	835	26.2	+5.9
Majority			309	9.7	−7.7
Turnout			2,010 (est)	75.1 (est)	−6.0
Registered electors			2,676
	Liberal hold		Swing	−3.6
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.4

Martin's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 14 Jun 1878: Rochester^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Otway	1,284	56.1	−17.7
	Conservative	Walter Scott Seton-Karr[30]	1,004	43.9	+17.7
Majority			280	12.2	+2.5
Turnout			2,288	80.8	+5.7
Registered electors			2,832
	Liberal hold		Swing	−17.7

General election 1880: Rochester^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Otway	1,497	27.2	−10.7
	Conservative	Roger Leigh	1,393	25.3	+12.2
	Conservative	Walter Scott Seton-Karr[30]	1,312	23.9	+10.8
	Liberal	Julian Goldsmid	1,294	23.5	−12.4
Turnout			2,748 (est)	90.8 (est)	+15.7
Registered electors			3,026
Majority			104	1.9	−7.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	−10.8
Majority			99	1.8	N/A
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+12.3

General election 1885: Rochester^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Hughes-Hallett	1,627	54.0	+4.8
	Liberal	John Passmore Edwards	1,386	46.0	−4.7
Majority			241	8.0	+6.2
Turnout			3,013	91.2	+0.4 (est)
Registered electors			3,304
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.7

General election 1886: Rochester^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Hughes-Hallett	1,602	54.2	+0.2
	Liberal	Francis Flint Belsey	1,353	45.8	−0.2
Majority			249	8.4	+0.4
Turnout			2,955	89.4	−1.8
Registered electors			3,304
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.2

Hughes-Hallett resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 16 Apr 1889: Rochester^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen	1,655	51.2	+5.4
	Conservative	Horatio Davies	1,580	48.8	−5.4
Majority			75	2.4	N/A
Turnout			3,235	91.1	+1.7
Registered electors			3,550
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.4

General election 1892: Rochester^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Horatio Davies	2,119	55.3	+1.1
	Liberal	Frederic Brunning Maddison[32]	1,712	44.7	−1.1
Majority			407	10.6	+2.2
Turnout			3,831	91.0	+1.6
Registered electors			4,211
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

Davies was unseated on petition, causing a by-election.

1893 Rochester by-election^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Gascoyne-Cecil	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1895: Rochester^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Gascoyne-Cecil	2,152	56.3	+1.0
	Liberal	Cecil Grenfell	1,673	43.7	−1.0
Majority			479	12.6	+2.0
Turnout			3,825	87.4	−3.6
Registered electors			4,378
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.0

General election 1900: Rochester^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Gascoyne-Cecil	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

1903 Rochester by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Tuff	2,504	55.8	N/A
	Liberal	Harry Johnston	1,983	44.2	New
Majority			521	11.6	N/A
Turnout			4,487	86.2	N/A
Registered electors			5,206
	Conservative hold

General election 1906: Rochester^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Ernest Lamb	2,967	55.6	N/A
	Conservative	Charles Tuff	2,374	44.4	N/A
Majority			593	11.2	N/A
Turnout			5,341	92.7	N/A
Registered electors			5,763
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General election January 1910: Rochester^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Samuel Forde Ridley	2,675	51.3	+6.9
	Liberal	Ernest Lamb	2,543	48.7	−6.9
Majority			132	2.6	N/A
Turnout			5,218	92.7	+0.0
Registered electors			5,629
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.9

General election December 1910: Rochester^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Ernest Lamb	2,609	51.5	+2.8
	Conservative	Samuel Forde Ridley	2,456	48.5	−2.8
Majority			153	3.0	N/A
Turnout			5,065	90.0	−2.7
Registered electors			5,629
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.8

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 Lamb
• Unionist:

• Robert Beatson, "A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament" (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• 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)
• 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)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 2)

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