Tower Hamlets (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1832–1885 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tower Hamlets was a parliamentary borough (constituency) in Middlesex, England from 1832 to 1885. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the first five of its type in the metropolitan area of London. It was enfranchised by the Reform Act 1832.

CountyMiddlesex
SeatsTwo
Created fromMiddlesex
Replaced byBow and Bromley, Limehouse, Mile End, Poplar, St George, Stepney and Whitechapel
Quick facts County, 1832–1885 ...
Tower Hamlets
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Form 1832-1868. Extract from 1837 result: the easternmost area in orange.
CountyMiddlesex
1832–1885
SeatsTwo
Created fromMiddlesex
Replaced byBow and Bromley, Limehouse, Mile End, Poplar, St George, Stepney and Whitechapel
During its existence contributed to new seat(s) ofHackney (constituency)
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In its early years the borough was coterminous with the ancient Tower Hamlets, an area which covered the area of the modern London Borough of Tower Hamlets as well as Shoreditch and Hackney (the parish rather than the larger modern borough), thus extending from the edge of the City of London to the Lea. In 1868, the borough was split in two, with the southern part retaining the name.

Boundaries

Boundaries 1832–1868

The boundaries of the parliamentary borough were defined by the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 as "The several Divisions of the Liberty of the Tower, and the Tower Division of Ossulston Hundred".[1]

It comprised the following civil parishes and places:[2]

Boundaries 1868–1885

Tower Hamlets in the Metropolitan area, showing boundaries used from 1868 to 1885.

The Representation of the People Act 1867 widened the parliamentary franchise and also effected a redistribution of seats. This, along with a rapidly increasing population in the East End, resulted in the existing entity being reduced, shedding the parishes of Bethnal Green, Hackney and Shoreditch forming a separate Hackney constituency. The reformed Tower Hamlets was defined as comprising:[3]

  • The Parish of St. George's-in-the-East
  • The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town
  • The Poplar Union (Bow, Bromley and Poplar)
  • The Stepney Union (Limehouse, Ratcliffe, Shadwell and Wapping)
  • The Whitechapel Union (Holy Trinity Minories, Mile End New Town, Norton Folgate, Old Artillery Ground, St Botolph Without Aldgate, St Katherine by the Tower, Spitalfields, Whitechapel.)
  • The Tower of London.[2]

Redistribution

In 1885 the parliamentary borough was split into seven single-member divisions. These were Bow and Bromley, Limehouse, Mile End, Poplar, St George, Stepney and Whitechapel.

Members of Parliament

More information Election, First member ...
ElectionFirst member [4] First partySecond memberSecond party
1832 Stephen LushingtonWhig[5][6][7] Sir William Clay, BtRadical[8][9]
1841 Charles Richard FoxWhig[5][10][11]
1847 George ThompsonRadical[12][13][14]
1852 Charles Salisbury ButlerRadical[15]
1857 Rt Hon. Acton Smee AyrtonRadical[16][17][18]
1859 Liberal Liberal
1868 Joseph d'Aguilar SamudaLiberal
1874 Charles RitchieConservative
1880 James BryceLiberal
1885 Constituency abolished
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Elections

Turnout, in multi-member elections, is estimated by dividing the number of votes by two. To the extent that electors did not use both their votes, the figure given will be an underestimate.

Change is calculated for individual candidates, when a party had more than one candidate in an election or the previous one. When a party had only one candidate in an election and the previous one change is calculated for the party vote.

Elections in the 1830s

More information Party, Candidate ...
General election 1832: Tower Hamlets[19][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Stephen Lushington 3,978 31.5 N/A
Radical William Clay 3,751 29.7 N/A
Whig Leicester Stanhope 2,952 23.4 N/A
Whig Frederick Marryat 1,934 15.3 N/A
Turnout 7,320 73.9 N/A
Registered electors 9,906
Majority 227 1.8 N/A
Whig win (new seat)
Majority 799 6.3 N/A
Radical win (new seat)
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More information Party, Candidate ...
General election 1835: Tower Hamlets[19][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Radical William Clay 2,779 47.7 +18.0
Whig Stephen Lushington 2,580 44.3 −25.9
Conservative Ryder Burton[20] 465 8.0 New
Turnout 2,912 (est) 30.8 (est) −43.1
Registered electors 9,462
Majority 199 3.4 −2.9
Radical hold Swing +22.0
Majority 2,115 36.3 +34.5
Whig hold Swing −22.0
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More information Party, Candidate ...
General election 1837: Tower Hamlets[19][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Radical William Clay Unopposed
Whig Stephen Lushington Unopposed
Registered electors 13,318
Radical hold
Whig hold
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Lushington was appointed a judge of the High Court of Admiralty, requiring a by-election.

More information Party, Candidate ...
By-election, 11 February 1839: Tower Hamlets[19][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Stephen Lushington Unopposed
Whig hold
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Elections in the 1840s

More information Party, Candidate ...
General election 1841: Tower Hamlets[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Radical William Clay 4,706 34.6 N/A
Whig Charles Richard Fox 4,096 30.1 N/A
Conservative George Richard Robinson[21] 2,183 16.1 New
Whig Andrew Kennedy Hutchinson[22][23][24] 1,775 13.1 N/A
Radical Thomas Edward Perronet Thompson[25][24] 831 6.1 N/A
Turnout 6,796 (est) 49.1 (est) N/A
Registered electors 13,842
Majority 610 4.5 N/A
Radical hold Swing N/A
Majority 1,913 14.0 N/A
Whig hold Swing N/A
Close

Fox was appointed Surveyor-General of the Ordnance, requiring a by-election.

More information Party, Candidate ...
By-election, 11 July 1846: Tower Hamlets[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Charles Richard Fox Unopposed
Whig hold
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More information Party, Candidate ...
General election 1847: Tower Hamlets[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Radical George Thompson 6,268 49.2 +43.1
Radical William Clay 3,839 30.2 −4.4
Whig Charles Richard Fox 2,622 20.6 −22.6
Majority 3,646 28.6 N/A
Turnout 6,365 (est) 33.9 (est) −15.2
Registered electors 18,748
Radical hold Swing +27.2
Radical gain from Whig Swing +3.5
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Elections in the 1850s

More information Party, Candidate ...
General election 1852: Tower Hamlets[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Radical William Clay 7,728 32.3 +2.1
Radical Charles Salisbury Butler 7,718 32.3 N/A
Radical George Thompson 4,568 19.1 −30.1
Radical Acton Smee Ayrton 2,792 11.7 N/A
Radical William Newton[26] 1,095 4.6 N/A
Majority 3,150 13.2 +3.6
Turnout 11,951 (est) 50.8 (est) +16.9
Registered electors 23,534
Radical hold Swing N/A
Radical hold Swing N/A
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More information Party, Candidate ...
General election 1857: Tower Hamlets[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Radical Acton Smee Ayrton 7,813 35.9 +24.2
Radical Charles Salisbury Butler 7,297 33.5 +1.2
Radical William Clay 6,654 30.6 −1.7
Majority 643 2.9 −10.3
Turnout 10,882 (est) 38.9 (est) −11.9
Registered electors 27,980
Radical hold Swing N/A
Radical hold Swing N/A
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More information Party, Candidate ...
General election 1859: Tower Hamlets[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Salisbury Butler Unopposed
Liberal Acton Smee Ayrton Unopposed
Registered electors 28,843
Liberal hold
Liberal hold
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Elections in the 1860s

More information Party, Candidate ...
General election 1865: Tower Hamlets[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Salisbury Butler Unopposed
Liberal Acton Smee Ayrton Unopposed
Registered electors 34,115
Liberal hold
Liberal hold
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More information Party, Candidate ...
General election 1868: Tower Hamlets[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Acton Smee Ayrton 9,839 28.0 N/A
Liberal Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda 7,849 22.3 N/A
Conservative Octavius Coope[27] 7,446 21.2 New
Liberal Edmond Beales[28] 7,160 20.4 N/A
Lib-Lab William Newton 2,890 8.2 N/A
Majority 403 1.1 N/A
Turnout 17,592 (est) 54.1 (est) N/A
Registered electors 32,546
Liberal hold Swing N/A
Liberal hold Swing N/A
Close

Ayrton was appointed First Commissioner of Works, requiring a by-election.

More information Party, Candidate ...
By-election, 8 November 1869: Tower Hamlets[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Acton Smee Ayrton Unopposed
Liberal hold
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Elections in the 1870s

More information Party, Candidate ...
General election 1874: Tower Hamlets[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Ritchie 7,228 29.7 +9.5
Liberal Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda 5,900 24.2 +1.9
Liberal Edmund Hay Currie 5,022 20.6 N/A
Liberal Acton Smee Ayrton 3,202 13.2 −14.8
Liberal Frederick Maxse 2,992 12.3 N/A
Majority 4,026 16.5 N/A
Turnout 15,786 (est) 47.9 (est) −6.2
Registered electors 32,937
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +8.0
Liberal hold Swing −1.4
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Elections in the 1880s

More information Party, Candidate ...
General election 1880: Tower Hamlets[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal James Bryce 12,020 30.6 N/A
Conservative Charles Ritchie 11,720 29.9 +0.2
Liberal Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda 10,384 26.5 +2.3
Lib-Lab Benjamin Lucraft[29] 5,103 13.0 N/A
Turnout 28,025 (est) 68.3 (est) +20.4
Registered electors 41,042
Majority 300 0.7
Liberal hold Swing N/A
Majority 1,336 3.4 −13.1
Conservative hold Swing −1.1
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References

Sources

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