List of Great Britain by-elections (1774–90)
This is a list of parliamentary by-elections in Great Britain held between 1774 and 1790, with the names of the previous incumbent and the victor in the by-election.
In the absence of a comprehensive and reliable source, for party and factional alignments in this period, no attempt is made to define them in this article. The House of Commons: 1754-1790 provides some guidance to the complex and shifting political relationships, but it is significant that the compilers of that work make no attempt to produce a definitive list of each members allegiances.
Resignations
- See Resignation from the British House of Commons for more details.
Where the cause of by-election is given as "resignation", this indicates that the incumbent was appointed on his own request to an "office of profit under the Crown". Offices used, in this period, were the Stewards of the Chiltern Hundreds, the Manor of Old Shorehamor the Manor of East Hendred. These appointments are made as a constitutional device for leaving the House of Commons, whose Members are not permitted to resign. If the vacancy was caused by appointment to another office then this office is noted in brackets.
In addition certain offices of profit, such as cabinet positions, required the MP to seek re-election. These offices are noted separately.
By-elections
The c/u column denotes whether the by-election was a contested poll or an unopposed return. If the winner was re-elected, at the next general election and any intermediate by-elections, this is indicated by an * following the c or u. In a few cases the winner was elected at the next general election but had not been re-elected in a by-election after the one noted. In those cases no * symbol is used.
14th Parliament (1774–1780)
15th Parliament (1780–1784)
16th Parliament (1784–1790)
Date | Constituency | c/u | Former Incumbent | Winner | Cause |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
14 June 1784 | Kingston-Upon-Hull | u | William Wilberforce | Walter Spencer Stanhope | Chose to sit for Yorkshire |
14 June 1784 | Arundel | u | Earl of Surrey | Richard Beckford | Chose to sit for Carlisle |
14 June 1784 | New Romney | u | John Smith | Richard Atkinson | Resignation |
19 June 1784 | Minehead | u | Henry Beaufoy | Charles Phipps | Chose to sit for Great Yarmouth |
19 June 1784 | St Mawes | u* | The Earl Nugent | William Young | Resignation |
21 June 1784 | Midhurst | u | Benjamin Lethieullier | Edward Cotsford | Chose to sit for Andover |
25 June 1784 | Ipswich | c* | John Cator | Charles Alexander Crickitt | Void Election |
25 June 1784 | Southwark | c* | Sir Barnard Turner | Paul le Mesurier | Death |
1 July 1784 | Monmouthshire | u | John Hanbury | Viscount Nevill | Death |
4 July 1784 | Camelford | u* | Jonathan Phillips | Sir Samuel Hannay | Resignation |
12 July 1784 | Hereford | c | Earl of Surrey | Robert Philipps | Chose to sit for Carlisle |
14 July 1784 | Colchester | c | Christopher Potter | Sir Robert Smyth | Void Election |
26 July 1784 | Downton | c | Edward Bouverie | Edward Bouverie | Due to a Double Return four MPs were elected at the General Election. Robert Shafto was declared elected and a by-election was held for the second seat where a Double Return occurred. |
Henry Seymour Conway | William Seymour Conway | ||||
William Scott | |||||
William Seymour Conway | William Seymour Conway | Seymour Conway declared elected 11 March 1785 | |||
Edward Bouverie | |||||
10 August 1784 | Malton | u* | Sir Thomas Gascoigne | William Weddell | Resignation |
11 August 1784 | Andover | u* | Sir John Griffin Griffin | William Fellowes | Succeeded to a peerage |
16 August 1784 | Plympton Erle | u | Paul Treby Ourry | John Pardoe | Resignation |
21 August 1784 | West Looe | u | John Lemon | James Adams | Resignation |
28 August 1784 | Chipping Wycombe | u | Robert Waller | Robert Waller | Groom of the Bedchamber |
30 August 1784 | Newtown | u | James Worsley | Mark Gregory | Resignation |
31 August 1784 | Edinburgh | u | James Hunter Blair | Sir Adam Fergusson | Resignation |
31 August 1784 | Marlborough | u* | The Earl of Courtown | The Earl of Courtown | Treasurer of the Household |
17 September 1784 | Wigtownshire | u* | Keith Stewart | Andrew McDouall | Resignation (Receiver of Land Taxation for Scotland) |
29 October 1784 | Shrewsbury | u* | Sir Charlton Leighton | John Hill | Death |
11 January 1785 | Thirsk | u* | Sir Thomas Frankland | Robert Vyner | Death |
31 January 1785 | Stockbridge | u* | John Luttrell | James Gordon | Resignation (Commissioner of Excise) |
2 February 1785 | Wilton | u | Lord Herbert | Philip Goldsworthy | Resignation (Vice-Chamberlain of the Household) |
8 February 1785 | Ilchester | c | Peregrine Cust | John Harcourt | Death |
John Harcourt | George Johnstone | By-election results reversed on petition 22 February 1786 | |||
22 February 1785 | Morpeth | u* | Sir James St Clair Erskine | Sir James St Clair Erskine | Accepts a beneficial interest in the Office of Director of Chancery in Scotland |
29 March 1785 | Seaford | c | Henry Nevill | Sir John Henderson | Void Election |
c* | Sir Peter Parker | Sir Peter Parker | |||
11 April 1785 | Hereford | u* | Robert Philipps | James Walwyn | Resignation |
7 May 1785 | Cirencester | u(*) | Samuel Blackwell | Richard Master | Death |
12 May 1785 | Dumfriesshire | u* | Sir Robert Laurie | Sir Robert Laurie | Knight Marischal |
7 June 1785 | New Romney | u | Richard Atkinson | John Henniker | Death |
21 July 1785 | Bridgwater | u | Anne Poulett | Robert Thornton | Death |
25 July 1785 | Beaumaris | u* | Hugh Fortescue | Sir Hugh Williams | Succeeded to a peerage |
9 August 1785 | Steyning | u | Sir John Honywood | Thomas Edwards Freeman | Resignation |
9 August 1785 | Wenlock | u | John Simpson | George Forester | Resignation |
28 November 1785 | Monmouthshire | u* | Viscount Nevill | James Rooke | Succeeded to a peerage |
13 December 1785 | Newport (Cornwall) | u | Sir John Coghill | William Mitford | Death |
22 December 1785 | Nairnshire | u | Alexander Campbell | Alexander Brodie | Death |
3 February 1786 | Westbury | u | Chaloner Arcedeckne | John Madocks | Resignation |
6 February 1786 | Haverfordwest | u* | The Lord Milford | The Lord Kensington | Resignation to contest Pembrokeshire |
6 February 1786 | Liskeard | u* | Edward James Eliot | Edward James Eliot | King's Remembrancer |
7 February 1786 | Richmond | u | Charles Dundas | Sir Grey Cooper | Resignation |
9 February 1786 | Pembrokeshire | u* | Sir Hugh Owen | The Lord Milford | Death |
13 February 1786 | Fowey | u(*) | John Grant | Richard Edgcumbe | Resignation |
28 February 1786 | Aberdeenshire | c | Alexander Garden | George Skene | Death |
28 February 1786 | Peterborough | u* | James Farrel Phipps | Lionel Damer | Death |
3 March 1786 | East Grinstead | u | Henry Arthur Herbert | James Cuninghame | Resignation |
15 March 1786 | Tain Burghs | c | Charles James Fox | George Ross | Chose to sit for Westminster |
15 March 1786 | Chipping Wycombe | u* | Viscount Mahon | Earl Wycombe | Succeeded to a peerage |
21 March 1786 | Seaford | c | Sir John Henderson | Sir John Henderson | Void Election |
Sir Peter Parker | Sir Peter Parker | ||||
Sir John Henderson | Henry Flood | By-election results reversed on petition 26 April 1786 | |||
Sir Peter Parker | Sir Godfrey Webster | ||||
27 March 1786 | Weymouth and Melcombe Regis | u | Gabriel Steward | George Jackson | Resignation |
31 March 1786 | Lancaster | c* | Francis Reynolds | Sir George Warren | Succeeded to a peerage |
1 April 1786 | Helston | u | John Rogers | Roger Wilbraham | Resignation |
10 April 1786 | Carlisle | c | Edward Norton | John Lowther | Death |
John Lowther | John Christian | By-election results reversed on petition 31 May 1786 | |||
10 April 1786 | Newport (I.o.W.) | u | Hugh Seymour Conway | John Thomas Townshend | Resignation |
10 April 1786 | Newton | u* | Thomas Davenport | Thomas Brooke | Death |
14 April 1786 | Selkirkshire | u* | John Pringle | Mark Pringle | Resignation |
22 April 1786 | Weobley | u* | Andrew Bayntun Rolt | Thomas Thynne | Resignation |
4 May 1786 | Bossiney | u | Bamber Gascoyne | Matthew Montagu | Resignation (Receiver General of Customs) |
24 May 1786 | East Looe | u | William Graves | Alexander Irvine | Resignation |
13 June 1786 | Haslemere | u | Thomas Postlethwaite | John Lowther | Resignation |
30 June 1786 | Tain Burghs | c* | George Ross | Charles Ross | Death |
5 July 1786 | Shaftesbury | u | Adam Drummond | John Drummond | Death |
6 July 1786 | Northumberland | u* | Lord Algernon Percy | Charles Grey | Succeeded to a peerage |
15 July 1786 | Wareham | u | Charles Lefebure | John Calcraft | Resignation |
24 July 1786 | Haddingtonshire | u* | Hew Dalrymple | John Hamilton | Resignation (Auditor of the Excise in Scotland) |
16 August 1786 | Kirkcudbrightshire | u* | Peter Johnston | Alexander Stewart | Resignation |
4 September 1786 | East Looe | u | John Buller | Richard Grosvenor | Death |
16 September 1786 | Norwich | c* | Sir Harbord Harbord | Henry Hobart | Elevated to the peerage |
21 September 1786 | Berwick-upon-Tweed | c | The Lord Delaval | Sir Gilbert Elliot | Became a British Peer |
19 October 1786 | Renfrewshire | c* | William MacDowall | John Shaw Stewart | Resignation |
30 October 1786 | Saltash | c | Charles Jenkinson | The Earl of Mornington | Elevated to the peerage |
The Earl of Mornington | John Lemon | By-election results reversed on petition 7 May 1787 | |||
6 November 1786 | Cockermouth | u | John Lowther | Humphrey Senhouse | Resignation to contest Carlisle |
29 November 1786 | Carlisle | c(*) | Earl of Surrey | Edward Knubley | Succeeded to a peerage |
c | Edward Knubley | Rowland Stephenson | By-election results reversed on petition 26 February 1787 | ||
15 December 1786 | Minehead | u | Charles Phipps | Robert Wood | Death |
27 January 1787 | Helston | u(*) | Lord Hyde | James Bland Burges | Succeeded to a peerage |
29 January 1787 | Milborne Port | u | John Townson | William Popham | Resignation |
29 January 1787 | New Romney | u* | Sir Edward Dering | Richard Joseph Sullivan | Resignation |
1 February 1787 | Bere Alston | u | The Earl of Mornington | Charles Rainsford | Junior Lord of the Treasury |
5 February 1787 | Bury St Edmunds | u* | George Ferdinand FitzRoy | Lord Charles FitzRoy | Resignation |
9 February 1787 | Petersfield | u | Thomas Samuel Jolliffe | The Viscount Downe | Resignation |
19 February 1787 | Maldon | c | The Lord Waltham | Sir Peter Parker | Death |
23 February 1787 | Old Sarum | u* | John Charles Villiers | John Charles Villiers | Comptroller of the Household |
24 February 1787 | Ilchester | u | George Johnstone | George Sumner | Resignation |
26 February 1787 | Gatton | u | Maurice Lloyd | James Fraser | Resignation |
6 March 1787 | Truro | u* | William Macarmick | John Hiley Addington | Resignation (Lieutenant-Governor of Cape Breton Island) |
9 March 1787 | Durham City | u* | John Lambton | William Henry Lambton | Resignation |
12 March 1787 | Ashburton | u* | Robert Palk | Lawrence Palk | Resignation |
28 March 1787 | Norwich | c* | Henry Hobart | Henry Hobart | Void Election |
11 April 1787 | Yarmouth | u* | Edward Morant | Thomas Clarke Jervoise | Resignation |
9 May 1787 | Huntingdon | u* | Lancelot Brown | John Willett Payne | Resignation |
15 May 1787 | Staffordshire | u* | Sir John Wrottesley | Earl Gower | Death |
4 June 1787 | Reigate | u | Edward Leeds | Reginald Pole Carew | Resignation |
20 June 1787 | Breconshire | u* | Charles Morgan | Sir Charles Gould | Death |
22 June 1787 | Haddington Burghs | u | Francis Charteris | William Fullarton | Became the Eldest of a Scottish Peer |
6 July 1787 | Fifeshire | u* | Robert Skene | William Wemyss | Death |
17 July 1787 | Argyllshire | u* | Lord Frederick Campbell | Lord Frederick Campbell | Resignation pending appointment as Vice-Treasurer of Ireland |
19 July 1787 | New Windsor | u* | Lord Montagu | The Earl of Mornington | Death |
1 August 1787 | Sutherland | u* | William Wemyss | James Grant | Resignation to contest Fifeshire |
20 August 1787 | Calne | u* | James Townsend | Joseph Jekyll | Death |
5 October 1787 | Dartmouth | u* | Arthur Holdsworth | Edmund Bastard | Death |
4 December 1787 | Old Sarum | u* | George Hardinge | George Hardinge | Chief Justice of Breconshire |
6 December 1787 | Brecon | u* | Charles Morgan | Charles Gould | Resignation to contest Breconshire |
20 December 1787 | Bletchingley | u* | John Nicholls | Sir Robert Clayton | Resignation |
21 December 1787 | Ripon | u | Frederick Robinson | Sir John Goodricke | Resignation (Granted a pension) |
26 December 1787 | Harwich | u* | John Robinson | John Robinson | Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks, and Chases |
8 February 1788 | Totnes | u | Sir Philip Jennings Clerke | Viscount Barnard | Death |
9 February 1788 | Wilton | u* | Philip Goldsworthy | Lord Herbert | Resignation |
1 April 1788 | Monmouth | u* | Sir John Stepney | Marquess of Worcester | Resignation |
17 April 1788 | Steyning | u | Thomas Edwards Freeman | Sir John Honywood | Death |
22 April 1788 | East Looe | u* | Richard Grosvenor | Viscount Belgrave | Resignation |
24 April 1788 | Tavistock | u | Richard Rigby | Lord John Russell | Death |
20 May 1788 | Denbigh Boroughs | u* | Richard Myddelton | Richard Myddelton | Resignation |
29 May 1788 | Cambridge | u* | John Mortlock | Francis Dickins | Resignation |
16 June 1788 | Tregony | u | Sir Lloyd Kenyon | Hugh Seymour Conway | Elevated to the peerage |
18 June 1788 | Launceston | u | George Rose | Sir John Swinburne | Clerk of the Parliaments |
19 June 1788 | Kincardineshire | u* | Lord Adam Gordon | Robert Barclay Allardice | Resignation |
25 June 1788 | Aldborough | u | Richard Pepper Arden | Richard Pepper Arden | Master of the Rolls |
1 July 1788 | Lymington | u | Harry Burrard | George Rose | Resignation |
1 July 1788 | New Windsor | u* | Peniston Portlock Powney | Peniston Portlock Powney | Ranger of Windsor Little Park |
4 July 1788 | Newcastle-under-Lyme | u* | Archibald Macdonald | Sir Archibald Macdonald | Attorney General for England and Wales |
7 July 1788 | Weobley | u* | Sir John Scott | Sir John Scott | Solicitor General for England and Wales |
9 July 1788 | New Woodstock | u | Francis Burton | Francis Burton | Second Justice of Chester |
12 July 1788 | Hindon | u | Edward Bearcroft | Edward Bearcroft | Chief Justice of Chester |
14 July 1788 | Maidstone | c* | Gerard Edwards | Matthew Bloxham | Resignation to contest Rutland |
15 July 1788 | Rutland | u* | Thomas Noel | Gerard Edwards | Death |
4 August 1788 | Westminster | c | The Lord Hood | Lord John Townshend | Naval Lord |
3 September 1788 | St Germans | u | Abel Smith | Samuel Smith | Death |
8 October 1788 | East Grinstead | u | James Cuninghame | Robert Cuninghame | Death |
23 October 1788 | Christchurch | u* | James Harris | Hans Sloane | Elevated to the peerage |
29 November 1788 | Clackmannanshire | u | Charles Allan Cathcart | Burnet Abercromby | Death |
15 December 1788 | Bramber | u | Daniel Pulteney | Robert Hobart | Resignation (Collector of Customs in Dominica) |
15 December 1788 | Colchester | c(*) | Sir Edmund Affleck | George Tierney | Death (Two MPs elected due to a Double Return) |
George Jackson | |||||
George Tierney | George Tierney | Tierney declared elected 6 April 1789 | |||
George Jackson | |||||
19 December 1788 | Wiltshire | u* | Charles Penruddocke | Sir James Tylney Long | Death |
23 December 1788 | Bere Alston | u* | Charles Rainsford | John Mitford | Resignation |
23 December 1788 | Devizes | u* | Sir James Tylney Long | Joshua Smith | Resignation to contest Wiltshire |
27 December 1788 | Weymouth and Melcombe Regis | u | George Jackson | Gabriel Steward | Resignation to contest Colchester |
13 January 1789 | Rye | u* | Charles Wolfran Cornwall | Charles Long | Death |
14 January 1789 | Dover | c* | James Luttrell | John Trevanion | Death |
19 January 1789 | Surrey | u* | William Norton | Lord William Russell | Succeeded to a peerage |
22 January 1789 | Banffshire | u | Sir James Duff | James Ferguson | Resignation |
5 February 1789 | Gloucester | c* | Sir Charles Barrow | John Pitt | Death |
16 February 1789 | Aylesbury | c* | Sir Thomas Hallifax | Scrope Bernard | Death |
27 February 1789 | East Grinstead | u | Robert Cuninghame | Richard Ford | Resignation |
4 March 1789 | Worcester | u* | William Ward | Edmund Wigley | Succeeded to a peerage |
8 April 1789 | Gloucestershire | u* | George Cranfield Berkeley | George Cranfield Berkeley | Surveyor-General of the Ordnance |
11 May 1789 | Cambridge | u* | James Whorwood Adeane | Edward Finch | Groom of the Bedchamber |
19 May 1789 | Cambridgeshire | u* | Sir Henry Peyton | James Whorwood Adeane | Death |
19 June 1789 | Buckinghamshire | u* | William Wyndham Grenville | William Wyndham Grenville | Home Secretary |
4 July 1789 | Dorchester | u | William Ewer | Thomas Ewer | Death |
6 July 1789 | Brackley | u* | Timothy Caswall | Samuel Haynes | Resignation (Commissioner of Excise) |
29 July 1789 | Bere Alston | u* | John Mitford | John Mitford | Justice of Cardiganshire, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire |
3 August 1789 | Ayrshire | u | Hugh Montgomerie | William MacDowall | Resignation (Inspector of Military Roads in Scotland) |
7 August 1789 | Bath | u* | Viscount Bayham | Viscount Bayham | Junior Lord of the Treasury |
7 August 1789 | Cirencester | u* | Lord Apsley | Lord Apsley | Junior Lord of the Treasury |
10 August 1789 | Great Bedwyn | u* | Marquess of Graham | Marquess of Graham | Joint Paymaster of the Forces |
18 August 1789 | Reigate | u | William Bellingham | The Lord Hood | Resignation (Victualling Commissioner) |
21 August 1789 | Stirling Burghs | u | James Campbell | Sir Archibald Campbell | Resignation |
24 August 1789 | East Looe | u | Viscount Belgrave | Viscount Belgrave | Resignation pending appointment as a Lord of the Admiralty |
28 August 1789 | Denbighshire | u* | Sir Watkin Williams Wynn | Robert Watkin Wynne | Death |
1 September 1789 | Ripon | u* | Sir John Goodricke | Sir George Allanson Winn | Death |
4 September 1789 | Glamorganshire | u* | Charles Edwin | Thomas Wyndham | Resignation |
14 September 1789 | Morpeth | u* | Peter Delmé | Francis Gregg | Death |
27 November 1789 | Bodmin | u | Thomas Hunt | George Wilbraham | Death |
5 December 1789 | Lichfield | u | George Anson | Thomas Anson | Death |
28 January 1790 | Newport (I.o.W.) | u | John Thomas Townshend | George Byng | Resignation (Lord of the Admiralty) |
30 January 1790 | Dorchester | u(*) | Thomas Ewer | Cropley Ashley | Death |
1 February 1790 | Malmesbury | u* | Viscount Maitland | Paul Benfield | Became a Scottish Peer |
1 February 1790 | Plymouth | u* | Robert Fanshawe | Alan Gardner | Resignation (Commissioner of the Navy) |
1 February 1790 | St Germans | u | John Hamilton | Sir Charles Hamilton | Succeeded to a peerage |
4 February 1790 | East Looe | u | Alexander Irvine | The Earl of Carysfort | Death |
26 February 1790 | Glasgow Burghs | c | Ilay Campbell | John Crauford | Resignation (Lord President of the Court of Session) |
26 February 1790 | Tiverton | u* | Dudley Ryder | Dudley Ryder | Comptroller of the Household |
1 March 1790 | Old Sarum | u | John Charles Villiers | John Charles Villiers | Chief Justice in Eyre North of Trent |
20 March 1790 | Cricklade | u* | Robert Nicholas | Thomas Estcourt | Resignation (Commissioner of Excise) |
25 May 1790 | Cirencester | u* | Lord Apsley | Lord Apsley | Teller of the Receipt of the Exchequer |
References
- List of MPs since 1660
- Return of the name of every member of the lower house of parliament of England, Scotland, and Ireland, with name of constituency represented, and date of return, from 1213 to 1874.
- The House of Commons 1754-1790, edited by Namier, Lewis Bernstein, Sir (London : Published for the History of Parliament Trust by H.M. Stationery Office, 1964)