Wikipedia

Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)

For other constituencies of the same name, see Armagh (disambiguation).

54°20′53″N 6°39′22″W / 54.348°N 6.656°W / 54.348; -6.656

Armagh
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyCounty Armagh
1922–1983
Seats1
Created from
Replaced by
1801–1885
Seats2
Created fromCounty Armagh (IHC)
Replaced by

Armagh or County Armagh is a former county constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. It was a two-member constituency in Ireland from 1801 to 1885 and a single-member constituency in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 1950. It was replaced in boundary changes in 1983.

History and boundaries

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County Armagh had been represented by two seats in the Irish House of Commons. From 1 January 1801, when the Acts of Union 1800 came into effect, it was represented by a county constituency with two MPs in the United Kingdom House of Commons. It consisted of County Armagh, except the parts in the parliamentary borough constituencies of Armagh City and Newry. The borough of Charlemont was disfranchised in 1801. The First Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1801 was composed all members of the parliament of Great Britain and members continuing from areas which were enfranchised in Ireland.

Catholics were excluded from taking seats until the enactment of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829. Under the Parliamentary Elections (Ireland) Act 1829, the traditional county 40 shilling freehold landowning qualification was changed to a £10 qualification (which was an increase to five times the previous level). Before the Representation of the People Act 1884, there was a restrictive property-based franchise. It was not until the householder franchise was introduced for county elections, in the electoral reforms which took effect in 1885, that most (but not all) adult males became voters. In these circumstances, most members of parliament came from a limited number of Protestant aristocratic and gentry families. There were few contested elections.

In the first half-century or so after the union, the constituency was fairly evenly balanced between Whig/Liberal and Tory/Conservative parties. Thereafter the area became more Conservative.

In 1885, under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, it was split into Mid Armagh, North Armagh and South Armagh.[1]

In 1922, following the establishment of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, the number of seats in Northern Ireland at Westminster was cut from 30 to 13 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920.[2] The single-seat constituency of Armagh consisted of the entirety of County Armagh. From its inception, Armagh had a unionist majority, though by the 1970s the nationalist vote was in the mid-30s%. In 1951, it was one of the last four seats to be uncontested in a UK general election, and in 1954 it saw the last uncontested by-election in the UK. In 1974 the Ulster Unionist Party repudiated the Sunningdale Agreement and so did not reselect the pro-Sunningdale MP, John Maginnis. Instead, they ran Harold McCusker, who held the seat until 1983. He was then elected for Upper Bann, which contained part of Armagh.

In 1983 most of the constituency became part of the Newry and Armagh constituency, with part going to Upper Bann.[3]

Members of Parliament

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Election 1st Member 1st Party 2nd Member 2nd Party
1801 Archibald Acheson Non-partisan/Tory Robert Camden Cope Non-partisan
1802 Henry Caulfeild Whig[4]
1807 William Brownlow Tory William Richardson Tory[4]
1815 Henry Caulfeild Whig[4]
1818 Charles Brownlow Whig[4]
1820 Henry Caulfeild Whig[4]
1830 Archibald Acheson Whig[4][5]
1832 William Verner Tory[4]
1834 Conservative[4]
1847 James Caulfeild Whig[6][7]
1857 Maxwell Close Conservative
1864 James Stronge Conservative
1868 William Verner Conservative
1873 Edward Wingfield Verner Conservative
1874 Maxwell Close Conservative
1880 James Richardson Liberal
1885 Constituency abolished. See Mid Armagh, North Armagh and South Armagh
Election Member Party
1922 Constituency recreated
1922 Sir William Allen Ulster Unionist
1948 by-election Richard Harden Ulster Unionist
1954 by-election C. W. Armstrong Ulster Unionist
1959 John Maginnis Ulster Unionist
Feb 1974 Harold McCusker Ulster Unionist
1983 Constituency abolished

Elections

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In two-member elections, the bloc voting system was used. Voters could cast a vote for one or two candidates, as they chose. The two candidates with the largest number of votes were elected.

In by-elections to fill a single seat, the first past the post system applied.

After 1832, when registration of voters was introduced, a turnout figure is given for contested elections. In two-member elections, when the exact number of participating voters is unknown, this is calculated by dividing the number of votes by two. To the extent that voters did not use both their votes this will be an underestimate of turnout. If the electorate figure is unknown the last known electorate figure is used to provide an estimate of turnout.

Where a party had more than one candidate in one or both of a pair of successive elections change is calculated for each individual candidate, otherwise change is based on the party vote.

 
Armagh election results

Elections in the 19th century

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Archibald Acheson and Robert Camden Cope were co-opted as non-partisans in 1801.
At the 1802 and 1806 general elections, Archibald Acheson and Henry Caulfeild were elected unopposed.
At the 1807 Armagh by-election, Brownlow was elected unopposed.
At the 1807 general election, Richardson and Brownlow were elected unopposed.
At the 1812 general election, Richardson and William Brownlow were elected unopposed.
At the 1815 Armagh by-election, Henry Caulfeild was elected unopposed.

Elections in the 1810s

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General election 10 July 1818: Armagh (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Charles Brownlow 1,839 38.53 N/A
Tory William Richardson 1,673 35.05 N/A
Whig Henry Caulfeild 1,261 26.42 New
Majority 412 8.63 N/A
Turnout 4,773 N/A
Tory hold Swing
Tory hold Swing

Elections in the 1820s

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At the 1820 general election, Charles Brownlow and Henry Caulfeild were elected unopposed.
General election 29 June 1826: Armagh (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Henry Caulfeild 2,897 35,84 N/A
Whig Charles Brownlow 2,563 31.70 N/A
Tory William Verner 1,894 23.43 New
Tory John Ynyr Burgess 730 9.03 New
Majority 669 7.27 N/A
Turnout 8,084 N/A
Whig hold Swing
Whig hold Swing

Elections in the 1830s

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General election 9 August 1830: Armagh (2 seats)[8][4][9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Charles Brownlow Unopposed
Whig Archibald Acheson Unopposed
Whig hold
Whig hold
General election 11 May 1831: Armagh (2 seats)[8][4][9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Charles Brownlow Unopposed
Whig Archibald Acheson Unopposed
Registered electors 1,361
Whig hold
Whig hold
General election 19 December 1832: Armagh (2 seats)[8][4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Tory William Verner Unopposed
Whig Archibald Acheson Unopposed
Registered electors 3,342
Tory gain from Whig
Whig hold
General election 15 January 1835: Armagh (2 seats)[8][4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative William Verner Unopposed
Whig Archibald Acheson Unopposed
Registered electors 3,423
Conservative hold
Whig hold
General election 7 August 1837: Armagh (2 seats)[8][4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative William Verner Unopposed
Whig Archibald Acheson Unopposed
Registered electors 3,574
Conservative hold
Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

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General election 9 July 1841: Armagh (2 seats)[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Verner Unopposed
Whig Archibald Acheson Unopposed
Registered electors 2,578
Conservative hold
Whig hold
General election 9 August 1847: Armagh (2 seats)[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Verner Unopposed
Whig James Caulfeild Unopposed
Registered electors 3,054
Conservative hold
Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

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General election 16 July 1852: Armagh (2 seats)[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Verner Unopposed
Whig James Caulfeild Unopposed
Registered electors 4,341
Conservative hold
Whig hold
General election 16 April 1857: Armagh (2 seats)[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Maxwell Close 940 50.2 N/A
Conservative William Verner 928 49.5 N/A
Whig James Caulfeild 6 0.3 N/A
Majority 922 49.2 N/A
Turnout 937 (est) 16.7 (est) N/A
Registered electors 5,596
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative gain from Whig Swing N/A
General election 7 May 1859: Armagh (2 seats)[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Maxwell Close Unopposed
Conservative William Verner Unopposed
Registered electors 5,805
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

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By-election, 23 March 1863: Armagh[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Stronge Unopposed
Conservative hold
  • Caused by Close's resignation.
General election, 19 July 1865: Armagh[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Stronge Unopposed
Conservative William Verner Unopposed
Registered electors 5,721
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
General election, 21 November 1868: Armagh[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Stronge Unopposed
Conservative William Verner Unopposed
Registered electors 7,443
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

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By-election, 15 February 1873: Armagh[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Wingfield Verner Unopposed
Registered electors
Conservative hold
  • Caused by Verner's death.
General election 7 February 1874: Armagh (2 seats)[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Wingfield Verner 3,527 40.7 N/A
Conservative Maxwell Close 3,469 40.0 N/A
Liberal Frederick William McBlaine 1,673 19.3 New
Majority 1,796 20.7 N/A
Turnout 5,171 (est) 73.4 (est) N/A
Registered electors 7,044
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

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General election 9 April 1880: Armagh (2 seats)[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal James Richardson 2,738 29.0 +9.7
Conservative Maxwell Close 2,654 28.1 −11.9
Conservative St John Thomas Blacker[10] 2,275 24.1 N/A
Conservative William Verner 1,781 18.9 −21.8
Turnout 4,724 (est) 68.1 (est) −5.3
Registered electors 6,937
Majority 84 4.0 N/A
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +10.8
Conservative hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1920s

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General election 1922: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP William Allen Unopposed
UUP hold
General election 1923: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP William Allen Unopposed
UUP hold
General election 1924: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP William Allen 29,021 71.2 N/A
Sinn Féin James McKee 11,756 28.8 New
Majority 17,265 42.4 N/A
Turnout 40,777 75.0 N/A
UUP hold Swing
General election 1929: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP William Allen 29,966 67.4 −3.8
Ulster Liberal William Todd 13,052 32.6 New
Majority 13,914 34.8 −7.6
Turnout 40,018 60.2 −14.8
UUP hold Swing

Elections in the 1930s

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General election 1931: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP William Allen Unopposed
UUP hold
General election 1935: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP William Allen 34,002 67.6 N/A
Ind. Republican Charles McGleenan 16,284 32.4 New
Majority 17,718 35.2 N/A
Turnout 50,286 73.3 N/A
UUP hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

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1945 general election: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP William Allen Unopposed
UUP hold
1948 Armagh by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP James Harden 36,200 59.7 N/A
Anti-Partition James O'Reilly 24,422 40.3 New
Majority 12,314 20.4 N/A
Turnout 60,622 N/A
UUP hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

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General election 1950: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP James Harden Unopposed
Registered electors
UUP hold
General election 1951: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP James Harden Unopposed
Registered electors
UUP hold
1954 Armagh by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP C. W. Armstrong Unopposed
Registered electors
UUP hold
General election 1955: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP C. W. Armstrong 38,617 64.4 N/A
Sinn Féin Tomás Mac Curtain 21,363 35.6 New
Majority 17,254 28.8 N/A
Turnout 59,980 82.7 N/A
UUP hold Swing
General election 1959: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP John Maginnis 40,325 85.5 +21.1
Sinn Féin John Lynch 6,823 14.5 −21.1
Majority 33,502 71.0 +42.2
Turnout 47,148 64.2 −18.5
UUP hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

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General election 1964: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP John Maginnis 35,223 65.0 −20.5
Ind. Republican John Lynch 12,432 23.0 N/A
NI Labour Samuel Ewart 6,523 12.0 New
Majority 22,791 42.0 −29.0
Turnout 54,178 73.0 −8.8
UUP hold Swing
General election 1966: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP John Maginnis 34,687 72.0 +7.0
Ind. Republican Charles McGleenan 13,467 28.0 +5.0
Majority 21,220 44.0 +2.0
Turnout 48,154 63.3 −9.7
UUP hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

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General election 1970: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP John Maginnis 37,667 55.3 −16.7
Unity Hugh Lewis 21,696 31.9 New
NI Labour Erskine Holmes 8,781 12.9 New
Majority 15,971 23.4 −20.6
Turnout 68,144 78.4 +15.1
UUP hold Swing
General election February 1974: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP Harold McCusker 33,194 53.7 −1.6
SDLP Paddy O'Hanlon 18,090 29.3 New
Alliance Robin Glendinning 4,983 8.1 New
Republican Clubs Thomas Moore 4,129 6.7 New
Unity Hugh Lewis 1,364 2.2 −29.7
Majority 15,104 24.4 +1.0
Turnout 61,760 68.4 −10.0
UUP hold Swing
General election October 1974: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP Harold McCusker 37,518 60.0 +6.3
SDLP Seamus Mallon 19,855 31.8 +2.5
Republican Clubs Malachy McGurran 5,138 8.2 +1.5
Majority 17,663 28.2 +3.8
Turnout 62,511 68.6 +0.2
UUP hold Swing
General election 1979: Armagh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP Harold McCusker 31,668 48.5 −11.5
SDLP Seamus Mallon 23,545 36.1 +4.3
DUP Davy Calvert 5,634 8.6 New
Republican Clubs Thomas Moore 2,310 3.5 −4.7
Alliance William Ramsay 2,074 3.2 New
Majority 8,123 12.4 −15.8
Turnout 65,231 70.1 +1.5
UUP hold Swing

References

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  • Stooks Smith, Henry (1973) [1844–50]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Political Reference Publications.
  • Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Royal Irish Academy. pp. 196–197, 250–251.
  • Walker, Brian M., ed. (1992). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1918–92: Irish elections to parliaments and parliamentary assemblies at Westminster, Belfast, Dublin, Strabourg. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714968. ISSN 0332-0286.
  • Stenton, M., ed. (1976). Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume I 1832–1885. The Harvester Press.
  • Elliott, Sydney, ed. (1973). Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results 1921–1972. Political Reference Publications.
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 2)

Citations

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  1. ^ Sixth Schedule, Seventh Part III Ireland, "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, 48 & 49 Vict. C. 23". The public general acts. Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. p. 184.
  2. ^ "Government of Ireland Act 1920: Fifth Schedule". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  3. ^ Schedule (a) County constituencies, "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 1982 (No. 1838)" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 22 December 1982. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 214–215. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. p. 10. Retrieved 18 August 2019 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Newry Telegraph". 24 August 1847. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Armagh (County)". Evening Mail. 12 July 1852. p. 2. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
  9. ^ a b Farrell, Stephen. "Co. Armagh". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  10. ^ "The Representation of Co. Armagh". Dublin Daily Express. 5 April 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 18 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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