Downpatrick (UK Parliament constituency)

Downpatrick
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	County Down
Borough	Downpatrick
1801–1885
Seats	1
Created from	Downpatrick
Replaced by	East Down

Downpatrick was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one MP. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.

Boundaries

This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Downpatrick in County Down.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party	Note
	1801, January 1	Clotworthy Rowley		1801: Co-opted. Appointed Commissioner of Compensation.
	1801, March 10	Samuel Campbell Rowley
	1802, July 17	Charles Stewart Hawthorne
	1806, November 18	Edward Southwell Ruthven	Whig[1]	^1
	1807, May 22	John Wilson Croker	Tory[1]	^1
	1812, October 20	Charles Stewart Hawthorne	Whig[1]	Appointed a Commissioner of Excise in Ireland
	1815, March 9	Viscount Glerawley	Tory[1]
	1818, August 4
	1820, March 28	John Waring Maxwell	Tory[1]
	1826, July 25
	1830, August 7	Edward Southwell Ruthven	Whig[1]
	1831, June 14
	1832, December 13	John Waring Maxwell	Tory[1]
	1834, December		Conservative[1]
	1835, January 9	David Ker	Conservative[1]
	1837, July/August
	1841, July 2	David Stewart Ker	Conservative[1]
	1847, August 4	Richard Ker	Peelite	Resigned
	1851, August 8	Hon. Charles Hardinge	Conservative	Became the 2nd Viscount Hardinge, 24 September 1856
	1852, July
	1857, February 12	Richard Ker	Peelite ^3
	1857, March/April
	1859, May 3	David Stewart Ker	Conservative
	1865, July			Resigned
	1867, August 5	William Keown	Conservative
	1868, Nov/Dec
	1874, February 2	John Mulholland	Conservative	Last MP for the constituency
1885		Constituency abolished

Supplemental notes

1. Stooks Smith suggests that after the 1806 election there was a petition, which led to Edward Southwell Ruthven (Whig) being unseated and John Wilson Croker {Tory} being declared duly elected. Walker does not make any reference to such a petition.
2. Walker (like F. W. S. Craig in his compilations of election results for Great Britain) classifies Tory candidates as Conservatives from 1832. The name Conservative was gradually adopted as a description for the Tories. The party is deemed to be named Conservative from the 1835 general election.
3. Walker (like F. W. S. Craig in his compilations of election results for Great Britain) classifies Whig, Radical and similar candidates as Liberals from 1832. The name Liberal was gradually adopted as a description for the Whigs and politicians allied with them, before the formal creation of the Liberal Party shortly after the 1859 general election.

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Downpatrick^[2]^[1]^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Edward Southwell Ruthven	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 400
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1831: Downpatrick^[2]^[1]^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Edward Southwell Ruthven	219	57.9
	Tory	Cospatrick Home	159	42.1
Majority			60	15.8
Turnout			378	c. 94.5
Registered electors			c. 400
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Downpatrick^[2]^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John Waring Maxwell	Unopposed
Registered electors			517
	Tory gain from Whig

General election 1835: Downpatrick^[2]^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David Guardi Ker	Unopposed
Registered electors			525
	Conservative hold

General election 1837: Downpatrick^[2]^[1]^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David Guardi Ker	154	51.0
	Conservative	John Keown	140	46.4
	Radical	Robert Thompson	5	1.7
	Radical	James Christie Whyte	3	1.0
Majority			14	4.6
Turnout			302	52.1
Registered electors			580
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Downpatrick^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Stewart Ker	Unopposed
Registered electors			342
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Downpatrick^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Richard Ker	Unopposed
Registered electors			385
	Peelite gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1850s

Ker resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

By-election, 8 August 1851: Downpatrick^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Hardinge	Unopposed
	Conservative gain from Peelite

General election 1852: Downpatrick^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Hardinge	Unopposed
Registered electors			236
	Conservative gain from Peelite

Hardinge succeeded to the peerage, becoming 2nd Viscount Hardinge and causing a by-election.

By-election, 12 February 1857: Downpatrick^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Richard Ker	129	99.2	New
	Conservative	William Johnston	1	0.8	N/A
Majority			128	98.4	N/A
Turnout			130	66.3	N/A
Registered electors			196
	Peelite gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Downpatrick^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Richard Ker	Unopposed
Registered electors			196
	Peelite gain from Conservative

General election 1859: Downpatrick^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Stewart Ker	Unopposed
Registered electors			199
	Conservative gain from Peelite

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Downpatrick^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Stewart Ker	Unopposed
Registered electors			230
	Conservative hold

Ker resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 5 August 1867: Downpatrick^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Keown	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: Downpatrick^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Keown	Unopposed
Registered electors			241
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Downpatrick^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Mulholland	Unopposed
Registered electors			239
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Downpatrick^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Mulholland	176	64.0	N/A
	Liberal	Alexander Fraser	99	36.0	New
Majority			77	28.0	N/A
Turnout			275	90.5	N/A
Registered electors			304
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

References

1. Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 222–223. Retrieved 14 May 2020 – via Google Books.
2. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 208–209, 269. ISBN 0901714127.
3. Farrell, Stephen. "Downpatrick". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
4. "Election News". Yorkshire Gazette. 12 August 1837. p. 3. Retrieved 14 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.

• The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
• Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)