Longford (UK Parliament constituency)

County Longford was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885, and one MP from 1918 to 1922.

County Longford
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyCounty Longford
1801–1885
Seats2
Created fromLongford (IHC)
Replaced by
1918–1922
Seats1
Created from
Replaced byLongford–Westmeath

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the whole of County Longford.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1801–1885
Year1st Member1st Party2nd Member2nd Party
1801, 1 January Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen, Bt Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt
1802, 15 July Hon. Thomas Gleadowe-Newcomen
1806, 25 November Viscount George Forbes Whig[1]
1819, 15 October Sir George Fetherston, Bt Tory[1]
1830, 11 August Tory[1] Anthony Lefroy Tory[1]
1832, 22 December Luke White[2] Repeal Association[3] James Halpin Rorke[2] Repeal Association[3]
1833, 2 April Viscount George Forbes Tory[1] Anthony Lefroy Tory[1]
1834, 18 December Conservative[1] Conservative[1]
1836, 30 December Luke White[4] Repeal Association[3]
1837, 5 May Charles Fox Conservative[1]
1837, 18 August Luke White[5] Repeal Association[3] Henry White Repeal Association[3]
1842, 18 April Anthony Lefroy Conservative[1][3]
1847, 13 August Samuel Blackall Repeal Association[3][6] Richard Maxwell Fox Repeal Association[3][6]
1851, 21 April Richard More O'Ferrall Whig[1][7][8]
1852, 19 July Fulke Greville-Nugent Ind. Irish[3] Ind. Irish[3]
1856, 13 May Henry George Hughes Whig[9][10][11]
1857, 16 April Whig[12][13] Henry White Whig[12][13]
1859, 9 May Liberal[3] Liberal[3]
1861, 4 July Luke White Liberal[3]
1862, 7 March Myles O'Reilly Liberal[3]
1869, 31 December Hon. Reginald Greville-Nugent[14] Liberal[3]
1870, 16 May Hon. George Greville-Nugent Liberal[3]
1874, 12 February George Errington Home Rule League[3] Home Rule League[3]
1879, 5 April Justin McCarthy Home Rule League[3]
1885 Constituency divided: see North Longford and South Longford

MPs 1918–1922
ElectionMemberPartyNote
1918 Single member constituency created
1918, December 14[15] Joseph McGuinness Sinn Féin Did not take his seat at Westminster
1922, May 31 [16] Seat left vacant after the death of McGuinness
1922, October 26 UK constituency abolished. Succeeded by Longford–Westmeath constituency in Dáil Éireann

Elections

Elections in the 1800s
MPs co-opted from the Irish Parliament, 1801: Longford (2 seats)[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
General election 1802: Longford (2 seats)[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory Hon. Thomas Gleadowe-Newcomen Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold
Tory hold
General election 1806: Longford (2 seats)[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Viscount George Forbes Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold
Whig gain from Tory
General election 1807: Longford (2 seats)[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Viscount George Forbes Unopposed N/A N/A'
Tory hold
Whig hold

Elections in the 1810s
General election 1812: Longford (2 seats)[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Viscount George Forbes Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold
Whig hold
General election 1818: Longford (2 seats)[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Viscount George Forbes Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold
Whig hold

Sir Thomas Fetherston died, causing a by-election.

1819 Longford by-election: Longford (1 seat)[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Sir George Fetherston, Bt 618 62.5 N/A
Whig Luke White 371 37.5 N/A
Majority 247 25.0 N/A
Turnout 989 N/A
Registered electors
Tory hold

Elections in the 1820s
General election 1820: Longford (2 seats)[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Sir George Fetherston, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Viscount George Forbes Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold
Whig hold
General election 1826: Longford (2 seats)[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Sir George Fetherston, Bt Unopposed N/A N/A
Whig Viscount George Forbes Unopposed N/A N/A
Tory hold
Whig hold

Elections in the 1830s
General election 1830: Longford (2 seats)[1][3][17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Tory George Forbes Unopposed
Tory Anthony Lefroy Unopposed
Registered electors 367
Tory hold
Tory gain from Whig
General election 1831: Longford (2 seats)[1][3][17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Tory George Forbes 211 37.6
Tory Anthony Lefroy 202 36.0
Whig Luke White 130 23.2
Whig Joseph Denis Mullen 18 3.2
Majority 72 12.8
Turnout c. 281 c. 76.6
Registered electors 367
Tory hold
Tory hold
General election 1832: Longford (2 seats)[1][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Repeal Luke White 649 26.3 +3.1
Irish Repeal James Halpin Rourke 645 26.2 New
Tory George Forbes 587 23.8 −13.8
Tory Anthony Lefroy 582 23.6 −12.4
Majority 58 2.4 N/A
Turnout 1,255 97.0 c. +20.4
Registered electors 1,294
Irish Repeal gain from Tory Swing +8.1
Irish Repeal gain from Tory Swing N/A

On petition, a House of Commons Select Committee inquiry disqualified 73 votes and declared Forbes and Lefroy the winners of the election.

General election 1835: Longford (2 seats)[1][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Viscount George Forbes 797 43.5 +19.7
Conservative Anthony Lefroy 549 30.0 +6.4
Irish Repeal (Whig) Luke White 424 23.2 −3.0
Irish Repeal (Whig) Henry White 61 3.3 −22.9
Majority 125 6.8 N/A
Turnout 987 62.4 −34.6
Registered electors 1,581
Conservative gain from Irish Repeal Swing +16.4
Conservative gain from Irish Repeal Swing +9.7

Viscount Forbes died, causing a by-election.

By-election, 30 December 1836: Longford (1 seat)[1][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Repeal (Whig) Luke White 619 54.1 +27.6
Conservative Charles Fox (Irish politician) 526 45.9 −27.6
Majority 93 8.2 N/A
Turnout 1,145 c. 72.4 c. +10.0
Registered electors c. 1,581
Irish Repeal gain from Conservative Swing +27.6

On petition, a House of Commons committee inquiry disqualified 94 votes and declared Fox the winner of the election by a majority of 1.

General election 1837: Longford (2 seats)[1][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Repeal (Whig) Luke White 671 27.3 +4.1
Irish Repeal (Whig) Henry White 667 27.2 +23.9
Conservative Anthony Lefroy 561 22.9 −7.1
Conservative Charles Fox (Irish politician) 556 22.6 −20.9
Majority 106 4.3 N/A
Turnout 1,257 72.4 +10.0
Registered electors 1,736
Irish Repeal gain from Conservative Swing +9.1
Irish Repeal gain from Conservative Swing +19.0

Elections in the 1840s
General election 1841: Longford (2 seats)[1][3][18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Repeal Luke White 621 36.0 +8.7
Irish Repeal Henry White 621 36.0 +8.8
Conservative Anthony Lefroy 482 28.0 −17.5
Majority 139 8.0 +3.7
Turnout 1,102 70.2 −2.2
Registered electors 1,569
Irish Repeal hold Swing +8.7
Irish Repeal hold Swing +8.8

On petition, a House of Commons committee began an inquiry into the votes cast for Luke White, but he withdrew his candidacy after 1 vote was examined and Lefroy was declared elected on 18 April 1842 .

General election 1847: Longford (2 seats)[19][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Repeal Samuel Blackall 447 28.7 −7.3
Irish Repeal Richard Maxwell Fox 433 27.8 −8.2
Conservative Anthony Lefroy 352 22.6 +8.6
Conservative Lawrence Harman King-Harman 323 20.8 +6.8
Majority 81 5.2 -2.8
Turnout 778 (est) 64.2 (est) −6.0
Registered electors 1,211
Irish Repeal hold Swing −7.5
Irish Repeal hold Swing −8.0

Elections in the 1850s

Blackall was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Dominica, causing a by-election.

By-election, 21 April 1851: Longford (1 seat)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Richard More O'Ferrall 938 92.1 N/A
Conservative George Warner Wilson Sleator 80 7.9 −35.5
Majority 858 84.2 N/A
Turnout 1,018 43.9 −20.3
Registered electors 2,321
Whig gain from Irish Repeal Swing N/A
General election 1852: Longford (2 seats)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Irish Fulke Greville 1,066 51.1 N/A
Independent Irish Richard Maxwell Fox 1,019 48.9 +21.1
Conservative Lawrence Harman King-Harman 0 0.0 −43.4
Majority 1,109 48.9 N/A
Turnout 1,043 (est) 44.9 (est) −19.3
Registered electors 2,321
Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal Swing N/A
Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal Swing N/A

Fox's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 13 May 1856: Longford (1 seat)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Henry George Hughes Unopposed
Whig gain from Independent Irish Swing N/A
General election 1857: Longford (2 seats)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Henry White 1,561 44.9 N/A
Whig Fulke Greville 1,197 34.4 N/A
Whig William Francis Forbes 722 20.7 N/A
Majority 475 13.5 N/A
Turnout 1,740 (est) 67.5 (est) N/A
Registered electors 2,577
Whig gain from Independent Irish Swing N/A
Whig gain from Independent Irish Swing N/A
General election 1859: Longford (2 seats)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry White Unopposed
Liberal Fulke Greville Unopposed
Registered electors 2,869
Liberal hold
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

White's resignation caused a by-election.

By-election, 4 July 1861: Longford (1 seat)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Luke White Unopposed
Liberal hold

White was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 7 March 1862: Longford (1 seat)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Myles O'Reilly 1,468 62.2 N/A
Liberal Luke White 892 37.8 N/A
Majority 576 24.4 N/A
Turnout 2,360 82.5 N/A
Registered electors 2,861
Liberal hold
General election 1865: Longford (2 seats)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Myles O'Reilly Unopposed
Liberal Fulke Greville Unopposed
Registered electors 2,767
Liberal hold
Liberal hold
General election 1868: Longford (2 seats)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Myles O'Reilly Unopposed
Liberal Fulke Greville-Nugent Unopposed
Registered electors 2,815
Liberal hold
Liberal hold

Greville-Nugent was created Lord Greville, causing a by-election.

By-election, 31 December 1869: Longford (1 seat)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Reginald Greville-Nugent 1,578 79.3 N/A
Independent Nationalist John Martin 411 20.7 New
Majority 1,167 58.6 N/A
Turnout 1,989 70.7 N/A
Registered electors 2,815
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

On petition, Greville-Nugent was unseated.

By-election, 16 May 1870: Longford (1 seat)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal George Greville-Nugent 1,217 56.9 N/A
Home Rule Edward King-Harman 923 43.1 New
Majority 294 13.8 N/A
Turnout 2,140 76.0 N/A
Registered electors 2,815
Liberal hold
General election 1874: Longford (2 seats)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Home Rule Myles O'Reilly 1,811 45.2 N/A
Home Rule George Errington 1,740 43.4 N/A
Liberal-Conservative George Slator[20] 432 10.8 New
Home Rule James McCalmont 26 0.6 N/A
Majority 1,308 32.6 N/A
Turnout 2,018 (est) 73.3 (est) N/A
Registered electors 2,753
Home Rule gain from Liberal
Home Rule gain from Liberal

O'Reilly was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Intermediate Education and resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 4 Apr 1879: Longford (1 seat)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Home Rule Justin McCarthy Unopposed
Registered electors 2,640
Home Rule hold

Elections in the 1880s
General election 1880: Longford (2 seats)[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Home Rule George Errington Unopposed
Parnellite Home Rule League Justin McCarthy Unopposed
Registered electors 2,626
Home Rule hold
Home Rule hold

Elections in the 1910s

[3]

1918 general election: Longford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Sinn Féin Joseph McGuinness 11,122 72.7
Irish Parliamentary James Patrick Farrell 4,173 27.5
Majority 6,949 45.2
Turnout 15,295 74.8
Registered electors 20,449
Sinn Féin win (new seat)

Notes
  1. Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 229–230, 234. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via Google Books.
  2. both members were unseated in favour of George Forbes, Viscount Forbes and Anthony Lefroy 2 Apr 1833
  3. Brian M. Walker, ed. (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 189. ISBN 0-901714-12-7.
  4. he was unseated on petition in favour of Charles Fox 5 May 1837
  5. Luke White was unseated on petition in favour of Anthony Lefroy 18 April 1842.[r 1]
  6. "The Elections — Repeal Triumphant". Freeman's Journal. 13 August 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Belfast News-Letter". 23 April 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "The Longford Election—Another Defeat of the League". Belfast News-Letter. 16 April 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Carlisle Journal". 20 April 1855. p. 8. Retrieved 18 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Summary of News". Downshire Protestant. 2 May 1856. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "Death of Mr. Fox. M.P.". Ballyshannon Herald. 2 May 1856. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "The Evening Freeman". 1 April 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. "General Intelligence". Coventry Standard. 17 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  14. Greville-Nugent's election was declared void 12 Apr 1870
  15. Date of polling day. The result was declared on 28 December 1918, to allow time for votes cast by members of the armed forces to be included in the count.
  16. Not an election. Date of the death of McGuinness.
  17. Salmon, Philip. "Co. Longford". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  18. Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons, Volume 50. 1843. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via Google Books.
  19. Dublin Evening Packet and Correspondent. 14 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  20. "The General Election". Freeman's Journal. 5 February 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 5 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

References
  • 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, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.

  1. Minutes of Proceedings of the Committee on the Longford Election Petition (PDF). Command papers. Vol. 208. 26 April 1842.
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