The 1854 Frome by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England on 24 October 1854 for the House of Commons constituency of Frome, a

parliamentary borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

in Somerset.

Vacancy

The vacancy had been caused by the death of the borough's 45-year-old Liberal MP Colonel Robert Edward Boyle, who had held the seat since the 1847 general election. Serving with the Coldstream Guards in the Crimean War, he died of fever in

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

, and was buried at sea. Boyle had been returned opposed in 1847 and in

1852 Events January–March * January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic. * January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come tog ...

, and was also unopposed at the by-election in 1853 which followed the annulment on petition of the 1852 result.

Candidates

Two candidates were nominated.

Donald Nicoll Donald Nicoll (25 April 1820 – 6 September 1891) was a British Liberal and Radical politician, businessman, inventor and author. Inventions Born in 1820, Nicoll started his career in trade, becoming the owner of sanitary works, as well as an i ...

was a tailor from London, and a former Sheriff of London. Richard Boyle, Viscount Dungarvan was a grandson of the 8th Earl of Cork, and a nephew of the late MP Robert Edward Boyle. The Earls of Cork had long dominated the borough in alliance with the Conservative-supporting

Marquess of Bath Marquess of Bath is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1789 for Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth. The Marquess holds the subsidiary titles Baron Thynne, of Warminster in the County of Wiltshire, and Viscount Weymouth ...

, but their support for Dungarvan was controversial. At the West Somerset by-election in 1851, Dungarvan had stood as a Conservative, opposed to the Liberal government of Lord John Russell. He had staunchly opposed the Liberal principle of free trade, and Liberal opinion in Frome was further alarmed by tractarian support for Dungarvan. Nicoll had issued a statement supporting Liberal principles, and was invited to stand. He rapidly became the leading candidate. A Mr Curling from

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

also addressed the voters, but soon abandoned his campaign and left Frome.

Election

The

secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...

was not used in British parliamentary elections until the passage of the Ballot Act 1872, so elections were still held in public. That was one of the many points of difference between the two candidates in Frome, with Nicoll supporting secret ballots while Dungarvan preferred public polls. The election in Frome began on Saturday 21 October, amidst such an uproar from the crowd that even those closest to speakers were unable to hear all that they said. Once the nomination formalities had been completed, both candidates addressed the crowd. Dungarvan spoke of his family's long history association with Frome, and how a secret ballot was un-needed because the townspeople were "not slaves". He derided Nicoll's claim to have given employment to the town, saying it was the "toil and sweat of the poor man" which allowed Nicoll to travel in such style from Regent Street. When it was Nicoll's turn to speak, the majority of the crowd cheered him. He proclaimed that he had always had been a free trader, and remained so. He was opposed to unfair and excessive taxation, and had no titled relatives to be supported by public

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval chu ...

s. He said that while canvassing, the vast majority of those to whom he had spoken supported a secret ballot, and that all other reforms would be undermined without it. On a show of hands, the vast majority of those present supported Nicoll. However, Lord Dungarvan demanded a poll, which was set for Monday 23 October. Voting took place throughout the day on Monday, amidst scenes of disorder which '' The Times'' reported as involving "innumerable broken windows, and not a few broken heads". By 9am, Dungarvan had established a lead of 9 votes out of the 131 cast, and by the close of poll at 4pm his total of 181 votes was 52 ahead of Nicoll's 129. The disorder escalated, and at 7.15pm the

Riot Act The Riot Act (1 Geo.1 St.2 c.5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled and o ...

was read, and a unit of yeomanry with swords drawn entered the town to disperse the crowd.

Aftermath

Dungarvan held the seat for less than two years, before he succeeded to the peerage in 1856. This triggered another by-election, at which Nicoll was again an unsuccessful candidate, losing by only 1 vote.Craig records the 1856 poll as having been Boyle and Thynne. However, '' The Times'' and '' The Spectator'' both report that Thynne withdrew, and the poll was between Boyle and Nicoll Nicoll went on to win the seat at the 1857 general election, serving as Frome's MP for two years.

References

{{reflist, refs = {{cite book , last=Craig , first=F. W. S. , author-link= F. W. S. Craig , title=British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 , orig-year=1977 , edition= 2nd , year=1989 , publisher= Parliamentary Research Services , location=Chichester , isbn= 978-0900178269 , page=128 {{cite news , url = http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/26th-july-1856/8/punittrinl , title= Archive , work = The Spectator , date = 26 July 1856 , page = 8 , access-date=17 May 2014 {{cite news , author= , title = The Representation Of Frome , page = 9 , issue = 21864 , url= http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=lancs&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=&docId=CS151554885&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 , newspaper= The Times , location= London , date= 5 October 1854 , access-date=18 May 2014 {{cite news , title = Frome Election , page = 5 , issue = 21879 , url= http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=lancs&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=&docId=CS84314967&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 , newspaper= The Times , location= London , date= 23 October 1854 , access-date=18 May 2014 {{cite news , title = Representation Of Frome , page = 7 , issue = 21880 , url= http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=lancs&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=&docId=CS118917976&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 , newspaper= The Times , location= London , date= 24 October 1854 , access-date=18 May 2014 1854 in England Frome 1854 elections in the United Kingdom By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Somerset constituencies 19th century in Somerset October 1854 events

Vacancy

Candidates

Election

Aftermath

See also

References