East Essex, formally known as the East Division of Essex was a

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

in the English county of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. From 1868 to 1885, it returned two

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MPs) to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, using the bloc vote system of election.

Creation, boundaries and abolition

East Essex was created by the

Reform Act 1867 The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 (known as the Reform Act 1867 or the Second Reform Act) was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the first ...

for the 1868 general election as one of three two-member divisions of Essex (East, South and West), replacing the two divisions which had been created by the Reform Act 1832 (Northern and Southern). Initially named as the North East Division, it was renamed the East Division under the Boundaries Act 1868. The seat was created from parts of both South Essex and North Essex. The place for "holding of courts for election of members" from 1867 became Braintree under the 1867 Act. 1868–1885: The Hundreds of Hinckford, Lexden, Tendring, Winstree, Witham, Thurstable, and Dengie. The Dengie hundred was transferred from the Southern Division, with the remainder previously part of the abolished Northern division. Under the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

, the three two-member divisions of Essex were abolished and replaced by eight single-member divisions. East Essex was replaced by the Harwich and Maldon Divisions and parts of the Saffron Walden and South Eastern Divisions.Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. https://archive.org/stream/publicgeneralac01walegoog#page/n155/mode/2up

Members of Parliament

Election results

Brise's resignation caused a by-election.

References

* * ;Specific Parliamentary constituencies in Essex (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1868 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1885 {{UK-hist-constituency-stub