Northern West Riding of Yorkshire 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 ...

covering part of the historic

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. 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 ...

, elected by the bloc vote system.

History

The constituency was created when the two-member West Riding of Yorkshire constituency was divided for the 1865 general election into two new constituencies, each returning two members: Northern West Riding of Yorkshire and Southern West Riding of Yorkshire. The extra seats were taken from

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 ...

s which had been disenfranchised for corruption. In the redistribution which took effect for the 1868 general election the two divisions were redistributed into three. Eastern West Riding of Yorkshire was created and the Northern and Southern divisions modified. Each of the three divisions returned two members. All three were abolished by 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 ...

for the 1885 general election. The Northern division was replaced by five new single-member constituencies:

Elland Elland is a market town in Calderdale, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated south of Halifax, by the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Elland was recorded as ''Elant'' in the Domesday Book of 1086. It ha ...

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of Bi ...

, Shipley,

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Air ...

and Sowerby.

Boundaries

The place of election was initially at Leeds (1861 Act), later at Bradford (1868 Act). From 1865 to 1868 the constituency comprised the north half of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The

Birkenhead Enfranchisement Act 1861 Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpo ...

provided that it was to contain the

wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, C ...

s of Staincliffe and Ewecross, Claro,

Skyrack Skyrack was a wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was split into upper and lower divisions and centred in Headingley, Leeds. The Lower Division included the parishes of Aberford, Bardsey, Barwick-in-Elmet, Kippax, Thorne ...

, and

Morley Morley may refer to: Places England * Morley, Norfolk, a civil parish * Morley, Derbyshire, a civil parish * Morley, Cheshire, a village * Morley, County Durham, a village * Morley, West Yorkshire, a suburban town of Leeds and civil parish * M ...

. 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 ...

re-defined the constituency as the wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewcross, Claro, Skyrack,

Barkston Ash Barkston Ash is a small village and civil parish close to Selby in North Yorkshire, England. It was formerly known as Barkston in the West Riding of Yorkshire. History The village dates back to at least 1090, when it was spelled Barcestone. No ...

, and Osgoldcross. The Boundary Act 1868 again re-defined the constituency as the wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewcross with part of the wapentake of Morley (the parishes of

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

and Halifax and the townships of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

Idle Idle generally refers to idleness, a lack of motion or energy. Idle or ''idling'', may also refer to: Technology * Idle (engine), engine running without load ** Idle speed * Idle (CPU), CPU non-utilisation or low-priority mode ** Synchronous ...

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1870s

Crossley's death caused a by-election. Cavendish was appointed a

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...

, requiring a by-election.

Elections in the 1880s

Cavendish was appointed

Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century u ...

, causing a by-election. However, on 6 May 1882, just hours after taking the oath for the position, Cavendish was assassinated in Dublin in the

Phoenix Park Murders The Phoenix Park Murders were the fatal stabbings of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Henry Burke (civil servant), Thomas Henry Burke in Phoenix Park, Dublin, British rule in Ireland, Ireland, on 6 May 1882. Cavendish was the newly appoint ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yorkshire West Riding North Parliamentary constituencies in Yorkshire and the Humber (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1865 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1885

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...