Rutland 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 the county of

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

. It was represented in 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 ...

until 1918, when it became part of the Rutland and Stamford constituency, along with Stamford in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. Since 1983, Rutland has formed part of the Rutland and Melton constituency along with

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promo ...

from Leicestershire. The constituency elected 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), traditionally known as

Knights of the Shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution ...

, until 1885, when it was reduced to one Member.

Boundaries

The constituency comprised the whole of the historic county of

, in the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...

. Rutland, the smallest of the historic counties of England, never had any Parliamentary borough constituencies within its borders. The place of election for the county was at

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

. This was where the

hustings A husting originally referred to a native Germanic governing assembly, the thing. By metonymy, the term may now refer to any event (such as debates or speeches) during an election campaign where one or more of the candidates are present. Devel ...

were held; at which candidates were nominated (before the

Ballot Act 1872 The Ballot Act 1872 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that introduced the requirement for parliamentary and local government elections in the United Kingdom to be held by secret ballot. The act abolished the traditional husti ...

), polling took place (before the introduction of multiple polling places in county constituencies) and where the result was announced. Pelling in his ''Social Geography of British Elections 1885–1910'' describes most of the people in this county as "engaged in or dependent upon agriculture". The constituency was a safe Conservative one and was rarely contested in the period covered by the book. G. H. Finch MP had personally owned almost one tenth of the county he represented.

Members of Parliament

1295–1640

1640–1885

1885–1918

Elections

Population in 1831: 19,380 General Election 1832 (December 14)
Registered Electors: 1,296
G N Noel, Bart.

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

G Heathcote Whig General Election 1835 (January 10)
G N Noel, Bart.

G Heathcote Whig General Election 1837 (July 29)
G N Noel, Bart.

G Heathcote Whig Following the death of Sir G N Noel: By-Election 1838 (March 13)
W M Noel

Elections in the 1830s

Noel's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1840s

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

Elections in the 1850s

Heathcote was elevated to the peerage, becoming 1st Baron Aveland and causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

Noel 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. Heathcote succeeded to the peerage, becoming Lord Aveland and causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s

Noel was appointed First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings.

Elections in the 1880s

Noel's resignation caused a by-election, which was the first contest in the constituency for 42 years.

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1914–15: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; *Unionist:

John Gretton John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton, (1 September 1867 – 2 June 1947) was a British businessman and Conservative politician. Gretton won two gold medals in the 1900 Olympic Games. Life and career Gretton was the eldest son of John Gretton of St ...

*Liberal:

References

* Robert Beatson, ''A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament'' (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807

* D Brunton & D H Pennington, ''Members of the Long Parliament'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954) * ''Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803'' (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808
Digital Bodleian
* F W S Craig, ''Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972'' (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972) * F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885'' (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989) * M Kinnear, ''The British Voter'' (London: Batsford, 1968) * ''McCalmont's Parliamentary Poll Book of All Elections 1832–1918'' * Lewis Namier & John Brooke, ''The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754–1790'' (London: HMSO, 1964) * J E Neale, ''The Elizabethan House of Commons'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949) *

Henry Pelling Henry Mathison Pelling (27 August 1920 – 14 October 1997) was a British historian best known for his works on the history of the British Labour Party. Life Pelling was born in Prenton, Wirral, the son of a wealthy stockbroker. He was educat ...

, ''Social Geography of British Elections 1885–1910'' (Macmillan, 1967) * Henry Stooks Smith, ''The Parliaments of England'' (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) *{{Rayment-hc, r, 2, date=March 2012 Parliamentary constituencies in Rutland (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1290 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1918 Rutland