West Cumberland was a

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...

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 ...

. It 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) by the bloc vote system of election.

Boundaries

1832–1885: The Wards of Allerdale above Derwent and Allerdale below Derwent. In 1832 the historic county of

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, in north west England, was split for parliamentary purposes into two county divisions. These were the East Cumberland division (with a place of election at

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

) and the West division (where voting took place at

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...

). Each division returned two members to Parliament. The parliamentary boroughs included in the West division, between 1832 and 1885, (whose non-resident 40 shilling freeholders voted in the county constituency) were

and

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

. ''(Source: Stooks Smith).''

History

For most of its existence this was an extremely Conservative division, in sharp contrast to the mostly Liberal inclined East division of the county. Only once, in the last election in 1880, was a Liberal MP elected. The county began to industrialise from the 1860s. An Irish community developed in the west of Cumberland particularly at

Cleator Moor Cleator Moor is a town and civil parish in Cumbria, England, within the historic county of Cumberland. It had a population of 6,936 at the 2011 census. Below Dent Fell, the town is on the Coast to Coast Walk that spans Northern England. ...

, attracted by the opportunity to find work in the areas developing iron industry. It may be that these economic and demographic developments made the Liberals, critical of the remnant Anglican ascendancy, more competitive by 1880 than they had been earlier in the century. In 1885 this division was abolished. The East and West Cumberland county divisions were replaced by four new single-member county constituencies. These were

, Egremont (the Western division), Eskdale (Northern division) and Penrith (Mid division). In addition there were two remaining Cumberland borough constituencies;

and

Members of Parliament

Note:- * ^a Muncaster was a Peer of Ireland until 1898 and therefore eligible to serve in the House of Commons.

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

Lowther was also elected for and opted to sit there, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1840s

Elections in the 1850s

Elections in the 1860s

Wyndham's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s

Lowther succeeded to the peerage, becoming Earl of Lonsdale and causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1880s

References

Sources

* ''Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972) * ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977) * ''The Parliaments of England'' by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) * ''Social Geography of British Elections 1885-1910''. by

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 educate ...

(Macmillan 1967) * ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885'', edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976) * ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918'', edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cumberland East Cumberland Parliamentary constituencies in North West England (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1832 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1885