Much Wenlock, often called simply Wenlock, was a constituency of 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. T ...

of the Parliament of England until 1707, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally 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 ...

from 1801 to 1885, when it was abolished. It was named after the town of that name in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

. The seat was founded in 1468 as a borough constituency and was represented throughout its history by two burgesses.

Boundaries

Much Wenlock's constituency boundaries ran from Leighton to just west of

Dawley Dawley ( ) is a constituent town and civil parish in Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It was originally, in 1963, going to be the main centre of the 'Dawley New Town' plan before it was decided in 1968 to name the new town as 'Telford ...

, to

Ironbridge Ironbridge is a large village in the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. Located on the bank of the River Severn, at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge, it lies in the civil parish of The Gorge. Ironbridge developed beside, a ...

, and finally to just east of Madeley along the northern border; travelling eastwards, the boundaries ran from just east of Madeley to the bend in the River Severn, following the river thereafter. The far southern border, commencing in the east, travelled along the southern part of the Severn across to Easthope; the western border, running northwards, going from Easthope through to Benthall, and onwards back to Leighton.

Members of Parliament

*''Constituency created'' (1468) *''Constituency abolished'' (1885)

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

Weld-Forester was appointed Groom of the Bedchamber to

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

, requiring a by-election.

Elections in the 1840s

Gaskell 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 1850s

Weld-Forester was appointed Comptroller of the Household, requiring a by-election. Gaskell was appointed Comptroller of the Household, requiring a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1870s

Forester succeeded to the peerage, becoming Lord Forester and causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1880s

References

*
The History of Parliament Trust, Much Wenlock, Borough, from 1529 to 1714

The History of Parliament Trust, Wenlock, Borough, from 1715 to 1831
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wenlock Parliamentary constituencies in Shropshire (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1468 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1885 Much Wenlock