Great Marlow
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1624–1885
Seatstwo (1311-1868); one (1868-1885)
Replaced byAylesbury

Great Marlow, sometimes simply called Marlow, was a parliamentary borough in Buckinghamshire. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of England between 1301 and 1307, and again from 1624 until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1868. It elected one member from 1868 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.

History

In the 17th century a solicitor named William Hakewill, of Lincoln's Inn, rediscovered ancient writs confirming that Amersham, Great Marlow, and Wendover had all sent members to Parliament in the past, and succeeded in re-establishing their privileges (despite the opposition of James I), so that they resumed electing members from the Parliament of 1624. Hakewill himself was elected for Amersham in 1624.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1624–1640

YearFirst memberSecond member
Constituency re-enfranchised by Parliament in 1624
1624Henry BorlaseThomas Cotton
1625John BackhouseThomas Cotton
1626John BackhouseSir William Hicks, 1st Baronet
1628Sir John BackhouseMiles Hobart

MPs 1640–1868

YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party
April 1640 John BorlaseRoyalist Sir William Hicks
November 1640[lower-alpha 1] Gabriel Hippesley
1640 Bulstrode WhitelockeParliamentarian Peregrine HobyParliamentarian
December 1648 Hoby excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant
1653 Great Marlow was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659 William Borlase Peregrine Hoby
May 1659 Bulstrode Whitelocke One seat vacant
April 1660 William Borlase Peregrine Hoby
1666 Charles Cheyne
1679 John Borlase Sir Humphrey Winch
1681 Thomas Hoby
1685 Sir John Borlase Sir Humphrey Winch
January 1689 The Viscount Falkland
February 1689 John Hoby
December 1689 Sir William Whitelock
1690 James Chase
1695 Sir James Etheridge
1710 George Bruere
1715 The Lord Shelburne
1722 Edmund Waller Sir John Guise
1727 John Clavering
1731 George Robinson[lower-alpha 2]
1732 by-election Sir Thomas Hoby
1741 Samuel Tufnell
1744 by-election William Ockenden
1747 Merrick Burrell
1754 Charles Churchill Daniel Moore
1761 William Clayton (elder) William Mathew Burt
1768 William Dickinson
1774 (Sir) John Borlase Warren[lower-alpha 3]
1783 by-election William Clayton (later 4th Bt)
1784 Captain Sir Thomas Rich
1790 Thomas Williams Tory[1] William Lee-Antonie Whig[1]
1796 Owen Williams Whig[1]
1802 by-election Pascoe Grenfell Whig[1]
1820 Thomas Peers Williams Whig[1]
1832 Tory[1] (Sir) William Clayton[lower-alpha 4] Whig[1][2][3]
1834 Conservative[1]
1842[lower-alpha 4] Renn Hampden Conservative[1]
1847 Brownlow William Knox Conservative
1868 Representation reduced to one member


  1. The election of Borlase and Hippesley to the Long Parliament were declared void.
  2. Expelled from the House of Commons for "indirect and fraudulent Practices in the Affairs of the Charitable Corporation, and for having never attended the Service of the House, although required to do so".
  3. Created a baronet, 1775
  4. 1 2 At the 1841 general election (Sir) William Clayton, who succeeded as baronet in January 1834, was initially declared re-elected by 1 vote in 1841, but on petition and after scrutiny his election was declared void and his opponent, Hampden, was declared elected instead.

MPs 1868–1885

ElectionMemberParty
1868 Thomas Owen Wethered Conservative
1880 Owen Williams Conservative
1885 Constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Great Marlow[1][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Owen Williams 209 36.5
Whig Thomas Peers Williams 192 33.6
Whig William Clayton 171 29.9
Majority 21 3.7
Turnout 360 c.90.0
Registered electors c.400
Whig hold Swing
Whig hold Swing
General election 1831: Great Marlow[1][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Owen Williams 196 34.1 New
Tory Thomas Peers Williams 192 33.4 New
Whig William Clayton 187 32.5 +2.6
Majority 5 0.9 2.8
Turnout 374 c.93.5 c.+3.5
Registered electors c.400
Tory gain from Whig Swing 1.9
Tory gain from Whig Swing 0.8

Owen Williams' death caused a by-election.

By-election, 3 March 1832: Great Marlow[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig William Clayton Unopposed
Whig gain from Tory
General election 1832: Great Marlow[1][5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Tory Thomas Peers Williams Unopposed
Whig William Clayton Unopposed
Registered electors 457
Tory hold
Whig gain from Tory
General election 1835: Great Marlow[1][5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig William Clayton 201 47.9
Conservative Thomas Peers Williams 185 44.0
Radical William Carpenter 34 8.1
Turnout 240 64.3
Registered electors 373
Majority 16 3.9
Whig hold
Majority 151 35.9
Conservative hold
General election 1837: Great Marlow[1][5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig William Clayton Unopposed
Conservative Thomas Peers Williams Unopposed
Registered electors 369
Whig hold
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Great Marlow[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Peers Williams 233 40.7 N/A
Whig William Clayton 170 29.7 N/A
Conservative Renn Hampden 169 29.5 N/A
Turnout 333 90.2 N/A
Registered electors 354
Majority 63 11.0 N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Majority 1 0.2 N/A
Whig hold Swing

On petition, Clayton was unseated on 11 April 1842 due to bribery and Hampden was declared elected in his place.[6]

General election 1847: Great Marlow[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Peers Williams 238 41.2 +0.5
Conservative Renn Hampden 178 30.8 +1.3
Whig William Clayton 161 27.9 0.8
Majority 17 2.9 8.1
Turnout 289 (est) 77.8 (est) 12.4
Registered electors 371
Conservative hold Swing +0.5
Conservative gain from Whig Swing +0.9

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Great Marlow[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Peers Williams 242 45.1 +3.9
Conservative Brownlow William Knox 198 36.9 +6.1
Whig Jacob Bell[7][8][9] 96 17.9 10.0
Majority 102 19.0 +16.1
Turnout 316 (est) 89.3 (est) +11.5
Registered electors 354
Conservative hold Swing +4.5
Conservative hold Swing +5.6
General election 1857: Great Marlow[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Brownlow William Knox Unopposed
Conservative Thomas Peers Williams Unopposed
Registered electors 343
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
General election 1859: Great Marlow[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Peers Williams 229 43.7 N/A
Conservative Brownlow William Knox 175 33.4 N/A
Liberal John Webb Probyn[10] 120 22.9 New
Majority 55 10.5 N/A
Turnout 322 (est) 94.7 (est) N/A
Registered electors 354
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Great Marlow[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Brownlow William Knox Unopposed
Conservative Thomas Peers Williams Unopposed
Registered electors 349
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Seat reduced to one member

General election 1868: Great Marlow[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Owen Wethered 345 52.4 N/A
Liberal Edmund Verney 314 47.6 New
Majority 31 4.8 N/A
Turnout 659 86.7 N/A
Registered electors 760
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Great Marlow[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Owen Wethered Unopposed
Registered electors 856
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Great Marlow[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Owen Williams 505 58.7 N/A
Liberal James Olliff Griffits[11] 355 41.3 New
Majority 150 17.4 N/A
Turnout 860 91.4 N/A
Registered electors 941
Conservative hold Swing N/A

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
  2. "General Election, 1841". Morning Post. 29 June 1841. pp. 2–4. Retrieved 5 November 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. "Marlow". Bell's Weekly Messenger. 12 July 1841. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 5 November 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. 1 2 3 Fisher, David R. "Great Marlow". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  6. "Dublin Evening Mail". 13 April 1842. p. 3. Retrieved 5 November 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "St Albans". Newcastle Courant. 27 December 1850. p. 3. Retrieved 12 May 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Summary". Liverpool Mercury. 27 December 1850. p. 8. Retrieved 12 May 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "St. Alban's Election". Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser. 28 December 1850. p. 17. Retrieved 12 May 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Marlow". Reading Mercury. 30 April 1859. p. 4. Retrieved 12 May 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "Griffits, James Olliff" . Men-at-the-Bar via Wikisource.
  • Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
  • F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
  • J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)
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