Stowmarket (UK Parliament constituency)

Stowmarket was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Stowmarket in Suffolk. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Stowmarket
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Suffolk
Major settlements	Stowmarket
1885–1918
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Bury St Edmunds
Created from	East Suffolk and West Suffolk

History

The North-Western or Stowmarket Division was one of five single-member county divisions of the Parliamentary County of Suffolk created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 to replace the existing two 2-member divisions for the 1885 general election. It was formed from parts of the Western Division of Suffolk and included the towns of Stowmarket and Newmarket. It was abolished by the Representation of the People Act 1918 when the majority of the Division was absorbed into the new Bury St Edmunds Division of West Suffolk, with a small area in the east, including Stowmarket itself, transferred to the Eye Division of East Suffolk.

Boundaries

The Municipal Borough of Bury St Edmunds, the Sessional Divisions of Blackbourn, Lackford, and Stowmarket, parts of the Sessional Divisions of Newmarket, Thedwestry, and Thingoe, and the part of the Municipal Borough of Thetford in the county of Suffolk.[1]

As Bury St Edmunds formed a separate Parliamentary Borough, only non-resident freeholders of the Borough were entitled to vote in this constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Felix Cobbold	Liberal
	1886	Edward Greene	Conservative
	1891 by-election	Sydney Stern	Liberal
	1895	Ian Malcolm	Conservative
	1906	George Hardy	Liberal
	Jan. 1910	Frank Goldsmith	Conservative
1918		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

Felix Cobbold

General election 1885: Stowmarket[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Felix Cobbold	4,606	57.0
	Conservative	Thomas Thornhill	3,475	43.0
Majority			1,131	14.0
Turnout			8,081	76.3
Registered electors			10,587
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: Stowmarket[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Greene	3,906	53.7	+10.7
	Liberal	Edward Buxton	3,363	46.3	-10.7
Majority			543	7.4	N/A
Turnout			7,269	68.7	−7.6
Registered electors			10,587
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+10.7

Elections in the 1890s

Green's death caused a by-election.

1891 Stowmarket by-election[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sydney Stern	4,346	51.3	+5.0
	Conservative	Edward Greene	4,132	48.7	−5.0
Majority			214	2.6	N/A
Turnout			8,478	74.5	+5.8
Registered electors			11,375
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.0

General election 1892: Stowmarket[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sydney Stern	4,630	50.8	+4.5
	Conservative	Gerald Cadogan	4,486	49.2	−4.5
Majority			144	1.6	N/A
Turnout			9,116	82.5	+13.8
Registered electors			11,045
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.5

General election 1895: Stowmarket[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Malcolm	5,144	58.2	+9.0
	Liberal	Henry de Rosenbach Walker	3,701	41.8	−9.0
Majority			1,443	16.4	N/A
Turnout			8,845	80.8	−1.7
Registered electors			10,942
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+9.0

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Stowmarket[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Malcolm	4,431	59.1	+0.9
	Liberal	JC Horobin	3,068	40.9	-0.9
Majority			1,363	18.2	+1.8
Turnout			7,499	70.4	-10.4
Registered electors			10,651
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.9

George Hardy

General election 1906: Stowmarket[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Hardy	4,801	51.1	+10.2
	Conservative	Walter Guinness	4,588	48.9	−10.2
Majority			213	2.2	N/A
Turnout			9,389	85.6	+15.2
Registered electors			10,971
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+10.2

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Stowmarket[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frank Goldsmith	5,311	53.2	+4.3
	Liberal	George Hardy	4,666	46.8	-4.3
Majority			645	6.4	N/A
Turnout			9,977	89.2	+3.6
Registered electors			11,190
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.3

General election December 1910: Stowmarket[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frank Goldsmith	4,995	51.0	−2.2
	Liberal	Robert Leatham Barclay	4,804	49.0	+2.2
Majority			191	2.0	−4.4
Turnout			9,799	87.6	−1.6
Registered electors			11,190
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.2

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Frank Goldsmith
• Liberal: E. R. Hollond[4]

References

1. Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
2. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 393. ISBN 9781349022984.
3. Page 153 Constitutional Year Book 1915
4. Bury Free Press 21 Mar 1914

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)