Westmeath (UK Parliament constituency)

Westmeath
Westmeath
	Former County constituency; for the House of Commons
1801–1885
Replaced by	North Westmeath and South Westmeath
1918–1922
Replaced by	Longford–Westmeath (in Dáil Éireann)
Created from	North Westmeath and South Westmeath

Westmeath is a former UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning two Members of Parliament 1801–1885 and one in 1918–1922.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the whole of County Westmeath, except for the Parliamentary borough of Athlone 1801–1885.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1801–1885

Year	1st Member		1st Party		2nd Party
1801, 1 January		William Smyth [1]		Gustavus Hume Rochfort [2]	Tory[3]
1808, 27 February		Hon. Hercules Robert Pakenham	Tory		Tory[3]
1812, 24 October					Tory
1824, 3 March				Robert Smyth	Tory[3]
1826, 22 June		Gustavus Rochfort	Tory[3]	Hugh Morgan Tuite	Whig[3][4]
1830, 12 August		Gustavus Rochfort	Tory[3]	Sir Montagu Chapman, Bt	Whig[3][5]
1832, 20 December		Sir Richard Nagle, Bt [6]	Repeal Association[7]	Sir Montagu Chapman, Bt	Whig[3][5]
1841, 12 July		Hugh Morgan Tuite	Whig[3][4]	Benjamin Chapman	Whig[3]
1847, 10 August		William Henry Magan	Repeal Association [7]	Sir Percy Nugent, Bt	Whig[8][9][10]
1852, 22 July			Ind. Irish[7]	William Pollard-Urquhart	Ind. Irish[7]
1857, 3 April			Whig[10][11]	Sir Richard Levinge, Bt.	Ind. Irish[7]
1859, 10 May		William Pollard-Urquhart	Liberal[7]	Sir Richard Levinge, Bt.	Liberal[7]
1865, 20 July		William Pollard-Urquhart	Liberal[7]	Hon. Algernon Greville-Nugent (later Baron Greville)	Liberal[7]
1871, 17 July		Patrick James Smyth	Home Rule[7]	Hon. Algernon Greville-Nugent (later Baron Greville)	Liberal[7]
1874, 13 February		Patrick James Smyth	Home Rule[7]	Lord Robert Montagu	Home Rule[7]
1880, 13 April		Timothy Daniel Sullivan	[[Home Rule League]] [[Charles Stewart Parnell\|(Parnellite)]][7]	Henry Joseph Gill	[[Home Rule League]] [[Charles Stewart Parnell\|(Parnellite)]][7]
Oct 1882			Irish Parliamentary[7]	Henry Joseph Gill	Irish Parliamentary[7]
1883, 27 February			Irish Parliamentary[7]	Timothy Harrington	Irish Parliamentary[7]
1885	Constituency abolished: see North Westmeath and South Westmeath

MPs 1885–1918

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Laurence Ginnell	Sinn Féin
1922		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Westmeath (2 seats)[7][3][12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Gustavus Rochfort	353	36.3
	Whig	Montagu Chapman	336	34.5
	Whig	Hugh Morgan Tuite	198	20.3
	Whig	Gerald Dease	86	8.8
Turnout			c. 487	c. 75.9
Registered electors			641
Majority			17	1.8
	Tory hold		Swing
Majority			138	14.2
	Whig hold		Swing

General election 1831: Westmeath (2 seats)[7][3][12]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	Gustavus Rochfort	Unopposed
	Whig	Montagu Chapman	Unopposed
Registered electors			641
	Tory hold
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Westmeath (2 seats)[7][3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Sir Montagu Chapman, 3rd Baronet	385	33.1
	Irish Repeal	Sir Richard Nagle, 2nd Baronet	381	32.8
	Tory	Gustavus Rochfort	238	20.5
	Tory	Gustavus Lambert	159	13.7
Turnout			c. 582	c. 41.7
Registered electors			1,395
Majority			4	0.3
	Whig hold
Majority			143	12.3
	Irish Repeal gain from Tory

General election 1835: Westmeath (2 seats)[7][3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Montagu Chapman	Unopposed
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Sir Richard Nagle, 2nd Baronet	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,525
	Whig hold
	Irish Repeal hold

General election 1837: Westmeath (2 seats)[7][3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Montagu Chapman	804	33.7
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Sir Richard Nagle, 2nd Baronet	798	33.5
	Conservative	Richard Handcock	393	16.5
	Conservative	Richard Levinge	388	16.3
Turnout			c. 1,192	c. 71.9
Registered electors			1,658
Majority			6	0.2
	Whig hold
Majority			405	17.0
	Irish Repeal hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Hugh Morgan Tuite	Unopposed
	Whig	Benjamin Chapman	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,125
	Whig hold
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal

General election 1847: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	William Henry Magan	118	50.2	*New*
	Whig	Percy Nugent	117	49.8	*N/A*
	Conservative	Richard Levinge	0	0.0	New
Majority			117	0.4	N/A
Turnout			118 (est)	8.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			1,337
	Irish Repeal gain from Whig		Swing	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Irish	William Henry Magan	1,647	41.3	−8.9
	Independent Irish	William Pollard-Urquhart	1,414	35.5	*N/A*
	Conservative	Richard Levinge	926	23.2	+23.2
Majority			488	12.3	+11.9
Turnout			2,457 (est)	78.4 (est)	+69.6
Registered electors			3,132
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	−16.1
	Independent Irish gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	William Henry Magan	Unopposed
	Independent Irish	Richard Levinge	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,520
	Whig gain from Independent Irish
	Independent Irish hold

General election 1859: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	William Pollard-Urquhart	Unopposed
	Liberal	Richard Levinge	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,678
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Algernon Greville	Unopposed
	Liberal	William Pollard-Urquhart	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,568
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Algernon Greville-Nugent	Unopposed
	Liberal	William Pollard-Urquhart	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,884
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Greville-Nugent was appointed a Groom in Waiting to Queen Victoria, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 7 January 1869: Westmeath[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Algernon Greville-Nugent	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,884
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

Pollard-Urquhart's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 17 Jun 1871: Westmeath (1 seat)[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Home Rule	Patrick James Smyth	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,616
	Home Rule gain from Liberal

General election 1874: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Patrick James Smyth	2,202	43.2	*N/A*
	Home Rule	Robert Montagu	2,164	42.5	*N/A*
	Liberal	Algernon Greville-Nugent	401	7.9	N/A
	Liberal	Richard Levinge	328	6.4	N/A
Majority			1,763	34.6	N/A
Turnout			2,548 (est)	71.6 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			3,559
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
	Home Rule gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule League (Parnellite)	Timothy Daniel Sullivan	1,631	48.2	*N/A*
	Home Rule League (Parnellite)	Henry Joseph Gill	1,609	47.6	*N/A*
	Home Rule	William A Gowing	141	4.2	N/A
Majority			1,468	43.4	+8.8
Turnout			1,761 (est)	50.8 (est)	−20.8
Registered electors			3,465
	Home Rule hold		Swing	N/A
	Home Rule hold		Swing	N/A

Gill resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 24 Feb 1883: Westmeath (1 seat)[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Irish Parliamentary	Timothy Harrington	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,395
	Irish Parliamentary hold

Election in the 1910s

General election 1918: Westmeath[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Sinn Féin	Laurence Ginnell	12,435	75.4
	Irish Parliamentary	Patrick Weymes	3,458	21.0
	Independent Nationalist	Walter Nugent	603	3.6
Majority			8,977	54.4
Turnout			16,496	68.7
Registered electors			24,014
	Sinn Féin win (new seat)

Notes

Resigned, 1808
Died in office, 1824
Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 242–243. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via Google Books.
The Spectator, Volume 19. 1846. p. 1205. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via Google Books.
Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. pp. 40–41. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via Google Books.
Re-elected as a candidate of a Whig Party/Repeal Association electoral pact, in 1835 and 1837.
Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
"Elections". Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. 11 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
"Westmeath". Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. 28 July 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
"The New Parliament". Lincolnshire Gazette. 20 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
"Dublin Weekly Nation". 21 March 1857. p. 5. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Salmon, Philip. "Co. Westmeath". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 24 May 2020.

References

The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 3)

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[1] Resigned, 1808

[2] Died in office, 1824

[stookssmith1842-3] Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 242–243. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via Google Books.

[churton-4] The Spectator, Volume 19. 1846. p. 1205. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via Google Books.

[5] Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. pp. 40–41. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via Google Books.

[6] Re-elected as a candidate of a Whig Party/Repeal Association electoral pact, in 1835 and 1837.

[walker-7] Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.

[8] "Elections". Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. 11 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[9] "Westmeath". Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. 28 July 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[lincoln1847-10] "The New Parliament". Lincolnshire Gazette. 20 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[dublin1857-11] "Dublin Weekly Nation". 21 March 1857. p. 5. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[hop1820-1832-12] Salmon, Philip. "Co. Westmeath". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 24 May 2020.