THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
CONSTITUENCIES BEGINNING WITH "C"
Last updated 25/07/2018 (25 Feb 2024)
Date Name Born Died Age
Dates in italics in the first column denote that the election held on that date was a by-election or, in some instances, the date of a successful petition against a previous election result. Dates shown in normal type were general elections.
Dates in italics in the "Born" column indicate that the MP was baptised on that date; dates in italics in the "Died" column indicate that the MP was buried on that date.
CLONMEL (TIPPERARY)
1801 Both members for Clonmel in the former Irish House of Commons resigned at the Union and no writ was issued until Feb 1801
13 Feb 1801 William Bagwell Apr 1776 4 Nov 1826 50
6 Mar 1819 John Keily c 1765 3 Dec 1843
18 Mar 1820 James Hewitt Dawson (Massy‑Dawson from 1827) 13 Sep 1779 2 Oct 1834 55
22 Feb 1830 Eyre Coote 7 Sep 1806 31 May 1834 27
15 Dec 1832 Dominick Ronayne 8 Jan 1836
20 Feb 1836 Nicholas Ball 1791 19 Jan 1865 73
18 Feb 1839 David Richard Pigot c 1803 22 Dec 1873
12 Sep 1846 Cecil John Lawless 1821 5 Nov 1853 32
21 Dec 1853 John O'Connell 24 Dec 1810 24 May 1858 47
17 Feb 1857 John Bagwell 1811 2 Mar 1883 71
11 Feb 1874 Arthur John Moore 1849 5 Jan 1904 54
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1885
CLONTARF (DUBLIN)
14 Dec 1918 Richard James Mulcahy 10 May 1886 16 Dec 1971 85
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1922
CLWYD NORTH WEST
9 Jun 1983 Sir Anthony John Charles Meyer, 3rd baronet 27 Oct 1920 24 Dec 2004 84
9 Apr 1992 Roderick Richards 12 Mar 1947 13 Jul 2019 72
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1997
CLWYD SOUTH
1 May 1997 Martyn David Jones 1 Mar 1947
6 May 2010 Susan Elan Jones 1 Jun 1968
12 Dec 2019 Simon Robert Maurice Baynes 21 Apr 1960
CLWYD SOUTH WEST
9 Jun 1983 Robert Lambart Harvey 21 Aug 1953
11 Jun 1987 Martyn David Jones 1 Mar 1947
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1997
CLWYD WEST
1 May 1997 Gareth Thomas 25 Sep 1954
5 May 2005 David Ian Jones 22 Mar 1952
CLYDEBANK AND MILNGAVIE
9 Jun 1983 Hugh McCartney 3 Jan 1920 1 Mar 2006 86
11 Jun 1987 William Anthony Worthington 11 Oct 1941
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 2005
CLYDESDALE
9 Jun 1983 Judith Constance Mary Hart [Dame 1979], later [1988] Baroness Hart of South Lanark [L] 18 Sep 1924 8 Dec 1991 67
11 Jun 1987 James Hood 16 May 1948 4 Dec 2017 69
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 2005
COATBRIDGE (LANARKSHIRE)
14 Dec 1918 Arthur Louis Hamilton Buchanan 1866 15 Feb 1925 58
15 Nov 1922 James C Welsh 1880 4 Nov 1954 74
27 Oct 1931 William Paterson Templeton 1876 4 Jul 1938 62
14 Nov 1935 James Barr 26 Jul 1862 24 Feb 1949 86
26 Jul 1945 Jean Mann 1889 21 Mar 1964 74
NAME ALTERED TO "COATBRIDGE AND AIRDRIE" 1950
COATBRIDGE AND AIRDRIE (LANARKSHIRE)
23 Feb 1950 Jean Mann 1889 21 Mar 1964 74
8 Oct 1959 James Dempsey 6 Feb 1917 12 May 1982 65
24 Jun 1982 Thomas Clarke 10 Jan 1941
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1983
COATBRIDGE AND CHRYSTON
1 May 1997 Thomas Clarke 10 Jan 1941
NAME ALTERED TO "COATBRIDGE, CHRYSTON AND BELLSHILL" 2005
COATBRIDGE, CHRYSTON AND BELLSHILL
5 May 2005 Thomas Clarke 10 Jan 1941
7 May 2015 Philip John Boswell 23 Jul 1963
8 Jun 2017 Hugh Gaffney 10 Aug 1963
12 Dec 2019 Steven Bonnar 27 Aug 1981
COCKERMOUTH (CUMBERLAND)
9 Apr 1660 Richard Tolson c 1622 2 Jul 1689
Wilfred Lawson c 1636 after 1679
15 Apr 1661 Hugh Potter 1 Aug 1596 12 Feb 1662 65
Sir Wilfred Lawson, later [1688] 1st baronet (to 1679) c 1610 13 Dec 1688
3 Mar 1662 Robert Scawen 16 May 1602 early 1670 67
29 Mar 1670 John Clarke 6 May 1675
8 Jun 1675 Sir Richard Graham, 3rd baronet, later [1681] 1st Viscount Preston [S](to 1685) 24 Sep 1648 22 Dec 1695 47
15 Feb 1679 Orlando Gee [kt 1682] (to 1689) 1619 1705 86
27 Mar 1685 Sir Daniel Fleming 24 Jul 1633 25 Mar 1701 67
12 Jan 1689 Sir Henry Capell, later [1692] 1st Baron Capell of Tewkesbury 6 Mar 1638 30 May 1696 58
Henry Fletcher, later [1700] 3rd baronet Apr 1661 19 May 1712 51
1 Mar 1690 Sir Orlando Gee c 1619 May 1705
Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 2nd baronet 31 Oct 1664 Nov 1704 40
14 Nov 1695 Sir Charles Gerard, 3rd baronet 16 Aug 1653 by Jul 1701 47
Goodwin Wharton 8 Mar 1653 25 Oct 1704 51
4 Aug 1698 William Seymour (to Jul 1702) 8 Feb 1664 10 Feb 1728 64
George Fletcher c 1666 31 Mar 1708
6 Dec 1701 Goodwin Wharton [he was also returned for Buckinghamshire, for which he chose to sit] 8 Mar 1653 25 Oct 1704 51
19 Feb 1702 Thomas Lamplugh (to 1708) 9 Oct 1656 21 May 1737 80
25 Jul 1702 James Stanhope, later [1718] 1st Earl Stanhope (to 1713) 1673 5 Feb 1721 47
20 May 1708 Albemarle Bertie c 1669 23 Jan 1742
17 Oct 1710 James Stanhope, later [1718] 1st Earl Stanhope [his election was declared void 7 Apr 1711. At the subsequent by-election, held on 15 May 1711, Stanhope was again returned] 1673 5 Feb 1721 47
Nicholas Lechmere, later [1721] 1st Baron Lechmere (to Jul 1717) 5 Aug 1675 18 Jun 1727 51
9 Sep 1713 Joseph Musgrave 1676 14 Feb 1757 80
27 Jan 1715 James Stanhope, later [1718] 1st Earl Stanhope 1673 5 Feb 1721 47
29 Apr 1717 Thomas Pengelly[kt 1719] (to 1727) 16 May 1675 14 Apr 1730 54
8 Jul 1717 Lord Percy Seymour 3 Jun 1696 4 Jul 1721 25
Sir Wilfred Lawson, 3rd baronet 1697 13 Jul 1737 40
Double return. Seymour declared elected 18 Jan 1718 (Lawson was disqualified for being a minor)
20 Jul 1721 Anthony Lowther after 1694 24 Nov 1741
24 Mar 1722 Sir Wilfred Lawson, 3rd baronet (to 1738) 1697 13 Jul 1737 40
31 Jan 1727 William Finch (to 1747) 18 Jan 1691 25 Dec 1766 75
9 Feb 1738 Eldred Curwen 11 Apr 1692 Jan 1745 52
9 May 1741 John Mordaunt [kt 1749] (to 1768) 1697 23 Oct 1780 83
6 Jul 1747 Sir Charles Wyndham, 4th baronet, later [1750] 2nd Earl of of Egremont [he was also returned for Taunton, for which he chose to sit] 19 Aug 1710 21 Aug 1763 53
11 Dec 1747 William Finch 18 Jan 1691 25 Dec 1766 75
17 Apr 1754 Percy Wyndham-O'Brien, later [1756] 1st Earl of Thomond [I] c 1723 21 Jul 1774
3 Apr 1761 Charles Jenkinson, later [1786] 1st Baron Hawkesbury and [1796] 1st Earl of Liverpool 26 Apr 1729 17 Dec 1808 79
9 Jan 1767 John Elliot Apr 1732 20 Sep 1808 76
28 Mar 1768 George Macartney, later [1776] 1st Baron Macartney [I], [1792] 1st Viscount Macartney [I] and [1794] 1st Earl Macartney [I] (to 1769) 3 May 1737 31 Mar 1806 68
Charles Jenkinson, later [1786] 1st Baron Hawkesbury and [1796] 1st Earl of Liverpool [he was also returned for Appleby, for which he chose to sit] 26 Apr 1727 17 Dec 1808 81
24 May 1768 George Johnstone (to 1775) [at the general election in Oct 1774, he was also returned for Appleby, for which he chose to sit] 1730 24 May 1787 56
22 Mar 1769 Sir James Lowther, 5th baronet, later [1784] 1st Earl of Lonsdale 5 Aug 1736 24 May 1802 65
10 Oct 1774 Fletcher Norton [he was also returned for Carlisle, for which he chose to sit] 16 Nov 1744 19 Jun 1820 75
30 Jan 1775 Ralph Gowland c 1722 c 1782
James Adair c 1743 21 Jul 1798
16 Sep 1780 John Lowther, later [1824] 1st baronet (to 1786) 1 Apr 1759 19 Mar 1844 84
John Baynes-Garforth 24 Jan 1727 15 Oct 1808 81
7 Apr 1784 James Clarke Satterthwaite (to 1790) c 1746 c 1818
6 Nov 1786 Humphrey Senhouse c 1731 1814
3 Jul 1790 John Anstruther, later [1798] 1st baronet 27 Mar 1753 26 Jun 1811 58
John Baynes-Garforth (to 1802) 24 Jan 1727 15 Oct 1808 81
7 Jun 1796 Edward Burrow 21 Nov 1726 Dec 1800 74
29 Dec 1800 Walter Spencer Stanhope 4 Feb 1749 10 Apr 1822 73
8 Jul 1802 Robert Ward (to 1806) 19 Mar 1765 13 Aug 1846 81
James Graham, later [1808] 1st baronet 18 Nov 1753 21 Mar 1825 71
22 Jul 1805 George Stewart, styled Lord Garlies, later [1806] 8th Earl of Galloway 24 Mar 1768 27 Mar 1834 66
3 Nov 1806 John Lowther [he was also returned for Cumberland, for which he chose to sit] 1 Apr 1759 11 May 1844 85
James Graham, later [1808] 1st baronet (to 1812) 18 Nov 1753 21 Mar 1825 71
17 Jan 1807 Thomas Hamilton, styled Lord Binning, later [1828] 9th Earl of Haddington 21 Jun 1780 1 Dec 1858 78
16 May 1807 John Lowther [he was also returned for Cumberland, for which he chose to sit] 1 Apr 1759 11 May 1844 85
21 Jul 1807 John Osborn, later [1818] 5th baronet 3 Dec 1772 28 Aug 1848 75
11 Jul 1808 William Lowther, styled Viscount Lowther, later [1844] 2nd Earl of Lonsdale (to 1813) 30 Jul 1787 4 Mar 1872 84
12 Oct 1812 John Lowther [he was also returned for Cumberland, for which he chose to sit] 1 Apr 1759 11 May 1844 85
23 Dec 1812 Augustus John Foster, later [1831] 1st baronet (to 1816) 4 Dec 1780 1 Aug 1848 67
27 Nov 1813 Thomas Wallace, later [1828] 1st Baron Wallace (to 1818) c 1768 23 Feb 1844
1 Mar 1816 John Henry Lowther, later [1844] 2nd baronet (to 1826) 23 Mar 1793 23 Jun 1868 75
20 Jun 1818 John Beckett 17 May 1775 31 May 1847 72
21 Jul 1821 William Wilson Carus Wilson (to 1827) 24 Jul 1764 11 Feb 1851 86
10 Jun 1826 Randolph Stewart, styled Lord Garlies, later [1834] 9th Earl of Galloway (to 1831) 16 Sep 1800 2 Jan 1873 72
16 Feb 1827 Lawrence Peel 28 Jun 1801 10 Dec 1888 87
2 Aug 1830 Philip Pleydell-Bouverie 21 Oct 1788 27 May 1872 83
30 Apr 1831 John Henry Lowther, later [1844] 2nd baronet 23 Mar 1793 23 Jun 1868 75
Sir James Scarlett, later [1835] 1st Baron Abinger 13 Dec 1769 7 Apr 1844 74
12 Dec 1832 Fretchville Lawson Ballantine Dykes 12 Dec 1800 26 Nov 1866 65
Henry Aglionby Aglionby (to 1854) 1790 31 Jul 1854 64
15 Feb 1836 Edward Horsman 8 Feb 1807 30 Nov 1876 69
8 Jul 1852 Henry Wyndham [kt 1859] (to 1857) 12 May 1790 2 Aug 1860 70
9 Aug 1854 John Steel (to Apr 1868) 1786 10 Apr 1868 81
27 Mar 1857 Richard Southwell Bourke, styled Baron Naas, later [1867] 6th Earl of Mayo (to Nov 1868)
For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of the page containing details of the Earldom of Mayo		 21 Feb 1822 8 Feb 1872 49
27 Apr 1868 Andrew Green Thompson 1820 26 Apr 1889 68
REPRESENTATION REDUCED TO ONE MEMBER 1868
18 Nov 1868 Isaac Fletcher
For information on the death of this MP, see the note at the foot of this page		 22 Feb 1827 3 Apr 1879 52
18 Apr 1879 William Fletcher 1831 6 Aug 1900 69
2 Apr 1880 Edward Waugh 1816 26 Mar 1891 74
5 Dec 1885 Charles James Valentine Sep 1837 5 Nov 1900 63
15 Jul 1886 Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 2nd baronet 4 Sep 1829 1 Jul 1906 76
4 Oct 1900 John Scurrah Randles[kt 1905] 25 Dec 1857 11 Feb 1945 87
26 Jan 1906 Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 2nd baronet 4 Sep 1829 1 Jul 1906 76
1 Aug 1906 Sir John Scurrah Randles 25 Dec 1857 11 Feb 1945 87
Dec 1910 Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 3rd baronet 21 Oct 1862 28 Aug 1937 74
1 Mar 1916 Joseph Bliss 1853 12 Dec 1939 86
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1918
COLCHESTER (ESSEX)
c Apr 1660 Sir Harbottle Grimston, 2nd baronet (to 1685) 27 Jan 1603 2 Jan 1685 81
John Shaw c 1617 1690
10 Feb 1679 Sir Walter Clarges, 1st baronet c 1654 Mar 1706
21 Feb 1681 Samuel Reynolds c 1642 23 Aug 1694
26 Mar 1685 Sir Walter Clarges, 1st baronet c 1654 Mar 1706
Nathaniel Lawrence c 1627 5 May 1714
16 Jan 1689 Samuel Reynolds (to 1694) c 1642 23 Aug 1694
Isaac Rebow [kt 1693] 15 Jul 1655 6 Sep 1726 71
3 Mar 1690 Edward Cary 25 Apr 1656 Aug 1692 36
12 Nov 1692 Isaac Rebow [kt 1693] (to 1714) [following the general election in Aug 1702, Rebow's election was declared void on 21 Nov 1702. At the subsequent by-election held on 14 Dec 1702, Rebow was again returned] 15 Jul 1655 6 Sep 1726 71
19 Nov 1694 Sir Thomas Cooke c 1648 6 Sep 1709
22 Oct 1695 Sir John Morden, 1st baronet 13 Aug 1623 6 Sep 1708 85
22 Jul 1698 Sir Thomas Cooke c 1648 6 Sep 1709
8 May 1705 Edward Bullock 24 Jun 1663 6 Dec 1705 42
18 Dec 1705 Sir Thomas Webster, 1st baronet [he was unseated on petition in favour of William Gore 27 Jan 1711] 12 Nov 1676 30 May 1751 74
27 Jan 1711 William Gore c 1675 22 Oct 1739
25 Aug 1713 Sir Thomas Webster, 1st baronet 12 Nov 1676 30 May 1751 74
The two sitting members (Webster and Rebow) were unseated on petition in favour of William Gore and Nicholas Corsellis 6 May 1714
6 May 1714 William Gore c 1675 22 Oct 1739
Nicholas Corsellis 21 Sep 1661 25 Jan 1728 66
25 Jan 1715 Richard Du Cane 13 Oct 1681 3 Oct 1744 62
Sir Isaac Rebow 15 Jul 1655 6 Sep 1726 71
22 Mar 1722 Matthew Martin 20 Jul 1749
Sir Thomas Webster, 1st baronet 12 Nov 1676 30 May 1751 74
18 Aug 1727 Stamp Brooksbank 11 Jul 1694 24 May 1756 61
Samuel Tufnell 15 Sep 1682 28 Dec 1758 76
13 May 1734 Matthew Martin (to 1742) 20 Jul 1749
Isaac Lemyng Rebow c 1705 3 Mar 1735
20 Mar 1735 Jacob Houblon 31 Jul 1710 15 Feb 1770 59
9 May 1741 John Olmius, later [1762] 1st Baron Waltham [I] 18 Jul 1711 5 Oct 1762 51
Both sitting members (Martin and Olmius) were unseated on petition in favour of Charles Gray and Samuel Savill 26 Feb 1742
26 Feb 1742 Charles Gray (to 1755) [following the general election in May 1754, he was also unseated on petition in favour of Isaac Martin Rebow 13 Mar 1755] 20 Sep 1696 12 Dec 1782 86
Samuel Savill c 1700 2 Apr 1763
26 Jun 1747 Richard Savage Nassau 1 Jun 1723 17 May 1780 56
8 May 1754 John Olmius, later [1762] 1st Baron Waltham [I] (to 1761) 18 Jul 1711 5 Oct 1762 51
13 Mar 1755 Isaac Martin Rebow (Isaac Martin Rebow Martin from 1777) (to 1781) 28 Nov 1731 3 Oct 1781 49
25 Mar 1761 Charles Gray 20 Sep 1696 12 Dec 1782 86
8 Sep 1780 Sir Robert Smyth, 5th baronet (to 1784) 10 Jan 1744 12 Apr 1802 58
17 Oct 1781 Christopher Potter [he was unseated on petition in favour of Sir Edmund Affleck 4 Mar 1782] 18 Nov 1817
4 Mar 1782 Sir Edmund Affleck, 1st baronet (to 1788) 19 Apr 1725 19 Nov 1788 63
1 Apr 1784 Christopher Potter [his election was declared void 5 Jul 1784] 18 Nov 1817
14 Jul 1784 Sir Robert Smyth, 5th baronet (to 1790) 10 Jan 1744 12 Apr 1802 58
15 Dec 1788 George Jackson (Duckett from 1797), later [1791] 1st baronet 24 Oct 1725 15 Dec 1822 97
George Tierney 20 Mar 1761 25 Jan 1830 68
Double return. Tierney declared elected 6 Apr 1789
18 Jun 1790 Robert Thornton (to 1817) 9 Jan 1759 16 Mar 1826 67
George Jackson (Duckett from 1797), later [1791] 1st baronet 24 Oct 1725 15 Dec 1822 97
28 May 1796 John Pennington, 1st Baron Muncaster [I] 22 May 1741 8 Oct 1813 72
5 Jul 1802 John Denison c 1758 6 May 1820
1 Nov 1806 William Tufnell 4 May 1769 26 Apr 1809 39
6 May 1807 Richard Hart Davis 8 Jun 1766 21 Feb 1842 75
30 Jun 1812 Hart Davis (to Feb 1818) 6 Mar 1791 17 Jun 1854 63
17 Mar 1817 Sir William Burroughs, 1st baronet (to Jun 1818) c 1753 1 Jun 1829
19 Feb 1818 James Beckford Wildman (to 1826) 18 Oct 1788 25 May 1867 78
22 Jun 1818 Daniel Whittle Harvey [following the general election in Mar 1820, his election was declared void 30 Jun 1820] 10 Jan 1786 24 Feb 1863 77
14 Jul 1820 Henry Baring 18 Jan 1777 13 Apr 1848 71
9 Jun 1826 Sir George Henry Smyth, 6th baronet 30 Jan 1784 11 Jul 1852 68
Daniel Whittle Harvey (to 1835) 10 Jan 1786 24 Feb 1863 77
20 Apr 1829 Richard Sanderson 4 Jan 1784 28 Oct 1857 73
6 Aug 1830 Andrew Spottiswoode [his election was declared void Mar 1831] 19 Feb 1787 20 Feb 1866 79
9 Apr 1831 William Mayhew 2 Mar 1788 26 Apr 1855 67
27 Dec 1832 Richard Sanderson (to 1847) 4 Jan 1784 28 Oct 1857 73
17 Jan 1835 Sir George Henry Smyth, 6th baronet (to 1850) 30 Jan 1784 11 Jul 1852 68
31 Jul 1847 Joseph Alfred Hardcastle (to 1852) 1815 1899 84
6 Feb 1850 Lord John James Robert Manners, later [1888] 7th Duke of Rutland (to Feb 1857) 13 Dec 1818 4 Aug 1906 87
10 Jul 1852 William Warwick Hawkins (to Mar 1857) 1816 8 Feb 1868 51
24 Feb 1857 John Gurdon Rebow (to 1859) 1799 12 Oct 1870 71
28 Mar 1857 Taverner John Miller (to 1867) 1804 27 Mar 1867 62
30 Apr 1859 Philip Oxenden Papillon 1 Aug 1826 16 Aug 1899 73
13 Jul 1865 John Gurdon Rebow (to 1870) 1799 Oct 1870 71
15 Feb 1867 Edward Kent Karslake c 1820 31 May 1892
18 Nov 1868 William Brewer (to 1874) 3 Nov 1881
3 Nov 1870 Alexander Learmonth (to 1880) 1829 10 Mar 1887 57
3 Feb 1874 Herbert Bulkeley Mackworth-Praed, later [1905] 1st baronet 2 May 1841 21 Nov 1920 79
1 Apr 1880 Richard Knight Causton, later [1910] 1st Baron Southwark 25 Sep 1843 23 Feb 1929 85
William Willis 29 Apr 1835 22 Aug 1911 76
REPRESENTATION REDUCED TO ONE MEMBER 1885
24 Nov 1885 Henry John Trotter 8 Dec 1835 6 Dec 1888 52
18 Dec 1888 Francis Richard Charles Guy Greville, styled Baron Brooke, later [1893] 5th Earl of Warwick and 5th Earl Brooke 9 Feb 1853 15 Jan 1924 70
Jul 1892 Herbert Scarisbrick Naylor-Leyland, later [1895] 1st baronet 24 Jan 1864 7 May 1899 35
19 Feb 1895 Sir Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st baronet, later [1910] 1st Baron Cowdray and [1917] 1st Viscount Cowdray 15 Jul 1856 1 May 1927 70
17 Jan 1910 Laming Worthington Evans, later [1916] 1st baronet (Worthington‑Evans from 1916) 23 Aug 1868 14 Feb 1931 62
30 May 1929 Oswald Lewis 5 Apr 1887 12 Feb 1966 78
26 Jul 1945 Charles George Percy Smith, later [1967] Baron Delacourt-Smith [L] 25 Apr 1917 2 Aug 1972 55
23 Feb 1950 Cuthbert James McCall Alport, later [1961] Baron Alport [L] 22 Mar 1912 28 Oct 1998 86
16 Mar 1961 (Philip) Antony Fyson Buck [kt 1983] 19 Dec 1928 6 Oct 2003 74
SPLIT INTO "COLCHESTER NORTH" AND "COLCHESTER SOUTH AND MALDON" 1983, BUT RE-UNITED 1997
1 May 1997 Robert Edward Russell [kt 2012] 31 Mar 1946
7 May 2015 William James Quince 27 Dec 1982
COLCHESTER NORTH (ESSEX)
9 Jun 1983 Sir (Philip) Antony Fyson Buck 19 Dec 1928 6 Oct 2003 74
9 Apr 1992 Bernard Christison Jenkin [kt 2018] 9 Apr 1959
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1997
COLCHESTER SOUTH AND MALDON (ESSEX)
9 Jun 1983 John Wakeham, later [1992] Baron Wakeham [L] 22 Jun 1932
9 Apr 1992 John Flasby Lawrance Whittingdale 16 Oct 1959
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1997
COLERAINE (LONDONDERRY)
1801 Walter Jones 29 Dec 1754 1839 84
13 Dec 1806 Sir George Fitzgerald Hill [he was also returned for Londonderry, for which he chose to sit] 1 Jun 1763 8 Mar 1839 75
4 Feb 1807 Walter Jones 29 Dec 1754 1839 84
26 Jun 1809 John Poer Beresford, later [1814] 1st baronet 1769 2 Oct 1844 75
17 Oct 1812 Lord George Thomas Beresford 12 Feb 1781 26 Oct 1839 58
10 Jun 1814 Sir John Poer Beresford, 1st baronet 1769 2 Oct 1844 75
22 Feb 1823 Sir John William Head Brydges [following the general election in May 1831, his name was erased from the return and that of William Taylor Copeland substituted 4 Aug 1831] 5 Jul 1764 4 Sep 1839 75
4 Aug 1831 William Taylor Copeland 24 Mar 1797 12 Apr 1868 71
13 Dec 1832 Sir John Poer Beresford, 1st baronet [he was unseated on petition in favour of William Taylor Copeland 17 May 1833] 1769 2 Oct 1844 75
17 May 1833 William Taylor Copeland 24 Mar 1797 12 Apr 1868 71
4 Aug 1837 Edward Litton 1 Dec 1787 22 Jan 1870 82
18 Feb 1843 John Boyd 1789 2 Jan 1862 72
22 Mar 1852 Richard Southwell Bourke, styled Baron Naas, later [1867] 6th Earl of Mayo
For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of the page containing details of the Earldom of Mayo		 21 Feb 1822 8 Feb 1872 49
30 Mar 1857 John Boyd 1789 2 Jan 1862 72
31 Jan 1862 Sir Henry Hervey Bruce, 3rd baronet 22 Sep 1820 8 Dec 1907 87
9 Feb 1874 Daniel Taylor 1825
8 Apr 1880 Sir Henry Hervey Bruce, 3rd baronet 22 Sep 1820 8 Dec 1907 87
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1885
COLLEGE (GLASGOW)
27 Nov 1885 Charles Cameron, later [1893] 1st baronet 18 Dec 1841 2 Oct 1924 82
17 Jul 1895 Sir John Maxwell Stirling-Maxwell, 10th baronet 6 Jun 1866 30 May 1956 89
18 Jan 1906 Henry Anderson Watt 28 Feb 1863 2 Dec 1929 66
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1918
COLLEGE GREEN (DUBLIN)
1 Dec 1885 Timothy Daniel Sullivan 29 May 1827 31 Mar 1914 86
Jul 1892 Joseph Edward Kenny 1845 9 Apr 1900 54
6 Apr 1896 James Laurence Carew 1853 31 Aug 1903 50
3 Oct 1900 Joseph Patrick Nannetti 1851 26 Apr 1915 63
11 Jun 1915 John Dillon Nugent 1869 1 Mar 1940 70
14 Dec 1918 Sean Thomas O'Kelly 25 Aug 1882 23 Nov 1966 84
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1922
COLNE VALLEY (YORKSHIRE)
3 Dec 1885 Henry Frederick Beaumont 10 Mar 1833 13 Oct 1913 80
Jul 1892 Sir James Kitson, 1st baronet, later [1907] 1st Baron Airedale 22 Sep 1835 16 Mar 1911 75
18 Jul 1907 Albert Victor Grayson
For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of this page		 5 Sep 1881 1920 or later
20 Jan 1910 Charles Leach [he was unseated under the provisions of the Lunacy (Vacating of Seats) Act 1886 in Aug 1916 - the only MP to which this Act was ever applied]
For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of this page		 1 Mar 1847 24 Nov 1919 72
25 Aug 1916 Frederick William Mallalieu 1860 10 May 1932 71
15 Nov 1922 Philip Snowden, later [1931] 1st Viscount Snowden 18 Jul 1864 15 May 1937 72
27 Oct 1931 Edward Lancelot Mallalieu [kt 1974] 14 Mar 1905 11 Nov 1979 74
14 Nov 1935 Ernest Marklew 16 Apr 1874 14 Jun 1939 65
27 Jul 1939 William George Glenvil Hall 4 Apr 1887 13 Oct 1962 75
21 Mar 1963 Albert Edward Patrick Duffy [kt 1991] 17 Jun 1920
31 Mar 1966 Richard Scurrah Wainwright 11 Apr 1918 16 Jan 2003 84
18 Jun 1970 David George Clark, later [2001] Baron Clark of Windermere [L] 19 Oct 1939
28 Feb 1974 Richard Scurrah Wainwright 11 Apr 1918 16 Jan 2003 84
11 Jun 1987 Graham Edward Galloway Riddick 26 Aug 1955
1 May 1997 Kali Carol Jean Mountford 12 Jan 1954
6 May 2010 Jason Alexander McCartney 29 Jan 1968
8 Jun 2017 Thelma Doris Walker 7 Apr 1957
12 Dec 2019 Jason Alexander McCartney 29 Jan 1968
COMBINED ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES
14 Dec 1918 Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher 21 Mar 1865 18 Apr 1940 75
Sir William Martin Conway, later [1931] 1st Baron Conway of Allington (to 1931) 12 Apr 1856 19 Apr 1937 81
12 Mar 1926 Sir Alfred Hopkinson 28 Jun 1851 11 Nov 1939 88
30 May 1929 Eleanor Florence Rathbone (to 1946) 12 May 1872 2 Jan 1946 73
27 Oct 1931 Sir Reginald Henry Craddock 11 Mar 1864 10 Feb 1937 72
22 Mar 1937 Thomas Edmund Harvey 4 Jan 1875 3 May 1955 80
26 Jul 1945 Kenneth Martin Lindsay (to 1950) 16 Sep 1897 4 Mar 1991 93
18 Mar 1946 Henry George Strauss, later [1955] 1st Baron Conesford 24 Jun 1892 28 Aug 1974 82
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1950
CONGLETON (CHESHIRE)
9 Jun 1983 Jane Ann Winterton 6 Mar 1941
6 May 2010 Fiona Claire Bruce 26 Mar 1957
CONNEMARA (GALWAY)
27 Nov 1885 Patrick James Foley 1836 28 Jun 1914 77
19 Jul 1895 William O'Malley 1853 Sep 1939 86
14 Dec 1918 Padraic O'Maille 23 Feb 1878 19 Jan 1946 67
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1922
CONSETT (DURHAM)
14 Dec 1918 Aneurin Williams 11 Oct 1859 20 Jan 1924 64
15 Nov 1922 Herbert Dunnico [kt 1938] 2 Dec 1876 2 Oct 1953 76
27 Oct 1931 John Purcell Dickie 14 Jul 1874 9 Mar 1963 88
14 Nov 1935 David Adams 27 Jun 1871 16 Aug 1943 72
15 Nov 1943 James Edward Glanville 1891 18 Sep 1958 67
26 May 1955 William Stones 2 Oct 1904 2 Jul 1969 64
31 Mar 1966 David John Watkins 27 Aug 1925 23 Aug 2013 87
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1983
CONWAY (CARNARVONSHIRE)
23 Feb 1950 William Elwyn Edwards Jones 5 Jan 1904 4 Jul 1989 85
25 Oct 1951 Peter John Mitchell Thomas, later [1987] Baron Thomas of Gwydir [L] 31 Jul 1920 4 Feb 2008 87
31 Mar 1966 Gwilym Ednyfed Hudson-Davies 4 Dec 1929 Jan 2018 88
18 Jun 1970 (Ieuan) Wyn Pritchard Roberts [kt 1990], later [1997] Baron Roberts of Conwy [L] 10 Jul 1930 13 Dec 2013 83
NAME ALTERED TO "CONWY" 1983
CONWY (CARNARVONSHIRE)
5 Jun 1983 (Ieuan) Wyn Pritchard Roberts [kt 1990], later [1997] Baron Roberts of Conwy [L] 10 Jul 1930 13 Dec 2013 83
1 May 1997 Betty Helena Williams 31 Jul 1944
NAME ALTERED TO "ABERCONWY" 2010
COPELAND (CUMBRIA)
9 Jun 1983 John Anderson Cunningham, later [2005] Baron Cunningham of Felling [L] 4 Aug 1939
5 May 2005 Jamieson Ronald Reed 4 Aug 1973
23 Feb 2017 Trudy Lynne Harrison 19 Apr 1976
CORBY (NORTHANTS)
9 Jun 1983 William Rhys Powell 3 Aug 1948 23 Mar 2022 73
1 May 1997 Philip Ian Hope 19 Apr 1955
6 May 2010 Louise Daphne Bagshawe [Mensch from Jun 2011] 28 Jun 1971
15 Nov 2012 Andrew Sawford 15 Mar 1976
7 May 2015 Thomas Christopher John Pursglove 5 Nov 1988
CORFE CASTLE (DORSET)
1659 Sir Ralph Bankes c 1630 25 Mar 1677
John Tregonwell (to Sep 1679) 3 Sep 1632 Feb 1682 49
5 Apr 1677 Edward Osborne, styled Viscount Latimer 3 Apr 1654 16 Feb 1689 34
26 Feb 1679 Peregrine Osborne, styled Viscount Osborne [S], later [1712] 2nd Duke of Leeds [unseated on petition in favour of Sir Nathaniel Napier 12 Apr 1679] 29 Sep 1659 25 Jun 1729 69
12 Apr 1679 Sir Nathaniel Napier, 2nd baronet (to 1689) c 1636 21 Jan 1709
1 Sep 1679 Nathaniel Bond 14 Jun 1634 31 Aug 1707 73
22 Feb 1681 Richard Fownes (to 1698) 25 Aug 1652 by Jul 1714 61
12 Jan 1689 William Okeden c 1662 26 Sep 1718
3 Mar 1690 William Culliford [his election at the general election on 4 Aug 1698 was declared void 6 Apr 1699] 19 Mar 1724
4 Aug 1698 John Bankes (to 1715) c 1668 1714
26 Apr 1699 Richard Fownes 25 Aug 1652 by Jul 1714 61
2 Feb 1715 Denis Bond (to 1727) 10 Dec 1676 30 Jan 1747 70
William Okeden c 1662 26 Sep 1718
1 Dec 1718 Joshua Churchill 27 Jan 1721
John Bankes after 1691 26 Jan 1772
Double return. Churchill declared elected 21 Jan 1719
25 Feb 1721 John Bond 5 Apr 1678 19 Jun 1744 66
26 Mar 1722 John Bankes (to 1741) after 1691 26 Jan 1772
19 Aug 1727 John Bond (to 1744) 5 Apr 1678 19 Jun 1744 66
7 May 1741 Henry Bankes (to 1762) 2 Nov 1700 23 Sep 1776 75
7 Dec 1744 Thomas Erle Drax c 1721 Dec 1789
29 Jun 1747 John Bond 11 May 1717 30 May 1784 67
28 Mar 1761 George Cholmondeley, styled Viscount Malpas (to 1764) 17 Oct 1724 15 Mar 1764 39
6 Dec 1762 John Campbell (to 1768) 1695 6 Sep 1777 82
2 Apr 1764 John Bond (to 1780) 11 May 1717 30 May 1784 67
19 Mar 1768 John Jenkinson c 1734 1 May 1805
9 Sep 1780 John Bond 24 Jul 1753 12 May 1824 70
Henry Bankes (to 1826) 19 Dec 1756 17 Dec 1834 77
25 Feb 1801 Nathaniel Bond 1 Nov 1754 8 Oct 1823 68
8 May 1807 Peter William Baker c 1756 25 Aug 1815
13 Feb 1816 George Bankes 1 Dec 1787 8 Jul 1856 68
18 Mar 1823 John Bond (to 1828) 1 Jan 1802 18 Mar 1844 42
13 Feb 1826 George Bankes (to 1832) 1 Dec 1787 8 Jul 1856 68
8 Feb 1828 Nathaniel William Peach 14 Sep 1785 29 Aug 1835 49
6 Mar 1829 Philip John Miles 1 Mar 1774 24 Mar 1845 71
CONSTITUENCY DISENFRANCHISED 1832
CORK CITY
1801 John Hely-Hutchinson, later [1825] 2nd Earl of Donoughmore 15 May 1757 29 Jun 1832 75
Mountifort Longfield (to 1818) 22 Aug 1746 8 Jun 1819 72
8 Jan 1802 Christopher Hely-Hutchinson 5 Apr 1767 26 Aug 1826 59
5 Nov 1812 Sir Nicholas Conway Colthurst, 4th baronet (to 1829) Jan 1789 22 Jun 1829 40
13 Jul 1818 Christopher Hely-Hutchinson 5 Apr 1767 26 Aug 1826 59
29 Dec 1826 John Hely-Hutchinson (to 1830) c 1795 1842
9 Jul 1829 Gerard Callaghan [his election was declared void 3 Mar 1830] c 1787 25 Feb 1833
29 Mar 1830 Daniel Callaghan (to Jan 1835) 7 Jun 1786 29 Sep 1849 63
11 Aug 1830 John Boyle 13 Mar 1803 6 Dec 1874 71
21 Dec 1832 Herbert Baldwin
17 Jan 1835 Joseph Leycester 1784
James Charles Chatterton, later [1855] 3rd baronet 1792 5 Jan 1874 81
Both members were unseated on petition in favour of Daniel Callaghan and Herbert Baldwin 18 Apr 1835
18 Apr 1835 Daniel Callaghan (to 1849) 1786 1849 63
Herbert Baldwin
11 Aug 1837 Francis Bernard Beamish 1802 1 Feb 1868 65
5 Jul 1841 Francis Stack Murphy 1807 16 Jun 1860 52
31 Jan 1846 Alexander McCarthy
9 Aug 1847 William Trant Fagan (to 1851) 1801 16 May 1859 57
14 Nov 1849 James Charles Chatterton, later [1855] 3rd baronet (to 1852) 1792 5 Jan 1874 81
23 Apr 1851 Francis Stack Murphy (to 1853) 1807 16 Jun 1860 52
14 Jul 1852 William Trant Fagan (to 1859) 1801 16 May 1859 57
20 Aug 1853 Francis Bernard Beamish (to 1865) 1802 1 Feb 1868 65
29 Jun 1859 Francis Lyons 1798 1862 64
14 Feb 1862 Nicholas Daniel Murphy (to 1880) 1811
12 Jul 1865 John Francis Maguire 1 Nov 1872
10 Dec 1872 Joseph Philip Ronayne 1822 7 May 1876 53
29 May 1876 William Goulding 15 Nov 1817 8 Dec 1884 67
10 Apr 1880 John Daly 1834 Aug 1888 54
Charles Stewart Parnell (to 1891) 27 Jun 1846 6 Oct 1891 45
23 Feb 1884 John Deasy
For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of the page containing details of members for Mayo West		 1856 24 Feb 1896 39
28 Nov 1885 Maurice Healy (to 1900) 3 Jan 1859 9 Nov 1923 64
6 Nov 1891 Martin Flavin 1841 c Jan 1917 75
Jul 1892 William O'Brien 2 Oct 1852 25 Feb 1928 75
27 Jun 1895 James Francis Xavier O'Brien (to 1905)
for further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of the page containing details of the constituency of Mayo South		 16 Oct 1828 28 May 1905 76
4 Oct 1900 William O'Brien (to 1909) 2 Oct 1852 25 Feb 1928 75
14 Jun 1905 Michael Augustine Roche (to Dec 1910) c 1856 7 Dec 1915
1 May 1909 Maurice Healy 3 Jan 1859 9 Nov 1923 64
18 Jan 1910 William O'Brien (to 1918) 2 Oct 1852 25 Feb 1928 75
Dec 1910 Maurice Healy 3 Jan 1859 9 Nov 1923 64
14 Dec 1918 James Joseph Walsh 20 Feb 1880 30 Nov 1948 68
Liam de Roiste 1882 15 May 1959 76
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1922
CORK COUNTY
1801 Henry Boyle, styled Viscount Boyle, later [1807] 3rd Earl of Shannon [I] (to 1807) 8 Aug 1771 22 Apr 1842 70
Robert Uniacke Fitzgerald 17 Mar 1751 20 Dec 1814 63
17 Nov 1806 George Ponsonby (to 1812) c 1773 5 Jun 1863
16 May 1807 James Bernard, styled Viscount Bernard, later [1830] 2nd Earl of Bandon [I] (to 1818) 14 Jun 1785 31 Oct 1856 71
23 Oct 1812 Richard Hare, styled Viscount Ennismore from 1822 (to 1827) 20 Mar 1773 24 Sep 1827 54
29 Jun 1818 Edward King, styled Viscount Kingsborough 16 Nov 1795 27 Feb 1837 41
21 Jun 1826 Robert Henry King, later [1839] 4th Earl of Kingston [I] (to 1832) 4 Oct 1796 21 Jan 1867 70
4 Dec 1827 John Boyle 13 Mar 1803 6 Dec 1874 71
12 Aug 1830 Richard Boyle, styled Viscount Boyle, later [1842] 4th Earl of Shannon [I] 12 May 1809 1 Aug 1868 59
29 Dec 1832 Feargus Edward O'Connor [he was unseated on petition in favour of Richard Longfield 5 Jun 1835]
For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of this page		 18 Jul 1794 30 Aug 1855 61
Garrett Standish Barry (to 1841) 26 Dec 1864
5 Jun 1835 Richard Longfield 1767
18 Aug 1837 Edmund Burke Roche, later [1855] 1st Baron Fermoy [I] (to 1855) Aug 1815 17 Sep 1874 59
15 Jul 1841 Daniel O'Connell 8 Aug 1775 15 May 1847 71
2 Jul 1847 Maurice Power 1811
22 Mar 1852 Vincent Scully (to 1857) 1810 4 Jun 1871 60
23 Apr 1855 Rickard Deasy (to 1861) 1812 6 May 1883 70
10 Apr 1857 Alexander McCarthy
10 May 1859 Vincent Scully (to 1865) 1810 4 Jun 1871 60
28 Feb 1861 Nicholas Philpot Leader (to 1868) 31 Mar 1880
29 Jul 1865 George Richard Barry 1825 31 Jan 1867 41
3 Feb 1867 Arthur Hugh Smith-Barry, later [1902] 1st Baron Barrymore (to 1874) 17 Jan 1843 22 Feb 1925 82
30 Nov 1868 McCarthy Downing (to 1879) 1814 9 Jan 1879 64
9 Feb 1874 William Shaw (to 1885) 4 May 1823 19 Sep 1895 72
20 Feb 1879 David la Touche Colthurst 1828 19 Jan 1907 78
SPLIT INTO 7 DIVISIONS 1885, SEE "CORK COUNTY EAST", "CORK COUNTY MID", "CORK COUNTY NORTH", "CORK COUNTY NORTH EAST", "CORK COUNTY SOUTH", "CORK COUNTY SOUTH EAST" AND "CORK COUNTY WEST"
CORK COUNTY EAST
3 Dec 1885 William John Lane Aug 1849
Jul 1892 Anthony John Charles Donelan [Following the general election in Dec 1910, he was unseated on petition 22 May 1911] 1846 Sep 1924 78
15 Jul 1911 John Muldoon 1865 20 Nov 1938 73
14 Dec 1918 David Rice Kent 16 Nov 1930
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1922
CORK COUNTY MID
3 Dec 1885 Charles Kearns Deane Tanner 20 Sep 1849 21 Apr 1901 51
17 May 1901 Daniel Desmond Sheehan 28 May 1873 28 Nov 1948 75
14 Dec 1918 Terence Joseph McSwiney
For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of this page		 20 Mar 1879 25 Oct 1920 41
25 Oct 1920 vacant
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1922
CORK COUNTY NORTH
8 Dec 1885 James Christopher Flynn 1852 15 Nov 1922 70
31 Jan 1910 Patrick Guiney 1862 12 Oct 1913 51
4 Nov 1913 John Guiney 1869
14 Dec 1918 Patrick O'Keeffe 20 Sep 1973
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1922
CORK COUNTY NORTH EAST
28 Nov 1885 Edmund Leamy 1848 10 Dec 1904 56
16 May 1887 William O'Brien [at the general election in Jul 1892, he was also returned for Cork City, for which he chose to sit] 2 Oct 1852 25 Feb 1928 75
8 Feb 1893 Michael Davitt 25 Mar 1846 31 May 1906 60
28 Jun 1893 William Abraham 1840 2 Aug 1915 75
27 Jan 1910 William O'Brien [he was also returned for Cork City, for which he chose to sit] 2 Oct 1852 25 Feb 1928 75
2 Mar 1910 Maurice Healy 3 Jan 1859 9 Nov 1923 64
Dec 1910 Moreton Frewen 1853 2 Sep 1924 71
16 Jul 1911 Timothy Michael Healy 17 May 1855 26 Mar 1931 75
14 Dec 1918 Thomas Cornelius Hunter 11 Mar 1932
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1922
CORK COUNTY SOUTH
Dec 1885 Joseph Edward Kenny 1845 9 Apr 1900 54
Jul 1892 Edward Barry 1852 7 Dec 1927 75
Dec 1910 John Walsh 1856 25 Aug 1925 69
14 Dec 1918 Michael Collins 16 Oct 1890 22 Aug 1922 31
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1922
CORK COUNTY SOUTH EAST
3 Dec 1885 John Hooper 1846 20 Nov 1897 51
3 Jun 1889 John Morrogh 1849 4 Oct 1901 52
28 Jun 1893 Andrew Commins 1832 7 Jan 1916 83
9 Oct 1900 Eugene Crean 1856 12 Jan 1939 82
14 Dec 1918 Diarmid Lynch 10 Jan 1878 9 Nov 1950 72
Aug 1920 vacant
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1922
CORK COUNTY WEST
Dec 1885 James Gilhooly 1847 16 Oct 1916 69
15 Nov 1916 Daniel O'Leary May 1878 23 Dec 1954 76
14 Dec 1918 John Hayes 24 Jan 1928
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1922
 

Isaac Fletcher
MP for Cockermouth 1868‑1879
Fletcher committed suicide on 3 April 1879 by shooting himself. The following report of the subsequent inquest into his death appeared in the Glasgow Herald on 7 April 1879:-
Mr. St. Clair Bedford, Coroner for Westminster, held an inquest on Saturday afternoon at the Vestry Hall, St. Martin's Lane, on the body of the late Mr. Isaac Fletcher, M.P. For Cockermouth, who committed suicide at Morley's Hotel on Thursday evening last. Mr. Frederick James, one of the proprietors of the hotel, said - On Thursday last he was summoned to Mr. Fletcher's room at the hotel, and found it filled with smoke and smelling strongly of powder. He at once sent for a doctor, and before he arrived he examined the deceased's pulse, and found no movement. The deceased held a pistol in his right hand. Hannah Bolton, housemaid, said she saw the deceased go into his room, and shortly afterwards heard the report of firearms. She called the porter, and they both went into the room, when they saw the deceased lying on the bed with a revolver clutched in both hands. They then called up Mr. James.
Mr. William Fletcher, of Brigham Hall, Cumberland, said the deceased was his brother. He was fifty-two years of age. He had not been in good health for a year or so, but was rather worse during the past two months. The witness believed he suffered from derangement of the liver and also from an affection of the heart. Latterly he appeared rather strange and absent-minded, and seemed as if he were in a dream and unconscious apparently of what was passing around him. If spoken to while in that state he would look startled. These symptoms were occasional. In his younger days he suffered from fits of epilepsy, and his appearance lately very much resembled that which he used to present before being attacked with a fit. The witness knew nothing in his recent circumstances to cause him to take his life. He was perfectly happy in his domestic life, and there was not the slightest foundation for a report which had appeared in a newspaper that he suffered from financial embarrassments. The witness hoped the coroner would visit with his official censure a statement so calumnious. The witness added that in his younger days the deceased was sometimes subject to delusions. He saw him on Wednesday, when he seemed in good health and spirits. The witness asked if he were returning home, but he said, "No; I must stay over the Budget, tomorrow." He accompanied witness to Euston station, and talked all the way on political matters.
After a short consultation the jury found a verdict of "Suicide while in a state of temporary insanity."
At the subsequent by-election in Cockermouth, William Fletcher, the brother of the late member, was returned.
Albert Victor Grayson
MP for Colne Valley 1907‑1910
Born in Liverpool of working class parents, Victor Grayson entered the House of Commons at a by-election in July 1907. Grayson was an uncompromising, firebrand Socialist who had little regard for the then-embryonic Labour Party. However, when it came to oratory, he was infinitely more polished that his trade union colleagues. Unfortunately, he had a weakness for drink, and was involved in a number of scenes in the House of Commons.
Failing to retain his seat at the January 1910 General Election, he devoted himself to journalism and lecture tours, but his health broke down and he suffered poverty and deprivation for some years. In 1912, he married an actress, Ruth Nightingale, and accompanied her to New Zealand, together with his baby daughter, in 1915. The next year he enlisted in the New Zealand Army and served on the Western Front, where he was wounded and invalided out of the army. In 1918, his wife died in childbirth.
The above is only a brief sketch of Grayson's career up to 1920. This note is more concerned with Grayson's disappearance in September of that year. Unfortunately, the story of Grayson's disappearance has been embellished with 'facts' regarding the circumstances of his vanishing, in much the same way that the mystery of the Mary Celeste was later overlaid with supposed facts, until the public believed the embellishments.
The generally accepted date for Grayson's disappearance is late September 1920. The story goes that Grayson was drinking with friends in the Georgian restaurant when he informed them that he had to step outside and would be back in a few minutes. Differing versions of story place his disappearance from a hotel in The Strand, where he supposed to have left a half-finished glass of whiskey on a bar counter, in true Mary Celeste fashion; another version has him vanishing from a train between Liverpool and Hull. A further version has him being collected from his lodgings in Bury Street, London, by two men with whom he left with his suitcases, telling his landlady that he would 'be in touch.' Whatever the circumstances, Grayson was never officially seen again.
In 1921, he was shown as having died in the previous year in an entry in his old school's yearbook, but the editor of the yearbook was unable to recall how he had learned of this. Because he had largely disappeared from the public view, no one thought to look for him, and it was not until 1927 that questions began to be raised by an article in the Yorkshire Post which brought to light some scraps of information.
Reported sightings of Grayson continued to surface until as recently as the 1970s. In 1939, for example, his socialist colleague, Sidney Campion, reported that he had recognised Grayson on the underground. He stated that the man's female companion addressed his as 'Vic' and that when the train pulled up at Westminster station, the man commented 'Here's the old firm', which Campion assumed to mean the Houses of Parliament. The obvious inference is that the man, whoever he was, had once been a member of the Houses of Parliament.
Also in 1939, as was later revealed by the New Zealand Ministry of Defence, someone collected Grayson's British War Medal and Victory Medal from the New Zealand High Commission in London. The collection of such medals is controlled by very strict regulations requiring rigid proof of identity. It has therefore been argued that only Grayson himself could have collected the medals and that he was therefore still alive in 1939.
In August 1924, three members of the Independent Labour Party reported that they had recognised Grayson at a political rally; in 1925, an old acquaintance reported that he had spotted Grayson from the top of a double-decker bus, but by the time he was able to alight, Grayson had again vanished.
And so on and so on. According to various reports Grayson had returned to Australia, was running a furniture shop in London, had emigrated to Canada, was living under a false name at Herne Bay in Kent etc etc.
The mystery of Grayson's disappearance was re-ignited in 1970 by the publication of a book by Donald McCormick entitled Murder by Perfection. This book was essentially a study of the honours tout Maundy Gregory, who was engaged for many years in selling honours on behalf of David Lloyd George. McCormick accuses Maundy of being involved in two murders; those of his mistress, Edith Rosse, and also of Grayson. McCormick theorizes that Grayson, being aware of Gregory's trade in honours, was about to spill the beans and that, as a result, Gregory arranged for his permanent removal. McCormick's star witness is the painter and naturalist George Flemwell, who stated that on 28 September 1920, he was painting some river scenes on the Thames opposite a bungalow at Thames Ditton when he saw two men land from a boat onto the jetty belonging to the bungalow. One of the men he recognised as Grayson. The bungalow was owned by Maundy Gregory, where he lived with his mistress Edith Rosse. When Flemwell visited the bungalow some hours later, Edith Rosse denied all knowledge of Grayson and told Flemwell that he must be mistaken.
For further reading on Grayson, I recommend Victor Grayson; Labour's Lost Leader by David Clark (Quartet Books, London, 1985).
For further reading on Maundy Gregory, the following books are recommended:-
Honours for Sale; the Strange Story of Maundy Gregory by Gerald Macmillan (The Richards Press, London, 1954)
A Playful Panther; the Story of J. Maundy Gregory, Con-Man by Tom Cullen (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1975)
Murder by Perfection by Donald McCormick (John Long, London, 1970).
Charles Leach
MP for Colne Valley 1910‑1916
Charles Leach was the only MP to be removed from his seat under the provisions of the Lunacy (Vacating of Seats) Act 1886. The following report on his removal appeared in The Manchester Guardian on 18 August 1916:-
In the House of Commons today the Speaker said he regretted to announce that he had issued his warrant for the election of a member for the Colne Valley division under the provisions of the Lunacy (Vacating of Seats) Act.
The announcement means, unhappily, that Dr. Leach's mind has, for the time being, given way, and it will be received with sorrow and sympathy by all who are acquainted with his public work, and by none more than by his old friends in Manchester who remember him as the pastor of Cavendish Chapel.
Dr. Leach was born in a Yorkshire village near Halifax in 1847. He was engaged in business for some time, but his thoughts gradually turned to the ministry as his life-work, and he entered Ranmoor Theological College at Sheffield. In 1875 he undertook the pastorate of a church at Birmingham, where his ministry was entirely successful. Eleven years later, at the call of the London Congregational Union, he accepted the charge of the newly formed church at Queen's Park, in the West End, and while there he founded the Queen's Park College and Institute, which was later taken over by the London County Council. From London he came to Manchester to take charge of Cavendish Chapel, and here again he met with considerable success. After leaving Manchester he remained a kind of ministerial "free-lance," and turning to politics, he was elected in 1910, as the Liberal member for Colne Valley. He wrote a large number of stories and travelled about a good deal, visiting America and paying as many as ten visits to Palestine and Egypt.
Dr. Leach was a preacher of a decidedly unconventional type, and some of his methods were criticized as rather flamboyant. They were, however, entirely honest methods in the sense that they frankly exposed the man's own idea of his work and gifts, and in every sphere of labour he achieved a considerable measure of success. He was brimful of vivacity and initiative, and he brought to his pastoral work a good deal of the quality of the American hustler. Behind a rather boisterous manner there were, however, solid qualities of mind and character, and these were fully recognised by the various churches he served.
Dr. Leach may almost be said to have anticipated the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon movement [founded in 1875 by John Blackham]. During his first pastorate, at Birmingham, he started Sunday afternoon lectures for working people, and his breezy manner, his journalistic sense of the topic of the moment, and his knowledge of and genuine sympathy with the problems of working-class life attracted large numbers to his discourses. He introduced the same class of services in Manchester, and some of his titles came in for sharp criticism on the ground of lack of dignity.
With Dr. Leach's retirement from the active work of his ministry his real life-work may be said to have closed. He was an effective platform speaker, but his style was hardly suited to the House of Commons, and he was probably quite content with the modest impression that he made in politics.
Feargus Edward O'Connor
MP for Cork County 1832‑1835 and Nottingham 1847‑1852
The following biography of O'Connor, who was one of the leaders of the Chartist movement, appeared in the monthly Australian magazine Parade in its issue for September 1955:-
Though one of the least populous of the British dominions, and among the smallest, in point of population, of the countries of the world [in 1955 the population of Australia was around 9.3 million], Australia has achieved a reputation of being a leader in the pioneering of many democratic institutions. For the basis of that reputation, laid in earlier days, it has much to thank certain men sent out here as dangerous revolutionaries, branded with the same broad arrow as the robbers, forgers, murderers and thieves consigned to the penal settlements of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land for no greater crime than that they sought a stronger voice in the government of their Mother Country for the working classes. They were members of a movement called Chartism.
Under a corrupt and inefficient electoral system, government in England a century ago was virtually reserved to the landed aristocracy and industrial monopolists. The Chartists had drawn up a document called the "People's Charter", which demanded manhood suffrage, equal electoral districts, vote by ballot, annual parliaments, abolition of a property qualification in parliamentary representation, and payment for members of parliament. The Charter was presented as a petition to the House of Commons in 1839, signed by 1,280,000 people. It was refused, and the refusal was followed by ten years of violent agitation that often degenerated into riot, and came very near to revolution.
The agitation produced a number of notable leaders, but the most colourful of them all was a wild Irishman, Feargus Edward O'Connor. He was born in 1794, into a family of fierce Irish Nationalists, hostile to England's domination of Ireland and anti-Catholic discrimination. He studied law and practised a little in a desultory way. His fine voice, torrential flow of words and Irish wit brought him a certain amount of success at the Bar. He threw his lot in with Daniel O'Connell, the "Liberator", hero of Irish freedom who had formed the Catholic Association. In 1832 Feargus O'Connor was elected to Parliament as M.P. for Cork. He went to London to represent his constituency and naturally enough joined the faction of O'Connell in the House.
Britain was going through the Industrial Revolution. The whole economic life of the country which had previously rested on agriculture was being changed. It had become the workshop of the world. From every country countless orders for manufactured goods were coming in; factories had sprung up everywhere. Never had so much wealth poured into the country, but into so few hands. Great staggering fortunes were being made every year, by men with wealth o establish industries, but the bulk of the nation, factory hands, miners and workers were living in the direst poverty and misery.
O'Connor's strong sense of social justice was moved to strong action by the anomaly of riches for the few and poverty for the many, and he ferociously denounced the "big-bellied, little-brained aristocracy", and all those he considered responsible for the conditions prevailing. The "Liberator", politically conservative, however, found the presence of this turbulent and >radical element in its ranks more a hindrance than a help and had him unseated for indiscipline; in 1835 he was expelled from the House [this is not strictly correct - he was unseated as a result of a petition against his earlier election].
He left for the North, the centre of England's main industrial activity where his words would be better appreciated. There he bought out a newspaper, the Leeds Northern Star, which, under his vigorous and vitriolic pen, soon gained a large circulation.
In 1832 the Parliamentary Reform Bill was passed in the House. It only gave the vote to the middle-class, however, and by certain property and income qualifications excluded the working class from its benefits. The bitterness and resentment which this had aroused were intense and it became one of the sticks which O'Connor used in his attacks on the Government, Parliament, the factory-owners - in fact, everyone who was not a worker.
In June, 1836, the London Working Men's Association was founded by William Lovett [1800‑1877]. It sought to remedy the evils that industrialism had brought to England and "to draw into one bond of unity the intelligent and influential portion of the working classes in town and and country, and to seek by every legal means to place all classes of society in possession of equal political and social rights". Membership of this association was limited to genuine workers and labourers, but several public men, prominent for the part they were playing in the struggle of the lower classes, were given honorary membership. Feargus O'Connor was among them. Missionaries were sent out from London to the provinces and hundreds of associations were formed all over the country. Their power and influence grew as O'Connor in the columns of his newspaper and on the platform stormed and raved against the moneyed classes.
It was decided to present a petition to Parliament, and on May 8, 1838, it was published as the "People's Charter." Thomas Attwood [1783-1856, MP for Birmingham 1832-1840] proposed the election of a Convention to sit in competition with Parliament, to be elected by the disenfranchised. This body was to present a petition to Parliament demanding the enactment of the Charter as the law of the land. A general strike lasting a month - the Sacred Month - was to be called in case of refusal. Amidst scenes of mounting enthusiasm and violent excitement, over 1,200,000 signatures were collected all over the country on a "beautiful and majestic roll" said to be over three miles long.
On February 4, 1839, the delegates to the Convention met in London at the British Hotel in Cockspur St., near Charing Cross. They were approximately 50 in number, from all parts of the kingdom. Only about half the members were from the working class; the rest were medical men, business men, lawyers, clergymen, publicans and book-sellers - all men of radical leanings. O'Connor was one of the representatives who came down from the north to attend. For several months the Convention sat in session, finally transferring to Birmingham.
A rift developed between the extremists - the "physical force" led by O'Connor, and moderates - the "moral force" led by Lovett. Wild rumours began to circulate of an impending rising. Major-General Sir Charles Napier was sent to take command of the north, where mobs began to accumulate secret stocks of arms as O'Connor and his disciples went around the country inciting violence and destruction. Sir Charles Napier took strong preventative action to forestall trouble and invited the leaders to an artillery demonstration to show the deadly fire-power of his guns. One riot, however, broke out in Birmingham, many casualties occurred and a large number of arrests was made, including some members of the Convention.
Feelings were running high at the severity of the sentences inflicted on the demonstrators when came the final blow. The Chartists' petition was rejected by the Commons on July 12, by 235 votes to 46. A second riot thereupon broke out in Birmingham, armed mobs went about burning and destroying buildings and fighting fierce battles with the police and military. Many of those arrested were transported to Australia.
Feargus O'Connor had so far been remarkably fortunate. One of the most energetic and virulent leaders of the Chartist movement, he had succeeded, nevertheless, in remaining free while many more moderate men had been arrested. But in 1840 his turn came, and he was arraigned on a charge of seditious speech and sentenced to one year's imprisonment. From his cell in York Gaol he continued to send out articles to the Northern Star and assiduously began to weave a legend around his name, making himself appear a martyred champion of the working class.
When he was released on August 30, 1841, rapturous crowds greeted him and he set out to gain the supreme leadership of the movement. He gave his support to a second petition said to contain nearly three and a half million signatures, which, carried by 30 men, was presented to the House of Commons on May 2, 1842. Like the previous one it was rejected, and although O'Connor continued to talk fire and sword and threaten to bring the vengeance of the people upon the legislators, it was all empty bombast.
In 1848 revolution again broke out in France and its success encouraged supporters of the Charter to renew their agitation on its behalf. O'Connor rose again as the fiery and ardent leader of the reformers, and disturbances broke out all over the country. In London thousands of Chartists assembled at Trafalgar Square and refused to obey the police. A new petition, this time said to contain over six million signatures, was drawn up. About 170,000 special constables were raised to put down any possible trouble, and the Duke of Wellington, hero of Waterloo - then over eighty years old - was summoned from retirement and given command of the troops. O'Connor declared that half-a-million Chartists would march from Kennington Common to the House on April 10 to present their monster petition.
Instead of the expected half-million, barely 20,000 Chartists turned up, and the Irishman was advised the police not to proceed with the demonstration. O'Connor prudently complied, ordered his followers to disperse and return home, and to trust to the Petition to achieve their aims. The Petition was found to contain two million votes instead of the declared six million, and was no more successful than the others. That same year the company he had floated went bankrupt. After that he disappeared from the political scene. His behaviour became more and more maniacal and in 1852 he was declared insane and placed in a lunatic asylum.
Three years later he died, still revered by many of the people for whom he had so violently struggled. Fifty thousand of his followers were present at his burial, to salute a man, who, with all his faults, had never abandoned them, and whose fight for their rights was to be rewarded by final success in the dawn of democracy.
Terence Joseph McSwiney
MP for Cork County Mid 1918‑1920
In 1981, Bobby Sands, MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, died following a hunger strike. Although his action in starving himself to death made his name famous throughout the world, he was not the first member of the House of Commons to resort to this method of protest.
In 1920, the member for Cork County Mid, Terence McSwiney had set the example, and, by so doing, helped to hasten the treaty which established the Irish Free State in 1921.
McSwiney was born in Cork in 1879 [some sources say 1883] and grew up a studious and dreamy young man who settled naturally into the accountancy profession after taking his degree. He wrote poems, plays and essays, and before long had established a reputation as an expert in Irish language and literature. At this time, few would have recognised McSwiney as the dedicated firebrand revolutionary that he would become.
McSwiney's love of the ancient and deep-rooted culture of Ireland led him inexorably into the nationalist struggle in the years immediately prior to WWI. He became the editor of a Cork newspaper, joined the underground Irish Volunteers and soon rose to the rank of second in command of the local brigade. By 1914, he was well known to the chiefs of the movement and, in 1916, he was second in command for the areas of Cork and Kerry in the Easter Rising, but the Volunteers were stood down and dispersed. After the Rising, McSwiney was interned in English gaols until December 1916.
It was not until the end of the War that the nationalists were powerful and organised enough to launch a mass campaign for Irish independence. In the meantime, McSwiney had been elected to represent Cork County Mid at the December 1918 general election for the Sinn Féin party.
On the night of 19/20 March 1920, the veteran Lord Mayor of Cork, Thomas MacCurtain, was asleep in his bed when a band of men with blackened faces burst into the house. As he rose to speak with them, he was riddled with pistol bullets. A coroner's jury later brought in a verdict of wilful murder against the British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, and certain unidentifiable members of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Naturally, the British authorities refused to accept this verdict and for months afterward Cork was racked by rioting, arson and political murders. The Irish patriots openly proclaimed their defiance of Britain by electing McSwiney Lord Mayor of Cork to replace MacCurtain, but the British authorities were having none of this.
On 12 August 1920, McSwiney was presiding over what was ostensibly an ordinary council meeting in the City Hall of Cork. In fact it was a gathering of officers from the Cork Volunteer Brigade, of which the British authorities were well aware through one of their paid informers. At noon, the Hall was invaded by soldiers and McSwiney and 11 of his comrades arrested.
Two days later McSwiney appeared before a court martial charged with sedition and "being in possession of documents likely to cause disaffection to His Majesty the King." McSwiney refused to enter a plea on the ground that he "was being tried by an illegal court, being one not assembled by authority of the Republic of Ireland." He was sentenced to two years' penal servitude, and, as a precaution against a mass rescue attempt in Cork, the court ordered that the sentence be served in England. Accordingly, he was smuggled aboard a warship in Cork harbour, and transported to London, where he was lodged in Brixton Prison on 17 August.
Immediately after he had been arrested, McSwiney and his comrades had commenced a hunger strike. Two of his fellow prisoners in Cork gaol starved themselves to death before the others abandoned their strike at the request of their fellow nationalists. McSwiney, however, was not to be dissuaded. News of his hunger strike leaked out within a few days and immediately caused a fierce controversy throughout Britain. The Times warned that, if McSwiney was allowed to die, "the outlook in Ireland would become desperate" and the country could be plunged into full-scale civil war. On the other hand, the British government argued that setting McSwiney free would mean utter paralysis of the law and a surrender to Irish anarchy.
Although the authorities did their best to maintain a shroud of secrecy, reports about McSwiney's condition continued to reach the outside world. It was reported that doctors had refused to agree to force-feeding him because he was already too badly weakened by long-standing tuberculosis and his resistance might kill him. Late in September, he was moved into the prison hospital where nurses watched him night and day, with food always at the ready in case his resolution faltered.
Meanwhile, in Ireland, huge processions in support of McSwiney surged through the streets of Irish cities, calling for vengeance against the British 'assassins.' Extra troops were rushed to Cork, which was in the grip of a relentless war between the nationalists and the Royal Irish Constabulary, otherwise known as the 'Black and Tans.' In England and America thousands signed petitions for his release.
On 25 October 1920, after 74 days of his hunger strike, McSwiney died in his bed in the prison hospital. His body was taken to the Catholic cathedral in Southwark, where it was guarded by soldiers wearing the illegal green uniform of the Irish Volunteers. More than 100,000 Londoners watched in silence as the coffin, draped in an Irish republican flag, was carried to Euston railway station. From there it was transported by rail and ship to Cork, where McSwiney was buried on 1 November 1920, the funeral attracting huge crowds.
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McSwiney's death led directly to a major drama within Australian politics. Hugh Mahon (1857-1931) was born in Killurin, King's County and emigrated to Australia in 1882. After a career in newspapers, he was elected to the first Australian Federal Parliament in 1901 for the seat of Coolgardie in Western Australia, which he represented until 1913. Following the abolition of this seat, he was returned for Kalgoorlie 1913-1917 and 1919-1920. During this period, he was at various times Postmaster General, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for External Affairs.
Late in 1920, after the death of Terence McSwiney, lord mayor of Cork, Ireland, in a hunger strike, Mahon savagely attacked British policy and the Empire, referring to 'this bloody and accursed despotism', at an Irish League open-air meeting in Melbourne on 7 November 1920; a motion for the establishment of an Australian republic was passed. The speech created a sensation and led to hostile demonstrations in Melbourne. Citing 'seditious and disloyal utterances', on 11 November the Australian Prime Minister, William Morris Hughes, introduced a motion in Parliament calling for Mahon's expulsion. Though he contested the details, Mahon refused to defend himself in Parliament, and, after an extended and passionate debate, he was formally expelled from the House of Representatives. He then unsuccessfully contested the ensuing by-election.
As a result of his expulsion, Mahon holds two records in Australian Parliamentary history. Firstly, he is the only member ever expelled from the Parliament, and the only member ever likely to be, since the power of either the Senate or the House of Representatives to expel one its members was removed by the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987.
Secondly, it must be pointed out that it is a rare occurrence, both in England and Australia, for an incumbent government to gain a seat from another party as a result of a by-election. The by-election held in December 1920, when Mahon unsuccessfully contested the seat, was the last occasion in Australian Federal politics when such an event occurred, the seat being won by the National Party.
 

 
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