THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
CONSTITUENCIES BEGINNING WITH "D"
Last updated 13/06/2017 (24 Jun 2022)
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.
DAGENHAM
26 Jul 1945 Herbert John Harvey Parker 15 Jul 1906 24 Nov 1987 81
9 Jun 1983 Bryan Charles Gould 11 Feb 1939
9 Jun 1994 Judith Ann Church 19 Sep 1953
7 Jun 2001 Jonathan Cruddas 7 Apr 1962
NAME ALTERED TO "DAGENHAM AND RAINHAM" 2010
DAGENHAM AND RAINHAM
6 May 2010 Jonathan Cruddas 7 Apr 1962
DARLINGTON
18 Nov 1868 Edmund Backhouse 1824 7 Jun 1906 81
3 Apr 1880 Theodore Fry, later [1894] 1st baronet 1 May 1836 5 Feb 1912 75
13 Jul 1895 Arthur Pease 12 Sep 1837 27 Aug 1898 60
17 Sep 1898 Herbert Pike Pease, later [1923] 1st Baron Daryngton 7 May 1867 10 May 1949 82
15 Jan 1910 Ignatius Timothy Trebitsch Lincoln
For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of this page
4 Apr 1879 6 Oct 1943 64
Dec 1910 Herbert Pike Pease, later [1923] 1st Baron Daryngton 7 May 1867 10 May 1949 82
28 Feb 1923 William Edwin Pease 3 Jun 1865 23 Jan 1926 60
17 Feb 1926 Arthur Lewis Shepherd 7 Feb 1884 14 Apr 1951 67
27 Oct 1931 Charles Urie Peat 28 Feb 1892 27 Oct 1979 87
26 Jul 1945 David Rennie Hardman 18 Oct 1901 6 Dec 1989 88
25 Oct 1951 Sir Frederick Fergus Graham, 5th baronet 10 Mar 1893 1 Aug 1978 85
8 Oct 1959 Anthony Temple Bourne-Arton 1 Mar 1913 28 May 1996 83
15 Oct 1964 Edward Joseph Fletcher 25 Feb 1911 13 Feb 1983 71
24 Mar 1983 Oswald O'Brien 6 Apr 1928 10 Mar 1997 68
9 Jun 1983 Michael Cathel Fallon [kt 2016] 14 May 1952
9 Apr 1992 Alan Milburn 27 Jan 1958
6 May 2010 Jennifer Chapman, later [2021] Baroness Chapman of Darlington [L] 25 Sep 1973
12 Dec 2019 Peter Alexander Gibson 22 May 1975
DARTFORD (KENT)
4 Dec 1885 Sir William Hart Dyke, 7th baronet 7 Aug 1837 3 Jul 1931 94
19 Jan 1906 James Rowlands 1 Oct 1851 1 Mar 1920 68
26 Jan 1910 William Foot Mitchell [kt 1929] 26 Jun 1859 31 Jul 1947 88
Dec 1910 James Rowlands 1 Oct 1851 1 Mar 1920 68
27 Mar 1920 John Edmund Mills 2 Sep 1882 11 Nov 1951 69
15 Nov 1922 George William Symonds Jarrett 1880 6 Dec 1960 80
6 Dec 1923 John Edmund Mills 2 Sep 1882 11 Nov 1951 69
29 Oct 1924 Angus McDonnell 7 Jun 1881 22 Apr 1966 84
30 May 1929 John Edmund Mills 2 Sep 1882 11 Nov 1951 69
27 Oct 1931 Frank Edward Clarke 21 Nov 1886 12 Jul 1938 51
7 Nov 1938 Janet Laurel Adamson 9 May 1882 25 Apr 1962 79
26 Jul 1945 Norman Noel Dodds 25 Dec 1903 22 Aug 1965 61
26 May 1955 Sydney Irving, later [1979] Baron Irving of Dartford [L] 1 Jul 1918 18 Dec 1989 71
18 Jun 1970 Peter John Edward Trew 30 Apr 1932
28 Feb 1974 Sydney Irving, later [1979] Baron Irving of Dartford [L] 1 Jul 1918 18 Dec 1989 71
3 May 1979 Robert John Dunn 14 Jul 1946 24 Apr 2003 56
1 May 1997 Howard Geoffrey Alvan Stoate 14 Apr 1954
6 May 2010 Gareth Alan Johnson 12 Oct 1969
DARTMOUTH (DEVONSHIRE)
31 Mar 1660 Sir John Frederick 25 Oct 1601 19 Mar 1685 83
John Hale 19 Mar 1614 Sep 1691 77
11 Apr 1661 William Harbord (to Feb 1679) 25 Apr 1635 31 Jul 1692 57
Thomas Southcote c 1622 c Apr 1664
27 Apr 1664 Thomas Kendall 13 Aug 1609 Dec 1666 57
22 Jan 1667 Sir Walter Yonge, 2nd baronet c 1626 21 Nov 1670
22 Dec 1670 William Gould 31 Mar 1640 24 Oct 1671 31
1 Feb 1673 Josiah Child, later [1678] 1st baronet c 1630 22 Jun 1699
This election was declared void 6 Feb 1673. At the subsequent by-election held on 15 Feb 1673, Child was again elected
20 Feb 1679 Sir Nathaniel Herne c 1629 10 Aug 1679
John Upton (to 1685) 15 Aug 1639 7 Sep 1687 48
22 Aug 1679 Edward Yarde 22 Apr 1638 11 Aug 1703 65
9 Apr 1685 Roger Pomeroy 20 Sep 1629 23 Jul 1708 78
Arthur Farwell c 1642 3 May 1687
14 Jan 1689 Charles Boone 18 Apr 1652 12 Aug 1689 37
William Hayne (to 1698) c 1665 Jul 1698
19 Sep 1689 George Booth [unseated on petition in favour of Sir Joseph Herne 28 Nov 1689] c 1655 11 Jun 1726
28 Nov 1689 Joseph Herne [kt 1690] (to 1699) 17 Apr 1639 26 Feb 1699 59
27 Jul 1698 Frederick Herne (to 1714) 3 Mar 1667 15 Mar 1714 47
16 Dec 1699 Rowland Holt
Nathaniel Herne 5 Mar 1668 2 Jun 1722 54
Double return. Election declared void 12 Feb 1700
11 Jan 1701 Nathaniel Herne 5 Mar 1668 2 Jun 1722 54
2 Sep 1713 Sir William Drake, 4th baronet (to 1715) [at the general election of 1713, he was also returned for Honiton, and appears to have been allowed to sit for both seats] 12 Jul 1658 28 Feb 1716 57
20 Mar 1714 John Fownes (to 1722) c 1661 4 Oct 1731
4 Feb 1715 Joseph Herne after 1682 19 Dec 1723
24 Mar 1722 George Treby 29 Oct 1685 8 Mar 1742 56
Thomas Martyn c 1689 17 May 1750
21 Aug 1727 Walter Carey (to 1757) 17 Oct 1685 27 Apr 1757 71
George Treby 29 Oct 1685 8 Mar 1742 56
27 Mar 1742 Lord Archibald Hamilton 17 Feb 1673 5 Apr 1754 81
2 Jul 1747 John Jeffreys (to 1766) 1706 30 Jan 1766 59
23 May 1757 Richard Howe, later [1758] 4th Viscount Howe [I] and [1788] 1st Earl Howe (to 1782) 19 Mar 1726 5 Aug 1799 73
7 Feb 1766 Richard Hopkins c 1728 19 Mar 1799
12 Sep 1780 Arthur Holdsworth (to 1787) c 1757 21 Aug 1787
16 Apr 1782 Charles Brett c 1715 10 Feb 1799
5 Apr 1784 Richard Hopkins (to 1790) c 1728 19 Mar 1799
5 Oct 1787 Edmund Bastard (to 1812) 7 Feb 1758 Jun 1816 58
19 Jun 1790 John Charles Villiers, later [1824] 3rd Earl of Clarendon 14 Nov 1757 22 Dec 1838 81
7 Jul 1802 Arthur Howe Holdsworth (to 1820) 26 Nov 1780 13 May 1860 79
9 Oct 1812 Edmund Pollexfen Bastard 12 Jul 1784 8 Jun 1838 53
9 May 1816 John Bastard (to 1832) c 1787 11 Jan 1835
4 Jan 1820 Charles Milner Ricketts 21 Apr 1776 7 Sep 1867 91
8 Apr 1822 James Hamilton Stanhope
For information on the death of this MP, see the note at the foot of the page containing details of the members for Buckingham
7 Sep 1788 5 Mar 1825 36
24 Mar 1825 John Hutton Cooper, later [1828] 1st baronet 7 Dec 1765 24 Dec 1828 63
26 Jan 1829 Arthur Howe Holdsworth 26 Nov 1780 14 May 1860 79
REPRESENTATION REDUCED TO ONE MEMBER 1832
11 Dec 1832 John Henry Seale, later [1838] 1st baronet 25 Dec 1780 29 Nov 1844 63
27 Dec 1844 Joseph Somes 27 Jun 1845
3 Jul 1845 George Moffatt 1807 20 Feb 1878 70
13 Jul 1852 Sir Thomas Herbert 1793 4 Aug 1861 68
28 Mar 1857 James Caird [kt 1882] 1816 9 Feb 1892 75
30 Apr 1859 Edward Wyndham Harrington Schenley [his election was declared void 27 Jul 1859] 1799 31 Jan 1878 78
8 Aug 1859 John Dunn 1820 10 Sep 1860 40
3 Nov 1860 John Hardy, later [1876] 1st baronet 23 Feb 1809 9 Jul 1888 79
CONSTITUENCY DISENFRANCHISED 1868
DARWEN (LANCASHIRE)
3 Dec 1885 James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil, styled Viscount Cranborne, later [1903] 4th Marquess of Salisbury 23 Oct 1861 4 Apr 1947 85
Jul 1892 Charles Philip Huntington, later [1906] 1st baronet 1833 23 Dec 1906 73
23 Jul 1895 John Rutherford, later [1916] 1st baronet 16 Sep 1854 26 Feb 1932 77
25 Jan 1910 Frederick George Hindle 15 Jan 1848 1 Mar 1925 77
Dec 1910 Sir John Rutherford, 1st baronet 16 Sep 1854 26 Feb 1932 77
15 Nov 1922 Sir Frank Bernard Sanderson, 1st baronet 4 Oct 1880 18 Jul 1965 84
6 Dec 1923 Frederick Hindle [kt 1943] 28 Jul 1877 23 Apr 1953 75
29 Oct 1924 Sir Frank Bernard Sanderson, 1st baronet 4 Oct 1880 18 Jul 1965 84
30 May 1929 Herbert Louis Samuel, later [1937] 1st Viscount Samuel 6 Nov 1870 5 Feb 1963 92
14 Nov 1935 Stuart Hugh Minto Russell 18 Jan 1909 30 Oct 1943 34
12 Dec 1943 William Robert Stanley Prescott 25 Apr 1912 6 Jun 1962 50
25 Oct 1951 Charles Fletcher Fletcher-Cooke [kt 1981] 5 May 1914 24 Feb 2001 86
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1983
DAVENTRY (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE)
14 Dec 1918 Edward Algernon Fitzroy 24 Jul 1869 3 Mar 1943 73
20 Apr 1943 Reginald Edward Manningham-Buller [kt 1951], later [1956] 4th baronet and [1964] 1st Viscount Dilhorne 1 Aug 1905 7 Sep 1980 75
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1950, BUT REVIVED 1974
28 Feb 1974 Albert Arthur Jones 23 Oct 1915 6 Dec 1991 76
3 May 1979 Reginald Ernest Prentice [kt 1987], later [1992] Baron Prentice [L] 16 Jul 1923 18 Jan 2001 77
11 Jun 1987 Timothy Eric Boswell, later [2010] Baron Boswell of Aynho [L] 2 Dec 1942
6 May 2010 Christopher Heaton-Harris 28 Nov 1967
DAVYHULME (MANCHESTER)
9 Jun 1983 Winston Spencer Churchill 10 Oct 1940 2 Mar 2010 69
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1997
DEARNE VALLEY (YORKSHIRE)
23 Feb 1950 Wilfred Paling 7 Apr 1883 17 Apr 1971 88
8 Oct 1959 Edwin Wainwright 12 Aug 1908 22 Jan 1998 89
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1983
DELYN (CLWYD)
9 Jun 1983 Keith William Twort Raffan 21 Jun 1949
9 Apr 1992 David George Hanson 5 Jul 1957
12 Dec 2019 Robert Joseph Roberts 15 Oct 1979
DENBIGH (DENBIGHSHIRE)
6 Apr 1660 John Carter [kt Jun 1660] c 1619 28 Nov 1676
10 Apr 1661 Sir John Salusbury, 4th baronet c 1640 23 May 1684
10 Apr 1685 Sir John Trevor c 1637 20 May 1717
16 Jan 1689 Edward Brereton c 1642 10 Jan 1725
18 May 1705 William Robinson c 1668 15 Nov 1717
14 May 1708 Sir William Williams, 2nd baronet c 1665 20 Oct 1740
20 Oct 1710 John Roberts after 1672 4 Sep 1731
11 Sep 1713 John Wynne 6 Feb 1689 29 May 1718 29
9 Feb 1715 John Roberts after 1672 4 Sep 1731
31 Mar 1722 Robert Myddelton 14 Jun 1678 5 Apr 1733 54
27 Apr 1733 John Myddelton 21 Oct 1685 9 Apr 1747 61
18 May 1741 John Wynn, later [1749] 2nd baronet Sep 1701 14 Feb 1773 71
3 Jul 1747 Richard Myddelton 26 Mar 1726 2 Apr 1795 69
20 May 1788 Richard Myddelton c 1764 20 Dec 1796
12 Jan 1797 Thomas Tyrwhitt Jones, later [1808] 1st baronet 1 Sep 1765 26 Nov 1811 46
12 Jul 1802 Frederick West 1767 22 Mar 1852 84
3 Nov 1806 Robert Myddelton-Biddulph Mar 1761 30 Aug 1814 53
15 Oct 1812 John Hamilton Fitzmaurice, styled Viscount Kirkwall 9 Oct 1778 23 Nov 1820 42
20 Jun 1818 John Wynne Griffith 1 Apr 1763 20 Jun 1834 71
24 Jun 1826 Frederick Richard West 6 Feb 1799 1 May 1862 63
Joseph Ablett
Double return. West declared elected 29 Mar 1827
31 Jul 1830 Robert Myddleton-Biddulph 20 Jun 1805 21 Mar 1872 66
10 Dec 1832 John Madocks c 1787 20 Nov 1837
8 Jan 1835 Wilson Jones 3 Jul 1795 24 Aug 1864 69
3 Jul 1841 Townshend Mainwaring 16 Mar 1807 25 Dec 1883 76
29 Jul 1847 Frederick Richard West 6 Feb 1799 1 May 1862 63
31 Mar 1857 Townshend Mainwaring 16 Mar 1807 25 Dec 1883 76
19 Nov 1868 Charles James Watkin Williams 1828 17 Jul 1884 56
8 Apr 1880 Sir Robert Alfred Cunliffe, 5th baronet 17 Jan 1839 18 Jun 1905 66
28 Nov 1885 George Thomas Kenyon 28 Dec 1840 26 Jan 1908 67
19 Jul 1895 William Tudor Howell 1862 3 Oct 1911 49
5 Oct 1900 George Thomas Kenyon 28 Dec 1840 26 Jan 1908 67
19 Jan 1906 Allen Clement Edwards Jun 1869 23 Jun 1938 69
19 Jan 1910 William George Arthur Ormsby-Gore, later [1938] 4th Baron Harlech 11 Apr 1885 14 Feb 1964 78
14 Dec 1918 Sir David Sanders Davies 11 May 1852 28 Feb 1934 81
15 Nov 1922 John Cledwyn Davies 1869 31 Dec 1952 83
6 Dec 1923 Ellis William Davies 12 Apr 1871 28 Apr 1939 68
30 May 1929 (John) Henry Morris-Jones [kt 1937] 2 Nov 1884 9 Jul 1972 87
23 Feb 1950 Emlyn Hugh Garner Evans 3 Sep 1911 11 Oct 1963 53
8 Oct 1959 William Geraint Oliver Morgan 2 Nov 1920 2 Jul 1995 74
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1983
DENBIGHSHIRE
c Apr 1660 Sir Thomas Myddelton 10 Jul 1586 11 Dec 1666 80
10 Apr 1661 Sir Thomas Myddelton, 1st baronet 2 Nov 1624 13 Jul 1663 38
4 May 1664 John Wynne c 1630 25 Feb 1689
19 Feb 1679 Sir Thomas Myddelton, 2nd baronet c 1651 5 Feb 1684
14 Feb 1681 Sir John Trevor c 1637 20 May 1717
8 Apr 1685 Sir Richard Myddelton, 3rd baronet 23 Mar 1655 29 Apr 1716 61
30 Jun 1716 Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 3rd baronet c 1693 20 Sep 1749
26 May 1741 John Myddelton [he was unseated on petition in favour of Sir Watkin Williams‑Wynn 23 Feb 1742] 21 Oct 1685 9 Apr 1747 61
23 Feb 1742 Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 3rd baronet c 1693 20 Sep 1749
5 Dec 1749 Sir Lynch Salusbury Cotton, 4th baronet c 1705 14 Aug 1775
19 Oct 1774 Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th baronet 8 May 1748 29 Jul 1789 41
28 Aug 1789 Robert Watkin Wynne c 1754 2 Mar 1806
10 Jun 1796 Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th baronet (to 1840) 26 Oct 1772 6 Jan 1840 67
REPRESENTATION INCREASED TO TWO MEMBERS 1832
17 Dec 1832 Robert Myddleton-Biddulph 20 Jun 1805 21 Mar 1872 66
19 Jan 1835 William Bagot, later [1856] 3rd Baron Bagot (to 1852) 27 Mar 1811 19 Jan 1887 75
30 Jan 1840 Hugh Cholmondeley, later [1855] 2nd Baron Delamere 3 Oct 1812 1 Aug 1887 74
7 Jul 1841 Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 6th baronet (to May 1885) 22 May 1820 9 May 1885 64
22 Jul 1852 Robert Myddleton-Biddulph 20 Jun 1805 21 Mar 1872 66
24 Nov 1868 George Osborne Morgan, later [1892] 1st baronet (to Nov 1885) 8 May 1826 25 Aug 1897 71
21 May 1885 Sir Herbert Lloyd Watkin Williams-Wynn, 7th baronet 6 Jun 1860 24 May 1944 83
SPLIT INTO "EAST" AND "WEST" DIVISIONS 1885
DENBIGHSHIRE EAST
5 Dec 1885 George Osborne Morgan, later [1892] 1st baronet 8 May 1826 25 Aug 1897 71
28 Sep 1897 Samuel Moss 1858 14 May 1918 59
14 Aug 1906 Edward George Hemmerde 13 Nov 1871 24 May 1948 76
Dec 1910 Edward Thomas John 14 Mar 1857 16 Feb 1931 73
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1918
DENBIGHSHIRE WEST
9 Dec 1885 William Cornwallis West 20 Mar 1835 4 Jul 1917 82
Jul 1892 John Herbert Roberts, later [1908] 1st baronet and [1919] 1st Baron Clwyd 8 Aug 1863 19 Dec 1955 92
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1918
DENTON AND REDDISH (MANCHESTER)
9 Jun 1983 Andrew Francis Bennett 9 Mar 1939
5 May 2005 Andrew John Gwynne 4 Jun 1974
DEPTFORD
25 Nov 1885 William John Evelyn 27 Jul 1822 26 Jul 1908 85
29 Feb 1888 Charles John Darling, later [1924] 1st Baron Darling 6 Dec 1849 29 May 1936 86
15 Nov 1897 Arthur Henry Aylmer Morton 1836 15 Jun 1913 76
15 Jan 1906 Charles William Bowerman 22 Jan 1851 11 Jun 1947 96
27 Oct 1931 Denis Augustine Hanley 26 Jul 1903 10 Jun 1980 76
14 Nov 1935 Walter Henry Green Mar 1878 13 Apr 1958 80
26 Jul 1945 John Charles Wilmot, later [1950] 1st Baron Wilmot of Selmeston 2 Apr 1895 22 Jul 1964 69
23 Feb 1950 John Cooper, later [1966] Baron Cooper of Stockton Heath [L] 7 Jun 1908 2 Sep 1988 80
25 Oct 1951 Sir Leslie Arthur Plummer 2 Jun 1901 15 Apr 1963 61
4 Jul 1963 John Ernest Silkin 18 Mar 1923 26 Apr 1987 64
NAME CHANGED TO "LEWISHAM DEPTFORD" FEB 1974
DERBY (DERBYSHIRE)
2 Apr 1660 Roger Allestry c 1620 1 Feb 1665
John Dalton (to 1679) c 1610 30 Aug 1679
16 Feb 1665 Anchitell Grey (to 1685) c 1624 8 Jul 1702
8 Feb 1679 George Vernon 1635 13 Jul 1702 67
10 Mar 1685 John Coke (to 1690) c 1653 1692
William Allestry c 1642 c 1700
12 Jan 1689 Anchitell Grey (to 1695) c 1624 8 Jul 1702
3 Mar 1690 Robert Wilmot 1641 1722 81
30 Oct 1695 Lord Henry Cavendish (to Jan 1701) 1673 10 May 1700 26
John Bagnold
26 Jul 1698 George Vernon 1635 13 Jul 1702 67
7 Jan 1701 Sir Charles Pye, 2nd baronet 20 Dec 1651 12 Feb 1721 69
Lord James Cavendish (to 1702) c 1678 14 Dec 1751
27 Nov 1701 John Harpur (to 1705) 9 Apr 1713
18 Jul 1702 Thomas Stanhope c 1679 10 Apr 1730
12 May 1705 Lord James Cavendish (to Oct 1710) c 1678 14 Dec 1751
Sir Thomas Parker, later [1721] 1st Earl of Macclesfield 23 Jul 1667 28 Apr 1732 64
27 Mar 1710 Richard Pye, later [1721] 3rd baronet 2 Feb 1689 22 Nov 1724 35
9 Oct 1710 Sir Richard Levinge, 1st baronet 2 May 1656 13 Jul 1724 68
John Harpur (to 1713) 9 Apr 1713
27 Dec 1711 Edward Mundy (to 1715) 16 Sep 1667 18 Dec 1716 49
25 Apr 1713 Nathaniel Curzon, later [1719] 4th baronet c 1676 18 Nov 1758
1 Feb 1715 Lord James Cavendish (to 1742) c 1678 14 Dec 1751
William Stanhope, later [1742] 1st Earl of Harrington 1690 8 Dec 1756 66
26 Mar 1722 Thomas Bayley c 1679 24 Oct 1734
19 Aug 1727 William Stanhope, later [1742] 1st Earl of Harrington 1690 8 Dec 1756 66
3 Feb 1730 Charles Stanhope 6 Sep 1708 20 Feb 1736 27
13 Mar 1736 John Stanhope (to 1748) 5 Jan 1705 4 Dec 1748 43
8 Mar 1742 William Ponsonby, styled Viscount Duncannon, later [1758] 2nd Earl of Bessborough [I] (to 1754) by Nov 1704 11 Mar 1793
20 Dec 1748 Thomas Rivett c 1713 6 Apr 1763
20 Apr 1754 Lord Frederick Cavendish (to 1780) Aug 1729 21 Oct 1803 74
George Venables-Vernon, later [1762] 1st Baron Vernon 9 Feb 1709 21 Aug 1780 71
5 May 1762 William Fitzherbert 1712 2 Jan 1772 59
31 Jan 1772 Wenman Coke [at the general election in Oct 1774, he was also returned for Norfolk, for which he chose to sit] 7 Jan 1717 11 Apr 1776 59
30 Jan 1775 John Gisborne [he was unseated on petition in favour of Daniel Parker Coke 8 Feb 1776] c 1717 13 Feb 1779
8 Feb 1776 Daniel Parker Coke 17 Jul 1745 4 Dec 1825 80
11 Sep 1780 Lord George Augustus Henry Cavendish, later [1831] 1st Earl of Burlington 21 Mar 1754 4 May 1834 80
Edward Coke (to 1807) 1758 1837 79
2 Jan 1797 George Walpole 20 Jun 1758 May 1835 76
1 Nov 1806 William Cavendish (to 1812)
For information on the death of this MP, see the note at the foot of the page containing details of the members for Knaresborough
10 Jan 1783 14 Jan 1812 29
26 Feb 1807 Thomas William Coke, later [1837] 1st Earl of Leicester of Holkham 6 May 1754 30 Jun 1842 88
5 May 1807 Edward Coke (to 1818) 1758 1837 79
8 Feb 1812 Henry Frederick Compton Cavendish (to 1835) 5 Nov 1789 5 Apr 1873 83
17 Jun 1818 Thomas William Coke 30 Jan 1793 21 May 1867 74
10 Jun 1826 Samuel Crompton, later [1838] 1st baronet 8 Jul 1785 27 Dec 1848 63
31 Jul 1830 Edward Strutt, later [1856] 1st Baron Belper (to 1848) 26 Oct 1801 30 Jun 1880 78
8 Jan 1835 John George Brabazon Ponsonby, later [1847] 5th Earl of Bessborough [I] 14 Oct 1809 28 Jan 1880 70
16 Jun 1847 Edward Frederic Leveson-Gower 3 May 1819 30 May 1907 88
Following the general election in Jul 1847, the election of both sitting members (Strutt and Leveson-Gower) was declared void 22 Mar 1848. No new writ was issued until Aug 1848
2 Sep 1848 Michael Thomas Bass (to 1883) 6 Jul 1799 29 Apr 1884 84
Laurence Heyworth 1786 17 Apr 1872 85
8 Jul 1852 Thomas Berry Horsfall [he was unseated on petition in favour of Laurence Heyworth 9 Mar 1853] 20 Aug 1805 22 Dec 1878 73
9 Mar 1853 Laurence Heyworth 1786 17 Apr 1872 85
28 Mar 1857 Samuel Beale 1803 11 Sep 1874 71
12 Jul 1865 William Thomas Cox 1809 18 Mar 1877 67
18 Nov 1868 Samuel Plimsoll
For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of this page
10 Feb 1824 3 Jun 1898 74
25 May 1880 Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon-Harcourt (to 1895) 14 Oct 1827 30 Sep 1904 76
11 Jun 1883 Thomas Roe, later [1917] 1st Baron Roe 13 Jul 1832 7 Jun 1923 90
13 Jul 1895 Henry Howe Bemrose [kt 1897] 19 Nov 1827 4 May 1911 83
Geoffrey Drage 17 Aug 1860 7 Mar 1955 94
3 Oct 1900 Thomas Roe, later [1917] 1st Baron Roe (to 1916) 13 Jul 1832 7 Jun 1923 90
Richard Bell 1859 1 May 1930 70
15 Jan 1910 James Henry Thomas (to 1936)
For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of this page
3 Oct 1874 21 Jan 1949 74
29 Dec 1916 Sir William Job Collins 9 May 1859 12 Dec 1946 87
14 Dec 1918 Albert Green 3 Nov 1874 25 Sep 1941 66
15 Nov 1922 Charles Henry Roberts 22 Aug 1865 25 Jun 1959 93
6 Dec 1923 William Robert Raynes 26 Jan 1871 30 Jan 1966 95
29 Oct 1924 Sir Richard Harman Luce 13 Jul 1867 21 Feb 1952 84
30 May 1929 William Robert Raynes 26 Jan 1871 30 Jan 1966 95
27 Oct 1931 William Allan Reid (to 1945) 11 Oct 1865 17 Mar 1952 86
9 Jul 1936 Philip John Noel-Baker, later [1977] Baron Noel-Baker [L] (to 1950) 1 Nov 1889 8 Oct 1982 92
26 Jul 1945 Clifford Arthur Bowman Wilcock 28 Apr 1898 14 Jan 1962 63
CONSTITUENCY SPLIT INTO "NORTH" AND "SOUTH" DIVISIONS 1950
DERBY NORTH
23 Feb 1950 Clifford Arthur Bowman Wilcock 28 Apr 1898 14 Jan 1962 63
17 Apr 1962 Niall MacDermot 10 Sep 1916 22 Feb 1996 79
18 Jun 1970 Phillip Whitehead 30 May 1937 31 Dec 2005 68
9 Jun 1983 Gregory Knight [kt 2013] 4 Apr 1949
1 May 1997 Robert Laxton 7 Sep 1944
6 May 2010 Christopher Williamson 16 Sep 1956
7 May 2015 Amanda Jane Solloway 4 Jun 1961
8 Jun 2017 Christopher Williamson 16 Sep 1956
12 Dec 2019 Amanda Jane Solloway 4 Jun 1961
DERBY SOUTH
23 Feb 1950 Philip John Noel-Baker, later [1977] Baron Noel-Baker [L] 1 Nov 1889 8 Oct 1982 92
18 Jun 1970 Walter Hamlet Johnson 21 Nov 1917 12 Apr 2003 85
9 Jun 1983 Margaret Mary Beckett [Dame 2013] 15 Jan 1943
DERBYSHIRE
26 Apr 1660 Henry Cavendish, styled Viscount Mansfield, later [1676] 2nd Duke of Newcastle 24 Jun 1630 26 Jul 1691 61
John Ferrers 26 Jul 1629 14 Aug 1680 51
28 Mar 1661 William Cavendish, styled Baron Cavendish, later [1684] 4th Earl of Devonshire and [1694] 1st Duke of Devonshire (to 1685) 25 Jan 1641 18 Aug 1707 66
John Frescheville, later [1665] 1st Baron Frescheville 4 Dec 1607 31 Mar 1682 74
2 Nov 1665 John Milward 28 Oct 1599 14 Sep 1670 70
24 Nov 1670 William Sacheverell c 1638 9 Oct 1691
26 Mar 1685 Sir Robert Coke, 2nd baronet 29 Apr 1645 15 Jan 1688 42
Sir Gilbert Clarke (to 1698) c 1645 30 May 1701
Jan 1689 Sir John Gell, 2nd baronet 7 Oct 1612 8 Feb 1689 76
18 Apr 1689 Sir Philip Gell, 3rd baronet 6 Jul 1651 15 Jul 1719 68
20 Feb 1690 Henry Gilbert by 1636 1716
24 Oct 1695 William Cavendish, styled Marquess of Hartington, later [1707] 2nd Duke of Devonshire (to Dec 1701) 1672 4 Jun 1729 56
28 Jul 1698 Thomas Coke 19 Feb 1674 17 May 1727 53
9 Jan 1701 John Manners, styled Baron Roos until 1703, then Marquess of Granby, later [1711] 2nd Duke of Rutland 18 Sep 1676 22 Feb 1721 44
11 Dec 1701 Thomas Coke 19 Feb 1674 17 May 1727 53
John Curzon, later [1719] 3rd baronet (to 1727) c 1674 7 Aug 1727
16 Oct 1710 Godfrey Clarke (to 1734) c 1678 25 Mar 1734
28 Aug 1727 Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 4th baronet (to 1754) c 1676 18 Nov 1758
16 May 1734 Lord Charles Cavendish after 1700 28 Apr 1783
19 May 1741 William Cavendish, styled Marquess of Hartington, later [1755] 4th Duke of Devonshire 1720 2 Oct 1764 44
27 Jun 1751 Lord Frederick Cavendish Aug 1729 21 Oct 1803 74
25 Apr 1754 Lord George Augustus Cavendish (to 1780) c 1727 2 May 1794
Nathaniel Curzon, later [1758] 5th baronet and [1761] 1st Baron Scarsdale 19 Jan 1727 5 Dec 1804 77
2 Apr 1761 Sir Henry Harpur, 6th baronet c 1739 10 Feb 1789
29 Mar 1768 Godfrey Bagnall Clarke c 1742 26 Dec 1774
4 Feb 1775 Nathaniel Curzon, later [1804] 2nd Baron Scarsdale (to 1784) 16 Sep 1751 27 Jan 1837 85
23 Sep 1780 Lord Richard Cavendish 19 Jun 1752 7 Sep 1781 29
29 Nov 1781 Lord George Augustus Cavendish (to 1794) c 1727 2 May 1794
15 Apr 1784 Edward Miller Mundy (to 1822) 18 Oct 1750 18 Oct 1822 72
22 May 1794 Lord John Cavendish 22 Oct 1732 18 Nov 1796 64
12 Jan 1797 Lord George Augustus Henry Cavendish, later [1831] 1st Earl of Burlington (to Sep 1831) 21 Mar 1754 4 May 1834 80
25 Nov 1822 Francis Mundy 29 Aug 1771 6 May 1837 65
7 May 1831 George John Venables-Vernon, later [1835] 5th Baron Vernon (to 1832) 22 Jun 1803 31 May 1866 62
22 Sep 1831 William Cavendish, styled Baron Cavendish, later [1834] 2nd Earl of Burlington and [1858] 7th Duke of Devonshire 27 Apr 1808 21 Dec 1891 83
COUNTY SPLIT INTO "NORTH" AND "SOUTH" DIVISIONS 1832
DERBYSHIRE DALES
6 May 2010 Patrick Allen McLoughlin [kt 2016], later [2020] Baron McLoughlin [L] 30 Nov 1957
12 Dec 2019 Sarah Elizabeth Dines c 1965
DERBYSHIRE EAST
23 Nov 1868 Francis Egerton (to 1885) 15 Sep 1824 15 Dec 1895 71
Henry Strutt, later [1880] 2nd Baron Belper 20 May 1840 26 Jul 1914 74
16 Feb 1874 Francis Arkwright 17 Mar 1846 28 Feb 1915 68
15 Apr 1880 Alfred Barnes 1823 28 Nov 1901 78
SPLIT INTO VARIOUS DIVISIONS 1885, SEE "CHESTERFIELD", "DERBYSHIRE MID", "DERBYSHIRE NORTH-EAST", "DERBYSHIRE SOUTH", "DERBYSHIRE WEST", "HIGH PEAK" AND "ILKESTON"
DERBYSHIRE MID
5 Dec 1885 James Alfred Jacoby [kt 1906] 1852 23 Jun 1909 56
14 Jul 1909 John George Hancock 15 Oct 1857 19 Jul 1940 82
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1918, BUT RE-CREATED 2010
6 May 2010 Pauline Elizabeth Latham 4 Feb 1948
DERBYSHIRE NORTH
24 Dec 1832 William Cavendish, styled Baron Cavendish, later [1834] 2nd Earl of Burlington and [1858] 7th Duke of Devonshire 27 Apr 1808 21 Dec 1891 83
Thomas Gisborne (to 1837) c 1790 20 Jul 1852
27 May 1834 Lord George Henry Cavendish (to 1880) 19 Aug 1810 23 Sep 1880 70
10 Aug 1837 William Evans 17 Jan 1788 8 Apr 1856 68
22 Jul 1853 William Pole Thornhill 1806 12 Feb 1876 69
14 Jul 1865 William Jackson, later [1869] 1st baronet 28 Apr 1805 31 Jan 1876 70
30 Nov 1868 Augustus Peter Arkwright 2 Mar 1821 6 Oct 1887 66
15 Apr 1880 Lord Edward Cavendish 28 Jan 1838 18 May 1891 53
John Frederick Cheetham 1835 25 Feb 1916 80
SPLIT INTO VARIOUS DIVISIONS 1885, SEE "CHESTERFIELD", "DERBYSHIRE MID", "DERBYSHIRE NORTH-EAST", "DERBYSHIRE SOUTH", "DERBYSHIRE WEST", "HIGH PEAK" AND "ILKESTON"
DERBYSHIRE NORTH-EAST
28 Nov 1885 Francis Egerton 15 Sep 1824 15 Dec 1895 71
17 Jul 1886 Thomas Dolling Bolton 1841 6 Dec 1906 65
29 Jan 1907 William Edwin Harvey 5 Sep 1852 28 Apr 1914 61
20 May 1914 George Robert Harland Bowden 1873 10 Oct 1927 54
14 Dec 1918 Joseph Stanley Holmes [kt 1945], later [1954] 1st Baron Dovercourt 31 Oct 1878 22 Apr 1961 82
15 Nov 1922 Frank Lee 1867 21 Dec 1941 74
27 Oct 1931 Jardine Bell Whyte 5 Mar 1880 8 Jul 1954 74
14 Nov 1935 Frank Lee 1867 21 Dec 1941 74
2 Mar 1942 Henry White 5 Aug 1890 4 Feb 1964 73
8 Oct 1959 Thomas Henry Swain 29 Oct 1911 2 Mar 1979 67
3 May 1979 Raymond Joseph Ellis 17 Dec 1923 20 Apr 1994 70
11 Jun 1987 Harold Barnes 22 Jul 1936
5 May 2005 Natascha Engel 9 Apr 1967
8 Jun 2017 Lee Benjamin Rowley 11 Sep 1980
DERBYSHIRE SOUTH
21 Dec 1832 George John Venables-Vernon, later [1835] 5th Baron Vernon 22 Jun 1803 31 May 1866 62
Henry Manners Cavendish, 3rd Baron Waterpark [I] 8 Nov 1793 31 Mar 1863 69
23 Jan 1835 Sir George Harpur Crewe, 8th baronet (to 1841) 1 Feb 1795 1 Jan 1844 48
Sir Roger Gresley, 8th baronet 27 Dec 1799 12 Oct 1837 37
29 Jul 1837 Francis Hurt 1780 22 Mar 1854 73
16 Jul 1841 Edward Miller Mundy 10 Nov 1800 29 Jan 1849 48
Charles Robert Colvile (to 1859) 30 Mar 1815 10 Mar 1886 70
23 Mar 1849 William Mundy 14 Sep 1801 10 Apr 1877 75
4 Apr 1857 Thomas William Evans, later [1887] 1st baronet (to 1868) 15 Apr 1821 4 Oct 1892 71
9 May 1859 William Mundy 14 Sep 1801 10 Apr 1877 75
19 Jul 1865 Charles Robert Colvile 30 Mar 1815 10 Mar 1886 70
21 Nov 1868 Rowland Smith (to 1874) 6 Dec 1826 24 Feb 1901 74
Sir Thomas Gresley, 10th baronet 17 Jan 1832 18 Dec 1868 36
16 Jan 1869 Sir Henry Sacheverell Wilmot VC, 5th baronet (to 1885)
For further information on this MP and VC winner, see the note at the foot of the page containing details of his baronetcy
3 Feb 1831 6 Apr 1901 70
16 Feb 1874 Thomas William Evans, later [1887] 1st baronet 15 Apr 1821 4 Oct 1892 71
REPRESENTATION REDUCED TO ONE MEMBER 1885
28 Nov 1885 Henry Wardle 1832 16 Feb 1892 59
4 Mar 1892 Harrington Evans Broad 1844 8 Dec 1927 83
17 Jul 1895 John Gretton, later [1944] 1st Baron Gretton
For further information on this MP, see the note at the foot of this page
1 Sep 1867 2 Jun 1947 79
20 Jan 1906 Herbert Henry Raphael, later [1911] 1st baronet 23 Dec 1859 24 Sep 1924 64
14 Dec 1918 Henry Holman Gregory [kt 1935] 30 Jun 1864 9 May 1947 82
15 Nov 1922 Henry Dubs Lorimer 1879 8 Feb 1933 53
29 Oct 1924 James Augustus Grant, later [1926] 1st baronet 8 Mar 1867 29 Jul 1932 65
30 May 1929 David Graham Pole 11 Dec 1877 26 Nov 1952 74
27 Oct 1931 Paul Vychan Emrys-Evans 1 Apr 1894 26 Oct 1967 73
26 Jul 1945 Arthur Joseph Champion, later [1962] Baron Champion [L] 26 Jul 1897 2 Mar 1985 87
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1950, BUT REVIVED 1983
9 Jun 1983 Edwina Currie 13 Oct 1946
1 May 1997 Mark Wainwright Todd 29 Dec 1954
6 May 2010 Heather Kay Wheeler 14 May 1959
DERBYSHIRE SOUTH EAST
23 Feb 1950 Arthur Joseph Champion, later [1962] Baron Champion [L] 26 Jul 1897 2 Mar 1985 87
8 Oct 1959 Frank Lawson John Jackson 12 Jun 1919 29 Mar 1976 56
15 Oct 1964 Joseph Trevor Park 12 Dec 1927 6 Apr 1995 67
18 Jun 1970 Peter Lewis Rost 19 Sep 1930
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1983
DERBYSHIRE WEST
9 Dec 1885 Lord Edward Cavendish 28 Jan 1838 18 May 1891 53
2 Jun 1891 Victor Christian William Cavendish, later [1908] 9th Duke of Devonshire 31 May 1868 6 May 1938 69
15 Apr 1908 Henry William Edmond Petty-Fitzmaurice, styled Earl of Kerry, later [1927] 6th Marquess of Lansdowne 14 Jan 1872 5 Mar 1936 64
14 Dec 1918 Charles Frederick White [he died after the nominations for the general election to be held on 6 Dec 1923 had closed nd the election in this seat was therefore postponed until 20 Dec 1923] 11 Mar 1863 4 Dec 1923 60
20 Dec 1923 Edward William Spencer Cavendish, styled Marquess of Hartington, later [1938] 10th Duke of Devonshire 6 May 1895 26 Nov 1950 55
2 Jun 1938 Henry Philip Hunloke 27 Dec 1906 13 Jan 1978 71
17 Feb 1944 Charles Frederick White 23 Jan 1891 27 Nov 1956 65
23 Feb 1950 Edward Birkbeck Wakefield, later [1962] 1st baronet 24 Jul 1903 14 Jan 1969 65
6 Jun 1962 Aidan Merivale Crawley 10 Apr 1908 3 Nov 1993 85
23 Nov 1967 James Sidney Rawdon Scott‑Hopkins 29 Nov 1921 11 Mar 1995 73
3 May 1979 Matthew Francis Parris 7 Aug 1949
8 May 1986 Patrick Allen McLoughlin [kt 2016], later [2020] Baron McLoughlin [L] 30 Nov 1957
NAME ALTERED TO "DERBYSHIRE DALES" 2010
DERITEND (BIRMINGHAM)
14 Dec 1918 John William Dennis 16 May 1865 4 Aug 1949 84
15 Nov 1922 John Smedley Crooke [kt 1938] 1861 13 Oct 1951 90
30 May 1929 Fred Longden 23 Feb 1894 5 Oct 1952 58
27 Oct 1931 John Smedley Crooke [kt 1938] 1861 13 Oct 1951 90
26 Jul 1945 Fred Longden 23 Feb 1894 5 Oct 1952 58
CONSTITUENCY ABOLISHED 1950
 

Ignatius Timothy Trebitsch Lincoln
MP for Darlington Jan‑Dec 1910
Even Hollywood would draw the line at filming the life of Trebitsch Lincoln, since it would be unlikely to be believed as being a true story.
Lincoln was born Ignacz Trebitsch at Paks, a small town on the Danube, south of Budapest in Hungary. His father was a prosperous Jewish merchant who owned a fleet of barges which plied along the Danube. As a youth, Lincoln appears to have been a conscientious student of religion, but in 1897, at the age of 18, he was accused of stealing a gold watch. He escaped to Hamburg, where he renounced his Jewish faith and adopted Christianity, joining a mission as a theological student and awarding himself some additional names.
The mission authorities shipped him off to Canada where, in 1901, he married Margarethe Kahlor. Finding working on a farm for the mission too great an effort, he undertook a theological diploma and was ordained as a minister of the Church of England by the Archbishop of Montreal in 1902. Shortly after he left Canada for Germany, and finally settled in Britain as the curate of Appledore in Kent in 1903.
After three years in this post, life in a Kentish village failed to challenge Lincoln's intellect and he resigned his ministry to become private secretary to Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, famous as the leading manufacturer of chocolate and cocoa products of the day. With the support of Rowntree and, having become a naturalised British subject, he talked himself into being adopted as the Liberal Party candidate for the supposedly safe Conservative seat of Darlington. He emerged as a passionate Free Trader and patriot and, dazzled by his persuasive appeals for Free Trade delivered in a thick Hungarian accent, the Darlington voters returned Lincoln to the House of Commons, by a mere 29 votes over his opponent, Herbert Pike Pease (later Baron Daryngton). His election was described by his biographer as 'one of the oddest aberrations of British political history,'
During his time as Rowntree's secretary, one of his duties was to assist Rowntree's sociological researches. As part of this role, Lincoln spent a lot of time in Europe, where he apparently became a German double-agent, while at the same time defrauding Rowntree. At length, the Austrians informed the British authorities of Lincoln's juvenile career as a petty thief. Under both financial and political pressure he did not stand in the general election of December 1910.
During the next four years, he promoted a string of oil companies, all of which failed. He now launched himself into a full career as a spy. In December 1914, he approached the War Office with the suggestion that the British send certain minor units to specified positions in the North Sea. Lincoln would then inform the Germans who would investigate, verify his information as correct, and bag one or two of the Royal Navy's unimportant ships. This was to happen three times, in order to secure German confidence in Lincoln's information. Finally the entire strength of the British fleet was be to turned out and Lincoln was to mislead the Germans into sending out the cream of their High Seas Fleet, which would be destroyed by the British, thus securing for them a dominant naval position.
In his memoirs, however, Lincoln reveals that his real aim was to reverse this situation by assisting the Germans to destroy a large section of the British Fleet. Unfortunately for Lincoln, he appears to lived in a 'Boy's Own Paper' world, and the Admiralty began to make discreet inquiries into his background. On 27 January 1915, Lincoln was ordered to report to the Director of Intelligence and told to bring his passport. Realising that he was suspected, Lincoln fled to New York.
There he foisted himself on his brother Harry while writing for The World newspaper an article titled Revelations of I.T.T. Lincoln, former Member of Parliament who became a German spy. Harry escaped his brother by enlisting in the US Army, but because of his relationship with Lincoln, he was secretly watched - eventually he was court-martialled for sodomy and sent to prison on Alcatraz. Lincoln seems to have had the knack of ruining every life he touched.
Stung into action by Lincoln's newspaper article, the British government issued a warrant seeking his extradition. He was arrested in August 1915, pending extradition, which was delayed until January 1916. On the 18th of that month, while being moved from his cell to the Federal Court Buildings in New York, he and his guard entered a café for a meal. The gullible guard agreed to Lincoln's suggestion that he be allowed to wash his hands before eating and within minutes Lincoln had disappeared into the crowded streets of New York.
Lincoln's inordinate vanity drove him to write to the New York press, mocking the British and his guards, and claiming that he was now going to Central Asia to arouse the Muslims into a jihad against the Allies. But before he could so, he was recaptured on 19 February 1916, after a month of freedom and this time was successfully extradited to London, where he was lodged in the Bow Street gaol on 5 June 1916.
Curiously, Lincoln was charged with forging the name of his benefactor, Seebohm Rowntree, to a loan document - no mention was made of his spying activities, about which he had already bragged to the entire world. Lincoln admitted the forgery charge, but maintained throughout his trial, probably with justification, that the authorities were eager to have him imprisoned to curtail his spying activities. The jury found him guilty without leaving the box and he was sentenced to three years' hard labour.
On his release in 1918, Lincoln went to Germany where he joined forces with Wolfgang Kapp who became the figurehead of the Kapp Putsch in March 1920 when the 'Friekorps' attempted to overthrow the Weimar Republic in Germany. The putsch failed after five days and Lincoln was forced to flee to Vienna and then Budapest. Eventually, in 1922, he left for China to become chief adviser to Wu-pei-fu, a retired Chinese army commander. While in China, Lincoln was converted to Buddhism.
On 23 December 1925 Lincoln's son Ignatius (who went by the name of John) had broken into a house and, when discovered, had shot dead a man who lived in the house. For this he was sentenced to death. Learning of the impending execution of his son for this crime, Lincoln pleaded to be allowed to visit his son. It was decided that he would be allowed to do so, provided he could reach an English port in time before the execution. It was made clear that the execution would not be delayed and that if Lincoln arrived too late, he would not be allowed to enter England. This proved to be the case, Lincoln having reached only as far as Holland when his son was executed.
Returning to China, Lincoln changed his name to Abbot Chao Kung. He established his own monastery in Shanghai. When the Japanese invaded China, he changed his loyalties yet again, producing anti-British propaganda for the Japanese. At the outbreak of WW2, he contacted the Germans, offering to raise Buddhist influence against the British in the East.
Lincoln's death, in a Shanghai hospital in October 1943, was announced as being due to a intestinal complaint, although it has also been suggested that he was poisoned.
For further reading, I recommend The Secret Lives of Trebitsch Lincoln by Bernard Wasserstein (Yale University Press, 1988).
Samuel Plimsoll
MP for Derby 1868‑1880
Plimsoll was responsible for a great improvement in maritime safety following his long fight against overloaded and unsafe ships. The story of his fight appeared in the Australian monthly magazine Parade in its issue for March 1965:-
On a winter day in 1872 a small British steamer loaded with iron rails for South America left the port of Cardiff and butted out into the Atlantic. She was never seen again. One more casualty was recorded at Lloyd's and her owners pocketed a substantial sum in insurance. There was nothing unusual about the fate of this steamship, the Wimbledon. In that year more than 2,500 British sailors vanished into the hungry maw of the sea.
When she sailed, the Wimbledon was loaded down to within two feet of her gunwales. Her original crew had been gaoled for 10 weeks for refusing to sail in her. Nor was there anything unusual about these facts either. At the end of 1872 at least 1,000 sailors were in prison for refusing to go to sea in rotten, undermanned, overloaded and over-insured coffin ships which disgraced the British merchant marine. But there was one man who had declared war on unscrupulous shipowners, the "murderous, bloodsucking, speculative scoundrels" who condemned thousands of mariners to almost certain death every year.
His name was Samuel Plimsoll. Only a few months before the Wimbledon went down he had published a book, Our Seamen, that sent a thrill of horror and amazement through Britain. Hitherto Plimsoll had battled almost single-handed to win justice for the sailors. He was denounced as a crank, a crazy visionary and a traitor who would ruin the country's vast shipping industry. Prime Minister Disraeli called him "half rogue, half enthusiast." The Times contemptuously dismissed his "unrivalled capacity for becoming fervidly indignant on hearsay evidence".
But Our Seamen could not be ignored. Callousness, greed and stupidity were laid bare on every page. With mass support behind him Plimsoll at last succeeded in forcing through Parliament legislation to protect seamen from the worst abuses of the coffin ships. Today every ocean-going ship in the world bears on its hull a painted circle with a line drawn through it to mark the depth to which the ship may be loaded. Officially it is called the Load Line. But to seamen of every nationality it is simply the Plimsoll Line. It remains as mute testimony to the greatest victory of the Sailors' Friend.
Samuel Plimsoll was born in the seaport of Bristol in 1824. He never went to sea and his biographers disagree about what eventually inspired him to take up the sailors' cause. He was a solicitor's clerk, them manager of a brewery in Yorkshire, and in 1854 set up as a coal merchant in London. The venture failed and for some time he was destitute. He lived in the cheapest lodging houses and there met many seamen eking out a miserable existence while they searched for berths. He shared their tobacco and bread and cheese and listened to their stories. He did not forget them in the years that followed while he re-established himself as a successful businessman.
By 1868 Plimsoll was a wealthy coal-merchant with a house in Parl Lane and a seat in Parliament as Liberal member for Derby. Gladstone had just become Prime Minister and a long-promised era of reforms was beginning. Two years later Plimsoll rose from his back bench to fire the first shot in the campaign for the seamen. He had a grim tale to tell and he told it with emotional fervour. Every week ships were sailing from British ports to certain destruction. Many were so old and rotten that they foundered in the first storm. They carried insufficient life-boats and the crews lived in conditions of foul squalor.
Even worse was the suicidal overloading. Ships were sent into the Atlantic in mid-winter, with barely two feet of freeboard. Decks were heaped with extra cargo and sacks of coal for the engines. Greedy shipowners could patch and repair vessels until they almost fell to pieces. They could work ancient engines until the boilers exploded. They could tear out bulkheads to make room for a grain cargo that would burst the hull like paper if it swelled. If a coffin ship went down, its proprietor considered himself a lucky man. Though rates were high he had made sure that both ship and cargo were heavily over-insured.
Plimsoll demanded legislation to enforce regular Board of Trade surveys of every ship and restrictions on loading. The more reputable shipowners agreed that something should be done, and in 1871 Gladstone introduced a new Merchant Shipping Bill. Plimsoll thought it a half-hearted measure. He was infuriated to find that the shipowners' friends in Parliament intended to fight it tooth and nail.
In 1871 Britain owned more than half of the world's ocean-going tonnage. She was far ahead in the great changeover from sail to steam and her revenue from shipping was enormous. A torrent of abuse poured down on Plimsoll's head. He was denounced as a meddlesome fanatic who would drive British ships from the seas, bankrupt their owners and throw thousands of sailors out of work. The mercantile marine would no longer be the nursery of the Royal Navy. Britannia would cease to rule the waves. Foreigners would insult the Union Jack with impunity and the Empire would be lost.
Plimsoll's enemies were divided in their opinions about the sailors themselves. Some believed they would scorn Plimsoll's grandmotherly concern for their comfort and safety. One speaker branded the sailors as "drunken, ignorant rascals" who caused most of the shipping disasters by their own stupidity while the unfortunate owners bore the blame.
Eventually Gladstone's Bill was shelved. Frustrated in Parliament, Plimsoll turned with fierce determination to shock the public into action. He collected evidence. He went round the ports of Britain talking to seamen and captains, inspecting ships, interviewing the survivors of wrecks, endlessly asking questions and filling notebooks with facts and figures. Sometimes he was marched down the gangplank and threatened with arrest for trespass. Occasionally he was hooted and jeered, but the grim dossier grew.
He found ships whose thin rusted plates were held together only by iron trusses within the hull. He found sailing ships with timbers so spongy that the crew dared not drive a nail into them. He discovered one Liverpool shipowner who had lost 18 ships, some with all hands, in the previous 10 years. Another coffin ship proprietor shamelessly declared he had made a profit of £80,000 in insurances on his wrecked vessels. Conditions in the crews' quarters provided a further indictment. Often Plimsoll recoiled in sickened horror as he inspected the reeking forecastles where the men lived like beasts in filth and airless gloom.
He produced his book, Our Seamen, in a white heat of rage. "Oh my God, my God! What can I say to make people set right these terrible wrongs?" he wrote. "Why must thousands of brave men be sent to death each year, their wives made widows and their children left fatherless, so that greedy scoundrels fearing neither God nor man may reap their unholy gains?" His book, with its mixture of cold statistics and heart-rending personal stories, struck the British public's conscience. Almost overnight he became the most notorious man in the country. He addressed huge public meetings in London with the famous reformer, Lord Shaftesbury. Cheering crowds followed him through the streets of the ports. Mining, engineering and other trade unions levied their members to raise a fund of £5,000 for the seamen's cause.
But the battle was far from won. In 1873 a Royal Commission rejected Plimsoll's demand for a compulsory load line although it urged the Board of Trade to police more rigidly the existing safety and loading regulations. Plimsoll knew the regulations were farcical. Before long his furious protests had involved him in 12 libel actions, most of which were dropped because the shipowners hesitated to have their affairs dragged through the courts.
In 1874 Disraeli replaced Gladstone as Prime Minister and Plimsoll at once introduced a new Bill, backed by the signatures of 93 members, to make a clean sweep of the old Merchant Shipping Act. He was persuaded to withdraw it in favour of a government bill which Disraeli promised to introduce in the following year. Once more, however, powerful influences went to work behind the scenes. On July 22, 1875, Disraeli announced "with unfeigned regret" that pressure of business had forced him to shelve the bill. Livid with wrath, Plimsoll leapt to his feet, pointed a finger at some fellow members and shouted: "I will unmask those villains representing the murderous shipowners who send sailors to their deaths!" Amid the resulting uproar he stamped to the bar, shook his fist in the Speaker's face and then stalked from the chamber.
The Times called Plimsoll's behaviour "Scandalous". But the public was on his side and the storm of indignation soon forced the Government's hand. Within a few months legislation covering Plimsoll's main demands was forced through Parliament. The "Seamen's Charter" had been won at last and the Plimsoll Line marked the victory of its heroic and uncrushable champion.
To the day of his death in 1898 Samuel Plimsoll went on finding targets in his campaign to clean up the merchant marine. Perhaps the most remarkable tribute to his work was paid by the shipping company that named its finest new vessel the Samuel Plimsoll and even gave it a bearded and top-hatted figurehead representing the Sailor's Friend.
James Henry Thomas
MP for Derby 1910‑1936
Thomas was the son of a labourer in Newport, Monmouthshire. At the age of nine, he went to work as an errand-boy for 4 shillings a week. He was later apprenticed to the Great Western Railway, where he worked in the 'company town' of Swindon.
By 1910, Thomas had reached the upper levels of the railway workers' trade union and was elected as MP for Derby. He refused a place in Lloyd George's WWI coalition government, on the basis that, as a committed socialist, he could not work with the Liberals or Tories.
In Ramsay Macdonald's short-lived Labour government of 1924, he was Colonial Secretary. When Macdonald returned to power in 1929, he was made Lord Privy Seal, with special responsibility for employment. Between 1930 and 1935, he was Dominions Secretary. When the Labour government fell in 1931, to be replaced by a Nationalist government, Thomas followed his leader Macdonald into an all-party coalition. This action brought vilification from his old Labour comrades, who accused him of selling-out his principles.
In 1935, he again became Colonial Secretary, this time in the government of Stanley Baldwin. He was still very popular with most of the British public, who knew him as a kindly and friendly man, a friend of King George V, fond of a flutter on the horses and who laced with speeches with homely working class humour. Even his enemies would never have accused him of corruption.
On the afternoon of 21 April 1936, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Neville Chamberlain, brought down the Budget in the House of Commons. This Budget included a rise of 3d in the rate of income tax and also increased duties on tea.
Two days later, scandal erupted. Conservative MP Sir Assheton Pownall (Lewisham East 1918-1945) asked in the Commons whether there had been a leakage of Budget secrets before the Chancellor's speech. He producing damning evidence that some individuals had made large profits from such information. His question was prompted by a mass of rumour that had been buzzing around the City, especially in the insurance market of Lloyd's of London. It was customary for businesses to insure against a rise in the tax rates, but the speculation before the 1936 Budget had been extraordinary. Soon it also transpired that some individuals had been successfully gambling on a rise in tea duties as well.
On 4 May 1936 it was announced that a legal tribunal had been established to conduct a full public enquiry. The tribunal, consisting of Mr Justice Porter and two eminent K.C.s, began its sittings on 11 May. For eight days the tribunal heard evidence that rocked the country and blasted forever the political career of Jimmy Thomas.
Lloyd's brokers told of the astonishing last-minute rush for insurance just before the Budget was announced. The Secretary to the Cabinet, Sir Maurice (later Lord) Hankey told the hearings that the leakage could only have come from someone in the cabinet. Attention was focused on two men who appeared to have been very fortunate in predicting the contents of the Budget. Both of these men were close friends of Jimmy Thomas.
The first of these was Mr Alfred Bates, owner of two sporting newspapers devoted to racing and the football pools. Bates strongly denied receiving the slightest information from Thomas. He admitted that he had sold large parcels of gilt-edged securities before the Budget and that he had insured against a tax increase. Other evidence showed that he had bought Thomas a £15,000 house on the Sussex coast, but Bates said that this was an advance against the literary rights of Thomas' autobiography.
The other friend was Sir Alfred Butt, Bt and MP for Balham and Tooting 1922‑1936. He, too, denied receiving any information about the Budget. He had called on Thomas on the morning of the Budget day, but only to chat about prospects for the Derby. Later that day he had insured himself against tax increases, but only because his son, a member of a broking firm, had told him of the unusual activity at Lloyd's.
Thomas himself entered the witness box on May 14 and denied that he had leaked any Budget information. Nevertheless, on 22 May 1936, Thomas resigned from the Cabinet. The tribunal's report, published on 2 June, found that there had been unauthorised disclosure of Budget information made by Thomas to Bates and Butt. On 10 June 1936, Thomas told a solemn House of Commons that, although he had never consciously betrayed a Cabinet secret, he intended to resign his seat. A few minutes later, Sir Alfred Butt announced the same intention. Thomas continued to deny the accusation until the day of his death in 1949.
John Gretton
MP for Derbyshire South 1895‑1906, Rutland 1907‑1918 and Burton 1918‑1943
Gretton holds the distinction of being the only sitting MP to have won an Olympic Gold Medal, a feat he achieved at the 1900 Paris Olympics, when he won two gold medals in sailing, being part of the crew of the Scotia which won both the half to one ton race and the open class race. Sebastian Coe won his gold medals before entering Parliament.