South Lancashire (UK Parliament constituency)

South Lancashire
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Lancashire
1832–1868
Number of members	Two until 1861, then three
Replaced by	South East Lancashire, and South West Lancashire
Created from	Lancashire

South Lancashire, formally called the Southern Division of Lancashire or Lancashire Southern, is a former county constituency in England. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the British House of Commons from 1832 to 1861, and then three until the constituency was divided in 1868.

The constituency was created by the Great Reform Act of 1832 by the splitting of Lancashire constituency into Northern and Southern divisions. It was abolished by the Second Reform Act of 1867.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the hundreds of Salford and West Derby in the southern part of Lancashire.

Salford went to form the new South East Lancashire constituency, and West Derby the new South West Lancashire constituency.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1861

• Constituency created (1832)

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1832		George William Wood	Liberal		Viscount Molyneux	Liberal
1835		Lord Francis Egerton	Conservative		Richard Bootle Wilbraham	Conservative
1844 by-election					William Entwistle	Conservative
1846 by-election		William Brown	Liberal
1847					Hon. Charles Pelham Villiers	Liberal
1847 by-election					Alexander Henry	Liberal
1852					John Cheetham	Liberal
1859		Hon. Algernon Egerton	Conservative		William Legh	Conservative
1861 by-election	representation increased to three members

MPs 1861–1868

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party	3rd Member		3rd Party
1861 by-election		Hon. Algernon Egerton	Conservative		William Legh	Conservative		Charles Turner	Conservative
1865					William Ewart Gladstone	Liberal
1868	Reform Act 1867: constituency abolished

Elections

General Election 1832: South Lancashire (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George William Wood	5,694
	Liberal	Viscount Molyneux	5,575
	Conservative	Sir T Hesketh, Bt	3,082
Majority			2,493
Majority			1,757
Registered electors			10,039

General Election 1835: South Lancashire (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lord Francis Egerton	5,620
	Conservative	Richard Bootle Wilbraham	4,729
	Liberal	Viscount Molyneux	4,629
	Liberal	George William Wood	4,394
Majority			991
Majority			100
Registered electors			11,519
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1837: South Lancashire (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lord Francis Egerton	7,822
	Conservative	Richard Bootle Wilbraham	7,645
	Liberal	E Stanley	6,576
	Liberal	C Towneley	6,047
Majority			1,246
Majority			1,069
Registered electors			17,754
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1841: South Lancashire (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lord Francis Egerton
	Conservative	Richard Bootle Wilbraham
Registered electors			18,178
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

South Lancashire by-Election 1844

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Entwistle	7,571
	Liberal	William Brown	6,973
Majority			598
Registered electors			18,521
	Conservative hold		Swing

South Lancashire by-Election 1846

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Brown
Registered electors
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1847: South Lancashire (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Brown
	Liberal	Hon. Charles Pelham Villiers
Registered electors			23,630
	Liberal hold		Swing
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

South Lancashire by-Election 1847

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Henry
Registered electors
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1852: South Lancashire (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Brown
	Liberal	John Cheetham
Registered electors			21,196
	Liberal hold		Swing
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1857: South Lancashire (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Brown
	Liberal	John Cheetham
Registered electors			20,460
	Liberal hold		Swing
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1859: South Lancashire (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Algernon Egerton	7,470
	Conservative	William Legh	6,983
	Liberal	John Cheetham	6,835
	Liberal	J P Heywood	6,763
Majority			635
Majority			148
Registered electors			19,433
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

• Third seat created.

South Lancashire by-Election 1861

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Turner	9,714
	Liberal	John Cheetham	8,898
Majority			716
Registered electors			19,433

General Election 1865: South Lancashire (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Algernon Egerton	9,171
	Conservative	Charles Turner	8,806
	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone	8,786
	Conservative	William Legh	8,476
	Liberal	Henry Yates Thompson	7,703
	Liberal	J P Heywood	7,653
Majority			1,468
Majority			1,103
Majority			310
Registered electors			21,555
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

Sources

• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832 - 1885
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)