Woodbridge was a county constituency centred on the town of Woodbridge in Suffolk. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
History The South-Eastern or Woodbridge Division was one of five single-member county divisions of the Parliamentary County of Suffolk created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 to replace the existing two 2-member divisions for the 1885 general election. It was formed from parts of the Eastern Division of Suffolk. It was abolished under the Representation of the People Act 1948 for the 1950 general election when it was largely replaced by the new Sudbury and Woodbridge constituency.
Boundaries and boundary changes
1885–1918 The Municipal Borough of Woodbridge; The Sessional Divisions of Bosmere and Claydon, Samford, and Woodbridge; and The Corporate Town of Aldeburgh.
1918–1950 The Municipal Borough of Aldeburgh; The Urban Districts of Felixstowe and Woodbridge: The Rural Districts of Bosmere and Claydon, Samford, and Woodbridge; and Part of the Rural District of Plomesgate.
Lost areas which had been annexed by the County Borough of Ipswich to the Parliamentary Borough thereof.
On abolition, southern parts, which comprised the majority of the seat, including Felixstowe and Woodbridge, formed part of the new county constituency of Sudbury and Woodbridge. Northern parts, including Aldeburgh, were transferred to Eye.
Members of Parliament
ElectionMemberParty 1885 Robert Lacey Everett Liberal 1886 Robert Hamilton Lloyd-Anstruther Conservative 1892 Robert Lacey Everett Liberal 1895 E. G. Pretyman Conservative 1906 Robert Lacey Everett Liberal Jan. 1910 Robert Francis Peel Conservative 1920 Sir Arthur Churchman, Bt Conservative 1929 Clavering Fison Conservative 1931 Walter Ross-Taylor Conservative 1945 Hon. John Hare Conservative1950 constituency abolished: see Sudbury and Woodbridge
Elections
Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
General Election 1914–15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; Unionist: Robert Peel Liberal: William Elliston
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
General Election 1939–40:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected; Conservative: John Hare Liberal: Douglas B LawThe Liberal Magazine, 1939 Labour: J M StewartReport of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
Elections in the 1940s
Sources