Belfast was an Irish borough constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Comprising the city of Belfast, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) from 1801 to 1832, and then two MPs from 1832 until the constituency was divided by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 before the 1885 general election.

Representation Prior to 1801, the parliamentary borough of was a two-seat constituency in the Irish House of Commons. Under the Acts of Union 1800, the Kingdom of Ireland was joined with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Belfast was represented from 1801 in the United Kingdom House of Commons by one MP. Its MP in 1801 to the First Parliament of the United Kingdom was chosen by lot.

Under the Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1832, its representation was increased to two seats. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the representation of the parliamentary borough was increased to four seats, and it was divided into four separate divisions.

Boundaries and boundary changes This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Belfast in County Antrim. A report into the boundaries was undertaken in December 1831. The report found that limits of the borough were not defined, but as the limits were not connected with the elective franchise, it drew a line as closely as possible around the town. In 1832 and 1868 the boundaries of that borough were extended.

1832 boundaries The boundaries were defined by the Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 as:

1868 boundaries The Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1868, provided that all that part of the borough situate beyond the limits of the parliamentary borough as defined in 1832, but within the municipal limits, should form part of the borough for all purposes connected with the election of a member or members to serve in parliament for the borough. The Belfast Borough Extension Act 1853 had defined the boundaries of the borough as follows: The boundary is shown as 'Municipal Boundary' on the second edition of the Ordnance Survey maps of Ireland.

1885 division Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the parliamentary borough of Belfast was further expanded and defined as:

It was divided into four single-member divisions: Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West.

Electoral system and electorate The parliamentary representatives of the borough were elected using the bloc vote for two-member elections and first past the post for single-member ones.

Until 1832 the electorate were the members of Belfast Corporation. This had long been resented by reformers as it made the constituency a pocket borough of the Marquess of Donegall.

In 1784 a petition was sent to the Parliament of Ireland.

In 1832 the electorate was considerably extended by the Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1832. Boroughs in Ireland were given a uniform franchise for the first time. The vote was given to occupiers of land valued at least £10 and resident freemen by birth or servitude (descent from or apprenticeship to an existing freeman of the borough) or who were admitted before March 1831.

Members of Parliament Election 1st member 1st party 2nd member 2nd party 1801 Sir (James) Edward May, Bt Tory 1802 1806 1807 1812 1814 by-election Stephen Edward May Tory 1816 by-election John Michel Tory 1818 Arthur Chichester Tory 1820 Earl of Belfast Tory 1826 1830 Sir Arthur Chichester, Bt Whig 1831 1832 Lord Arthur Chichester Tory James Emerson Tennent Whig 1834 Conservative 1835 John McCance Whig Conservative 1835 by-election George Dunbar Conservative 1837 James Gibson Whig George Chichester Whig 1838 by-election George Dunbar Conservative James Emerson Tennent Conservative 1841 William Gillilan Johnson Conservative 1842 by-election David Robert Ross Whig 1845 by-election Lord John Chichester Conservative 1847 Robert James Tennent Whig Peelite 1852 Richard Davison Conservative Sir Hugh Cairns Conservative 1859 1860 by-election Samuel Gibson Getty Conservative 1865 1866 by-election Sir Charles Lanyon Conservative 1868 Thomas McClure Liberal William Johnston Conservative 1874 James Corry Conservative 1878 by-election William Ewart Conservative 1880 1885 constituency divided: see North, East, South and West divisions

Notes (1) Lord Arthur Chichester and James Emerson Tennent changed party allegiance in 1834 (from Liberal to Conservative). (2) Lord John Ludford Chichester changed party allegiance by 1847 (part of Peelite faction).

Elections After 1832, when registration of voters was introduced, a turnout figure is given for contested elections. In two-member elections (when the exact number of voters is unknown) this is calculated by dividing the number of votes by two. To the extent that voters did not use both their votes this will be an underestimate of turnout. If the electorate figure is unknown the last known electorate figure is used to provide an estimate of turnout.

Where a party had more than one candidate in one or both of a pair of successive elections change is calculated for each individual candidate, otherwise change is based on the party vote.

Elections in the 1800s

Elections in the 1810s

Death of May

Appointment of May as Collector of Customs in Belfast Port

Elections in the 1820s

Elections in the 1830s

J. Emerson Tennent ceased to support Lord Grey in 1834 (see Emerson Tennent's article in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).

Note: Stooks Smith suggests there were 1,451 registered electors. Walker gives the electorate figure as above.

Death of McCance

Note: Stooks Smith suggests there were 1,508 registered electors. Walker gives the electorate figure as above. Stooks Smith also indicates that 'Mr Tennent resigned in consequence of a decision of the Assessors'.

Stooks Smith suggests there were 1,926 registered electors. Walker gives the electorate figure as above.

8 March 1838: On petition Gibson and the Earl of Belfast were unseated and Emerson Tennent and Dunbar declared elected

Elections in the 1840s

Note: 1,740 electors voted. Stooks Smith suggests there were 1,937 registered electors. Walker gives the electorate figure as above.

On petition Emerson Tennent and Johnson unseated and new writ issued

Note: Stooks Smith comments that 'a compromise was entered into by which one of each party was to be returned'.

Resignation of Emerson Tennent

Elections in the 1850s

Appointment of Cairns as Solicitor-General

Elections in the 1860s Resignation of Davison

Appointment of Cairns as Attorney-General

Appointment of Cairns as Lord Justice of Appeal in Chancery (of England and Wales)

Elections in the 1870s

Appointment of Johnston as Inspector of Fisheries

Elections in the 1880s

Constituency divided in the 1885 redistribution

See also List of Irish constituencies List of UK Parliament Constituencies in Ireland and Northern Ireland

References

The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F. W. S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922, edited by B. M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)

External links Peter Robinson, the former MP for the constituency of Belfast East, provided details on his web-site of the Parliamentary boundaries and electoral history of Belfast since the Union and provided brief biographies of Belfast MPs. The report of the Boundary Commission (Ireland) (Cd 8830, 1917), which is referred to on that website, is available online here.