'Oxford University' was a
university constituency electing two members to the
British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950.
Boundaries, Electorate and Electoral System
This university constituency was created by a Royal Charter of 1603. It was abolished in 1950 by the
Representation of the People Act 1948.
The constituency was not a physical area. Its electorate consisted of the graduates of the
University of Oxford. Before 1918 the franchise was restricted to male graduates with a Doctorate or
MA degree. Namier and Brooke estimated the number of electors as about 500 in the 1754-1790 period.
The constituency returned two
Members of Parliament. From 1918, the MPs were elected by the
Single Transferable Vote method of
Proportional Representation.
History
The university strongly supported the old Tory cause in the eighteenth century. The original party system endured long after it had become meaningless in almost every other constituency.
After the Hanoverian succession to the British throne the Whigs became dominant in the politics of
Cambridge University, the other university represented in Parliament, by using a royal prerogative power to confer Doctorates. That power did not exist at Oxford, so the major part of the university electorate remained Tory (and in the first half of the eighteenth century sometimes Jacobite) in sympathy.
The university also valued its independence from government. In a rare contested general election in 1768 the two candidates with administration ties were defeated.
In the nineteenth century the university continued to support the right, almost always returning Tory, Conservative or Liberal Unionist candidates. The only exception was
William Ewart Gladstone, formerly "the rising hope of the stern unbending Tories". He first represented the university as a Peelite, supporting a former member for the constituency - the sometime Conservative Prime Minister
Sir Robert Peel. Gladstone retained his seat as a Liberal, for a time after 1859. Following Gladstone's defeat, in 1865, subsequent Liberal candidates were rare and they were never successful in winning a seat.
Even after the introduction of proportional representation, in 1918, both members continued to be Conservatives until 1935. Independent members were elected in the last phase of university elections to Parliament, before the constituency was abolished in 1950.
Members of Parliament
The politician Rayment names as Sir William Whitelocke is named by Sedgwick as Sir William Whitlock.
The roman numerals in brackets after the names of the two members called William Bromley (who were father and son) are included to distinguish them. It is not a method which would have been used by the men themselves.
★ ''Constituency created (
1603)''
Parliament of England 1604-1707
As there were sometimes significant gaps between Parliaments held in this period, the dates of first assembly and dissolution are given. Where the name of the member has not yet been ascertained, the entry ''unknown'' is entered in the table.
Notes:-
★
a Date of
Pride's Purge, which converted the
Long Parliament into the
Rump Parliament.
★
b Date when Oliver Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament by force.
★
c Date when the members of the nominated or
Barebones Parliament were selected. The university was not represented in this body.
★
d Date when the members of the
First Protectorate Parliament were elected. The university was represented by one member in this body.
★
e Date when the members of the
Second Protectorate Parliament were elected. The university was represented by one member in this body.
★
f The Rump Parliament was recalled and subsequently Pride's Purge was reversed, allowing the full Long Parliament to meet until it agreed to dissolve itself.
★
g Clarges died on
4 October 1695, so the seat was vacant at the dissolution of
11 October 1695.
★
h The MPs of the last
Parliament of England and 45 members co-opted from the former
Parliament of Scotland, became the House of Commons of the 1st Parliament of Great Britain which assembled on
23 October 1707 (see below for the members in that Parliament).
Parliaments of Great Britain 1707-1800 and of the United Kingdom 1801-1950
★ ''Constituency abolished (
1950)''
Notes:-
★
1 Bromley had represented the university since a by-election in March 1701. He was
Speaker of the House of Commons 1710-1713.
★
2 Abbot was Speaker of the House of Commons 1802-1817.
★
3 Estcourt and Inglis are regarded as Conservative MPs from 1835, as this was the approximate date when the Tory Party became known as the Conservative Party.
★
4 Gladstone accepted office in a Liberal ministry in 1859, thus vacating the seat he had held (as a Peelite MP - more formally a Liberal Conservative). He was re-elected as a Liberal candidate.
★
5 Anson became a Conservative MP when the Liberal Unionists formally merged with the Conservatives in 1912.
★
6 Cecil joined the non-Coalition wing of his party at some point during the 1918-1922 Parliament.
Elections
Elections in the 1710s
★ ''Note (1715): Bromley had been
Speaker of the House of Commons 1710-1713.''
★ ''Death of Whitlock''
Elections in the 1720s
★ ''Note (1722): Stooks Smith records the votes as Bromley 278, Clarke 213 and King 142.''
Elections in the 1730s
★ ''Death of Bromley''
★ ''Death of Clarke''
★ ''Death of Bromley''
Elections in the 1740s
★ ''Death of Butler''
Elections in the 1750s
★ ''Summons to the House of Lords of Cornbury, by
writ in acceleration for his father's subsidiary title of
Lord Hyde''
★ ''Note (1751): Stooks Smith records Turner's vote as 47.''
Elections in the 1760s
★ ''Death of Palmer''
★ ''Death of Bagot''
Elections in the 1770s
Elections in the 1780s
Elections in the 1790s
Elections in the 1800s
★ ''Resignation of Page''
Elections in the 1810s
★ ''Creation of Abbot as the 1st
Lord Colchester''
Elections in the 1820s
★ ''Creation of Scott as the 1st
Lord Stowell''
★ ''Seat vacated on the appointment of Peel as
Secretary of State for the Home Department''
★ ''Resignation of Heber''
★ ''Seat vacated on the appointment of Peel as
Secretary of State for the Home Department''
★ ''Resignation of Peel''
★ ''Note (1829): Stooks Smith records that the polls were open for three days.''
Elections in the 1830s
Elections in the 1840s
★ ''Note (1847): Poll 5 days. (Source for this note and the number of voters: Stooks Smith)''
Elections in the 1850s
★ ''Note (1852): Minimum possible turnout estimated by dividing votes by 2. To the extent that electors did not use both their votes, the figure will be an underestimate.''
★ ''Seat vacated on the appointment of Gladstone as
Chancellor of the Exchequer''
★ ''Resignation of Inglis''
★ ''Seat vacated on the appointment of Gladstone as
Lord High Commissioner to the Ionian Islands''
★ ''Seat vacated on the appointment of Gladstone as
Chancellor of the Exchequer''
Elections in the 1860s
★ ''Note (1865): Turnout estimated in the same way as for the 1852 election.''
★ ''Seat vacated on the appointment of Hardy as
President of the Poor Law Board''
★ ''Seat vacated on the appointment of Hardy as
Secretary of State for the Home Department''
Elections in the 1870s
★ ''Seat vacated on the appointment of Hardy as
Secretary of State for War''
★ ''Creation of Hardy as the 1st
Viscount Cranbrook''
Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
★ ''Death of Mowbray''
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
★ ''Anson became a Conservative MP in 1912 when the Liberal Unionist Party formally merged with the Conservative Party.''
★ ''Death of Anson''
★ ''Electorate expanded and elections using the
bloc vote replaced by those using the
single transferable vote, by the
Representation of the People Act 1918, from the
United Kingdom general election, 1918.''
★ ''Distribution of Cecil's surplus''
★ ''Creation of Prothero as 1st
Lord Ernle''
Elections in the 1920s
★ ''Distribution of Cecil's surplus''
★ ''Distribution of Cecil's surplus''
★ ''Distribution of Cecil's surplus''
★ ''Distribution of Cecil's surplus''
Elections in the 1930s
★ ''Distribution of Cecil's surplus''
★ ''Distribution of Stocks' votes''
★ ''Resignation of Cecil''
Elections in the 1940s
★ ''Constituency abolished (
1950)''
References
★ ''Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
★ ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
★ ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
★ ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press, revised edition 1977)
★ ''The House of Commons 1715-1754'', by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970)
★ ''The House of Commons 1754-1790'', by Sir
Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
★ ''The Parliaments of England'' by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844-50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973))
★ ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885'', edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
★ ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918'', edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
★ ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945'', edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
★ ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945-1979'', edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981)
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