County Westmeath
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyCounty Westmeath
1801–1885
Seats2
Created fromCounty Westmeath (IHC)
Replaced byNorth Westmeath and South Westmeath
1918–1922
Seats1
Created fromNorth Westmeath and South Westmeath
Replaced byLongford–Westmeath (Dáil Éireann)

County Westmeath is a former UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning two Members of Parliament from 1801 to 1885 and one from 1918 to 1922.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised County Westmeath, except for the parliamentary borough of Athlone 1801–1885.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1801–1885

Year 1st Member 1st Party 2nd Member 2nd Party
1801, 1 January William Smyth[1] Gustavus Hume Rochfort[2] Tory[3]
1808, 27 February Hon. Hercules Robert Pakenham Tory
1812, 24 October Tory
1824, 3 March Robert Smyth Tory[3]
1826, 22 June Gustavus Rochfort Tory[3] Hugh Morgan Tuite Whig[3][4]
1830, 12 August Sir Montagu Chapman, Bt Whig[3][5]
1832, 20 December Sir Richard Nagle, Bt[6] Repeal Association[7]
1841, 12 July Hugh Morgan Tuite Whig[3][4] Benjamin Chapman Whig[3]
1847, 10 August William Henry Magan Repeal Association[7] Sir Percy Nugent, Bt Whig[8][9][10]
1852, 22 July Ind. Irish[7] William Pollard-Urquhart Ind. Irish[7]
1857, 3 April Whig[10][11] Sir Richard Levinge, Bt. Ind. Irish[7]
1859, 10 May William Pollard-Urquhart Liberal[7] Liberal[7]
1865, 20 July Hon. Algernon Greville-Nugent (later Baron Greville) Liberal[7]
1871, 17 July Patrick James Smyth Home Rule[7]
1874, 13 February Lord Robert Montagu Home Rule[7]
1880, 13 April Timothy Daniel Sullivan Parnellite Home Rule League[7] Henry Joseph Gill Parnellite Home Rule League[7]
Oct 1882 Irish Parliamentary[7] Irish Parliamentary[7]
1883, 27 February Timothy Harrington Irish Parliamentary[7]
1885 Constituency abolished: see North Westmeath and South Westmeath

MPs 1918–1922

Election Member Party
1918 Laurence Ginnell Sinn Féin
1922 constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Westmeath (2 seats)[7][3][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Tory Gustavus Rochfort 353 36.3
Whig Montagu Chapman 336 34.5
Whig Hugh Morgan Tuite 198 20.3
Whig Gerald Dease 86 8.8
Turnout c. 487 c. 75.9
Registered electors 641
Majority 17 1.8
Tory hold Swing
Majority 138 14.2
Whig hold Swing
General election 1831: Westmeath (2 seats)[7][3][12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Tory Gustavus Rochfort Unopposed
Whig Montagu Chapman Unopposed
Registered electors 641
Tory hold
Whig hold
General election 1832: Westmeath (2 seats)[7][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Sir Montagu Chapman, 3rd Baronet 385 33.1
Irish Repeal Sir Richard Nagle, 2nd Baronet 381 32.8
Tory Gustavus Rochfort 238 20.5
Tory Gustavus Lambert 159 13.7
Turnout c. 582 c. 41.7
Registered electors 1,395
Majority 4 0.3
Whig hold
Majority 143 12.3
Irish Repeal gain from Tory
General election 1835: Westmeath (2 seats)[7][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Montagu Chapman Unopposed
Irish Repeal (Whig) Sir Richard Nagle, 2nd Baronet Unopposed
Registered electors 1,525
Whig hold
Irish Repeal hold
General election 1837: Westmeath (2 seats)[7][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Montagu Chapman 804 33.7
Irish Repeal (Whig) Sir Richard Nagle, 2nd Baronet 798 33.5
Conservative Richard Handcock 393 16.5
Conservative Richard Levinge 388 16.3
Turnout c. 1,192 c. 71.9
Registered electors 1,658
Majority 6 0.2
Whig hold
Majority 405 17.0
Irish Repeal hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig Hugh Morgan Tuite Unopposed
Whig Benjamin Chapman Unopposed
Registered electors 1,125
Whig hold
Whig gain from Irish Repeal
General election 1847: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Repeal William Henry Magan 118 50.2 New
Whig Percy Nugent 117 49.8 N/A
Conservative Richard Levinge 0 0.0 New
Majority 117 0.4 N/A
Turnout 118 (est) 8.8 (est) N/A
Registered electors 1,337
Irish Repeal gain from Whig Swing N/A
Whig hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Irish William Henry Magan 1,647 41.3 −8.9
Independent Irish William Pollard-Urquhart 1,414 35.5 N/A
Conservative Richard Levinge 926 23.2 +23.2
Majority 488 12.3 +11.9
Turnout 2,457 (est) 78.4 (est) +69.6
Registered electors 3,132
Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal Swing −16.1
Independent Irish gain from Whig Swing N/A
General election 1857: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Whig William Henry Magan Unopposed
Independent Irish Richard Levinge Unopposed
Registered electors 3,520
Whig gain from Independent Irish
Independent Irish hold
General election 1859: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Pollard-Urquhart Unopposed
Liberal Richard Levinge Unopposed
Registered electors 3,678
Liberal hold
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Algernon Greville Unopposed
Liberal William Pollard-Urquhart Unopposed
Registered electors 3,568
Liberal hold
Liberal hold
General election 1868: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Algernon Greville-Nugent Unopposed
Liberal William Pollard-Urquhart Unopposed
Registered electors 3,884
Liberal hold
Liberal hold

Greville-Nugent was appointed a Groom in Waiting to Queen Victoria, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 7 January 1869: Westmeath[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Algernon Greville-Nugent Unopposed
Registered electors 3,884
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

Pollard-Urquhart's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 17 Jun 1871: Westmeath (1 seat)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Home Rule Patrick James Smyth Unopposed
Registered electors 3,616
Home Rule gain from Liberal
General election 1874: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Home Rule Patrick James Smyth 2,202 43.2 N/A
Home Rule Robert Montagu 2,164 42.5 N/A
Liberal Algernon Greville-Nugent 401 7.9 N/A
Liberal Richard Levinge 328 6.4 N/A
Majority 1,763 34.6 N/A
Turnout 2,548 (est) 71.6 (est) N/A
Registered electors 3,559
Home Rule gain from Liberal Swing N/A
Home Rule gain from Liberal Swing N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Westmeath (2 seats)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Parnellite Home Rule League Timothy Daniel Sullivan 1,631 48.2 N/A
Parnellite Home Rule League Henry Joseph Gill 1,609 47.6 N/A
Home Rule William A Gowing 141 4.2 N/A
Majority 1,468 43.4 +8.8
Turnout 1,761 (est) 50.8 (est) −20.8
Registered electors 3,465
Home Rule hold Swing N/A
Home Rule hold Swing N/A

Gill resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 24 Feb 1883: Westmeath (1 seat)[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Parliamentary Timothy Harrington Unopposed
Registered electors 3,395
Irish Parliamentary hold

Election in the 1910s

1918 general election: Westmeath[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Sinn Féin Laurence Ginnell 12,435 75.4
Irish Parliamentary Patrick Weymes 3,458 21.0
Independent Nationalist Walter Nugent 603 3.6
Majority 8,977 54.4
Turnout 16,496 68.7
Registered electors 24,014
Sinn Féin win (new seat)
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)

Notes

  1. ^ Resigned, 1808
  2. ^ Died in office, 1824
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 242–243. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ a b The Spectator, Volume 19. 1846. p. 1205. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. pp. 40–41. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Re-elected as a candidate of a Whig Party/Repeal Association electoral pact, in 1835 and 1837.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 242–243, 320, 398. ISBN 0901714127.
  8. ^ "Elections". Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. 11 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Westmeath". Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. 28 July 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ a b "The New Parliament". Lincolnshire Gazette. 20 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "Dublin Weekly Nation". 21 March 1857. p. 5. Retrieved 14 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ a b Salmon, Philip. "Co. Westmeath". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 24 May 2020.

References

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