Carrickfergus (UK Parliament constituency)

UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland, 1801–1885

Carrickfergus
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	County Antrim
Borough	Carrickfergus
1801–1885
Seats	1
Created from	Carrickfergus
Replaced by	East Antrim

Carrickfergus was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency in Ireland represented from 1801 to 1885 by one MP.

History and boundaries

This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Carrickfergus which was a county corporate in County Antrim. It was disenfranchised under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, which took effect at the 1885 general election. The county of the town of Carrickfergus became part of the county division of East Antrim.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party	Note
	1801, January 1	Noah Dalway		1801: Co-opted
	1802, July 30	Lord Spencer Chichester	Tory	Resigned
	1807, April 29	James Craig	Whig	Initially elected four weeks earlier, in the 31 March 1807 Carrickfergus by-election
	1812, November 5	Arthur Chichester	Tory
	1818, July 1	Earl of Belfast	Tory
	1820, March 16	Sir Arthur Chichester, Bt	Tory	Created Baronet 13 September 1821
	1830, August 10	Lord George Hill	Whig
	1832, December 9	Conway Richard Dobbs	Tory	Election declared void on petition
1833, March		Writ suspended
	1835, January 10	Peter Kirk	Conservative
	1847, August 3	Hon. Wellington Stapleton-Cotton	Conservative
	1857, April 2	William Cary Dobbs	Conservative
	1859, May 6	Robert Torrens	Conservative
	1868, November 21	Marriott Dalway	Liberal-Conservative
	1880, April 2	Thomas Greer	Conservative	Last MP for the constituency
1885		Constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	George Hill	311	39.1
	Whig	Marcus Hill	241	30.3
	Tory	Charles Adair	198	24.9
	Tory	Arthur Chichester	46	5.8
Majority			70	8.8
Turnout			796	c. 92.6
Registered electors			c. 860
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing

General election 1831: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	George Hill	Unopposed
Registered electors			860
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Conway Richard Dobbs	495	52.2
	Whig	Arthur Chichester	447	47.2
	Tory	James Wills	6	0.6
Majority			48	5.0
Turnout			948	92.6
Registered electors			1,024
	Tory gain from Whig

On petition, the election was declared void and the writ for the seat was suspended.

General election 1835: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Peter Kirk	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,431
	Conservative hold

General election 1837: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Peter Kirk	446	51.6
	Whig	Matthew Boulton Rennie	418	48.4
Majority			28	3.2
Turnout			864	59.3
Registered electors			1,458
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Peter Kirk	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,326
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Wellington Stapleton-Cotton	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,426
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Wellington Stapleton-Cotton	311	51.3	*N/A*
	Whig	Warren Hastings Leslie Frith	295	48.7	New
Majority			16	2.6	N/A
Turnout			606	84.2	N/A
Registered electors			720
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Cary Dobbs	560	59.4	+8.1
	Whig	Francis Macdonogh	383	40.6	−8.1
Majority			177	18.8	+16.2
Turnout			943	82.8	−1.4
Registered electors			1,139
	Conservative hold		Swing	+8.1

General election 1859: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Torrens	668	72.1	+12.7
	Liberal	William McMechan	259	27.9	−12.7
Majority			409	44.2	+25.4
Turnout			927	74.6	−8.2
Registered electors			1,243
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.7

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Torrens	498	63.6	−8.5
	Liberal	Luke White	285	36.4	+8.5
Majority			213	27.2	−17.0
Turnout			783	69.6	−5.0
Registered electors			1,125
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.5

General election 1868: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal-Conservative	Marriott Dalway	669	62.2	+25.8
	Conservative	Robert Torrens	407	37.8	−25.8
Majority			262	24.4	N/A
Turnout			1,076	83.4	+13.8
Registered electors			1,290
	Liberal-Conservative gain from Conservative		Swing	+25.8

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal-Conservative	Marriott Dalway	628	58.1	−4.1
	Conservative	George Augustus Chichester May	452	41.9	+4.1
Majority			176	16.2	−8.2
Turnout			1,080	78.8	−4.6
Registered electors			1,370
	Liberal-Conservative hold		Swing	−4.1

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Carrickfergus
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Greer	591	51.6	+9.7
	Liberal-Conservative	Marriott Dalway	554	48.4	−9.7
Majority			37	3.2	N/A
Turnout			1,145	81.0	+2.2
Registered electors			1,414
	Conservative gain from Liberal-Conservative		Swing	+9.7

Notes and references

Notes

^ Various sources refer to Dalway as 'Conservative', 'Liberal', and 'Liberal-Conservative'. Due to his support for Gladstone and Home Rule, he has been designated a 'Liberal-Conservative'

References

First Schedule Part I: Boroughs to cease to exist as such. "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, 48 & 49 Vict. C. 23". The public general acts. Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales.
Seventh Schedule (Counties at Large); Part III (Ireland)."Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, 48 & 49 Vict. C. 23". The public general acts. Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales.
Farrell, Stephen. "CHICHESTER, Arthur I (1769–1847), of Greencastle and Castlecary, co. Donegal and 15 Sackville Street, Mdx.". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
Farrell, Stephen. "HILL, Lord George Augusta (1801-1879)". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^ Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 217–218. Retrieved 9 May 2020 – via Google Books.
^ Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 200–201, 257–258. ISBN 0901714127.
"Biographical Sketches". Armagh Guardian. 11 December 1868. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
"New Parliament". Western Times. 10 February 1874. p. 7. Retrieved 28 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Salmon, Philip. "Carrickfergus". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
"Belfast Mercantile Register and Weekly Advertiser". 13 July 1852. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Wood-Martin, William Gregory (1882–1892). History of Sligo ; county and town ; with illustrations from original drawings and plans. Dublin: Hodges Figgis. p. 58.
"The Elections". Belfast News-Letter. 7 May 1859. p. 3. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Sources

Smith, Henry Stooks (1844–50). The Parliaments of England (1st edition published in three volumes)
Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1973). The Parliaments of England (2nd edition published in one volume). Political Reference Publications
Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)

Parliamentary constituencies in County Antrim and the city of Belfast

Parliament of Ireland
to 1800

County Antrim (???–1800)
Antrim (1666–1800)
Belfast (1613–1800)
Carrickfergus (1326–1800)
Lisburn (1661–1800)
Randalstown (???–1800)

Westminster 1801–present

Historic

Antrim (1801–85, 1922–50)
Mid Antrim (1885–1922)
Belfast (1801–85)
Belfast Cromac (1918–22)
Belfast Duncairn (1918–22)
Belfast Falls (1918–22)
Belfast Ormeau (1918–22)
Belfast Pottinger (1918–22)
Belfast Shankill (1918–22)
Belfast South (1885–1918, 1922–2024)
Belfast St Anne's (1918–22)
Belfast Victoria (1918–22)
Belfast Woodvale (1918–22)
Carrickfergus (1801–85)
Lisburn (1801–85)
Queen's University of Belfast (1918–50)

Current

East Antrim (1885–1922, 1983—)
North Antrim (1885–1922, 1950—)
South Antrim (1885–1922, 1950—)
Belfast East (1885–1918, 1922—)
Belfast North (1885–1918, 1922—)
Belfast South and Mid Down (2024—)
Belfast West (1885–1918, 1922—)
Lagan Valley 1983—

Dáil Éireann
Revolutionary era 1919–1922

First Dáil
1919–21

Seats taken	(none)
No seats taken	East Antrim Mid Antrim North Antrim South Antrim Belfast Cromac Belfast Duncairn Belfast Falls Belfast Ormeau Belfast Pottinger Belfast St Anne's Belfast Shankill Belfast Victoria Belfast Woodvale Queen's University of Belfast

Second Dáil
1921–22

Seats taken	(none)
No seats taken	Antrim Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West Queen's University of Belfast

Parliament of Northern Ireland
1921–72

1921–29

Antrim (1921–29)
Belfast East (1921–29)
Belfast North (1921–29)
Belfast South (1921–29)
West Belfast (1921–29)
Queen's University of Belfast (1921–69)

1929–72

Bannside (1929–72)
Belfast Ballynafeigh (1929–72)
Belfast Bloomfield (1929–72)
Belfast Central (1929–72)
Belfast Clifton (1929–72)
Belfast Cromac (1929–72)
Belfast Dock (1929–72)
Belfast Duncairn (1929–72)
Belfast Falls (1929–72)
Belfast Oldpark (1929–72)
Belfast Pottinger (1929–72)
Belfast Shankill (1929–72)
Belfast St Anne's (1929–72)
Belfast Victoria (1929–72)
Belfast Willowfield (1929–72)
Belfast Windsor (1929–72)
Belfast Woodvale (1929–72)
Carrick (1929–72)
Larkfield (1969–72)
Larne (1929–72)
Mid Antrim (1929–72)
Newtownabbey (1969–72)
North Antrim (1929–72)
Queen's University of Belfast (1921–69)
South Antrim (1929–72)

Northern Ireland Assemblies

Assembly 1973–74 Constitutional Convention 1975–76 Assembly 1982–86	North Antrim South Antrim Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West
Northern Ireland Forum 1996–98 Assembly (1998–present)	East Antrim North Antrim South Antrim Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West Lagan Valley

European Parliament
1979–2020

Northern Ireland

Constituencies in Ireland by county
Republic of Ireland	Carlow Cavan Clare Cork Donegal Dublin Galway Kerry Kildare Kilkenny Laois Leitrim Limerick Longford Louth Mayo Meath Monaghan Offaly Roscommon Sligo Tipperary Waterford Westmeath Wexford Wicklow
Northern Ireland	Antrim Armagh Down Fermanagh Londonderry Tyrone

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