Where old constituencies go to die...

[minionofmidas]

Great minds think alike. Well, somewhat alike.

Just these last two days, I compiled a list of how old constituency names are.

New in 2009 : 66
Aberconwy, Basildon & Billericay, Basildon S & Thurrock E, Bermondsey & Old Southwark, Blackley & Broughton, Blackpool N & Cleveleys, Brent C, Bridgwater & Somerset W, Broadland, Camborne & Redruth, Chelsea & Fulham, Clacton, The Cotswolds, Dagenham & Rainham, Derbyshire Dales, Devon C, Dwyfor Meirionydd, Ealing C & Acton, Elmet & Rothwell, Filton & Bradley Stoke, Garston & Halewood, Gillingham & Rainham, Hampstead & Kilburn, Harwich & Essex N, Hereford & S Herefordshire, Herefordshire N, Hornchurch & Upminster, Houghton & Sunderland S, Kenilworth & Southam, Knowsley, Lancaster & Fleetwood, Leicestershire S, Lewisham W & Penge, Meon Valley, Milton Keynes N, S, Morley & Outwood, Newton Abbot, Normanton; Pontefract & Castleford, Penistone & Stocksbridge, Plymouth Moor View, Plymouth Sutton & Devonport, Poplar & Limehouse, Rayleigh & Wickford, Rochester & Strood, Romsey & Southampton N, Ruislip; Northwood & Pinner, Saint Austell & Newquay, Saint Helens S & Whiston, Salford & Eccles, Sefton C, Selby & Ainsty, Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough, Sheffield South East, Somerset NE, Sunderland C, Taunton Deane, Thornbury & Yate, Truro & Falmouth, Uxbridge & S Ruislip, Washington & Sunderland W, Wentworth & Dearne, Wiltshire SW, Witham, Worsley & Eccles S, Wyre & Preston N, York C, York Outer

Back in 2009: 16
Arfon (1885-1945), Barnsley E (1983-1997), Bradford E (1885-1974), Chelmsford (1885-1997), Chippenham (1295-1983), Derbyshire Mid (1885-1918), Gateshead (1832-1950), Hammersmith (1885-1918, 1983-1997), Kensington (1974-1997), Maldon (1329-1983), Newcastle E (1918-1997), Northamptonshire S (1832-1918, 1950-1974), Rugby (1885-1983), Somerset N (1885-1918, 1950-1983), Thirsk & Malton (1885-1983), Westminster N (1983-1997)

1295 is the earliest parliament for which a full list survives. In the middle ages, some boroughs sent burgesses to only some parliaments before eventually becoming continuously present - in these cases, the date given is for the beginning of continuous representation. An exception has been made for Basingstoke, which was represented in 1295 but never again until its creation as a county constituency in the 19th century.
"," within constituency names represented as ";" to avoid confusion.
Taunton, Hereford and Leominster are names lost that existed since 1295.
Westbury too was a holdover from the unreformed Parliament. And all four renamings were unnecessary.

[minionofmidas]

New in 2005 : 29
Ayr; Carrick & Cumnock, Ayrshire N & Arran, Berwickshire; Roxburgh & Selkirk, Coatbridge; Chryston & Bellshill, Cumbernauld; Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch E, Dumfries & Galloway, Dumfriesshire; Clydesdale & Tweeddale, Dunfermline & Fife W, East Kilbride; Strathaven & Lesmahagow, Edinburgh SW, Glasgow E, N, NE, NW, S, SW, Glenrothes, Inverclyde, Inverness; Inverness South; Inverness Outer & Some Village Near Inverness, Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath, Lanark & Hamilton E, Linlithgow & E Falkirk, Na-h-Eileanan an Iar*, Ochil & S Perthshire, Paisley & Renfrewshire N, S, Perth & N Perthshire, Ross; Skye & Lochaber, Rutherglen & Hamilton W

Back in 2005 : 7
Ayrshire C (1950-1983), Dunbartonshire E (1950-1983), Dunbartonshire W (1950-1983), Edinburgh E (1885-1997), Falkirk (1832-1983), Glasgow C (1885-1997), Renfrewshire E (1885-1983)

*as Western Isles, dates to 1918.

[minionofmidas]

(lists for 97 and 83 are actually longer than for 09. Of course that's just because of the 09/05 split, and in the case of 83 because of the radical shakeup of local election boundaries. Will post these lists at the end, and continue with the more interesting stuff now.)

New in 1974 : 36
Aldridge - Brownhills, Beaconsfield, Bournemouth E, Braintree, Brent N, Brentford & Isleworth, Brentwood & Ongar, Chesham & Amersham, Chipping Barnet, Coventry NE, NW, Croydon C, Enfield N, Epping Forest, Feltham & Heston, Gosport, Hackney S & Shoreditch, Harlow, Hazel Grove, Islington S & Finsbury, Kingswood, Lewisham Deptford, Manchester C, Mitcham & Morden, Northampton N, S, Redcar, Sussex Mid, Tonbridge & Malling, Tooting, Torbay, Tunbridge Wells, Welwyn Hatfield, West Bromwich E, W, Wolverhampton SE

Back in 1974 : 13
Birmingham Erdington (1918-1955), Daventry (1918-1950), Fareham (1885-1950), Leicester E, S, W (all 1918-1950), Lewisham E (1918-1950), Middlesbrough (1868-1918), Norfolk NW (1885-1918), Nottingham E (1885-1955), Portsmouth N (1918-1950), Rhondda (1885-1918), Walthamstow (1885-1918)

That this list is slightly heavy on the London side is of course no coincidence (shakeup of local government boundaries again).
Leicester was a single double-member constituency right until 1918, when it was split the still-familiar three ways. From 1950 to 1974 it had four seats named NW, NE, SE and SW.

[minionofmidas]

New in 1970: Great Yarmouth ("Great" added to name. As "Yarmouth", dates to 1885 and also existed from 1295-1868.)

New or back in 1955 : 12
Ashfield, Birmingham Selly Oak, Blackburn (1832-1950), Bradford West (1885-1918), Eastleigh, Leeds E (1885-1918), Meriden, Midlothian, Nottingham N, Stroud (1832-1950), Walsall N, S

New or back in 1950 : 56
Antrim S (1885-1922), Beckenham, Birkenhead (1861-1918), Birmingham Hall Green, Birmingham Northfield, Birmingham Perry Barr, Bolsover, Bolton W, Bournemouth W, Brighton Kemptown, Brighton Pavilion, Bristol NW, Bromsgrove, Cardiff N, W, Cheadle, Cities of London & Westminster, Derby N, S, Devon N (1832-1885), Down N, S (both 1885-1922), Dundee E, W, Durham NW, Ealing N, Easington, Esher & Walton, Fermanagh & S Tyrone, Folkestone & Hythe, Hackney N & Stoke Newington, Harrogate & Knaresborough, Hayes & Harlington, Hertfordshire SW, Hove, Leeds NW, Mid Ulster, Norwich N, S, Penrith & The Border, Poole (1455-1885), Pudsey (1885-1918), Sheffield Heeley, Southampton Itchen, Southampton Test, Southend W, Stoke C, N, S, Stratford-on-Avon (1885-1918), Tottenham (1885-1918), Vauxhall, Woking, Wokingham (1885-1918), Wolverhampton NE, SW

As can be seen, 1950 was quite the major shakeup as well. The many Northern Irish entries are due to the prevalence of double-member districts there until 1950. (Also, NI was deliberately underrepresented from 1922 to 1983.)

New in 1945 : 11
Barking, Blackpool S, Harrow E, W, Ilford N, S, Orpington, Solihull, Sutton & Cheam, Sutton Coldfield, Thurrock

Back in 1922 : 4
Belfast E, N, S, W (all 1885-1918)
Special redistricting of NI only. From 1918-1922, Belfast had had six named divisions (Cromac, Ormeau, Pottinger, Shankill, Victoria, Woodvale).

[minionofmidas]

New or back in 1918 : 40
Aberavon, Aldershot, Bedfordshire Mid, Birmingham Ladywood, Birmingham Yardley, Blaydon, Bradford S, Brecon & Radnorshire, Caerphilly, Cardiff C, Cornwall N, Croydon S*, Don Valley, Surrey E (1832-1885), Edmonton, Hemsworth, Kettering, Leeds NE, Llanelli, Manchester Withington, Monmouth**, Neath, Newcastle C*, Ogmore, Pontypridd, Portsmouth S, Putney, Rother Valley, Spelthorne, Stalybridge & Hyde, Streatham, Swansea E, W, Twickenham, Wallasey, Wellingborough, Weston-super-Mare, Workington, Wrexham, Yeovil

* Pre-74 Croydon S and Pre-83 Newcastle C bear no similarity to eponymous successor seats. The old Croydon S is essentially the modern Croydon C. The old Newcastle C was of course exactly identical to the Newcastle portion of the 83-97 incarnation of Tyne Bridge, although the territory is recouped by Newcastle C in the next elections.
** From 1536 (when Wales was first represented in parliament) to 1918, there were constituencies titled Monmouth Boroughs (consisting of Monmouth, Newport, and Usk) and Monmouthshire (remainder of the county). The post-1918 Monmouth county constituency cannot be considered identical to either.

[minionofmidas]

New or back in 1885: 60
Aberdeen N, S, Ashford, Basingstoke (1295 only), Bassetlaw, Birmingham Edgbaston, Bishop Auckland, Bootle, Bosworth, Bristol S, W, Burton, Canterbury (1295-1880, when the borough was disenfranchised for corruption), Chesterfield, Chorley, Colne Valley, Dartford, Derbyshire NW, Dorset N, S, W, Eastbourne, Edinburgh S, W, Epsom & Ewell, Gainsborough, Gower, Harborough, Henley, Hexham, High Peak, Islington N, Jarrow, Keighley, Hull E, Leeds W, Liverpool Walton, Liverpool West Derby, Loughborough, Macclesfield (1832-january 1885, when the borough was disenfranchised for corruption), Manchester Gorton, Mansfield, Newbury, Norfolk SW, Nuneaton, Reigate (1295-1868), Romford, Rotherham, Rushcliffe, Saffron Walden, Saint Albans (1554-1852, when the borough was disenfranchised for corruption), Sevenoaks, Sheffield Hallam, Shipley, Southport, Tynemouth, Warwick & Leamington, Watford, Wells (1295-1868), Wimbledon

Of course, all the constituencies "back" in 1885 had included just the borough in their earlier incarnation, and came back as county constituencies when the double-member all-county seats (or large county divisions created in 1832 or 1868) were broken up.

[minionofmidas]

New in 1868 : 6
Burnley, Darlington, Dewsbury, Hartlepool, Norfolk N, S

New in 1832 : 7
Ashton-under-Lyme, Cheltenham, Halifax, Isle of Wight, Rochdale, South Shields, Wakefield

Before 1832, there had been three double-member, fairly rotten boroughs on Wight while the remainder of the island was included with Hampshire. In 1832, Newtown and Yarmouth were disenfranchised but a single-member county constituency was created. Newport lost one of its members in 1885, and was merged into Wight in 1918. Isle of Wight has been an oversized constituency pretty much ever since.

Constituencies created as boroughs some time during the unreformed Parliament : 15
City of Durham (1678), Newark-on-Trent (1673), Bury Saint Edmunds (1607), Richmond (Yorks) (1585), Saint Ives (1558), Aylesbury, Banbury (1553), Peterborough (1547), City of Chester, Wigan (1545), Buckingham (1542), Berwick-upon-Tweed (1512), Ludlow (1473), Newcastle-under-Lyme (1354), Devizes (1331)

To these should be added Orkney & Shetland and Montgomeryshire, respective last holdovers from the Act of Union and Henry VIII's enfranchisement of Wales (although until 1918 Kirkwall was in Northern Burghs and there was a Montgomeryshire Boroughs from one of the 19th century reforms - before that, the tiny town of Montgomery sent a Burgess of its own.) Interestingly, Durham and Newark were the two very last English Boroughs created before 1832.

Original surviving constituencies, continuously represented since at least 1295 : 15
Bath, Cambridge, Carlisle, Chichester, Exeter, Gloucester, Great Grimsby, Guildford, Ipswich, Lewes, Lincoln, Salisbury, Winchester, Worcester, Wycombe

[minionofmidas]

New in 1997 : 82
Aberdeenshire W & Kincardine, Airdrie & Shotts, Altrincham & Sale W, Angus, Arundel & S Downs, Bedfordshire NE, Beverly & Holderness, Bexleyheath & Crayford, Bognor Regis & Littlehampton, Boston & Skegness, Bracknell, Brigg & Goole, Bromley & Chislehurst, Caithness; Sutherland & Easter Ross, Camberwell & Peckham, Cambridgeshire NW, S, Cannock Chase, Carmarthen E & Dinefwr, Carmarthen W & Pembrokeshire S, Ceredigion*, Charnwood, Chatham & Aylesford, Chingford & Woodford Green, Cleethorpes, Clwyd S, W, Devon SW, Dorset Mid & Poole N, Dudley N, S, Dulwich & West Norwood, East Ham, Edinburgh N & Leith, Erith & Thamesmead, Faversham & Kent Mid, Finchley & Golders Green, Grantham & Stamford, Greenwich & Woolwich, Halesowen & Rowley Regis, Haltemprice & Howden, Hampshire NE, Hertfordshire NE, Hitchin & Harpenden, Kingston & Surbiton, Hull W & Hessle, Leyton & Wanstead, Louth & Horncastle, Maidenhead, Maidstone & The Weald, Middlesbrough S & Cleveland E, New Forest E, W, North Tyneside, Oldham E & Saddleworth, Oldham W & Royton, Preseli Pembrokeshire, Redditch, Richmond Park, Rochford & Southend E, Runnymede & Weybridge, Sc**nthorpe, Sittingbourne & Sheppey, Sleaford & North Hykeham, South Holland & The Deepings, Suffolk C & Ipswich N, Stretford & Urmston, Surrey Heath, Swindon N, S, Telford, Tiverton & Honiton, Tyrone W, Vale of Clwyd, Warley, Weaver Vale, West Ham, Worthing E & Shoreham, Worthing W, The Wrekin, Wythenshawe & Sale E, Yorkshire E

Back in 1997 : 21
Bedford (1295-1983), Bethnal Green & Bow (1974-1983), Colchester (1295-1983), Coventry S (1950-74), Croydon N (1918-55), Devon E (1868-1885), Forest of Dean (1885-1950), Hemel Hempstead (1918-1983), Hendon (1918-1945), Lichfield (1305-1950), Liverpool Wavertree (1918-1983), Motherwell & Wishaw (1974-1983), Scarborough & Whitby (1918-1974), Stone (1918-1950), Stourbridge (1918-1950), Suffolk W (1832-1885), Tamworth (1563-1945), Tewkesbury (1610-1918), Totnes (1295-1868, 1885-1983), Windsor (1424-1974), Worcestershire W (1832-1885)

* Back (1536-1983) if you view the name as identical to "Cardiganshire". 1983-1997 had Ceredigion & Pembrokeshire N.

[minionofmidas]

Stourbridge (1918-1950),

Very different to the old Stourbridge seat; partly because the areas has changed with the mushrooming of suburbia, but also because the old seat reached deep into the Black Country proper.

I would assume that goes for lots and lots of these seats. All the "county x cardinal point y (1832-date z)"  ones, for example, refer to very large double-member divisions in their earlier incarnation.

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That constituency was often called by it's Welsh name even when it was officially Cardiganshire.
[/quote]Because so many of the constituents couldn't pronounce as foreign a collection of sounds as "Cardiganshire". Hence why I included the info (same goes for Western Isles)

[minionofmidas]

New in 1983 : 119
Alyn & Deeside, Amber Valley, Argyll & Bute, Banff & Buchan, Barnsley C, Barrow & Furness (from 1885 as Barrow-in-Furness), Batley & Spen, Bedfordshire SW, Bexhill & Battle, Birmingham Hodge Hill, Blaenau Gwent, Blyth Valley (from 1950 as Blyth), Bolton NE, SE, Bridgend, Broxbourne, Bury N, S, Calder Valley, Cambridgeshire NE, SE, Cardiff S & Penarth, Carshalton & Wallington, Castle Point, Congleton, Copeland, Corby, Cornwall SE, Crawley, Crewe & Nantwich, Cynon Valley, Delyn, Denton & Reddish, Doncaster C, N, Ealing Southall, East Lothian, Ellesmere Port & Neston, Eltham, Enfield Southgate (from 1964(!?) as Southgate), Erewash, Fife NE, Foyle, Gedling, Gordon, Gravesham, Halton, Hampshire E, NW, Hastings & Rye, Havant, Hertford & Stortford, Hertsmere, Heywood & Middleton, Holborn & Saint Pancras, Hornsey & Wood Green, Hyndburn, Islwyn, Kilmarnock & Loudoun, Lagan Valley, Lancashire W, Leicestershire NW, Livingston, Liverpool Riverside, Londonderry E, Luton N, S, Makerfield, Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney, Mole Valley, Moray, Morecambe & Lunesdale, Newport E, W, Newry & Armagh, Old Bexley & Sidcup, Oxford E, Oxford W & Abingdon, Pendle, Reading E, W, Ribble S, Ribble Valley, Rossendale & Darwen, Rutland & Melton, Saint Helens N, Sherwood, Shrewsbury & Atcham, Skipton & Ripon, Slough, Somerton & Frome, Staffordshire Moorlands, Stevenage, Stirling, Stockton N, S, Strangford, Suffolk Coastal, Suffolk S, Surrey SW, Tatton, Thanet N, S, Torfaen, Torridge & Devon W, Upper Bann, Vale of Glamorgan, Wantage, Warrington N, S, Waveney, Wealden, Westmorland & Lonsdale, Wirral S, W, Witney, Worcestershire Mid, Wyre Forest, Ynys Môn (as Anglesey from 1536)

Back in 1983 : 28
Antrim E (1885-1922), Battersea (1885-1918), Bristol E (1885-1950), Broxtowe (1918-1955), Christchurch (1561-1918), Derbyshire S (1832-1950), Dover (1369-1974, was Dover & Deal 74-83), Durham N (1832-1885), Eddisbury (1885-1950), Fylde (1918-1950), Horsham (1295-1918, 1945-1974), Huddersfield (1832-1950), Huntingdon (1295-1918, was Huntingdonshire 1918-1983), Hull N (1950-1974, was Hull C 1974-1983), Leeds C (1885-1955), Norfolk Mid (1885-1918), Nottingham S (1885-1974), Preston (1461-1950), Sedgefield (1918-1974), Sheffield C (1885-1950), Shropshire N (1832-1885), Stafford (1295-1950), Staffordshire S (1832-1868), Stockport (1832-1950), Wansbeck (1885-1950), Warwickshire N (1832-1885), Wiltshire N (1832-1885)

Oh yeah, my main source was Wikipedia. Where that was confusing or incomplete or self-contradictory or where I just had trouble believing it (such as the identical data for all three Leicester divisions), I used the MP lists at angeltowns.com/town/peerage/commons.htm or, for data before 1660, the list at election.demon.co.uk/prereform.html.

And just for fun's sake, an overview of seats named "Nottingham":

1295 to 1885, double-member borough

1885, three constituencies named Nottingham East, South, and West
1918 additional constituency, named Nottingham Central
1950 West renamed North West
1955 North West reverted to West, East renamed North
1974 loss of a seat. South and Central abolished, East reintroduced
1983 West renamed South.

So, there existed:
Nottingham C: 1918-1974
Nottingham E: 1885-1955, 1974-present
Nottingham N: 1955-present
Nottingham NW: 1950-1955
Nottingham S: 1885-1974, 1983-present
Nottingham W: 1885-1950, 1955-1983

[minionofmidas]

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Wasn't there a Carmarthen Boroughs, rather than Carmarthen, seat before 1918?

And also a Carmarthenshire o/c.

[minionofmidas]

Three errors/notes up there... don't feel like searching and editing right now...
Cities of London & Westminster should be back in 97 (existed 50-74).
Enfield Southgate existed as Southgate from 1950 not 1964, the Wiki is just wrong.
Tunbridge Wells was "Royal Tunbridge Wells" 74-83 (should be added in 83 list)

Here's the list of creation dates of the 78 constituencies abolished in 2009 (Afleitch can do 2005. ) drawn from Angeltowns.

1997
Bermondsey & Southwark N, Birmingham Sparkbrook & Small Heath, Blackpool N & Fleetwood, Cotswold, Ealing Acton & Shepherd's Bush, Gateshead E & Washington W, Hammersmith & Fulham, Houghton & Washington E, Kensington & Chelsea, Knowsley N & Sefton E, Lancaster & Wyre, Maldon & Chelmsford E, Morley & Rothwell, Poplar & Canning Town, Rayleigh, Romsey, Salford (1832-1885), Truro & Saint Austell, Vale of York

1992
Milton Keynes NE, SW

1983
Barnsley E & Mexborough, Barnsley W & Penistone, Billericay (1950-1974), Caernarffon (1536 as Caernarvon), Chelmsford W, Conwy (1950 as Conway), Elmet, Hampstead & Highgate, Knowsley S, Medway (1885-1918), Meirionydd Nant Conwy, Northavon, Rugby & Kenilworth, Ryedale, Saint Helens S, Selby, Teignbridge, Tyne Bridge, Wansdyke, Wentworth (1918-1950), Westminster N, Woodspring, Worsley

1974
Basildon, Blaby, Brent E, S, Upminster

1950
Crosby, Falmouth & Camborne, Liverpool Garston, Ruislip-Northwood, Sunderland N, S

1945
Dagenham, Hornchurch

1918
Bradford N, Gillingham, Lewisham W, Manchester Blackley, Plymouth Devonport, Plymouth Sutton, Sheffield Hillsborough

1885
Bridgwater (1295-1870), Derbyshire W, Eccles, Normanton, Sheffield Attercliffe, Sheffield Brightside, Uxbridge

1832
Essex North

1615
Harwich

1446
Westbury

1295
Hereford, Leominster, Taunton, City of York

[minionofmidas]

Some of the other new names could make me puke: the "Name of Existing Constituency and Name of New Added, Rather Small and Superfluous Area" ones are the worst.

Sometimes that makes a lot of sense... and other times (like when the constituency name was only vaguely descriptive in the first place) it... doesn't.

[minionofmidas]

Proposed constituency names which have never been used

(with the caveat that I'm using the great god Wikipedia)

*The Cities of London and Westminster
*The Vale of Glamorgan

These two haven't been used with the definitive article before, although obviously "Cities of London and Westminster" and "Vale of Glamorgan" do exist already.

Some of the other new names could make me puke: the "Name of Existing Constituency and Name of New Added, Rather Small and Superfluous Area" ones are the worst.

I did wonder if someone would pick up on those two. The Welsh Commission mention in passing that they received some comment about the use of "The" in Vale of Glamorgan....

And echoed my submission's wording in that mention!

[minionofmidas]

No, I wrote something like "best configuration when seen in isolation" [I had a remap of Cardiff that involved removing Penarth] "though I am puzzled by the inclusion of the definite article in the name". The Commission's report says something like "widely accepted, though the inclusion of the definite article was questioned by some submissions".