Barnard Castle (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–1950

Barnard Castle was a county constituency centred on the town of Barnard Castle in County Durham, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 1885 general election and abolished for the 1950 general election.

Boundaries

1885–1918

• The Sessional Divisions of Barnard Castle and Staindrop, Stanhope (except the parishes of Hunstanworth and Edmondbyers) and Wolsingham, and part of the Sessional Division of Bishop Auckland.^[1]

The constituency was created for the 1885 general election by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 as one of eight new single-member divisions of the county of Durham, replacing the two 2-member seats of North Durham and South Durham. See map on Vision of Britain website.^[2]

The seat was located in the west of County Durham, in North East England. To the north of the constituency (moving from west to east) were the Northumberland division of Hexham and then North West Durham. To the east (moving from north to south) were Mid Durham, Bishop Auckland and South East Durham. To the south was Richmond (Yorks). To the west of the constituency (moving from south to north) were the Westmorland divisions of Appleby and Kendal.

1918–1950

• The Urban Districts of Barnard Castle and Stanhope;
• the Rural Districts of Barnard Castle and Weardale; and
• parts of the Rural Districts of Auckland and Lanchester.^[3]

The constituency was expanded northwards, absorbing the western part of the abolished North West Durham seat (Lanchester). Crook and Tow Law were added to the new constituency of Spennymoor and a small area in the east was transferred to Bishop Auckland.

Abolition

In 1950 the Barnard Castle urban and rural districts were included in the Bishop Auckland constituency. Other parts of the former constituency returned to the re-established North West Durham seat.

Members of Parliament

Sir Joseph Pease

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Election in the 1940s

See also

• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Durham

References

1. "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885". Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports. pp. 155–156.
2. "HMSO Boundary Commission Report 1885, Durham".
3. Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. p. 10. ISBN 0-900178-09-4. OCLC 539011.
4. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 267. ISBN 9781349022984.
5. "Barnard Castle Division". The Northern Echo. 7 July 1892. p. 3. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
6. Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 338. ISBN 0-900178-01-9.
7. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1922

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)

Notes

1. Results compared to the 1900 general election, not the 1903 by-election

Sources

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)