# Mid Surrey (UK Parliament constituency)

Mid Surrey was a county constituency in Surrey, England: 1868 — 1885. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament elected by the bloc vote system.

## History

The constituency was created under the Second Reform Act for the 1868 general election, and abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election.

### Political history

The seat elected a brief series of Conservatives.

### Successor seats

The 1885 Act took from 2 to 16 the metropolitan seats in the north-east of the county — that is the zone north-east of Wimbledon and Croydon coming from 1889 into the newly formed County of London. It also founded six single-member county constituencies (seats) to cover the rump bulk of the county, commonly referred to at the time as the non-metropolitan county. The Act thus abolished the West, Mid and East Surrey divisions double seat-areas that comprised the county. As Surrey was now split into single-representative areas this met a Chartist objective, discouraging the frequent collusion between candidates or parties which had beset multi-member constituencies (specifically plurality-at-large voting, for which "bloc(k) vote" in Britain was the term used). These six distinctly county (non-metropolitan) divisions the Act numbered, named (and detailed as summarised in outline below):
* The North-Western or Chertsey Division (usually recorded as Chertsey, Surrey N.W. or North-West) - included Woking and Egham
* The South-Western or Guildford Division (as style shown above) - included Godalming, Farnham and surrounds
* The South-Eastern or Reigate Division (as style shown above) - included Dorking sessional division save for two parishes in No. 4.
* The Mid or Epsom Division (as style shown above) - included Kingston's southern and eastern sessional division components
* The Kingston Division (invariably Kingston or Kingston-upon-Thames) - included Richmond
* The North-Eastern or Wimbledon Division (as style shown above) - included sessional division of Croydon except its core and north in the Metropolis; plus Caterham, Chelsham, Farley, Warlingham.

## Boundaries

1868–1885: The Hundreds of Kingston, Reigate and so much of that of Wallington as lay to the west of the parishes of Croydon and Sanderstead, and so much of the Hundred of Brixton as lay to the west of the parishes of Streatham, Clapham and Lambeth.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | 1st Member | 1st Member | 1st Party | Main home | 2nd Member | 2nd Member | 2nd Party | Main home |
| 1868 | | Sir Henry Peek | Conservative | Wimbledon House, High Street, Wimbledon and Rousdon, Devon | | William Brodrick | Conservative | Peper Harow House, Peper Harow |
| 1870 by-election | | Sir Henry Peek | Conservative | Wimbledon House, High Street, Wimbledon and Rousdon, Devon | | Richard Baggallay | Conservative | 55 Queen's Gate, South Kensington |
| 1875 by-election | | Sir Henry Peek | Conservative | Wimbledon House, High Street, Wimbledon and Rousdon, Devon | | Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bt. | Conservative | Burford Lodge (in part since renamed Burford Bridge Hotel), Dorking |
| 1884 by-election | | Sir John Whittaker Ellis, Bt. | Conservative | Petersham Place, Byfleet | | Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bt. | Conservative | Burford Lodge (in part since renamed Burford Bridge Hotel), Dorking |
| 1885 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished | constituency abolished | constituency abolished | constituency abolished | constituency abolished | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Election results
### Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Mid Surrey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Henry Peek | 4,487 | 29.6 | |
| | Conservative | William Brodrick | 4,412 | 29.1 | |
| | Liberal | Julian Goldsmid | 3,152 | 20.8 | |
| | Liberal | Charles Henry Robarts | 3,090 | 20.4 | |
| | Independent Liberal | Thomas Marsh Nelson | 7 | 0.1 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,260 | 8.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,574 (est) | 71.7 (est) | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 10,565 | | |
| | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) |
| | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) |

### Elections in the 1870s

Brodrick succeeded to the peerage, becoming Viscount Midleton and causing a by-election.
By-election, 17 Oct 1870: Mid Surrey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Richard Baggallay | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
General election 1874: Mid Surrey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Richard Baggallay | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Conservative | Henry Peek | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 14,645 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
Baggallay was appointed Solicitor-General for England and Wales, requiring a by-election.
By-election, 16 Mar 1874: Mid Surrey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Richard Baggallay | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
Baggallay was appointed a Judge of The Court of Appeal, and resigned.
By-election, 24 Nov 1875: Mid Surrey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Trevor Lawrence | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |

### Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Mid Surrey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Henry Peek | 8,475 | 30.0 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Trevor Lawrence | 8,303 | 29.4 | N/A |
| | Liberal | Sydney Stern | 5,770 | 20.4 | New |
| | Liberal | Joseph Napier Higgins | 5,727 | 20.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,533 | 9.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 14,138 | 69.2 | N/A |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 20,433 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | |
Peek's resignation caused a by-election.
By-election, 23 Jun 1884: Mid Surrey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Whittaker Ellis | 7,645 | 60.7 | +1.3 |
| | Liberal | Sydney Stern | 4,949 | 39.3 | −1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,696 | 21.4 | +12.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,594 | 47.0 | −22.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 26,804 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +1.4 | |