# North Hampshire (UK Parliament constituency)

North Hampshire (formally the Northern division of Hampshire) was a constituency as one of two in the county of Hampshire proper, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament between 1832 and 1885. Its members were elected by the bloc vote version of the first-past-the-post system.
It was created under the Great Reform Act for the 1832 general election, and abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election.

## Creation, boundaries and abolition

The county was created as one of three divisions of Hampshire as Hampshire formerly included the Isle of Wight to make up a large area and large-electorate two-member seat due to a growing number of tiny electorate increasingly rotten boroughs since the 13th century until this was abolished under the Great Reform Act 1832.
1832–1885: The Petty Sessional Divisions of Alton, Andover, Basingstoke, King's Clere [Kingsclere], Droxford, Odiham, Petersfield and Winchester.
Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the seat was abolished; replaced by three seats:
* Basingstoke or Northern Hampshire - this took in the town and two sessional divisions in the mid-north
* Andover or West Hampshire - this took in Andover and Kingsclere sessional divisions and Winchester city
* Petersfield or East Hampshire - this took in Alton, Droxford and Petersfield sessional divisions and the rest of Winchester sessional division (including the town of Alresford)

## Members of Parliament

| Election | 1st Member | 1st Party | Notes | 2nd Member | 2nd Party | Notes |
| 1832 | Charles Shaw-Lefevre | Whig | Speaker from 1839 to 1857; Created Lord Eversley in 1857 | James Winter Scott | Whig | |
| 1837 | Charles Shaw-Lefevre | Whig | Speaker from 1839 to 1857; Created Lord Eversley in 1857 | Sir William Heathcote, Bt | Conservative | |
| 1849 by-election | Charles Shaw-Lefevre | Whig | Speaker from 1839 to 1857; Created Lord Eversley in 1857 | Melville Portal | Conservative | |
| 1857 | William Wither Bramston Beach | Conservative | | George Sclater-Booth | Conservative | Created Lord Basing |
| 1885 constituency abolished |||||||||

## Election results
### Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Whig | Charles Shaw-Lefevre | 1,111 | 30.7 |
| | Whig | James Winter Scott | 1,082 | 29.9 |
| | Tory | Arthur Wellesley | 723 | 20.0 |
| | Tory | Walter Long | 701 | 19.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 359 | 9.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,810 | 74.7 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 2,424 | |
| | Whig win (new seat) | Whig win (new seat) | Whig win (new seat) | Whig win (new seat) |
| | Whig win (new seat) | Whig win (new seat) | Whig win (new seat) | Whig win (new seat) |
General election 1835: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Whig | Charles Shaw-Lefevre | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Whig | James Winter Scott | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 2,694 | |
| | Whig hold | Whig hold | Whig hold | Whig hold |
| | Whig hold | Whig hold | Whig hold | Whig hold |
General election 1837: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Whig | Charles Shaw-Lefevre | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Conservative | William Heathcote | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 3,616 | |
| | Whig hold | Whig hold | Whig hold | Whig hold |
| | Conservative gain from Whig | Conservative gain from Whig | Conservative gain from Whig | Conservative gain from Whig |

### Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Heathcote | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Speaker | Charles Shaw-Lefevre | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 3,668 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
| | Speaker gain from Whig | Speaker gain from Whig | Speaker gain from Whig | Speaker gain from Whig | Speaker gain from Whig |
General election 1847: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Heathcote | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Speaker | Charles Shaw-Lefevre | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 3,411 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
| | Speaker hold | Speaker hold | Speaker hold | Speaker hold | Speaker hold |
Heathcote resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.
By-election, 6 April 1849: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Melville Portal | 1,199 | 58.0 | N/A |
| | Conservative | William Shaw | 868 | 42.0 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 331 | 16.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,067 | 62.6 | N/A |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 3,303 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | |

### Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Melville Portal | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Speaker | Charles Shaw-Lefevre | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 3,596 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
| | Speaker hold | Speaker hold | Speaker hold | Speaker hold | Speaker hold |
General election 1857: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Wither Bramston Beach | 1,419 | 38.8 | N/A |
| | Conservative | George Sclater | 1,365 | 37.4 | N/A |
| | Whig | Dudley Carleton, 4th Baron Dorchester | 869 | 23.8 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 496 | 13.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,261 (est) | 71.8 (est) | N/A |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 4,185 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | |
| | Conservative gain from Whig | Conservative gain from Whig | Swing | N/A | |
General election 1859: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Wither Bramston Beach | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Conservative | George Sclater-Booth | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 3,649 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |

### Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Wither Bramston Beach | 1,844 | 36.4 | N/A |
| | Conservative | George Sclater-Booth | 1,724 | 34.1 | N/A |
| | Liberal | Henry St John-Mildmay | 1,493 | 29.5 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 231 | 4.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,277 (est) | 78.3 (est) | N/A |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 4,185 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
General election 1868: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Wither Bramston Beach | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Conservative | George Sclater-Booth | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 5,744 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |

### Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Wither Bramston Beach | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Conservative | George Sclater-Booth | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 6,033 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
Sclater-Booth was appointed President of the Local Government Board, requiring a by-election.
By-election, 14 Mar 1874: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | George Sclater-Booth | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |

### Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: North Hampshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Wither Bramston Beach | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Conservative | George Sclater-Booth | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 5,783 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Conservative hold |

## Sources

* Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 1)
* Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 393. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.