Victoria County History of Gloucestershire
Vol XVI – Cirencester & District
Parliamentary Representation 1825-1945
Lord Apsley and Joseph Cripps were returned unopposed in 1826, 1830, 1831 and
1832.1 In 1831 Cripps was challenged by the numerous local Quakers for not having
supported the Reform Bill in its entirety, but promised to do so in future.2 Later in
the year, a public meeting was held which agreed to send a petition to the King
expressing regret at the rejection of the Reform Bill.3 Over 75% of adult males in
Cirencester had the right to vote before the Great Reform Act.4 It was predicted that
the Act would reduce the number of men eligible to vote from 573 (the number of
voters polled in the previous contested election of 1812) to 261, due to the
introduction of the £10 franchise.5 The steward and bailiff estimated that in 1831
there were at least 700 men in Cirencester with the right to vote.6 There was still
uncertainty about the exact boundaries of the borough in 1832. Recommendation
was made to the Home Department that the electoral boundary needed extending,
chiefly to the area south-east of the borough where recent building had taken place.
An alternative suggestion was made that the borough boundary be made the same as
the parish boundary, which was enacted.7 Cirencester was also part of the newly
formed county constituency of the Eastern division of Gloucestershire and was one of
seven polling places.8
After the death of Earl Bathurst in 1834, Lord Apsley was elevated to the peerage and
his seat was taken by the Waterloo veteran Lord Edward Somerset, who had
previously represented the County.9 He was returned unopposed.10 The 1835 election
saw the Tory candidates and sitting MPs, Joseph Cripps and Lord Somerset, easily
returned. The Whig candidate Thomas Denman Whatley polled only 91 votes.11
Joseph Cripps and Thomas William Chester-Master were returned unopposed in the
last general election to be occasioned by the death of a monarch in 1837.12 In 1841
Chester-Master was returned unopposed again, but Joseph Cripps resigned.13 He was
replaced by his son William Cripps, who emphasised his local connections in his
1
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 13 July 1826; London Courier and Evening Gazette, 2 August
1830; Western Times, 14 May 1831; GA D10820/E4-3-a, D10820/E4-3-b; Bell’s New Weekly
Messenger, 9 December 1832; Cheltenham Chronicle, 18 December 1832; W.R. Williams, The
Parliamentary History of the County of Gloucester (Hereford, 1898), 173; T. Jenkins, ‘Cirencester’ in
D.R. Fisher (ed.), Hist. Parl. Commons 1820-1832 (2009), accessed at
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/constituencies/cirencester.
2 Western Times, 14 May 1831.
3 Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 20 Oct. 1831.
4 F. O’Gorman, Voters, Patrons, and Parties: The Unreformed Electoral System of Hanoverian
England 1734–1832 (Oxford, 1989), 181.
5 Yorkshire Gazette, 30 Apr. 1831.
6 Parliamentary representation: voters polled and number of freemen (Parl. Papers 1831–32 (112)
(209), xxxvi), p.514.
7 Parliamentary representation. Further return to an address to His Majesty, dated 12 December
1831
(Parl. Papers 1831–32 (141), xxxviii), p.189.
8 The Present and Last Parliaments, Containing the Result of the Various Polls (London, 1833), 38.
9 Williams, Parl. Hist. of Glos., 69–70.
10 Gloucestershire Chronicle, 9 Aug. 1834.
11 Gloucestershire Chronicle, 10 Jan. 1835.
12 GA D10820/E4-3-d.
13 GA D10820/E4-3-e.
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Victoria County History of Gloucestershire
Vol XVI – Cirencester & District
campaign posters.14 Chester-Master resigned his seat in 1844 and was replaced by
George Augustus Frederick Villiers, Viscount Villiers, who was returned unopposed.15
William Cripps was re-elected after obtaining office in 1845, causing one newspaper
to criticize the ‘political subservience’ of the town.16 William Cripps died in 1848 and
was replaced by Joseph Randolph Mullings, who won by a majority of 132 against
Hon. Charles Ponsonby, prompting a description of the town’s ‘Romanistic
opposition to change’.17
The 1852 election saw Mullings elected again.18 The initial count put the Liberal
Ashley George John Ponsonby (brother of Charles) four votes ahead of Lord Villiers,
although there were allegations of several invalid votes for Ponsonby.19 A petition
alleging bribery and treating during the election was heard by a committee of the
House of Commons but was withdrawn and Ponsonby was elected.20 Ponsonby’s
expenses on defeat of the petition amounted to £65 6s. 5d.21 Allen Alexander
Bathurst stood in 1857 and was returned along with Joseph Mullings, who beat
Ponsonby in to third place by a majority of 12.22 The announcement caused a great
deal of excitement, which almost turned into a serious disturbance.23 Ponsonby
regained his seat in 1859 by a majority of just eight, over the Conservative Brent
Spencer Follett. Allen Bathurst topped the poll once again.24 Following the election of
1859, an innkeeper named Clarke was accused of abducting and drugging one John
Glover to prevent him voting, and found guilty of assaulting Admiral Talbot and
fined 50s. Another charge was then brought claiming that the assault, which took
place near the train station, was an attempt to prevent the Admiral from voting.25
Several servants of Henry Pole (who was himself acquitted) were also found guilty of
drugging and abducting another voter, John Kibblewhite, who nevertheless managed
to cast his ballot.26 Clarke was prosecuted by Conservative agents, whilst the servants
were prosecuted by the Liberals.27 However, the prosecutions were eventually settled
amicably.28
Showing that political activity related to parliamentary elections continued outside
periods of polling, in 1863, Thomas Smith, a grocer in Castle Street, handed out a
Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette, 1 July 1841; GA D674b/F36.
Cheltenham Chronicle, 1 Aug. 1844; Williams, Parl. Hist. of Glos., 173–4.
16 Gloucester Journal, 16 Aug. 1845.
17 GA D1388/box96602/5, The Poll Book. Cirencester Borough Election, May 24th 1848
(Cirencester); Gloucester Journal, 27 May 1848; GA D10820/E4-3-f, Argus, A Glimpse at Cirencester
Politics; or, the Late Election Detailed and Considered (Cirencester, 1848), 1.
18 GA D1388/box96602/5, The Poll Book of the Election for the Borough of Cirencester, 1852
(Cirencester, 1852); GA D10820/E4-3-g.
19 Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette, 8 July 1852.
20 GA D10820/E4-3-g, Supplement to the Wilts and Glo’stershire Standard, 12 Mar. 1853; Gloucester
Journal, 19 Mar. 1853.
21 GA D181/BOX96602/4.
22 GA D1388/box96602/5, A Classified Poll Book of the Election for the Borough of Cirencester, 1857
(Cirencester); Wilts and Glo’stershire Standard, 28 Mar. 1857; GA D10820/E4-3-j.
23 Cheltenham Chronicle, 31 Mar. 1857.
24 GA D1388/box96602/5, The Classified Poll Book of the Election for the Borough of Cirencester,
1859 (Cirencester); Western Daily Press, 2 May 1859; GA D10820/E4-3-k.
25 GA D1388/box9408/3.
26 GA D1388/box9408/4 and /5.
27 Gloucester Journal, 20 Aug. 1859.
28 Swindon Advertiser and North Wilts Chronicle, 2 Apr. 1860.
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Victoria County History of Gloucestershire
Vol XVI – Cirencester & District
number of slips of paper objecting to the qualification of other voters and gave
duplicates to the overseers.29 Bathurst was again returned in 1865 alongside Ralph
Dutton, with the Liberal candidate Sir Julian Goldsmid coming third.30 An analysis
of voters suggested that if they had voted with their known party preferences from
1859, even giving those with unknown preference to the Conservatives, Goldsmid
would have won by nine votes.31 Following riots during the 1865 election, several
men were convicted of assault or wilful damage.32 Local magistrates awarded
compensation, payable by the Hundred, to those people who had their windows
broken by ‘the mob’ during election rioting.33
The number of men entitled to vote in 1865-6 was 416.34 There were also still 48 men
with ancient voting rights, their qualification dating from before 1832.35 Following
the Reform Act of 1867, Cirencester borough was represented by a single MP.36 The
franchise was enlarged in 1867 to 1,128 voters, although there were 1,076 voters on
the register in 1868 including 31 men still with ancient voting rights.37 Bathurst was
returned as the sole representative in 1868, defeating the Liberal candidate Frederick
Andrew Inderwick with a majority of 345.38 In 1874 Bathurst was returned
unopposed.39 Another election was sparked by the elevation of a Bathurst to the
peerage in 1878. Captain Thomas William Chester Master II was opposed by Ashley
Ponsonby. This was the first election in Cirencester since the Secret Ballot Act of
1872 and reportedly showed a marked contrast to previous years of ‘mob law’. There
were some fights, ‘but the melêes were of a harmless character’.40 Conservative
dominance of the borough continued as Chester Master was returned with a majority
of 351, and a turnout of 1,045 of 1,128 potential voters.41 However, there were
subsequent complaints that the aggressive solicitation of votes was still taking place,
which was not considered within the spirit of a secret ballot.42 Chester Master was
returned again unopposed in 1880.43 Cirencester had 1,138 electors on the register in
1861 census; GA D181/BOX96602/7.
Colesbourne Park Cripps papers, The Poll Book of the Cirencester Borough Election, 1865
(Cirencester); Cheltenham Looker-On, 15 July 1865; GA D10820/E4-3-l.
31 GA D181/BOX96602/8, ‘Cirencester Borough. Explanation of the contest in 1865.’
32 Gloucester Journal, 22 July 1865.
33 Gloucester Journal, 19 Aug. 1865.
34 Inhabited houses (voters) (Parl. Papers 1867 (120), lvi), p.338.
35 Parliamentary boroughs. Return showing population within limits of each parliamentary
borough; number of 10l. voters and of freemen, and total number of voters on register of each
borough; number of male occupiers at a 7l. rental, at a 6l. rental, and at a 5l. rental for each
borough; population of each borough within municipal limits, and number of householders on
municipal register of each borough (Parl. Papers 1867
(121), lvi), p.445
36 Representation of the people. A bill [as amended in committee and on consideration of bill as
amended] further to amend the laws relating to the representation of the people in England and
Wales. (1867), 20.
37 Gloucester Journal, 9 Mar. 1878; GA D1388/box9408/7, The Poll Book of the Election for the
Borough of Cirencester, 1868 (Cirencester).
38 Gloucester Journal, 21 Nov. 1868; GA D10820/E4-3-m.
39 Gloucester Journal, 7 Feb. 1874.
40 Gloucester Citizen, 13 Mar. 1878; Gloucester Journal, 9 March 1878.
41 GA D1388/box9408/8; D10820/E4-3-o.
42 Gloucester Citizen, 27 Mar. 1878.
43 Western Times, 31 Mar. 1880.
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Vol XVI – Cirencester & District
1884.44 In 1885 the parliamentary borough of Cirencester was abolished and
Cirencester became part of the county constituency of Gloucestershire East or
Cirencester Division, which contained 127 parishes and stretched over 60 miles.45
In the general election of 1885, the Liberal candidate Arthur Brend Winterbotham
defeated J.E. Dorington by 747 votes and was then returned unopposed as a Liberal
Unionist in the election of 1886.46 In the general election of July 1892,
Winterbotham defeated Chester Master, now a Colonel, by 153 votes.47
Winterbotham died two months later and a by-election was called for the Cirencester
Division contested by Colonel Chester Master for the Unionists and Harry Lawson
for the Liberals, previously MP for West St Pancras.48 The contrasting backgrounds
of ‘Cotswold man’ versus ‘Cockney’ and their defence of rural and working class
interests respectively were emphasised during the campaign.49 The October election
had the added confusion of being just after the mop fair, so that domestic servants
with new positions had to be tracked down by the election agents and got out to vote,
which the Liberals thought was to their great detriment.50 Following Colonel Chester
Master’s spend of nearly £1400 to Lawson’s of just over £1500, Chester Master won
by a majority of three.51 Lawson appealed to the High Court against the result, with
the approbation of the Central Liberal Federation.52 He alleged a miscount, bribery
and voting by aliens, amongst other irregularities.53 Lawson agreed to drop his
various charges, although whether he did so at the behest of the Conservatives
became a source of great contention.54 He consented to the more limited measure of
a recount and scrutiny of ballots, which found that with the inclusion of a tendered
ballot for Lawson, the candidates were tied.55 Lawson triumphed in a second poll in
1893 with a majority of 242, during which there was a small disturbance in
Watermoor.56 He then lost the seat to Allen Benjamin Bathurst in 1895, who won
with a majority of 215.57 Bathurst was returned unopposed in 1900, as he was
engaged with the militia in St Helena.58
Parliamentary constituencies (number of electors). Return showing, with respect to each
parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, the total number of electors on the register now
in force (Parl. Papers 1884 (11), lxii), p.215.
45 Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885 (constituencies). Return, showing the present county and
borough constituencies in each county in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and also the
constituencies as constituted by & the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885 & with the number of
members and the population, according to the census of 1881, in each case (Parl. Papers 1884–85
(215), lxii), p.277.
46 Western Gazette, 21 Oct. 1892; Williams, Parl. Hist. of Glos., 80.
47 Western Gazette, 21 Oct. 1892.
48 Western Daily Press, 16 Sept. 1892; GA D10820/E4-3-q.
49 Gloucestershire Echo, 20 Sept. 1892; Colesbourne Park Cripps papers, ‘Vote for Chester Master’,
(1892, Cirencester); ‘Mr Lawson’s Parliamentary Record’ (1892, Stroud).
50 Western Times, 11 October 1892; Gloucester Citizen, 18 October 1892.
51 Cheltenham Chronicle, 3 Dec. 1892.
52 Gloucester Citizen, 28 Oct. 1892.
53 Gloucester Citizen, 8 Nov. 1892.
54 Colesbourne Park Cripps papers, ’The truth about the petition’ (Cirencester, 1893).
55 Western Daily Press, 14 Feb. 1893; Western Gazette, 23 Dec. 1892; Gloucester Citizen, 6 Feb. 1893
and 28 Feb. 1893. Extensive papers relating to the recount can be found at GA D1388/box9408/10.
56 Western Times, 24 Feb. 1893.
57 GA D10820/E4-3-r; Gloucestershire Echo, 18 Jan. 1906.
58 Gloucestershire Echo, 18 Jan. 1906.
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Vol XVI – Cirencester & District
In 1906 the Cirencester Division was contested by Allen Benjamin Bathurst for the
Conservatives and Richard Walter Essex for the Liberals.59 The Division was
particularly large, hilly and spread out, which made it ‘a constituency in which the
motor-car is pre-eminently valuable.’ It was a difficult place to campaign in winter,
as experienced by Allen Bathurst and Richard Essex in January 1910.60 Bathurst won
with a majority of 983.61 In December 1910 Bathurst again won the seat with a
majority of 781 over Gilbert H. Beyfus.62 Bathurst decided not to stand in 1913 due to
his business commitments. For the next general election, the Liberals selected Cyril
Winterbotham for their candidate while the Conservatives selected Frederick Cripps
of Cirencester, but the election did not go ahead in 1914 due to the onset of the First
World War.63
In 1918 the Cirencester Division of Gloucestershire, with a population of 70,995, was
abolished.64 It was replaced by the new constituency of Cirencester and Tewkesbury,
which remained resolutely Conservative in the years to 1945.65 Thomas Davies was
first elected in 1918 with a majority of 2,625 over the Agricultural and Labour
candidate J.H. Alpass.66 In adverts for his election meetings, one in Cirencester Corn
Hall, Alpass recognised the new makeup of the electorate, following the
enfranchisement of women over 30 a month before, by adding ‘ladies especially
invited’.67 Davies addressed a meeting of women in Apsley Hall, Cirencester.68 The
count for the Cirencester and Tewkesbury constituency in 1922 was held in
Cirencester Town Hall, with a predominantly female crowd in the marketplace.
Davies beat the Labour candidate William R. Robins, employee at the GWR works at
Swindon, by a margin of 7,268 votes and won again in 1923 with a slightly increased
majority.69 Alpass returned as Labour candidate in 1924, but Davies won with a large
majority of 11,123.70 Davies decided to retire due to ill health at the next general
election in 1927.71
William Morrison was MP for the area from 1929 to 1951. He won an easy victory in
1929 with a majority of more than 10,000 over his Liberal opponent, when a Socialist
Gloucestershire Echo, 18 Jan. 1906; GA D10820/E4-3-s.
Gloucestershire Echo, 25 Jan. 1910.
61 Gloucestershire Echo, 27 Jan. 1910; GA D10820/E4-4-a.
62 Gloucestershire Chronicle, 10 Dec. 1910; GA D10820/E4-4-b.
63 Gloucester Journal, 18 and 25 Oct. 1913.
64 Representation of the People Bill, 1917. Redistribution of seats. Report of the Boundary
Commission (England & Wales). Volume II. Schedule (part I) containing statements showing the
determinations of the commissioners in regard to counties and undivided parliamentary boroughs
in England and Wales (excluding London), (Parl. Papers 1917–18 [Cd. 8757], xiii), p.80.
65 Representation of the people. A bill [as amended in committee] to amend the law with respect to
parliamentary and local government franchises, and the registration of parliamentary and local
government electors, and the conducts of elections, and to provide for the redistribution of seats at
parliamentary elections, and for other purposes connected therewith (Parl. Papers 1917–18 (99), ii),
p.521.
66 Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 30 Dec. 1918.
67 Gloucestershire Echo, 3 Dec. 1918
68 GA D10820/E4-4-e, North Wilts. Herald, 14 Dec. 1918.
69 GA D10820/E4-4-f; Cheltenham Chronicle, 9 July 1921 and 18 Nov. 1922; GA D10820/E4-4-g;
Gloucester Journal, 15 Dec. 1923.
70 GA D10820/E4-4-h; Cheltenham Chronicle, 1 Nov. 1924.
71 Gloucester Citizen, 8 Oct. 1927.
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candidate was in third place.72 With only a Labour candidate, John Griffin, standing
against him in 1931, Morrison won as a Conservative and National candidate with a
record majority of 22,302.73 Morrison was returned unopposed in 1935 and made
Financial Secretary to the Treasury.74 In his first election contest for fourteen years,
Morrison won again in 1945 with a majority of 7,110 over Socialist candidate A.E.
Hawkins, who beat the Liberal into third.75
GA D10820/E4-4-i.
GA D10820/E4-4-j; Cheltenham Chronicle, 31 Oct. 1931.
74 Gloucester Journal, 28 Dec. 1935.
75 Western Mail, 27 July 1945.
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