Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)

Armagh
Armagh
Former county constituency; for the House of Commons
County	County Armagh
1922–1983
Seats	1
Created from	Mid Armagh; North Armagh; South Armagh;
Replaced by	Newry and Armagh; Upper Bann;
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Armagh (IHC)
Replaced by	Mid Armagh; North Armagh; South Armagh;

54°20′53″N 6°39′22″W / 54.348°N 6.656°W / 54.348; -6.656

Armagh or County Armagh is a former county constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. It was a two-member constituency in Ireland from 1801 to 1885 and a single-member constituency in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 1950. It was replaced in boundary changes in 1983.

History and boundaries

County Armagh had been represented by two seats in the Irish House of Commons. From 1 January 1801, when the Acts of Union 1800 came into effect, it was represented by a county constituency with two MPs in the United Kingdom House of Commons. It consisted of County Armagh, except the parts in the parliamentary borough constituencies of Armagh City and Newry. The borough of Charlemont was disfranchised in 1801. The First Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1801 was composed all members of the parliament of Great Britain and members continuing from areas which were enfranchised in Ireland.

Catholics were excluded from taking seats until the enactment of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829. Under the Parliamentary Elections (Ireland) Act 1829, the traditional county 40 shilling freehold landowning qualification was changed to a £10 qualification (which was an increase to five times the previous level). Before the Representation of the People Act 1884, there was a restrictive property-based franchise. It was not until the householder franchise was introduced for county elections, in the electoral reforms which took effect in 1885, that most (but not all) adult males became voters. In these circumstances, most members of parliament came from a limited number of Protestant aristocratic and gentry families. There were few contested elections.

In the first half-century or so after the union, the constituency was fairly evenly balanced between Whig/Liberal and Tory/Conservative parties. Thereafter the area became more Conservative.

In 1885, under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, it was split into Mid Armagh, North Armagh and South Armagh.^[1]

In 1922, following the establishment of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, the number of seats in Northern Ireland at Westminster was cut from 30 to 13 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920.^[2] The single-seat constituency of Armagh consisted of the entirety of County Armagh. From its inception, Armagh had a unionist majority, though by the 1970s the nationalist vote was in the mid-30s%. In 1951, it was one of the last four seats to be uncontested in a UK general election, and in 1954 it saw the last uncontested by-election in the UK. In 1974 the Ulster Unionist Party repudiated the Sunningdale Agreement and so did not reselect the pro-Sunningdale MP, John Maginnis. Instead, they ran Harold McCusker, who held the seat until 1983. He was then elected for Upper Bann, which contained part of Armagh.

In 1983 most of the constituency became part of the Newry and Armagh constituency, with part going to Upper Bann.^[3]

Members of Parliament

Election	1st Member		1st Party		2nd Party
1801		Archibald Acheson	Non-partisan/Tory	Robert Camden Cope	Non-partisan
1802		Archibald Acheson	Non-partisan/Tory	Henry Caulfeild	Whig^[4]
1807		William Brownlow	Tory	William Richardson	Tory^[4]
1815		Henry Caulfeild	Whig^[4]
1818		Charles Brownlow	Whig^[4]
1820				Henry Caulfeild	Whig^[4]
1830				Archibald Acheson	Whig^[4]^[5]
1832		William Verner	Tory^[4]
1834			Conservative^[4]
1847				James Caulfeild	Whig^[6]^[7]
1857				Maxwell Close	Conservative
1864				James Stronge	Conservative
1868		William Verner	Conservative
1873		Edward Wingfield Verner	Conservative
1874		Edward Wingfield Verner	Conservative	Maxwell Close	Conservative
1880		James Richardson	Liberal	Maxwell Close	Conservative
1885	Constituency abolished. See Mid Armagh, North Armagh and South Armagh

Election		Member	Party
1922		Constituency recreated
	1922	Sir William Allen	Ulster Unionist
	1948 by-election	Richard Harden	Ulster Unionist
	1954 by-election	C. W. Armstrong	Ulster Unionist
	1959	John Maginnis	Ulster Unionist
	Feb 1974	Harold McCusker	Ulster Unionist
1983		Constituency abolished

Elections

In two-member elections, the bloc voting system was used. Voters could cast a vote for one or two candidates, as they chose. The two candidates with the largest number of votes were elected.

In by-elections to fill a single seat, the first past the post system applied.

After 1832, when registration of voters was introduced, a turnout figure is given for contested elections. In two-member elections, when the exact number of participating voters is unknown, this is calculated by dividing the number of votes by two. To the extent that voters did not use both their votes this will be an underestimate of turnout. If the electorate figure is unknown the last known electorate figure is used to provide an estimate of turnout.

Where a party had more than one candidate in one or both of a pair of successive elections change is calculated for each individual candidate, otherwise change is based on the party vote.

Elections in the 19th century

Archibald Acheson and Robert Camden Cope were co-opted as non-partisans in 1801.

At the 1802 and 1806 general elections, Archibald Acheson and Henry Caulfeild were elected unopposed.

At the 1807 Armagh by-election, Brownlow was elected unopposed.

At the 1807 general election, Richardson and Brownlow were elected unopposed.

At the 1812 general election, Richardson and William Brownlow were elected unopposed.

At the 1815 Armagh by-election, Henry Caulfeild was elected unopposed.

Elections in the 1810s

General election 10 July 1818: Armagh (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Charles Brownlow	1,839	38.53	*N/A*
	Tory	William Richardson	1,673	35.05	*N/A*
	Whig	Henry Caulfeild	1,261	26.42	New
Majority			412	8.63	N/A
Turnout			4,773		N/A
	Tory hold		Swing
	Tory hold		Swing

Elections in the 1820s

At the 1820 general election, Charles Brownlow and Henry Caulfeild were elected unopposed.

General election 29 June 1826: Armagh (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Caulfeild	2,897	35,84	*N/A*
	Whig	Charles Brownlow	2,563	31.70	*N/A*
	Tory	William Verner	1,894	23.43	New
	Tory	John Ynyr Burgess	730	9.03	New
Majority			669	7.27	N/A
Turnout			8,084		N/A
	Whig hold		Swing
	Whig hold		Swing

Elections in the 1830s

General election 9 August 1830: Armagh (2 seats)^[8]^[4]^[9]
	Candidate	Votes
Whig	Charles Brownlow	Unopposed
Whig	Archibald Acheson	Unopposed
Whig hold
Whig hold

General election 11 May 1831: Armagh (2 seats)^[8]^[4]^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Charles Brownlow	Unopposed
	Whig	Archibald Acheson	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,361
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 19 December 1832: Armagh (2 seats)^[8]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	William Verner	Unopposed
	Whig	Archibald Acheson	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,342
	Tory gain from Whig
	Whig hold

General election 15 January 1835: Armagh (2 seats)^[8]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
	Whig	Archibald Acheson	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,423
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

General election 7 August 1837: Armagh (2 seats)^[8]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
	Whig	Archibald Acheson	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,574
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 9 July 1841: Armagh (2 seats)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
	Whig	Archibald Acheson	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,578
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

General election 9 August 1847: Armagh (2 seats)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
	Whig	James Caulfeild	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,054
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 16 July 1852: Armagh (2 seats)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
	Whig	James Caulfeild	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,341
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

General election 16 April 1857: Armagh (2 seats)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Maxwell Close	940	50.2	*N/A*
	Conservative	William Verner	928	49.5	*N/A*
	Whig	James Caulfeild	6	0.3	N/A
Majority			922	49.2	N/A
Turnout			937 (est)	16.7 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			5,596
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

General election 7 May 1859: Armagh (2 seats)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Maxwell Close	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,805
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

By-election, 23 March 1863: Armagh^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Stronge	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Caused by Close's resignation.

General election, 19 July 1865: Armagh^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	James Stronge	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,721
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election, 21 November 1868: Armagh^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	James Stronge	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Verner	Unopposed
Registered electors			7,443
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

By-election, 15 February 1873: Armagh^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Edward Wingfield Verner	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Conservative hold

Caused by Verner's death.

General election 7 February 1874: Armagh (2 seats)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Wingfield Verner	3,527	40.7	*N/A*
	Conservative	Maxwell Close	3,469	40.0	*N/A*
	Liberal	Frederick William McBlaine	1,673	19.3	New
Majority			1,796	20.7	N/A
Turnout			5,171 (est)	73.4 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			7,044
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 9 April 1880: Armagh (2 seats)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Richardson	2,738	29.0	+9.7
	Conservative	Maxwell Close	2,654	28.1	−11.9
	Conservative	St John Thomas Blacker^[10]	2,275	24.1	N/A
	Conservative	William Verner	1,781	18.9	−21.8
Turnout			4,724 (est)	68.1 (est)	−5.3
Registered electors			6,937
Majority			84	4.0	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+10.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Allen	Unopposed
	UUP hold

General election 1923: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Allen	Unopposed
	UUP hold

General election 1924: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Allen	29,021	71.2	*N/A*
	Sinn Féin	James McKee	11,756	28.8	New
Majority			17,265	42.4	N/A
Turnout			40,777	75.0	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1929: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Allen	29,966	67.4	−3.8
	Ulster Liberal	William Todd	13,052	32.6	New
Majority			13,914	34.8	−7.6
Turnout			40,018	60.2	−14.8
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Allen	Unopposed
	UUP hold

General election 1935: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Allen	34,002	67.6	*N/A*
	Ind. Republican	Charles McGleenan	16,284	32.4	New
Majority			17,718	35.2	N/A
Turnout			50,286	73.3	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

1945 general election: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Allen	Unopposed
	UUP hold

1948 Armagh by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	James Harden	36,200	59.7	*N/A*
	Anti-Partition	James O'Reilly	24,422	40.3	New
Majority			12,314	20.4	N/A
Turnout			60,622		N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes
	UUP	James Harden	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

General election 1951: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes
	UUP	James Harden	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

1954 Armagh by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes
	UUP	C. W. Armstrong	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

General election 1955: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	C. W. Armstrong	38,617	64.4	*N/A*
	Sinn Féin	Tomás Mac Curtain	21,363	35.6	New
Majority			17,254	28.8	N/A
Turnout			59,980	82.7	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1959: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	John Maginnis	40,325	85.5	+21.1
	Sinn Féin	John Lynch	6,823	14.5	−21.1
Majority			33,502	71.0	+42.2
Turnout			47,148	64.2	−18.5
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	John Maginnis	35,223	65.0	−20.5
	Ind. Republican	John Lynch	12,432	23.0	N/A
	NI Labour	Samuel Ewart	6,523	12.0	New
Majority			22,791	42.0	−29.0
Turnout			54,178	73.0	−8.8
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1966: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	John Maginnis	34,687	72.0	+7.0
	Ind. Republican	Charles McGleenan	13,467	28.0	+5.0
Majority			21,220	44.0	+2.0
Turnout			48,154	63.3	−9.7
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	John Maginnis	37,667	55.3	−16.7
	Unity	Hugh Lewis	21,696	31.9	New
	NI Labour	Erskine Holmes	8,781	12.9	New
Majority			15,971	23.4	−20.6
Turnout			68,144	78.4	+15.1
	UUP hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Harold McCusker	33,194	53.7	−1.6
	SDLP	Paddy O'Hanlon	18,090	29.3	New
	Alliance	Robin Glendinning	4,983	8.1	New
	Republican Clubs	Thomas Moore	4,129	6.7	New
	Unity	Hugh Lewis	1,364	2.2	−29.7
Majority			15,104	24.4	+1.0
Turnout			61,760	68.4	−10.0
	UUP hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Harold McCusker	37,518	60.0	+6.3
	SDLP	Seamus Mallon	19,855	31.8	+2.5
	Republican Clubs	Malachy McGurran	5,138	8.2	+1.5
Majority			17,663	28.2	+3.8
Turnout			62,511	68.6	+0.2
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1979: Armagh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Harold McCusker	31,668	48.5	−11.5
	SDLP	Seamus Mallon	23,545	36.1	+4.3
	DUP	Davy Calvert	5,634	8.6	New
	Republican Clubs	Thomas Moore	2,310	3.5	−4.7
	Alliance	William Ramsay	2,074	3.2	New
Majority			8,123	12.4	−15.8
Turnout			65,231	70.1	+1.5
	UUP hold		Swing

References

Stooks Smith, Henry (1973) [1844–50]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Political Reference Publications.
Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Royal Irish Academy. pp. 196–197, 250–251.
Walker, Brian M., ed. (1992). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1918–92: Irish elections to parliaments and parliamentary assemblies at Westminster, Belfast, Dublin, Strabourg. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714968. ISSN 0332-0286.
Stenton, M., ed. (1976). Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume I 1832–1885. The Harvester Press.
Elliott, Sydney, ed. (1973). Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results 1921–1972. Political Reference Publications.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 2)

Citations

^ Sixth Schedule, Seventh Part III Ireland, "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, 48 & 49 Vict. C. 23". The public general acts. Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. p. 184.
^ "Government of Ireland Act 1920: Fifth Schedule". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
^ Schedule (a) County constituencies, "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 1982 (No. 1838)" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 22 December 1982. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 214–215. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via Google Books.
^ Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. p. 10. Retrieved 18 August 2019 – via Google Books.
^ "Newry Telegraph". 24 August 1847. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Armagh (County)". Evening Mail. 12 July 1852. p. 2. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
^ ^a ^b Farrell, Stephen. "Co. Armagh". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^ "The Representation of Co. Armagh". Dublin Daily Express. 5 April 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 18 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[1] Sixth Schedule, Seventh Part III Ireland, "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, 48 & 49 Vict. C. 23". The public general acts. Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. p. 184.

[2] "Government of Ireland Act 1920: Fifth Schedule". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2023.

[3] Schedule (a) County constituencies, "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 1982 (No. 1838)" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 22 December 1982. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2024.

[stookssmith1842-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 214–215. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via Google Books.

[5] Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer. p. 10. Retrieved 18 August 2019 – via Google Books.

[6] "Newry Telegraph". 24 August 1847. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[7] "Armagh (County)". Evening Mail. 12 July 1852. p. 2. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[walker-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.

[hop1820-1832-9] Farrell, Stephen. "Co. Armagh". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.

[10] "The Representation of Co. Armagh". Dublin Daily Express. 5 April 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 18 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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