Ashburton was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 of the Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 at Westminster

Palace of Westminster

The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...

, for one Parliament in 1298 and regularly from 1640 until it was abolished for the 1868 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1868

The 1868 United Kingdom general election was the first after passage of the Reform Act 1867, which enfranchised many male householders, thus greatly increasing the number of men who could vote in elections in the United Kingdom...

. It was one of three Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

 borough constituencies newly enfranchised (or re-enfranchised after a gap of centuries) in the Long Parliament

Long Parliament

The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

. It returned two Members of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 until the 1832 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1832

-Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807....

 when the number was reduced to one MP.

From the 1885 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1885

-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...

 Ashburton was revived as a county division of Devon. It returned one member until it was abolished from the 1918 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1918

The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...

.

MPs 1640–1832

Election		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
November 1640 Long Parliament The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...		Sir John Northcote Sir John Northcote, 1st Baronet Sir John Northcote, 1st Baronet , of Hayne in Devon, was an English Member of Parliament.Educated at Exeter College, Oxford and a member of the Inner Temple, Northcote was High Sheriff of Devon in 1627. In late 1640 or early 1641, he entered Parliament for the newly re-established borough of...	Parliamentarian		Sir Edmund Fowell Sir Edmund Fowell, 1st Baronet Sir Edmund Fowell, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1648 and in 1656....	Parliamentarian
December 1648	Northcote and Fowell excluded in Pride's Purge Pride's Purge Pride’s Purge is an event in December 1648, during the Second English Civil War, when troops under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed from the Long Parliament all those who were not supporters of the Grandees in the New Model Army and the Independents...  - both seats vacant
1653	Ashburton was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector...  and the First First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....  and Second Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...  Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659 Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons...		Thomas Reynell Thomas Reynell Thomas Reynell was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1689....			John Fowell Sir John Fowell, 2nd Baronet Sir John Fowell, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1659 and 1677. He fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War....
May 1659 Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....	Not represented in the restored Rump Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....
April 1660		Sir William Courtenay Sir William Courtenay, 1st Baronet Sir William Courtenay, 1st Baronet was an English politician.Courtenay was the son of Francis Courtenay of Powderham Castle and his wife Elizabeth Seymour, daughter of Sir Edward Seymour. He was created a baronet in 1644 but disdained the title and never took out a patent...			John Fowell Sir John Fowell, 2nd Baronet Sir John Fowell, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1659 and 1677. He fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War....
1661		Sir George Sondes George Sondes, 1st Earl of Feversham George Sondes, 1st Earl of Feversham KB was an English peer and member of the House of Lords.-Life:He was born at Lees Court, in the parish of Sheldwich, near Feversham in Kent, the son of Sir Richard Sondes of Throwley, by his wife Susan, daughter of Sir Edward Montagu of Boughton...
1677		William Stawell			Rawlin Mallock
February 1679					Thomas Reynell Thomas Reynell Thomas Reynell was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1689....
September 1679		Richard Duke
1681		William Stawell
1685					Edward Yarde
1689		Sir Walter Yonge Sir Walter Yonge, 3rd Baronet Sir Walter Yonge, 3rd Baronet of Colliton was the father of Sir William Yonge, 4th Baronet and great-grandson of Walter Yonge of Colyton....			Thomas Reynell Thomas Reynell Thomas Reynell was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1689....
1690		William Stawell			Sir Richard Reynell Sir Richard Reynell, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Reynell, 1st Baronet , was an English-born judge who had a distinguished career in Ireland, becoming Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench in Ireland.- Background and early career :...
1695					Richard Duke
1701					Sir Thomas Lear Lear Baronets -Lear of London:The Baronetcy of Lear of London was created in the Baronetage of England on 2 July 1660 for Peter Lear. The baronetcy became extinct upon his death about 1684.-Lear of London :* Sir Peter Lear, 1st Baronet...
1702		Richard Reynell
1705					Gilbert Yarde
January 1708					Roger Tuckfield
May 1708		Robert Balle
1710		Richard Lloyd
March 1711		Richard Reynell			George Courtenay
March 1711					Andrew Quick
1713					Roger Tuckfield
1734		Sir William Yonge	Whig
1735		Thomas Bladen Thomas Bladen Sir Thomas Bladen was a politician and colonial governor. He served as the 19th Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1742 to 1747.-Early life and marriage:...
1739					Joseph Taylor
1741		John Harris John Harris (courtier) John Harris was a British courtier and politician.He was a Member of Parliament for Helston from 1727 and then sat for Ashburton from 1741 to 1767. From 1741 he also held the post of Master of the Household to George II and III....			John Arscott
1754					The Viscount Midleton George Brodrick, 3rd Viscount Midleton George Brodrick, 3rd Viscount Midleton was a British nobleman.-Origins:Brodrick was the first and only surviving son of Alan Brodrick, 2nd Viscount Midleton and Mary Capell, the second daughter of Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex. The Brodricks were an English family that had settled in Ireland...
1761					Hon. Thomas Walpole Thomas Walpole Thomas Walpole , styled from 1756 The Hon. Thomas Walpole, was a British MP and banker in Paris.-Life:Thomas Walpole was born into a political family...
1767		Robert Palk
1768		Laurence Sulivan			Charles Boone Charles Boone Charles Boone was a British governor of the Bombay Presidency during the period of the Honourable East India Company, serving from 1715 to 1722....
1774		Robert Palk
1784					Robert Mackreth
1787		Lawrence Palk
1796		Walter Palk
1802					Sir Hugh Inglis Sir Hugh Inglis, 1st Baronet Sir Hugh Inglis, 1st Baronet was an East Indies merchant and politician.Inglis went to the East Indies in 1762, and returned in 1775. He was chosen as a Director of the East India Company in 1784, where he served as deputy-chairman in 1796 to 1797 and 1799-1800 and chairman in 1797 to 1798 and...
1806					Hon. Gilbert Elliot Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 2nd Earl of Minto Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 2nd Earl of Minto GCB, PC , styled as Viscount Melgund between 1813 and 1814, was a British diplomat and Whig politician.-Background and education:...	Whig
1807					Lord Charles Bentinck
1811		John Sullivan
1812					Richard Preston
1818		Sir Lawrence Vaughan Palk			Sir John Singleton Copley John Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst John Singleton Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst PC KS FRS , was a British lawyer and politician. He was three times Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...	Tory
1826					William Sturges Bourne William Sturges Bourne William Sturges-Bourne PC , known as William Sturges until 1803, was a British Tory politician. He was briefly Home Secretary under George Canning in 1827.-Background and education:...	Tory
1830					Charles Arbuthnot Charles Arbuthnot Charles Arbuthnot was a British diplomat and Tory politician. He was Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire between 1804 and 1807 and held a number of political offices. He was a good friend of the Duke of Wellington...	Tory
February 1831					William Stephen Poyntz William Stephen Poyntz William Stephen Poyntz was an English Whig and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1800 and 1837.Poyntz was the son of William Poyntz and his wife Isabella Courtenay...
May 1831		Robert Torrens Robert Torrens (economist) Colonel Robert Torrens was a Royal Marines officer, political economist, MP, owner of the influential Globe newspaper and prolific writer.Born in Ireland, son of Protestant Robert Torrens of Hervey Hill....
1832 United Kingdom general election, 1832 -Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807....	Representation reduced to one Member

MPs 1632–1868

Election		Member	Party
1832 United Kingdom general election, 1832 -Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807....		William Stephen Poyntz William Stephen Poyntz William Stephen Poyntz was an English Whig and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1800 and 1837.Poyntz was the son of William Poyntz and his wife Isabella Courtenay...	Whig
1835 United Kingdom general election, 1835 The 1835 United Kingdom general election was called when Parliament was dissolved on 29 December 1834. Polling took place between 6 January and 6 February 1835, and the results saw Robert Peel's Conservatives make large gains from their low of the 1832 election, but the Whigs maintained a large...		Charles Lushington	Whig
1841 United Kingdom general election, 1841 -Seats summary:-Whig MPs who lost their seats:*Viscount Morpeth - Chief Secretary for Ireland*Sir George Strickland, Bt*Sir Henry Barron, 1st Baronet-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987...		William Jardine William Jardine (surgeon) William Jardine was a Scottish physician and merchant. He co-founded the Hong Kong conglomerate Jardine, Matheson and Company. From 1841 to 1843, he was Member of Parliament for Ashburton as a Whig....	Whig
1843 by-election		James Sutherland Matheson	Whig
1847 United Kingdom general election, 1847 -Seats summary:-References:* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...		Thomas Matheson	Whig
1852 United Kingdom general election, 1852 The July 1852 United Kingdom general election was a watershed election in the formation of the modern political parties of Britain. Following 1852, the Tory/Conservative party became, more completely, the party of the rural aristocracy, while the Whig/Liberal party became the party of the rising...		George Moffatt George Moffatt (English politician) George Moffatt was a British Liberal Party politician.He was Member of Parliament for Dartmouth 1845–1852, Ashburton 1852–1859, for Honiton 1860–1865, and for Southampton 1865–1868. He was also the owner of Goodrich Court, a neo-gothic castle in Herefordshire.- External...	Whig
1859 United Kingdom general election, 1859 In the 1859 United Kingdom general election, the Whigs, led by Lord Palmerston, held their majority in the House of Commons over the Earl of Derby's Conservatives...		John Harvey Astell	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1865 United Kingdom general election, 1865 The 1865 United Kingdom general election saw the Liberals, led by Lord Palmerston, increase their large majority over the Earl of Derby's Conservatives to more than 80. The Whig Party changed its name to the Liberal Party between the previous election and this one.Palmerston died later in the same...		Robert Jardine Sir Robert Jardine, 1st Baronet Sir Robert Jardine, 1st Baronet was a Scottish businessman and Liberal politicianJardine was born at Edinburgh the son of David Jardine of Muir House, Lockerbie, Dumfries and his wife Rachel Johnstone...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
1868 United Kingdom general election, 1868 The 1868 United Kingdom general election was the first after passage of the Reform Act 1867, which enfranchised many male householders, thus greatly increasing the number of men who could vote in elections in the United Kingdom...	Constituency abolished

Mid or Ashburton division of Devon 1885-1918

Election		Member	Party
1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 -Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...		Charles Seale-Hayne Charles Seale-Hayne Charles Hayne Seale-Hayne PC was a British businessman and Liberal politician. He served as Paymaster-General between 1892 and 1895 in the Liberal administrations of William Ewart Gladstone and the Earl of Rosebery....	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
1904 by-election Ashburton by-election, 1904 The Ashburton by-election, 1904 was a parliamentary by-election held in England on 7 January 1904 to elect a new Member of Parliament for the British House of Commons constituency of Ashburton in Devon.-Vacancy:...		Harry Trelawney Eve Harry Trelawney Eve Rt. Hon Sir Harry Trelawney Eve was an English barrister, judge and Liberal Party politician.-Family and education:...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
1908 by-election Ashburton by-election, 1908 The Ashburton by-election, 1908 was a by-election held in England on 17 January 1908 to elect a new Member of Parliament for the British House of Commons constituency of Ashburton in Devon....		Captain Ernest Fitzroy Morrison-Bell Ernest Fitzroy Morrison-Bell Lieutenant-Colonel Ernest Fitzroy Morrison-Bell, OBE was a British soldier and parliamentarian.Educated at Eton, he joined the 9th Lancers in 1891 and served in the Boer War. He was elected Liberal Unionist party Member of Parliament for Ashburton at a by-election in 1908, lost the seat in the...	Liberal Unionist Liberal Unionist Party The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
January 1910		Charles Roden Buxton Charles Roden Buxton Charles Roden Buxton was an English philanthropist and politician.He was born in London, the third son of Sir Thomas Buxton, 3rd Baronet...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
December 1910		Captain Ernest Fitzroy Morrison-Bell Ernest Fitzroy Morrison-Bell Lieutenant-Colonel Ernest Fitzroy Morrison-Bell, OBE was a British soldier and parliamentarian.Educated at Eton, he joined the 9th Lancers in 1891 and served in the Boer War. He was elected Liberal Unionist party Member of Parliament for Ashburton at a by-election in 1908, lost the seat in the...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1918 United Kingdom general election, 1918 The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...	Constituency abolished

Notes

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