Southern West Riding of Yorkshire was a parliamentary constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

 covering part of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire

West Riding of Yorkshire

The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...

. 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,...

 (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

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...

, elected by the bloc vote

Plurality-at-large voting

Plurality-at-large voting is a non-proportional voting system for electing several representatives from a single multimember electoral district using a series of check boxes and tallying votes similar to a plurality election...

 system.

History

The constituency was created when the two-member West Riding of Yorkshire constituency

West Riding of Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency)

West Riding of Yorkshire was a parliamentary constituency in England from 1832 to 1865. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Boundaries and History:...

 was divided for the 1865 general election

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...

 into two new constituencies, each returning two members: Northern West Riding of Yorkshire

Northern West Riding of Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Northern West Riding of Yorkshire was a parliamentary constituency covering part of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.- History :The constituency was created...

 and Southern West Riding of Yorkshire. The extra seats were taken from parliamentary borough

Parliamentary borough

Parliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament...

s which had been disenfranchised for corruption.

In the redistribution which took effect 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...

 the two divisions were redistributed into three. Eastern West Riding of Yorkshire

Eastern West Riding of Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Eastern West Riding of Yorkshire was a parliamentary constituency covering part of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.- History :The constituency was created...

 was created and the Northern and Southern divisions modified. Each of the three divisions returned two members.

All three were abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...

 for 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:...

. The Southern division was replaced by eight new single-member constituencies: Barnsley

Barnsley (UK Parliament constituency)

Barnsley was a Parliamentary constituency covering the town of Barnsley in England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.-History:...

, Colne Valley

Colne Valley (UK Parliament constituency)

Colne Valley is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. In the post-war period the seat had the distinction of being one of the few Labour/Liberal marginals,...

, Doncaster

Doncaster (UK Parliament constituency)

Doncaster was a Parliamentary constituency covering the town of Doncaster in England. The constituency was created in 1885 and abolished in 1983.- Boundaries :...

, Hallamshire, Holmfirth

Holmfirth (UK Parliament constituency)

Holmfirth was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Holmfirth in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, MP elected by the first past the post system....

, Morley

Morley (UK Parliament constituency)

Morley was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Morley in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system....

, Normanton  and Rotherham

Rotherham (UK Parliament constituency)

Rotherham is a borough constituency covering the town of Rotherham in South Yorkshire. It returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....

.

Boundaries

The place of election was at Wakefield.

From 1865 to 1868 the constituency comprised the south half of the West Riding of Yorkshire.
The Reform Act 1867

Reform Act 1867

The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised the urban male working class in England and Wales....

, as amended by the Boundary Act 1868, re-defined the constituency (as it existed between 1868 and 1885) as the wapentakes of Agbrigg

Agbrigg

Agbrigg is a village in West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the metropolitan district of the City of Wakefield....

, Strafforth and Tickhill

Strafforth and Tickhill

Strafforth and Tickhill, originally known as Strafforth, was the southernmost wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The west of the district, plus a detached area in the east, constituted the Upper Division, while the central area and a detached part in the extreme east constituted...

 and Staincross

Staincross (wapentake)

Staincross was a wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The district was named for the village of Staincross and also included the parishes of Felkirk, High Hoyland, Penistone, Royston, Silkstone and Tankersley and parts of Darfield and Wragby.The original meeting place of the wapentake is...

.

Members of Parliament

Election	|2nd Member	2nd Party
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...		Viscount Milton William Wentworth-FitzWilliam, Viscount Milton William Wentworth Fitzwilliam, Viscount Milton was a British politician and explorer.Milton was the eldest son of William Wentworth-FitzWilliam, 6th Earl FitzWilliam, and his wife Lady Frances Harriet, daughter of George Douglas, 17th Earl of Morton, and was educated at Eton and Trinity College,...	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...		Henry Beaumont	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...
1872		Walter Spencer-Stanhope Walter Spencer-Stanhope (1827–1911) Sir Walter Thomas William Spencer-Stanhope , was a British Conservative politician.-Background:Spencer-Stanhope was the eldest son of John Spencer-Stanhope and grandson of Walter Spencer-Stanhope . His mother was Lady Elizabeth Wilhelmina, daughter of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester...	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...
1874 United Kingdom general election, 1874 -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 *...					Lewis Randle Starkey Lewis Randle Starkey Lewis Randle Starkey was a British Conservative politician.He was the eldest son of John Starkey of Spring Lodge, Huddersfield and his wife, Sarah Anne, daughter of Joseph Armitage, a millowner of Milnsbridge, Yorkshire....	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...
1880 United Kingdom general election, 1880 -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 *...		Hon. Henry Wentworth-Fitzwilliam Henry Wentworth-FitzWilliam The Hon. William Henry Wentworth-FitzWilliam , was a British Liberal, and later Liberal Unionist politician.-Background:...	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...		William Henry Leatham William Henry Leatham William Henry Leatham was a British banker, poet and Liberal politician.He was a member of a Yorkshire Quaker family. His father was William Leatham, a banker from Heath, near Wakefield and his mother was Margaret née Walker of Leeds.Leatham entered banking, working in Wakefield, Pontefract and...	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...
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:...	constituency abolished: see Barnsley Barnsley (UK Parliament constituency) Barnsley was a Parliamentary constituency covering the town of Barnsley in England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.-History:... , Colne Valley Colne Valley (UK Parliament constituency) Colne Valley is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. In the post-war period the seat had the distinction of being one of the few Labour/Liberal marginals,... , Doncaster Doncaster (UK Parliament constituency) Doncaster was a Parliamentary constituency covering the town of Doncaster in England. The constituency was created in 1885 and abolished in 1983.- Boundaries :... , Hallamshire, Holmfirth Holmfirth (UK Parliament constituency) Holmfirth was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Holmfirth in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, MP elected by the first past the post system.... , Morley Morley (UK Parliament constituency) Morley was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Morley in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.... , Normanton  and Rotherham Rotherham (UK Parliament constituency) Rotherham is a borough constituency covering the town of Rotherham in South Yorkshire. It returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....

Election results

At the Southern West Riding of Yorkshire by-election, 1872, Walter Thomas William Spencer Stanhope was elected unopposed.