West Cumberlandwas a county constituency in 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...

. It elected 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) 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 of election.

Boundaries

In 1832 the historic county of Cumberland

Cumberland

Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....

, in north west England, was split for parliamentary purposes into two county divisions. These were the East Cumberland

East Cumberland (UK Parliament constituency)

East Cumberland is a former county constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of election.- Boundaries :...

 division (with a place of election at Carlisle) and the West division (where voting took place at Cockermouth

Cockermouth

-History:The Romans created a fort at Derventio, now the adjoining village of Papcastle, to protect the river crossing, which had become located on a major route for troops heading towards Hadrian's Wall....

). Each division returned two members to Parliament.

The parliamentary boroughs included in the West division, between 1832–1885, (whose non-resident 40 shilling freeholders voted in the county constituency) were Cockermouth

Cockermouth (UK Parliament constituency)

Cockermouth was the name of a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England in 1295, and again from 1641, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It was a parliamentary borough represented by two...

 and Whitehaven

Whitehaven (UK Parliament constituency)

Whitehaven was a constituency centred on the town of Whitehaven in Cumberland , which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It was created in 1832 and renamed Copeland at the 1983 general election....

. (Source: Stooks Smith).

History

For most of its existence this was an extremely Conservative division, in sharp contrast to the mostly Liberal inclined East division of the county. Only once, in the last election in 1880, was a Liberal MP elected to one of the two seats.

The county began to industrialise from the 1860s. An Irish community developed in the west of Cumberland particularly at Cleator Moor

Cleator Moor

Cleator Moor is a small town and civil parish in the English county of Cumbria and within the boundaries of the traditional county of Cumberland....

, attracted by the opportunity to find work in the areas developing iron industry. It may be that these economic and demographic developments made the Liberals more competitive by 1880 than they had been earlier in the century.

In 1885 this division was abolished. The East and West Cumberland county divisions were replaced by four new single-member county constituencies. These were Cockermouth

Cockermouth (UK Parliament constituency)

Cockermouth was the name of a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England in 1295, and again from 1641, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It was a parliamentary borough represented by two...

, Egremont

Egremont (UK Parliament constituency)

Egremont was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Egremont in Cumberland. 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.-Boundaries:...

 (the Western division), Eskdale

Eskdale (UK Parliament constituency)

Eskdale was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Eskdale district of north Cumberland not to be confused with the valley of Eskdale in the west of the county...

 (Northern division) and Penrith

Penrith (UK Parliament constituency)

Penrith was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Penrith in Cumberland, 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 system.-History:...

 (Mid division). In addition there were two remaining Cumberland borough constituencies; Carlisle

Carlisle (UK Parliament constituency)

Carlisle is a 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. It was a Labour seat from 1964 until 2010, although the Conservatives came close to victory in the elections in...

 and Whitehaven

Whitehaven (UK Parliament constituency)

Whitehaven was a constituency centred on the town of Whitehaven in Cumberland , which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It was created in 1832 and renamed Copeland at the 1983 general election....

.

Members of Parliament

Election			First member	First party	Second member	Second 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....	Viscount Lowther William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale PC, FRS , styled Viscount Lowther between 1807 and 1844, was a British Tory politician.-Background:...	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...	Edward Stanley	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...
		1833 by-election	Samuel Irton	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...
		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 *...	Henry Lowther Henry Lowther, 3rd Earl of Lonsdale Henry Lowther, 3rd Earl of Lonsdale was a British nobleman and Conservative politician, the eldest son of Henry Cecil Lowther and Lady Lucy Sherard.He married Emily Susan Caulfeild on 31 July 1852. They had six children:...	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...
		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...			Samuel Irton	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...
		1857 United Kingdom general election, 1857 -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. Sir Henry Wyndham Henry Wyndham (1790-1860) General Sir Henry Wyndham KCB was a British Army General and Conservative Party politician. He was Member of Parliament for Cockermouth from 1852 to 1857 and for West Cumberland from 1857 to until his death in 1860....	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...
		1860 by-election			Hon. Percy Wyndham Percy Wyndham (politician) The Honourable Percy Scawen Wyndham DL, JP , was a British soldier, Conservative politician, collector and intellectual...	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...
		1872 by-election	The Lord Muncaster Josslyn Pennington, 5th Baron Muncaster Josslyn Francis Pennington, 5th Baron Muncaster DL JP , was a British soldier and Conservative politician.Muncaster was the third son of Lowther Augustus John Pennington, 3rd Baron Muncaster, and his wife Frances Catherine, daughter of Sir John Ramsden, 4th Baronet. He was a Captain in the Rifle...  a	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 *...	David Ainsworth David Ainsworth David Ainsworth was a British Liberal Party politician. He first elected an Member of Parliament for the West Division of Cumberland at the 1880 general election. He had run unsuccessfully for this position in 1874. In 1885 and 1886 he ran for the Egremont constituency in Parliament, but lost...	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

Note:-

• ^a Muncaster was a Peer of Ireland
  Peerage of Ireland
  The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
  
   until 1898 and therefore eligible to serve in the House of Commons.

Sources

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
• The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844-50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
• Social Geography of British Elections 1885-1910. by Henry Pelling
  Henry Pelling
  Henry Mathison Pelling , was a British historian best known for his works on the history of the British Labour Party, including:*The Origins of the Labour Party and*A Short History of the Labour Party ....
  
  (Macmillan 1967)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)