Truro (UK Parliament constituency)

Truro
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Cornwall
Major settlements	Truro, St Austell
1950–1997
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Truro & St Austell
Created from	Penryn and Falmouth
1885–1918
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	County constituency
Replaced by	Penryn and Falmouth, St Ives and Camborne
Created from	Helston, Truro and West Cornwall
1295–1885
Number of members	Two
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Replaced by	Truro

Truro was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall represented in the House of Commons of England and later of Great Britain from 1295 until 1800, then in the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918 and finally from 1950 to 1997. Until 1885 it was a parliamentary borough, electing two members of parliament (MPs) by the plurality-at-large system of election; the name was then transferred to the surrounding county constituency, which elected a single Member by the first past the post system. In 1997, although there had been no changes to its boundaries, it was renamed as Truro and St Austell, reflecting the fact that St Austell by then had a larger population than Truro.

Boundaries

1295–1885: The parliamentary borough before 1832 consisted of only part of the town (not yet a city) of Truro. It was extended by the Great Reform Act of 1832 to contain the whole town, namely St Mary parish and parts of the parishes of St Kenwyn and St Clement, but nothing beyond that.

The Truro constituency as it existed 1983–1997, shown within Cornwall

1885–1918: The county division took in a considerable area of South-West Cornwall, including (as well as Truro itself) the town of Helston. Also, in the towns of Falmouth and Penryn, which together constituted a borough constituency adjoining Truro, the freeholders could vote in the Truro division. This constituency was abolished in 1918, being divided between the new or revised Penryn and Falmouth, St Ives and Camborne county constituencies.

1950–1997: The new county constituency, different from the previous one, consisted of the borough of Truro, St Austell Urban District and part of Truro and St Austell rural districts. There were minor changes in 1974, and more substantrial ones in 1983 when the area round Fowey was transferred to South East Cornwall. After the local government re-organisation of the 1970s this area was within the new district of Carrick (which contains the city of Truro) and borough of Restormel (which contains St Austell).

History

The constituency has existed in a number of different forms. The constituency of Truro, up until 1885 elected two members to parliament; this was reduced to one. In 1918 the constituency was abolished but it was recreated again in 1950.

The seat became a safe Lib Dem bet thanks to the popularity and eloquence of its former MP, David Penhaligon. His death in a car crash, aged only 42, robbed the House of Commons of one of its most independent-minded and pragmatic members. His successor, Matthew Taylor, held the seat comfortably from a by-election in 1987, and remained its MP after the name change in 1997.

Members of Parliament

Truro Parliamentary borough

MPs 1295–1629

• Constituency created (1295)

Parliament	First member	Second member
1358	John Hamely[1]
1386	John Tregoose	Robert Clerk[2]
1388 (Feb)	Henry Gourlyn	John Tremayne[2]
1388 (Sep)	John Tr...uran	John Trebernet[2]
1390 (Jan)	John Coke	Walter Bloyowe[2]
1390 (Nov)
1391	John Urban	Roger Juyl[2]
1393	Ralph Trenewith I	Walter Bloyowe[2]
1394
1395	Richard Respryn	Andrew Borlase[2]
1397 (Jan)	John Trereise	John Megre[2]
1397 (Sep)	Nicholas Trenewith	John Lawhire[2]
1399	Richard Carhorta	Pascoe Polruddan[2]
1401
1402	Ralph Kayl	John Trereise[2]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	Ralph Cardrewe	Thomas Brunsham[2]
1407
1410
1411	Thomas Paderda	William Colyn[2]
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	John Chinals	William Chamberlain[2]
1414 (Apr)
1414 (Nov)	John Trereise	William Trethake I[2]
1415
1416 (Mar)	Peter Hayme	William Moun[2]
1416 (Oct)
1417	John Megre	Andrew Hirnans[2]
1419	John Trewint	John Langedon[2]
1420	William Panter	Robert Trenerth[2]
1421 (May)	William Trethake II	William Richard[2]
1421 (Dec)	Robert Treage	William Richard[2]
1422	John But
1425	John But
1510–1523	No names known
1529	Roger Corbet	John Thomas
1536	?Roger Corbet	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	Francis Smith	Robert Trencreke
1547	Robert Trencreke	Nicholas Randall
First Parliament of 1553	Nicholas Randall	Thomas Roydon
Second Parliament of 1553		John Methnes[3]
Parliament of 1554	William Iseham	Thomas Duppa
Parliament of 1554–1555	John Melhuish	Thomas Roydon
Parliament of 1555	Nicholas Randall	Thomas Randall[4]
Parliament of 1558		Thomas Roydon
Parliament of 1563–1567	John Carminow	John Mitchell[5]
Parliament of 1571	Henry Killigrew	Vincent Skinner
Parliament of 1572–1581		Oliver Carminow
Parliament of 1584–1585	Edward Darcy	Michael Hicks
Parliament of 1586–1587	John Stanhope	Roland Lytton
Parliament of 1588–1589	Hannibal Vyvyan	John Woolton
Parliament of 1593	John Parker	Nicholas Smith
Parliament of 1597–1598	Maurice Berkeley	Reade Stafford
Parliament of 1601	William Daniel	Thomas Harris
Parliament of 1604–1611	Henry Cossen	Thomas Burgess
Addled Parliament (1614)	Thomas Russell	Thomas Burgess, junior
Parliament of 1621–1622	Barnaby Gough, sat for Cambridge Univ. and replaced by Sir John Catcher[6]	John Trefusis[7]
Happy Parliament (1624)	Richard Daniel	Thomas Burgess
Useless Parliament (1625)	William Rous	Henry Rolle
Parliament of 1626	Francis Rous
Parliament of 1628	Richard Daniel
No Parliament summoned 1629–1640

MPs 1640–1885

Election	1st Member[8]		1st Party	2nd Member[8]		2nd Party
April 1640		Francis Rous	Parliamentarian		John Rolle	Parliamentarian
November 1640
November 1648				Rolle died – seat left vacant
1653	Truro was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		Francis Rous		Truro had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656		Walter Vincent
January 1659					Charles Boscawen
May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Walter Vincent			Edward Boscawen
1661		Nicholas Arundell
1666		John Arundell
1679		William Boscawen
1681		Henry Ashurst
1685		John Arundell			Henry Vincent
1689		Sir Henry Ashurst, Bt
1690		John Cloberry
1695		Hugh Fortescue	Whig
March 1701		Sir John Hawles	Whig
December 1701		Sir William Scawen sat for Grampound
February 1702		Sir Robert Cotton	Tory
July 1702		Thomas Powys
November 1702		Sir Philip Meadowes
May 1705		Hugh Boscawen	Whig
November 1705		Peregrine Bertie	Whig
May 1708		James Brydges[9]
December 1708		Robert Furnese	Whig
1710		Hugh Boscawen	Whig
1713		Thomas Hare			William Collier
1715		John Selwyn			Spencer Cowper	Whig
1721		Thomas Wyndham
1727		Hugh Boscawen			Sidney Meadows
1734		Kelland Courtenay			Robert Trefusis
1741		Charles Hamilton			James Hammond
1742					Admiral the Hon. Edward Boscawen	Tory
1747		Hon. John Boscawen[10]	Tory
1761					Lt General the Hon. George Boscawen	Tory
1767		Edward Hugh Boscawen	Tory
1774		George Boscawen	Tory		Bamber Gascoyne	Whig
1780		Henry Rosewarne	Whig
1783		John Pollexfen Bastard	Tory
February 1784		Sir John St Aubyn, Bt	Whig
April 1784		William Macarmick	Tory		William Augustus Spencer Boscawen	Tory
1787		John Hiley Addington	Tory
1790		James Gordon	Tory
1792					Charles Ingoldsby Paulet[11]	Tory
1796		Lt Colonel John Leveson-Gower	Tory		John Lemon	Whig
1802		Captain Edward Leveson-Gower	Tory
1807		Edward Boscawen	Tory
1808		Charles Powlett Townshend	Tory
1810		William John Bankes	Tory
1812		Sir George Warrender, Bt	Tory
1814					George Dashwood	Tory
1818		Lord FitzRoy Somerset	Tory		William Edward Tomline	Tory
1820		Sir Hussey Vivian	Whig		William Gossett	Whig
1826		Lord FitzRoy Somerset	Tory		William Edward Tomline	Tory
1829		Viscount Encombe	Tory		Nathaniel William Peach	Tory
1832		Sir Hussey Vivian	Whig		William Tooke	Whig
1835		John Ennis Vivian	Conservative
1837					Edmund Turner	Whig
1849					Humphrey Willyams	Whig
1852					Sir Henry Vivian	Whig
1857		Augustus Smith	Whig		Edward Brydges Willyams	Whig
1859			Liberal		Montague Edward Smith	Conservative
February 1865					Sir Frederick Williams, Bt	Conservative
July 1865		Hon. John Vivian	Liberal
1871		Sir James McGarel-Hogg, Bt	Conservative
1878					Arthur Tremayne	Conservative
1880					Edward Brydges Willyams	Liberal
1885	Borough constituency abolished – name transferred to single-member county constituency

Truro County constituency

MPs 1885–1918

Election		Member[8]	Party
	1885	William Bickford-Smith	Liberal later Liberal Unionist
	1892	John Charles Williams	Liberal Unionist
	1895	Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence	Liberal Unionist
	1906	George Hay Morgan	Liberal
	1918	constituency abolished

MPs 1950–1997

Election		Member[8]	Party
	1950	Geoffrey Wilson	Conservative
	1970	Piers Dixon	Conservative
	Oct 1974	David Penhaligon	Liberal
	1987 by-election	Matthew Taylor	Liberal
	1988		Liberal Democrats
	1997	name changed to Truro & St. Austell

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1880: Truro (2 seats) ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir James McGarel-Hogg Bt	781	45.6
	Liberal	Brydges Willyams	751	43.8
	Conservative	John Chester	181	10.6
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Liberal win

General Election 1885: Truro ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Bickford-Smith	3,816	57.0	n/a
	Conservative	William Napleton Molesworth-St Aubyn	2,883	43.0	n/a
Majority			933	14.0	n/a
Turnout				75.9	n/a
	Liberal win (new seat)

Thomas Lough

General Election 1886: Truro ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Unionist	William Bickford-Smith	3,522	69.5	n/a
	Liberal	Thomas Lough	1,546	30.5	-26.5
Majority			1,976	39.0	n/a
Turnout				57.4	-18.5
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Truro ^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Unionist	John Charles Williams	4,029	61.5	-8.0
	Liberal	John H Lile	2,518	38.5	+8.0
Majority			1,511	23.0	-16.0
Turnout				76.5	+19.1
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	-8.0

General Election 1895: Truro ^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Unionist	Edwin Lawrence	3,282	52.1	-9.4
	Liberal	Henry Turner Waddy	3,012	47.9	+9.4
Majority			270	4.2	-18.8
Turnout				69.5	-7.0
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	-9.4

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Truro ^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Unionist	Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence	3,869	55.9	+3.8
	Liberal	Charles W Thornton	3,051	44.1	-3.8
Majority			818	11.8	+7.6
Turnout				74.5	+5.0
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	+3.8

Hay Morgan

General Election 1906: Truro ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	George Hay Morgan	4,187	53.2	+9.1
	Liberal Unionist	Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence	3,683	46.8	-9.1
Majority			504	6.4	18.2
Turnout				83.7	+9.2
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	+9.1

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Truro ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	George Hay Morgan	4,874	53.4	+0.2
	Liberal Unionist	Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence	4,261	46.6	-0.2
Majority			613	6.8	+0.4
Turnout				89.9	+6.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.2

General Election December 1910: Truro ^[23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	George Hay Morgan	4,573	52.3	-1.1
	Conservative	Charles Williams	4,176	47.7	+1.1
Majority			397	4.6	-2.2
Turnout				86.1	-3.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.1

General Election 1914/15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Walter Burt^[25]
• Unionist:

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Truro ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Hugh Geoffrey Birch Wilson	18,910	41.8	n/a
	Labour	Henry A Brinton	15,617	34.5	n/a
	Liberal	Gerald Edward Leaman Whitmarsh	10,746	23.7	n/a
Majority			3,293	7.3	n/a
Turnout				83.3	n/a
	Conservative win

General Election 1951: Truro ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Hugh Geoffrey Birch Wilson	24,883	55.7	+13.9
	Labour	John N Newby	19,752	44.2
Majority			5,131	11.4
Turnout				81.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Truro ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Hugh Geoffrey Birch Wilson	19,900	46.1
	Labour	John N Newby	15,183	35.2
	Liberal	Beatrice Nancy Seear	8,056	18.7	n/a
Majority			4,717	10.9
Turnout			43,139	78.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Truro ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Hugh Geoffrey Birch Wilson	19,544	44.2	-1.9
	Labour	Ronald James R Blindell	15,057	34.0	-1.2
	Liberal	Beatrice Nancy Seear	9,637	21.8	+3.1
Majority			4,487	10.2	-0.8
Turnout			44,238	80.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.4

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Truro ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Hugh Geoffrey Birch Wilson	18,328	40.6	-3.6
	Labour	Douglas W J Grazier	14,224	31.5	-2.5
	Liberal	William Rowse Hosking	12,575	27.9	+8.1
Majority			4,104	9.1	-1.0
Turnout			45,127	79.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.5

General Election 1966: Truro ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Hugh Geoffrey Birch Wilson	18,701	40.4	-0.2
	Labour	Reginald Cyril J Scott	17,093	37.0	+5.5
	Liberal	William Rowse Hosking	10,450	22.6	-5.3
Majority			1,608	3.5	-5.6
Turnout			46,244	79.2	0.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.8

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Truro ^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Piers John Shirley Dixon	24,894	49.3	+8.9
	Labour	Raymond Charles Cuss	16,684	33.0	−4.0
	Liberal	Michael Steed	8,923	17.7	−4.9
Majority			8,210	16.3	+12.8
Turnout			50,501	76.0	−3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.4

General Election February 1974: Truro ^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Piers John Shirley Dixon	23,493	40.3
	Liberal	David Charles Penhaligon	20,932	35.9
	Labour	Rev M.W. White	12,945	22.2
	Mebyon Kernow	James C. A. Whetter	850	1.5	n/a
Majority			2,561	4.3
Turnout			58,220	81.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Truro ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	David Charles Penhaligon	22,549	39.8	+3.9
	Conservative	Piers John Shirley Dixon	22,085	39.0	-1.3
	Labour	A F Long	11,606	20.5	-1.7
	Mebyon Kernow	James C. A. Whetter	384	0.7	-0.8
Majority			464	0.8
Turnout			56,624	78.6	-2.9
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1979: Truro ^[35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	David Charles Penhaligon	33,571	52.8	+13.0
	Conservative	Mrs R A Brown	24,863	39.1	+0.1
	Labour	BM Tidy	4,689	7.4	-13.4
	Mebyon Kernow	James C. A. Whetter	227	0.4
	National Front	NF Hedger	182	0.3
Majority			8,708	13.7	+12.9
Turnout			63,532	82.9	+4.3
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1983: Truro

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	SDP–Liberal Alliance (Liberal)	David Charles Penhaligon	31,279	57.3
	Conservative	Philip D. Buddell	20,799	38.1
	Labour	Janet Mary Beecroft	2,479	4.6
Majority			10,480	19.2
Turnout			54,447	79.6
	SDP–Liberal Alliance hold		Swing

By-election 1987: Truro

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	SDP–Liberal Alliance (Liberal)	Matthew Owen John Taylor	30,599	60.4	+3.1
	Conservative	Nicholas Francis St Aubyn	15,982	31.5	−6.6
	Labour	John Robert King	3,603	7.1	+2.6
	Green	Howard Hoptrough	403	0.8
	Death off Road: Freight on Rail	Helen Anscomb	75	0.1
Majority			14,617	28.9	+9.7
Turnout			50,662	70.2	−9.4
	SDP–Liberal Alliance hold		Swing

General Election 1987: Truro

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	SDP–Liberal Alliance (Liberal)	Matthew Owen John Taylor	28,368	49.0	-8.3
	Conservative	Nicholas Francis St Aubyn	23,615	40.8	+2.7
	Labour	John Robert King	5,882	10.2	+5.6
Majority			4,753	8.2	-11.0
Turnout			57,865	79.9	+0.3
	SDP–Liberal Alliance hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Truro^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Matthew Owen John Taylor	31,230	50.5	+1.5
	Conservative	Nicholas Francis St Aubyn	23,660	38.3	−2.6
	Labour	James H. Geach	6,078	9.8	−0.3
	Green	Liam Michael Keating	569	0.9	+0.9
	Liberal	Chris M. Tankard	208	0.3	+0.3
	Natural Law	Margot Kathryn Frances Hartley	108	0.2	+0.2
Majority			7,570	12.2	+4.0
Turnout			61,853	82.3	+2.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+2.0

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Cornwall

References

1. "HAMELY (HAMYLYN), Sir John (aft.1324–1399), of Wimborne St. Giles, Dorset.". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
2. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
3. Willis 1750, p. 25.
4. Willis 1750, p. 47.
5. Willis 1750, p. 71.
6. Gough sat for Cambridge University ().
7. "John Trefuses" according to Cobbett: Browne Willis has "Samuel Trefusis (Willis 1750, p. 177)"
8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 2)
9. Brydges was also elected for Hereford, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Truro ().
10. Lieutenant-Colonel from 1748, Colonel 1758, Major General 1761 ().
11. Styled Earl of Wiltshire from December 1794 ().
12. "Truro Election". The Cornishman (90). 1 April 1880. p. 5.
13. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
14. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
15. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
16. Whitaker's Almanack, 1894
17. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
18. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
19. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
20. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
21. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
22. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
23. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
24. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
25. Cornishman, 9 Apr 1914
26. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
27. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
28. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
29. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
30. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
31. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
32. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
33. British parliamentary election results, 1974-1983 by FWS Craig
34. British parliamentary election results, 1974-1983 by FWS Craig
35. British parliamentary election results, 1974-1983 by FWS Craig
36. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

• Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. pp. 25, 47, 71, 177.

Further reading

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
• Lewis Namier & John Brooke, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754–1790 (London: HMSO, 1964)
• J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
• Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig – Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)