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Rochester (UK Parliament constituency)

Former parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Field	Value
name	Rochester
parliament	uk
year	1295
abolished	1918
type	Borough
elects_howmany	1295–1885: Two
1885–1918: One
next	Chatham
Gillingham
region	England
county	Kent

1885–1918: One Gillingham

Rochester was a parliamentary constituency in Kent. It returned two members of parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of England from 1295 to 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800, and finally to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until the 1885 general election, when its representation was reduced to one seat.

In 1918, it was split between Chatham and Gillingham. The Chatham seat became Rochester and Chatham in 1950, and then Medway in 1983. When the boroughs of Rochester upon Medway and Gillingham merged to form the larger unitary Borough of Medway in 1998, the Parliamentary constituency of Medway only covered part of the new borough, so for the 2010 election it was renamed Rochester and Strood.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1295–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1386	John Fleming	Peter Pope
1388 (Feb)	William Gillingham I	John Marchaunt I
1388 (Sep)	Richard Crowborough	Thomas White
1390 (Jan)	Richard Bolour	John Mateshale
1390 (Nov)
1391	Thomas Dudmere	William Gillingham II
1393	William Chylynden	William Osbourne
1394
1395	Richard Broke	Thomas Taverner
1397 (Jan)	John Plomer II	John Precy
1397 (Sep)
1399	William Frere	John Precy
1401	Richard Berde	Reynold Shrewsbury
1402	Thomas Dudmere	Reynold Shrewsbury
1404 (Jan)	Thomas Dunston	William Frere
1404 (Oct)	Thomas Dudmere	Richard Lorkyn
1406	Thomas Chertsey	Reynold Shrewsbury
1407	John Everard I	John Bosom
1410	John Alcate	Thomas Chertsey
1411	John Everard I	Roger Landford
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	John Deeping	Roger Landford
1414 (Apr)
1414 (Nov)	John Deeping	Richard Lorkyn
1415
1416 (Mar)	Robert Bury	John Potager
1416 (Oct)
1417	Thomas Bolour	John Marchaunt III
1419	William Hunt I	Robert Kela
1420	John Draper	Thomas Turner
1421 (May)
1421 (Dec)	John Deeping	John Marchaunt III
1510–1523	No names known
1529	Nicholas Hurleston*, died
and repl. by 1533 by* Edmund Page	Robert Fisher
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	Sir Thomas Moyle	William Roper
1547	Sir Thomas Moyle	William Roper
1553 (Mar)	Sir John Norton	Christopher Roper
1553 (Oct)	Sir Thomas Moyle	Robert Darknall
1554 (Apr)	Sir Thomas Moyle	William Roper
1554 (Nov)	William Roper	Edward Baeshe
1555	Sir George Howard	William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham
1558	Hugh Cartwright	Thomas Page
1559	Edward Baeshe	url = http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/constituencies/rochester	title= History of Parliament	publisher = History of Parliament Trust	access-date = 16 November 2011}}
1562–3	Edward Baeshe	Richard Watts
1571	William Holstock	George Catlyn
1572	George Catelyn	William Partridge, *sick
and repl. 1579 by* Samuel Coxe
1584	William Brooke alias Cobham	George Byng
1586	William Brooke alias Cobham	William Lewin
1588	William Lewin	John Stanhope
1593	William Lewin	George Chowne
1597	Sir Edward Hoby	Sir Thomas Walsingham
1601	Sir Edward Hoby	Sir Thomas Walsingham
1604	Sir Edward Hoby	Sir Thomas Walsingham
1614	Sir Edward Hoby	Sir Anthony Aucher *refused to serve
and replaced by* Sir Edwin Sandys
1621–1622	Sir Thomas Walsingham (younger)	Henry Clerke
1624	Maximilian Dallison	Sir Thomas Walsingham (younger)
1625	Henry Clerke	Sir Thomas Walsingham (younger)
1626	Henry Clerke	Sir Thomas Walsingham (younger)
1628	Sir Thomas Walsingham (younger)	William Brooke
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1885

Year	First member	First party	Second member	Second party
April 1640		Sir Thomas Walsingham
November 1640		Sir Thomas Walsingham	Parliamentarian
December 1648	Lee excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant
1653	Rochester was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		John Parker		*Rochester had only one seat in the First and
Second Parliaments of the Protectorate*
1656
January 1659		Peter Pett
May 1659		Sir Thomas Walsingham		One seat vacant
1660		Peter Pett
1661		Sir Francis Clerke
1667		Sir Richard Head
February 1679		Sir John Banks
August 1679		Francis Barrell
1681		Sir Francis Clerke
1689		Sir Roger Twisden
1690		Sir Joseph Williamson
1691		Caleb Banks
1695		Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell
1701		Francis Barrell
1702		Edward Knatchbull
1705		Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell
1708		Admiral Sir John Leake
1710		William Cage
1715		Sir Thomas Palmer, Bt
1724		Sir Thomas Colby
1727	Whigs (British political party)}}"		David Polhill	Whig
1734		Admiral Nicholas Haddock
1741		Admiral Edward Vernon
1743	Whigs (British political party)}}"		David Polhill	Whig
1746		Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle
1751		Admiral The Hon. John Byng
1754		Nicholas Haddock
1757		Admiral Isaac Townsend
1761		Viscount Parker
1764		Admiral Sir Charles Hardy
1765	Tories (British political party)}}"		Grey Cooper	Tory{{cite book	last=Stooks Smith
1768	Whigs (British political party)}}"		John Calcraft	Whig	Tories (British political party)}}"
1771	Tories (British political party)}}"		Admiral Thomas Pye	Tory
1772	Tories (British political party)}}"		George Finch-Hatton	Tory
1774	Whigs (British political party)}}"		Robert Gregory	Whig
1784	Whigs (British political party)}}"		Captain Sir Charles Middleton	Whig	Whigs (British political party)}}"
1790	Tories (British political party)}}"		George Best	Tory	Tories (British political party)}}"
1792	Whigs (British political party)}}"		Nathaniel Smith	Whig
1794	Tories (British political party)}}"		Admiral Sir Richard King	Tory
1796	Whigs (British political party)}}"		Hon. Henry Tufton	Whig
1802	Tories (British political party)}}"		Captain Sir Sidney Smith	Tory	Whigs (British political party)}}"
1806	Whigs (British political party)}}"		John Calcraft	Whig	Whigs (British political party)}}"
1807	Tories (British political party)}}"		Sir Thomas Thompson	Tory
1816	Whigs (British political party)}}"		James Barnett	Whig
1818	Tories (British political party)}}"		Lord Binning	Tory
1820	Whigs (British political party)}}"		Ralph Bernal	Whig
1826	Tories (British political party)}}"		Captain Henry Dundas	Tory
1830	Tories (British political party)}}"		George Villiers	Tory
1831	Tories (British political party)}}"		John Mills	Tory
1834	Conservative Party (UK)}}"		Conservative
1835	Whigs (British political party)}}"		Thomas Hodges	Whig
1837	Radicals (UK)}}"		Thomas Hobhouse	Radical
1841	Conservative Party (UK)}}"		James Douglas Stoddart Douglas	Conservative	Conservative Party (UK)}}"
1847	Whigs (British political party)}}"		Ralph Bernal	Whig	Whigs (British political party)}}"
1852	Conservative Party (UK)}}"		Hon. Francis Child Villiers	Conservative	Conservative Party (UK)}}"
1856 by-election	Radicals (UK)}}"		Philip Wykeham Martin	Radical
1857	Radicals (UK)}}"		John Alexander Kinglake	Radical
1859	Liberal Party (UK)}}"		Liberal	Liberal Party (UK)}}"		Liberal
1870 by-election	Liberal Party (UK)}}"		Julian Goldsmid	Liberal
1878 by-election	Liberal Party (UK)}}"		Sir Arthur Otway	Liberal
1880	Conservative Party (UK)}}"		Roger Leigh	Conservative
1885	Representation reduced to one-member

MPs 1885–1918

Election	Member	Party
Conservative Party (UK)}}"			1885	Francis Hughes-Hallett
Liberal Party (UK)}}"			1889 by-election	Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen
Conservative Party (UK)}}"			1892	Horatio Davies
Conservative Party (UK)}}"			1893 by-election	James Gascoyne-Cecil
Conservative Party (UK)}}"			1903 by-election	Charles Tuff
Liberal Party (UK)}}"			1906	Ernest Lamb
Conservative Party (UK)}}"			1910	Samuel Forde Ridley
Liberal Party (UK)}}"			1910	Sir Ernest Lamb
	1918	constituency abolished: see Chatham and Gillingham

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

|reg. electors =

|reg. electors = 973

|reg. electors = 967

|reg. electors = 1,015

Elections in the 1840s

|reg. electors = 1,139

|reg. electors = 1,451

Elections in the 1850s

|reg. electors = 1,269

Villiers resigned, causing a by-election.

|reg. electors = 1,170

|reg. electors = 1,180

|reg. electors = 1,419

Elections in the 1860s

|reg. electors = 1,458

|reg. electors = 2,569

Elections in the 1870s

Kinglake's death caused a by-election.

|reg. electors = 2,571

|reg. electors = 2,676

Martin's death caused a by-election.

|reg. electors = 2,832

Elections in the 1880s

|reg. electors = 3,026

|reg. electors = 3,304 |reg. electors = 3,304

Hughes-Hallett resigned, causing a by-election.

|reg. electors = 3,550

Elections in the 1890s

|reg. electors = 4,211

Davies was unseated on petition, causing a by-election.

|reg. electors = 4,378

Elections in the 1900s

|reg. electors = 5,206

|reg. electors = 5,763

Elections in the 1910s

|reg. electors=5,629 |reg. electors=5,629 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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Liberal: Ernest Lamb
Unionist:

References

Sources

Robert Beatson, "A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament" (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) https://books.google.com/books?id=Gh2wKY2rkDUC&q=Return+of+Members+of+Parliament
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) http://www2.odl.ox.ac.uk/gsdl/cgi-bin/library?e=p-000-00---0modhis06--00-0-0-0prompt-10---4------0-1l--1-en-50---20-about---00001-001-1-1isoZz-8859Zz-1-0&a=d&cl=CL1
Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)

References

"History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust.
"History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust.
"History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust.
Vernon was also elected for [[Ipswich (UK Parliament constituency). Ipswich]], which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Rochester
Rear Admiral from 1787
Rear Admiral from 1805
(29 July 1837). "General Elections". Berkshire Chronicle.
(21 March 1848). "Domestic Intelligence". Dundee, Perth, and Cupar Advertiser.
(2009). "BERNAL, Ralph (1783–1854), of 11 Park Crescent, Mdx.".
"Ralph Bernal". [[University College London]].
(1843). "Exercises, Political and Others: Vol. IV". [[Effingham Wilson]].
(2011). "The Palgrave Dictionary of Ango-Jewish History". [[Palgrave Macmillan]].
(31 July 1847). "Kentish Independent".
(12 August 1847). "The General Election". Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette.
(3 August 1847). "The Election for West Kent". Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser.
(8 February 1856). "Rochester Election". [[London Evening Standard]].
(14 February 1856). "Election Intelligence". Perthshire Advertiser.
(5 February 1856). "The Week". Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser.
(14 March 1857). "Election News". [[Leeds Intelligencer]].
"Rochester".
(15 July 1837). "Page 1". West Kent Guardian.
(10 July 1841). "Elections Decided". Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser.
(29 June 1841). "Globe".
(23 April 1859). "At Rochester". Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser.
(7 May 1859). "Rochester Election". Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser.
(19 July 1870). "Rochester". [[Manchester Evening News]].
(7 February 1874). "Election Intelligence". Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald.
(1977). "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885". Macmillan Press.
(19 August 1882). "Haddington Burghs Election". Jedburgh Gazette.
British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
(10 December 1892). "Another Conservative Member of Parliament Unstead". [[Brooklyn Eagle.
The Liberal Year Book, 1908

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