Oxford University (UK Parliament constituency)

Oxford University
Oxford University
Former university constituency; for the House of Commons
1603–1950
Seats	2

Oxford University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950. The last two members to represent Oxford University when it was abolished were A. P. Herbert and Arthur Salter.

Quick Facts 1603–1950, Seats ...

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This university constituency was created by a Royal Charter of 1603. It was abolished in 1950 by the Representation of the People Act 1948.

The constituency was not a physical area. Its electorate consisted of the graduates of the University of Oxford. Before 1918 the franchise was restricted to male graduates with a Doctorate or MA degree. Namier and Brooke estimated the number of electors as about 500 in the 1754–1790 period; by 1910, it had risen to 6,500. Following the reforms of 1918, the franchise encompassed all graduates who paid a fee of £1 to join the register. This included around 400 women who had passed examinations which would have entitled them to a degree if they were male.^[1]

The constituency returned two Members of Parliament. From 1918, the MPs were elected by the single transferable vote method of proportional representation.

The university strongly supported the old Tory cause in the 18th century. The original party system endured long after it had become meaningless in almost every other constituency.

After the Hanoverian succession to the British throne the Whigs became dominant in the politics of Cambridge University, the other university represented in Parliament, by using a royal prerogative power to confer doctorates. That power did not exist at Oxford, so the major part of the university electorate remained Tory (and in the first half of the 18th century sometimes Jacobite) in sympathy.

The university also valued its independence from government. In a rare contested general election in 1768 the two candidates with administration ties were defeated.

In the 19th century the university continued to support the right, almost always returning Tory, Conservative or Liberal Unionist candidates. The only exception was William Ewart Gladstone, formerly "the rising hope of the stern unbending Tories". He first represented the university as a Peelite, supporting a former member for the constituency – the sometime Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel. Gladstone retained his seat as a Liberal, for a time after 1859. Following Gladstone's defeat, in 1865, subsequent Liberal candidates were rare and they were never successful in winning a seat.

Even after the introduction of proportional representation, in 1918, both members continued to be Conservatives until 1935. Independent members were elected in the last phase of university elections to Parliament, before the constituency was abolished in 1950.

Sir William Whitelock is named by Rayment as "Sir William Whitelocke" and by Sedgwick as "Sir William Whitlock".

The Roman numerals in brackets after the names of the two members called William Bromley (who were father and son) are included to distinguish them. It is not a method which would have been used by the men themselves.

Constituency created (1603)

Parliament of England 1604–1707

As there were sometimes significant gaps between Parliaments held in this period, the dates of first assembly and dissolution are given. Where the name of the member has not yet been ascertained, the entry unknown is entered in the table.

More information Elected, Assembled ...

Elected	Assembled	Dissolved	First Member	Second Member
1604	19 March 1604	9 February 1611	Sir Thomas Crompton	Sir Daniel Donne or Dun^[2]
1614	5 April 1614	7 June 1614	Sir John Bennet	Sir Daniel Donne or Dun^[2]
1620 or 1621	16 January 1621	8 February 1622	Sir John Bennet	Sir Clement Edmondes
1623 or 1624	12 February 1624	27 March 1625	Sir Isaac Wake	Sir George Calvert
1625	17 May 1625	12 August 1625	Sir Thomas Edmonds	Sir John Danvers
1626	6 February 1626	15 June 1626	Sir Thomas Edmonds^[3]
1628	17 March 1628	10 March 1629	Sir Henry Marten
1640	13 April 1640	5 May 1640	Sir Francis Windebanke	Sir John Danvers^[4]
1640	3 November 1640	5 December 1648	John Selden	Sir Thomas Roe
1640	6 December 1648 ^a	20 April 1653 ^b	unknown	Sir Thomas Roe
1653 ^c	4 July 1653	12 December 1653	unrepresented in Barebones Parliament
1654 ^d	3 September 1654	22 January 1655	Dr John Owen
1656 ^e	17 September 1656	4 February 1658	Nathaniel Fiennes
1658 or 1659	27 January 1659	22 April 1659	Matthew Hale	John Mylles
N/A ^f	7 May 1659	20 February 1660	unknown	unknown
N/A ^f	21 February 1660	16 March 1660	unknown	unknown
12 April 1660	25 April 1660	29 December 1660	Thomas Clayton	John Mylles
1 April 1661	8 May 1661	24 January 1679	Laurence Hyde	Sir Heneage Finch, Bt
16 January 1674	8 May 1661	24 January 1679	Laurence Hyde	Thomas Thynne
27 February 1679	6 March 1679	12 July 1679	Heneage Finch	John Eddisbury
19 August 1679	21 October 1680	18 January 1681	Sir Leoline Jenkins	Charles Perrot
1681	21 March 1681	28 March 1681
1685	19 May 1685	2 June 1687
23 November 1685	19 May 1685	2 June 1687	George Clarke
7 January 1689	22 January 1689	6 February 1690	Heneage Finch	Sir Thomas Clarges^g
1690	20 March 1690	11 October 1695		Sir Thomas Clarges^g
21 October 1695	22 November 1695	6 July 1698		Sir William Trumbull
23 July 1698	24 August 1698	19 December 1700	Sir Christopher Musgrave, Bt	Sir William Glynne, Bt
3 January 1701	6 February 1701	11 November 1701	Sir Christopher Musgrave, Bt	Heneage Finch
21 March 1701	6 February 1701	11 November 1701	William Bromley (I)
1701	30 December 1701	2 July 1702
1702	20 August 1702	5 April 1705
22 November 1703	20 August 1702	5 April 1705		Sir William Whitelock
1705	14 June 1705	1707 ^h		Sir William Whitelock

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Notes:-

^a Date of Pride's Purge, which converted the Long Parliament into the Rump Parliament.
^b Date when Oliver Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament by force.
^c Date when the members of the nominated or Barebones Parliament were selected. The university was not represented in this body.
^d Date when the members of the First Protectorate Parliament were elected. The university was represented by one member in this body.
^e Date when the members of the Second Protectorate Parliament were elected. The university was represented by one member in this body.
^f The Rump Parliament was recalled and subsequently Pride's Purge was reversed, allowing the full Long Parliament to meet until it agreed to dissolve itself.
^g Clarges died on 4 October 1695, so the seat was vacant at the dissolution of 11 October 1695.
^h The MPs of the last Parliament of England and 45 members co-opted from the former Parliament of Scotland, became the House of Commons of the 1st Parliament of Great Britain which assembled on 23 October 1707 (see below for the members in that Parliament).

Parliaments of Great Britain 1707–1800 and of the United Kingdom 1801–1950

More information Year, First member ...

	First member	First party	Second member	Second party
1707	Sir William Whitelock	Tory	William Bromley ¹	Tory
1717	George Clarke	Tory	William Bromley ¹	Tory
1732	George Clarke	Tory	Viscount Cornbury	Tory
1737	William Bromley (II)	Tory
1737	Edward Butler	Tory
1745	Peregrine Palmer	Tory
1751	Peregrine Palmer	Tory	Sir Roger Newdigate, Bt	Tory
1762	Sir Walter Bagot, Bt	Tory
1768	Sir William Dolben, Bt	Tory
1768	Francis Page	Tory^[5]
1780	Francis Page	Tory^[5]	Sir William Dolben, Bt	Tory^[5]
1801	Sir William Scott	Tory^[5]	Sir William Dolben, Bt	Tory^[5]
1806			Charles Abbot ²	Tory^[5]
1817			Robert Peel	Tory^[5]
1821	Richard Heber	Tory^[5]
1826	Thomas Grimston Estcourt ³	Tory^[5]
1829		Tory^[5]	Sir Robert Inglis, Bt ³	Tory^[5]
1834		Conservative^[5]		Conservative^[5]
1847	William Ewart Gladstone ⁴	Peelite		Conservative^[5]
1854		Peelite	Sir William Heathcote, Bt	Conservative
1859		Liberal
1865	Gathorne Hardy	Conservative
1868	Gathorne Hardy	Conservative	Sir John Mowbray, Bt	Conservative
1878	John Gilbert Talbot	Conservative	Sir John Mowbray, Bt	Conservative
1899	John Gilbert Talbot	Conservative	Sir William Anson ⁵	Liberal Unionist
1910	Lord Hugh Cecil ⁶	Conservative		Liberal Unionist
1912				Conservative
1914			Rowland Prothero	Conservative
1918		Coalition Conservative	Rowland Prothero	Coalition Conservative
1919		Coalition Conservative	Sir Charles Oman	Coalition Conservative
1922		Conservative	Sir Charles Oman	Conservative
1935		Conservative	Sir A. P. Herbert	Independent
1937	Sir Arthur Salter	Independent	Sir A. P. Herbert	Independent

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Constituency abolished (1950)

Notes:-

¹ Bromley had represented the university since a by-election in March 1701. He was Speaker of the House of Commons 1710–1713.
² Abbot was Speaker of the House of Commons 1802–1817.
³ Estcourt and Inglis are regarded as Conservative MPs from 1835, as this was the approximate date when the Tory Party became known as the Conservative Party.
⁴ Gladstone accepted office in a Liberal ministry in 1859, thus vacating the seat he had held (as a Peelite MP – more formally a Liberal Conservative). He was re-elected as a Liberal candidate.
⁵ Anson became a Conservative MP when the Liberal Unionists formally merged with the Conservatives in 1912.
⁶ Cecil joined the non-Coalition wing of his party at some point during the 1918–1922 Parliament.