Longford (UK Parliament constituency)

Longford
Longford
Former county constituency; for the House of Commons
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	Longford
Replaced by	North Longford and South Longford
1918–1922
Seats	1
Created from	North Longford and South Longford
Replaced by	Longford–Westmeath

Longford was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885, and one MP from 1918 to 1922.

Boundaries

This constituency comprised the whole of County Longford.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1801–1885

Year	1st Member		1st Party		2nd Party
1801, 1 January		Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen, Bt		Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt
1802, 15 July		Hon. Thomas Gleadowe-Newcomen
1806, 25 November		Viscount George Forbes	Whig^[1]
1819, 15 October			Whig^[1]	Sir George Fetherston, Bt	Tory^[1]
1830, 11 August			Tory^[1]	Anthony Lefroy	Tory^[1]
1832, 22 December		Luke White^[2]	Repeal Association^[3]	James Halpin Rorke^[2]	Repeal Association^[3]
1833, 2 April		Viscount George Forbes	Tory^[1]	Anthony Lefroy	Tory^[1]
1834, 18 December		Viscount George Forbes	Conservative^[1]		Conservative^[1]
1836, 30 December		Luke White^[4]	Repeal Association^[3]
1837, 5 May		Charles Fox	Conservative^[1]
1837, 18 August		Luke White^[5]	Repeal Association^[3]	Henry White	Repeal Association^[3]
1842, 18 April		Anthony Lefroy	Conservative^[1]^[3]	Henry White	Repeal Association^[3]
1847, 13 August		Samuel Blackall	Repeal Association^[3]^[6]	Richard Maxwell Fox	Repeal Association^[3]^[6]
1851, 21 April		Richard More O'Ferrall	Whig^[1]^[7]^[8]		Repeal Association^[3]^[6]
1852, 19 July		Fulke Greville-Nugent	Ind. Irish^[3]		Ind. Irish^[3]
1856, 13 May			Ind. Irish^[3]	Henry George Hughes	Whig^[9]^[10]^[11]
1857, 16 April			Whig^[12]^[13]	Henry White	Whig^[12]^[13]
1859, 9 May			Liberal^[3]	Henry White	Liberal^[3]
1861, 4 July				Luke White	Liberal^[3]
1862, 7 March				Myles O'Reilly	Liberal^[3]
1869, 31 December		Hon. Reginald Greville-Nugent^[14]	Liberal^[3]
1870, 16 May		Hon. George Greville-Nugent	Liberal^[3]
1874, 12 February		George Errington	Home Rule League^[3]		Home Rule League^[3]
1879, 5 April		George Errington	Home Rule League^[3]	Justin McCarthy	Home Rule League^[3]
1885	Constituency divided: see North Longford and South Longford

MPs 1918–1922

Election		Member	Party	Note
1918		Single member constituency created
	1918, December 14^[15]	Joseph McGuinness	Sinn Féin	Did not take his seat at Westminster
	1922, May 31 ^[16]	Seat left vacant after the death of McGuinness
1922, October 26		UK constituency abolished. Succeeded by Longford–Westmeath constituency in Dáil Éireann

Elections

Elections in the 1800s

MPs co-opted from the Irish Parliament, 1801: Longford (2 seats)^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Tory	Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen, Bt	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*

General election 1802: Longford (2 seats)^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Tory	Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Tory	Hon. Thomas Gleadowe-Newcomen	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Tory hold
Tory hold

General election 1806: Longford (2 seats)^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Tory	Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Whig	Viscount George Forbes	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Tory hold
Whig gain from Tory		Swing

General election 1807: Longford (2 seats)^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Tory	Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Whig	Viscount George Forbes	Unopposed	*N/A*	N/A'
Tory hold
Whig hold

Elections in the 1810s

General election 1812: Longford (2 seats)^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Tory	Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Whig	Viscount George Forbes	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Tory hold
Whig hold

General election 1818: Longford (2 seats)^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Tory	Sir Thomas Fetherston, Bt	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Whig	Viscount George Forbes	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Tory hold
Whig hold

Sir Thomas Fetherston died, causing a by-election.

1819 Longford by-election: Longford (1 seat)^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Sir George Fetherston, Bt	618	62.5	*N/A*
	Whig	Luke White	371	37.5	N/A
Majority			247	25.0	N/A
Turnout			989		N/A
Registered electors
	Tory hold

Elections in the 1820s

General election 1820: Longford (2 seats)^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Tory	Sir George Fetherston, Bt	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Whig	Viscount George Forbes	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Tory hold
Whig hold

General election 1826: Longford (2 seats)^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Tory	Sir George Fetherston, Bt	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Whig	Viscount George Forbes	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Tory hold
Whig hold

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Longford (2 seats)^[1]^[3]^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	George Forbes	Unopposed
	Tory	Anthony Lefroy	Unopposed
Registered electors			367
	Tory hold
	Tory gain from Whig

General election 1831: Longford (2 seats)^[1]^[3]^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	George Forbes	211	37.6
	Tory	Anthony Lefroy	202	36.0
	Whig	Luke White	130	23.2
	Whig	Joseph Denis Mullen	18	3.2
Majority			72	12.8
Turnout			c. 281	c. 76.6
Registered electors			367
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

General election 1832: Longford (2 seats)^[1]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	Luke White	649	26.3	+3.1
	Irish Repeal	James Halpin Rourke	645	26.2	*New*
	Tory	George Forbes	587	23.8	−13.8
	Tory	Anthony Lefroy	582	23.6	−12.4
Majority			58	2.4	N/A
Turnout			1,255	97.0	c. +20.4
Registered electors			1,294
	Irish Repeal gain from Tory		Swing	+8.1
	Irish Repeal gain from Tory		Swing	N/A

On petition, a House of Commons Select Committee inquiry disqualified 73 votes and declared Forbes and Lefroy the winners of the election.

General election 1835: Longford (2 seats)^[1]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Viscount George Forbes	797	43.5	+19.7
	Conservative	Anthony Lefroy	549	30.0	+6.4
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Luke White	424	23.2	−3.0
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Henry White	61	3.3	−22.9
Majority			125	6.8	N/A
Turnout			987	62.4	−34.6
Registered electors			1,581
	Conservative gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	+16.4
	Conservative gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	+9.7

Viscount Forbes died, causing a by-election.

By-election, 30 December 1836: Longford (1 seat)^[1]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Luke White	619	54.1	+27.6
	Conservative	Charles Fox (Irish politician)	526	45.9	−27.6
Majority			93	8.2	N/A
Turnout			1,145	c. 72.4	c. +10.0
Registered electors			c. 1,581
	Irish Repeal gain from Conservative		Swing	+27.6

On petition, a House of Commons committee inquiry disqualified 94 votes and declared Fox the winner of the election by a majority of 1.

General election 1837: Longford (2 seats)^[1]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Luke White	671	27.3	+4.1
	Irish Repeal (Whig)	Henry White	667	27.2	+23.9
	Conservative	Anthony Lefroy	561	22.9	−7.1
	Conservative	Charles Fox (Irish politician)	556	22.6	−20.9
Majority			106	4.3	N/A
Turnout			1,257	72.4	+10.0
Registered electors			1,736
	Irish Repeal gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.1
	Irish Repeal gain from Conservative		Swing	+19.0

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Longford (2 seats)^[1]^[3]^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	Luke White	621	36.0	+8.7
	Irish Repeal	Henry White	621	36.0	+8.8
	Conservative	Anthony Lefroy	482	28.0	−17.5
Majority			139	8.0	+3.7
Turnout			1,102	70.2	−2.2
Registered electors			1,569
	Irish Repeal hold		Swing	+8.7
	Irish Repeal hold		Swing	+8.8

On petition, a House of Commons committee began an inquiry into the votes cast for Luke White, but he withdrew his candidacy after 1 vote was examined and Lefroy was declared elected on 18 April 1842 .

General election 1847: Longford (2 seats)^[19]^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Repeal	Samuel Blackall	447	28.7	−7.3
	Irish Repeal	Richard Maxwell Fox	433	27.8	−8.2
	Conservative	Anthony Lefroy	352	22.6	+8.6
	Conservative	Lawrence Harman King-Harman	323	20.8	+6.8
Majority			81	5.2	−2.8
Turnout			778 (est)	64.2 (est)	−6.0
Registered electors			1,211
	Irish Repeal hold		Swing	−7.5
	Irish Repeal hold		Swing	−8.0

Elections in the 1850s

Blackall was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Dominica, causing a by-election.

By-election, 21 April 1851: Longford (1 seat)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Richard More O'Ferrall	938	92.1	*N/A*
	Conservative	George Warner Wilson Sleator	80	7.9	−35.5
Majority			858	84.2	N/A
Turnout			1,018	43.9	−20.3
Registered electors			2,321
	Whig gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A

General election 1852: Longford (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Irish	Fulke Greville	1,066	51.1	*N/A*
	Independent Irish	Richard Maxwell Fox	1,019	48.9	+21.1
	Conservative	Lawrence Harman King-Harman	0	0.0	−43.4
Majority			1,109	48.9	N/A
Turnout			1,043 (est)	44.9 (est)	−19.3
Registered electors			2,321
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A
	Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal		Swing	N/A

Fox's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 13 May 1856: Longford (1 seat)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry George Hughes	Unopposed
	Whig gain from Independent Irish		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Longford (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry White	1,561	44.9	*N/A*
	Whig	Fulke Greville	1,197	34.4	*N/A*
	Whig	William Francis Forbes	722	20.7	N/A
Majority			475	13.5	N/A
Turnout			1,740 (est)	67.5 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			2,577
	Whig gain from Independent Irish		Swing	N/A
	Whig gain from Independent Irish		Swing	N/A

General election 1859: Longford (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Henry White	Unopposed
	Liberal	Fulke Greville	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,869
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

White's resignation caused a by-election.

By-election, 4 July 1861: Longford (1 seat)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Luke White	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

White was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 7 March 1862: Longford (1 seat)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Myles O'Reilly	1,468	62.2	*N/A*
	Liberal	Luke White	892	37.8	N/A
Majority			576	24.4	N/A
Turnout			2,360	82.5	N/A
Registered electors			2,861
	Liberal hold

General election 1865: Longford (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Myles O'Reilly	Unopposed
	Liberal	Fulke Greville	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,767
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Longford (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Myles O'Reilly	Unopposed
	Liberal	Fulke Greville-Nugent	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,815
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Greville-Nugent was created Lord Greville, causing a by-election.

By-election, 31 December 1869: Longford (1 seat)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Reginald Greville-Nugent	1,578	79.3	*N/A*
	Ind. Nationalist	John Martin	411	20.7	New
Majority			1,167	58.6	N/A
Turnout			1,989	70.7	N/A
Registered electors			2,815
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

On petition, Greville-Nugent was unseated.

By-election, 16 May 1870: Longford (1 seat)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Greville-Nugent	1,217	56.9	*N/A*
	Home Rule	Edward King-Harman	923	43.1	New
Majority			294	13.8	N/A
Turnout			2,140	76.0	N/A
Registered electors			2,815
	Liberal hold

General election 1874: Longford (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Home Rule	Myles O'Reilly	1,811	45.2	*N/A*
	Home Rule	George Errington	1,740	43.4	*N/A*
	Liberal-Conservative	George Slator^[20]	432	10.8	New
	Home Rule	James McCalmont	26	0.6	N/A
Majority			1,308	32.6	N/A
Turnout			2,018 (est)	73.3 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			2,753
	Home Rule gain from Liberal
	Home Rule gain from Liberal

O'Reilly was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Intermediate Education and resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 4 Apr 1879: Longford (1 seat)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Home Rule	Justin McCarthy	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,640
	Home Rule hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Longford (2 seats)^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Home Rule	George Errington	Unopposed
	Parnellite Home Rule League	Justin McCarthy	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,626
	Home Rule hold
	Home Rule hold

Elections in the 1910s

^[3]

General Election 1918: Longford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Sinn Féin	Joseph McGuinness	11,122	72.7
	Irish Parliamentary	James Patrick Farrell	4,173	27.5
Majority			6,949	45.2
Turnout			15,295	74.8
Registered electors			20,449
	Sinn Féin win (new seat)

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 229–230, 234. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via Google Books.
^ ^a ^b both members were unseated in favour of George Forbes, Viscount Forbes and Anthony Lefroy 2 Apr 1833
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an ^ao ^ap Brian M. Walker, ed. (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 189. ISBN 0-901714-12-7.
^ he was unseated on petition in favour of Charles Fox 5 May 1837
^ Luke White was unseated on petition in favour of Anthony Lefroy 18 April 1842.^{[r 1]}
^ ^a ^b "The Elections — Repeal Triumphant". Freeman's Journal. 13 August 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Belfast News-Letter". 23 April 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "The Longford Election—Another Defeat of the League". Belfast News-Letter. 16 April 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Carlisle Journal". 20 April 1855. p. 8. Retrieved 18 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Summary of News". Downshire Protestant. 2 May 1856. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Death of Mr. Fox. M.P.". Ballyshannon Herald. 2 May 1856. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b "The Evening Freeman". 1 April 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b "General Intelligence". Coventry Standard. 17 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
^ Greville-Nugent's election was declared void 12 Apr 1870
^ Date of polling day. The result was declared on 28 December 1918, to allow time for votes cast by members of the armed forces to be included in the count.
^ Not an election. Date of the death of McGuinness.
^ ^a ^b Salmon, Philip. "Co. Longford". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
^ Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons, Volume 50. 1843. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via Google Books.
^ Dublin Evening Packet and Correspondent. 14 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
^ "The General Election". Freeman's Journal. 5 February 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 5 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

References

The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 4)

^ Minutes of Proceedings of the Committee on the Longford Election Petition (PDF). Command papers. Vol. 208. 26 April 1842.

[stookssmith1842-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. pp. 229–230, 234. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via Google Books.

[whietrorke-2] th members were unseated in favour of George Forbes, Viscount Forbes and Anthony Lefroy 2 Apr 1833

[walker-1801-1922-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an ^ao ^ap Brian M. Walker, ed. (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 189. ISBN 0-901714-12-7.

[4] was unseated on petition in favour of Charles Fox 5 May 1837

[6] Luke White was unseated on petition in favour of Anthony Lefroy 18 April 1842.^{[r 1]}

[freeman1847-7] "The Elections — Repeal Triumphant". Freeman's Journal. 13 August 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[8] "Belfast News-Letter". 23 April 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[9] "The Longford Election—Another Defeat of the League". Belfast News-Letter. 16 April 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[10] "Carlisle Journal". 20 April 1855. p. 8. Retrieved 18 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[11] "Summary of News". Downshire Protestant. 2 May 1856. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[12] "Death of Mr. Fox. M.P.". Ballyshannon Herald. 2 May 1856. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[freeman1857-13] "The Evening Freeman". 1 April 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[coventry1857-14] "General Intelligence". Coventry Standard. 17 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018.

[15] Greville-Nugent's election was declared void 12 Apr 1870

[16] Date of polling day. The result was declared on 28 December 1918, to allow time for votes cast by members of the armed forces to be included in the count.

[17] Not an election. Date of the death of McGuinness.

[hop1820-1832-18] Salmon, Philip. "Co. Longford". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 17 May 2020.

[19] Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons, Volume 50. 1843. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via Google Books.

[20] Dublin Evening Packet and Correspondent. 14 August 1847. p. 3. Retrieved 3 March 2019.

[21] "The General Election". Freeman's Journal. 5 February 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 5 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[5] Minutes of Proceedings of the Committee on the Longford Election Petition (PDF). Command papers. Vol. 208. 26 April 1842.

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[r 1]

Longford
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	Longford
Replaced by	North Longford and South Longford
1918–1922
Seats	1
Created from	North Longford and South Longford
Replaced by	Longford–Westmeath