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Weymouth and Melcombe Regis was a parliamentary borough in Dorset represented in the English House of Commons, later in that of Great Britain, and finally in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Union of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis Act 1571 (13 Eliz. 1. c. 9) which amalgamated the existing boroughs of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. Until 1832, the combined borough continued to elect the four Members of Parliament (MPs) to which its constituent parts had previously been entitled; the Great Reform Act reduced its representation to two Members, and the constituency was abolished altogether in 1885, becoming part of the new South Dorset constituency.

Members of Parliament

Members for Weymouth (1348–1570)

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)

Members for Melcombe Regis (1319–1570)

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)

Members for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (1570–1885)

1570–1629

1640–1832

1832–1885

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

Weyland was also elected for Oxfordshire and opted to sit there, causing a by-election.

Representation reduced to two members.

Elections in the 1840s

On petition the result was overturned on 4 April 1842 and the opponents, Bernal and Christie, were seated in their place.

Christie resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1850s

Elections in the 1860s

A late compromise between the Conservatives and Liberals, whereby Mr Brooks and Mr Gridley would be elected, came too late to cancel the election.

The 1867 by-election followed the resignation of Henry Gillett Gridley.

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1880s

In Literature

In the Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian the constituency of Melcombe in Dorset is the Parliamentary seat for Jack Aubreys father who holds it for the Whigs. On his father's death Jack Aubrey is offered and takes up the seat for the Tories.

Notes

1. ^ "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
2. ^ ABBOT, John, of Melcombe Regis, Dorset., History of Parliament Online
3. Wedgwood, "History of Parliament (1439-1509)", page 180
4. Biographical notes by I.S. Rogers, 2005
5. ^ "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
6. ^ "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
7. Francis Bacon was re-elected in 1586, but had also been elected for Taunton, which he chose to represent
8. Browne Willis, working from the Parliamentary records, gives two names for Weymouth and four for Melcombe, remarking of these "Double return, as it seems to me". But it may equally be that two of the six were recorded against the wrong constituency (especially as, in the same Parliament, he has the same pair of the names with only minor variations for Corfe Castle and Wareham.
9. Matthew Pitt was re-elected to the Happy Parliament in January 1624, but died on 18 April. (Sir) Thomas Myddelton was returned in his stead on 10 May 1624.
10. Listed in some sources as Walter Erle; Alumni Oxonienses allocates Christopher to the seat
11. Sir Thomas Myddelton was re-elected to the Useless Parliament, but had also been elected for Denbighshire, which he chose to represent. Giles Green was returned in his stead.
12. Browne Willis suggests Thomas Gyard represented the boroughs in this Parliament, but other sources, including the official History of Parliament, confirm Sir Robert Napier was the representative
13. Created a baronet, June 1641
14. On petition, the election of Littleton and Betts was declared void, and a writ for a by-election was issued. Both were returned at the by-election, but were once again declared not to have been duly elected.
15. On petition, Baker, Harvey and Betts were all declared not to have been duly elected
16. Expelled from the House of Commons 1726 following his conviction for forgery
17. News Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer, Saturday, 10 February 1728; Issue 142
18. Dodington was also elected for Bridgwater, which he chose to represent, and did not sit in this parliament for Weymouth & Melcombe Regis
19. Created The Lord Waltham (in the Peerage of Ireland), June 1762
20. Major-General from 1793, Lieutenant-General from 1799; adopted the surname Murray-Pulteney on his marriage in July 1794
21. Created a baronet, July 1795
22. ^ Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) . Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 94–97. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
23. On petition, the election of Wallace, Broadhurst and Trail was declared void, and a by-election was held; Murray's election was not disturbed
24. Weyland was also elected for Oxfordshire, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Weymouth & Melcombe Regis
25. At the election of 1841, the two sitting Conservative members, Villiers and Hope, were initially declared re-elected, by margins of 5 votes and 3 votes respectively, but on petition the result was overturned and the opponents, Bernal and Christie, were seated in their place
26. Farrell, Stephen (2009). "BERNAL, Ralph (1783–1854), of 11 Park Crescent, Mdx". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
27. "Ralph Bernal". Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
28. Thompson, Thomas Perronet (1843). Exercises, Political and Others: Vol. IV (2nd ed.). London: Effingham Wilson. p. 222. Retrieved 2 July 2018 – via Internet Archive.
29. Rubinstein, William D.; Jolles, Michael A.; Rubinstein, Hilary L., eds. (2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Ango-Jewish History (eBook ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 84. doi:10.1057/9780230304666. ISBN 978-0-230-30466-6.
30. ^ "Morning Post". 30 June 1841. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
31. ^ "Members Returned". Norfolk News. 7 August 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
32. "Election Intelligence". Globe. 21 March 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
33. ^ Farrell, Stephen. "Weymouth and Melcombe Regis". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
34. ^ Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 327–328. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
35. "Bell's Weekly Messenger". 12 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

References

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (September 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• Grey's Debates of the House of Commons: volume 8 (1769), pp. 373–381
• 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)
• J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig – Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 3)

• Parliamentary constituencies in Dorset (historic)
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1570
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1885
• History of Weymouth, Dorset