Form 1832-1868 and this area was left intact until 1885. Extract from 1837 result: the central 'singly' orange area which omits to mention the other incumbent, of the same party.
1832–1885: The Wards of Cumberland, Eskdale and Leath.[1]
In 1832 the historic county of
Cumberland, in north west England, was split for parliamentary purposes into two county divisions. These were the East division (with a place of election at
Carlisle) and
West Cumberland (where voting took place at
Cockermouth). Each division returned two members to Parliament.
The only parliamentary borough included in the East division, between 1832 and 1885, (whose non-resident 40-shilling freeholders could vote in the county constituency) was
Carlisle. (Source: Stooks Smith).
History
The first two Members of Parliament for this division were the last pair of representatives for the undivided county before the 1832 general election.
On the formation of Earl Grey's administration in 1830 Sir James Graham had received the post of First Lord of the Admiralty, with a seat in the cabinet. He resigned over the Irish Church question in 1834, and eventually joined the Conservatives in 1837. His former constituents did not re-elect Sir James when he sought election as a Tory at the 1837 general election.
The division proved to be favourable to the Liberal Party as no Conservative was elected until after the
Reform Act 1867 and the party never held both seats simultaneously. In 1868 and again in 1880 a Conservative MP was returned.
The Howard family (whose head was the
Earl of Carlisle) seem to have had influence in the constituency. The sixth son of the 6th Earl of Carlisle, the Honourable Charles Howard, represented the division from 1840 until his death in 1879. He was joined by Edward Howard in the representation of the constituency in 1876. Charles Howard's son George was the third Howard to sit for the constituency.
In 1885 this division was abolished, when the East and West Cumberland county divisions were replaced by four new single-member county constituencies. These were
Cockermouth,
Egremont (the Western division),
Eskdale (Northern division) and
Penrith (Mid division). In addition there were two remaining Cumberland borough constituencies;
Carlisle and
Whitehaven.
Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
