1832–1868: The Hundreds of Abdick and Bulstone, Andersfield, Cannington, Carhampton, Crewkerne, North Curry, Houndsborough, Berwick and Coker, Huntspill and Puriton, Kingsbury East, Kingsbury West, Martock, Milverton, North Petherton, South Petherton, Pitney, Somerton, Stone, Taunton and Taunton Dean, Tintinhull, Whitley, and Williton and Freemanors.[1]
The constituency was created for the
1832 general election, when the former
Somerset constituency was divided into new
East and West divisions. It also absorbed the voters from the abolished boroughs of
Ilchester and
Minehead. The constituency might have been better described as South-Western Somerset, since it stretched to the southern as well as the western extremities of the county. It surrounded the county town of
Taunton (although Taunton was a borough electing MPs in its own right,
freeholders within the borough who met the property-owning qualifications for the county franchise could vote in West Somerset as well, as could those in
Bridgwater); otherwise, the largest town was
Yeovil, but the division also included
Chard,
Crewkerne,
Minehead,
Wellington,
Ilminster,
Street,
Watchet and
Wiveliscombe; nevertheless, the majority of voters were in the rural areas.
The West gained a new main town,
Bridgwater, its seats abolished partly for corruption.
Abolition
The constituency was abolished for the
1885 general election, when those parts of Somerset outside its boroughs were divided into seven single-member county constituencies. West Somerset's voters were divided between the new
Bridgwater,
South Somerset and
Wellington divisions. (The Wellington division, which lasted until 1918, had the alternative name of Western Somerset.)