Woodstock, sometimes called New Woodstock, was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom named after the town of Woodstock in the county of Oxfordshire.
History The Parliamentary Borough comprised the town of Woodstock and (from 1832) the surrounding countryside and villages. It elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from its re-enfranchisement in 1553 until 1707, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801. Under the Great Reform Act 1832, the representation of the borough was reduced to one member.
Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the borough was abolished and was reconstituted as the Mid or Woodstock Division of Oxfordshire when the three-member Parliamentary County of Oxfordshire was divided into the three single-member constituencies of Banbury, Woodstock and Henley. It comprised the middle part of Oxfordshire, including Witney and Bicester as well as the abolished borough.
The constituency was abolished under the Representation of the People Act 1918. The western half, including Witney and Woodstock, was added to the Banbury Division and the eastern half, including Bicester, to the Henley Division.
Boundaries
1885–1918
The Municipal Borough of Woodstock; The Sessional Divisions of Bampton East, Bampton West, Ploughley, and Wooton South; and Part of the Sessional Division of Bullingdon.
Only non-resident freeholders of the Parliamentary Borough of Oxford (which included the Municipal Borough thereof) were entitled to vote.
Members of Parliament
1553–1640 ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1553 (Oct) William Cooke Sir Ralph Chamberlain 1554 (Apr) Sir Ralph Chamberlain William Johnson 1554 (Nov) Anthony Restwold George Chamberlain 1571 Thomas Peniston Martin Johnson 1572 George Whiton Martin Johnson 1584 Lawrence Tanfield Henry Unton 1586 Lawrence Tanfield Francis Stonor 1588 Lawrence Tanfield John Lee 1593 Lawrence Tanfield John Lee 1597 Lawrence Tanfield John Lee 1601 Lawrence Tanfield William Scott 1604 Sir Richard Lee Thomas Spencer 1609 Sir James Whitelocke 1614 Sir James Whitelocke Sir Philip Cary 1621 Sir James Whitelocke Sir Philip Cary 1624 Sir Philip Cary William Lenthall 1625 Sir Philip Cary Sir Gerard Fleetwood 1626 Edward Tavernor Sir Gerard Fleetwood 1628 Edward Tavernor Sir Miles Fleetwood 1629–1640 No Parliaments summoned
1640–1832 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640 William LenthallParliamentarian William Fleetwood November 1640 Hon. William HerbertHerbert was also elected for Monmouthshire, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for WoodstockRoyalistDecember 1640 Sir Robert PyeParliamentarianDecember 1648Pye excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant1653Woodstock was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament1654Lieutenant General Charles Fleetwood Woodstock had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate1656Major General William Packer January 1659Sir Jerome Sankey Miles FleetwoodMay 1659William LenthallOne seat vacantApril 1660 Sir Thomas Spencer Edward Atkyns 1661 Sir William Fleetwood 1674 Thomas Howard 1679 Sir Littleton Osbaldeston Nicholas Bayntun 1681 Henry Bertie 1685 Richard Bertie Sir Littleton Osbaldeston 1689 Sir Thomas Littleton Sir John D'Oyly 1690 Thomas Wheate 1695 James Bertie 1702 Sir William Glynne 1705 Lieutenant General William Cadogan Whig Hon. Charles Bertie 1708 Sir Thomas Wheate 1716 William Clayton 1721 Charles Crisp 1722 Samuel Trotman Sir Thomas Wheate 1727 Marquess of Blandford Whig 1732 Hon. John Spencer 1734 James Dawkins 1746 Hon. John Trevor, KC 1747 John Bateman 1753 Anthony Keck 1767 Hon. William Gordon 1768 Lord Robert Spencer 1771 John Skynner 1774 William Eden 1777 Viscount Parker Tory 1784 Sir Henry Dashwood Tory Francis Burton 1790 Lord Henry Spencer 1795 The Lord Lavington 1799 Charles Moore 1802 Charles Abbot Speaker 1806 Hon. William Eden 1810 Hon. George Eden Whig 1812 William Thornton 1813 Hon. George Eden Whig 1814 William Thornton 1818 Lord Robert Spencer 1820 John Gladstone Tory James Langston Whig 1826 Marquess of Blandford Tory Lord Ashley Tory 1830 Lord Charles Spencer-Churchill Tory 1831 Viscount Stormont Tory1832 Constituency abolished
1832–1918 YearMemberParty1832 George Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of BlandfordConservative1835 Lord Charles Spencer-ChurchillConservative1837 Henry PeytonConservative1838 George Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of BlandfordConservative1840 Frederic ThesigerConservative1844 John Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of BlandfordConservativeMay 1845 John Loftus, Viscount LoftusConservativeDecember 1845 Lord Alfred Spencer-ChurchillConservative1847 John Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of BlandfordConservative1857 Lord Alfred Spencer-ChurchillConservative1865 Henry BarnettConservative1874 Lord Randolph ChurchillConservative1885 Francis William MacleanLiberal1886 Liberal Unionist1891 George Herbert MorrellConservative1892 Godfrey BensonLiberal1895 George Herbert MorrellConservative1906 Ernest BennettLiberalJanuary 1910 Alfred HamersleyConservative1918 Constituency abolished
Elections
Elections in the 1830s
Buckingham and Richardson each received 138 householder votes, but these were declared ineligible
Peyton resigned, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1840s Spencer-Churchill succeeded to the peerage, becoming 6th Duke of Marlborough and causing a by-election.
Thesiger was appointed Solicitor General for England and Wales and decided to contest Abingdon, causing a by-election.
Spencer-Churchill resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.
Loftus succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Marquess of Ely and causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1850s
Spencer-Churchill succeeded to the peerage, becoming 7th Duke of Marlborough and causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1860s
Elections in the 1870s
Elections in the 1880s
Churchill was appointed Secretary of State for India, requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1890s Maclean resigned after being appointed a Master in Lunacy.
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
General Election 1914–15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; Unionist: Henderson Liberal:
References
Sources Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954) Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913) F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989) J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)