East Kent (UK Parliament constituency)

East Kent
East Kent
Former County constituency; for the House of Commons
	Context of 1832-1868. Extract from 1837 result: the blue land forming the south-east corner.
County	Kent
1832–1885
Seats	2
Created from	Kent
Replaced by	Faversham; Ashford; Isle of Thanet; St Augustine's

East Kent (formally known as "Kent, Eastern") was a county constituency in Kent in South East England. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

History

The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election, and abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election.

All three two-member constituencies in Kent were abolished in 1885: East Kent, Mid Kent and West Kent. They were replaced by eight new single-member constituencies:

Boundaries

1832–1885: The Lathes of St. Augustine and Shepway (including the Liberty of Romney Marsh), and the Upper Division of the Lathe of Scray.^[1]

Members of Parliament

Election	1st Member		1st Party		2nd Party
1832		John Pemberton Plumptre	Whig^[2]^[3]	Sir Edward Knatchbull, Bt	Tory^[2]
1834			Whig^[2]^[3]		Conservative^[2]
1835			Conservative^[4]^[2]		Conservative^[2]
1845 by-election			Conservative^[4]^[2]	William Deedes	Conservative
February 1852 by-election		Sir Brook Bridges, Bt^{[n 1]}	Conservative
July 1852		Sir Edward Dering, Bt	Peelite^[5]^[6]^[7]
March 1857		Sir Edward Dering, Bt	Peelite^[5]^[6]^[7]	Sir Brook Bridges, Bt	Conservative
December 1857 by-election		William Deedes	Conservative
1863 by-election		Sir Edward Dering, Bt	Liberal
May 1868 by-election		Sir Edward Dering, Bt	Liberal	Edward Leigh Pemberton	Conservative
November 1868		Hon. George Milles^{[n 2]}	Conservative
1875 by-election		Sir Wyndham Knatchbull, Bt	Conservative
1876 by-election		William Deedes	Conservative
1880		Aretas Akers-Douglas^{[n 3]}	Conservative
1885	constituency abolished

Notes

^ Later Baron FitzWalter
^ Later Earl Sondes
^ Later Viscount Chilston

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: East Kent^[8]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Pemberton Plumptre	3,476	36.8
	Tory	Edward Knatchbull	3,344	35.4
	Tory	William Richard Cosway	2,627	27.8
	Whig	William Percy Honeywood Courtenay^[9]	4	0.0
Turnout			6,144	87.4
Registered electors			7,026
Majority			132	1.4
	Whig win (new seat)
Majority			717	7.6
	Tory win (new seat)

General election 1835: East Kent^[8]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	John Pemberton Plumptre	Unopposed
	Conservative	Edward Knatchbull	Unopposed
Registered electors			7,087
	Conservative gain from Whig
	Conservative hold

General election 1837: East Kent^[8]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Edward Knatchbull	3,607	40.8
	Conservative	John Pemberton Plumptre	3,029	34.3
	Whig	Thomas Rider	2,205	24.9
Majority			824	9.4
Turnout			5,478	87.4
Registered electors			7,293
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Edward Knatchbull	Unopposed
	Conservative	John Pemberton Plumptre	Unopposed
Registered electors			7,553
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Knatchbull was appointed Paymaster General, causing a by-election.

By-election, 20 September 1841: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Knatchbull	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

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

By-election, 3 March 1845: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Deedes	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Deedes	Unopposed
	Conservative	John Pemberton Plumptre	Unopposed
Registered electors			7,323
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

Plumptre resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 16 February 1852: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Deedes	2,480	52.0	*N/A*
	Peelite	Edward Dering	2,289	48.0	N/A
Majority			191	4.0	N/A
Turnout			4,769	67.0	N/A
Registered electors			7,119
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1852: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Peelite	Edward Dering	3,063	36.9	*N/A*
	Conservative	William Deedes	2,879	34.7	*N/A*
	Conservative	Brook Bridges	2,356	28.4	N/A
Majority			707	8.5	N/A
Turnout			4,149 (est)	58.3 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			7,119
	Peelite gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brook Bridges	2,379	33.6	+5.2
	Peelite	Edward Dering	2,358	33.3	−3.6
	Conservative	William Deedes	2,216	31.3	−3.4
	Radical	E A Acheson^[10]^[11]	127	1.8	New
Turnout			3,540 (est)	44.3 (est)	−14.0
Registered electors			8,000
Majority			21	0.3	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.5
Majority			142	2.0	−6.5
	Peelite hold		Swing	−2.3

Dering resigned due to ill health, causing a by-election.^[12]

By-election, 10 December 1857: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Deedes	Unopposed
	Conservative gain from Peelite

General election 1859: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Brook Bridges	Unopposed
	Conservative	William Deedes	Unopposed
Registered electors			8,312
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Peelite

Elections in the 1860s

Deedes' death caused a by-election.

By-election, 5 January 1863: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Dering	2,777	50.8	*New*
	Conservative	Sir Norton Knatchbull, 10th Baronet	2,690	49.2	N/A
Majority			87	1.6	N/A
Turnout			5,467	77.1	N/A
Registered electors			7,092
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General election 1865: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brook Bridges	3,208	34.4	*N/A*
	Liberal	Edward Dering	3,195	34.3	*N/A*
	Conservative	Sir Norton Knatchbull, 10th Baronet	2,919	31.3	N/A
Turnout			6,259 (est)	75.9 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			8,250
Majority			13	0.1	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			276	3.0	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Bridges was elevated to the peerage, becoming Lord FitzWalter and causing a by-election.

By-election, 2 May 1868: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh Pemberton	3,606	53.7	−12.0
	Liberal	Henry Tufton	3,109	46.3	+12.0
Majority			497	7.4	+7.3
Turnout			6,715	81.4	+5.5
Registered electors			8,250
	Conservative hold		Swing	−12.0

General election 1868: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Leigh Pemberton	5,231	26.7	−7.7
	Conservative	George Milles	5,104	26.0	−5.3
	Liberal	Henry Tufton	4,685	23.9	+6.7
	Liberal	Sir John Frederick Croft, 2nd Baronet	4,579	23.4	+6.2
Majority			419	2.1	+2.0
Majority			652	3.3	N/A
Turnout			9,800 (est)	74.8 (est)	−1.1
Registered electors			13,107
	Conservative hold		Swing	−7.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	−6.0

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Milles	5,424	35.8	+9.8
	Conservative	Edward Leigh Pemberton	5,405	35.7	+9.0
	Liberal	Henry Tufton	4,308	28.5	−18.8
Majority			1,097	7.2	+5.1
Turnout			9,723 (est)	77.1 (est)	+2.3
Registered electors			12,605
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.5

Milles succeeded to the peerage, becoming Lord Sondes.

By-election, 27 Jan 1875: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Wyndham Knatchbull	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Knatchbull resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 26 July 1876: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Deedes	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: East Kent^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Aretas Akers-Douglas	5,541	34.7	−1.1
	Conservative	Edward Leigh Pemberton	5,473	34.3	−1.4
	Liberal	Edmund Francis Davis^[13]	4,959	31.0	+2.5
Majority			514	3.3	−3.9
Turnout			10,500 (est)	79.7 (est)	+2.6
Registered electors			13,169
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.3

References

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 1)

^ "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. LXIV. An Act to settle and describe the Divisions of Counties, and the Limits of Cities and Boroughs, in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 300–383. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 157–158. ISBN 0-900178-13-2. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
^ "Election Doings in East Kent". Morning Chronicle. 29 December 1832. p. 3. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1847). Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Volume 15. Dod's Parliamentary Companion. p. 223. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via Google Books.
^ "Election Intelligence". The Atlas. 24 July 1852. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Fisher, David R. (2009). Fisher, D. R. (ed.). "DERING, Sir Edward Cholmeley, 8th bt. (1807–1896), of Surrenden Dering, nr. Ashford , Kent". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
^ "State of the Disturbed Districts". Newry Telegraph. 26 February 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 403–404. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
^ "The Polling". South Eastern Gazette. 25 December 1832. p. 3. Retrieved 2 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "East Kent". Coventry Standard. 10 April 1857. p. 2 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000683/18570410/038/0002. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
^ "Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser". 4 April 1857. p. 6. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Election Intelligence." Times [London, England] 3 October 1857: 8. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 29 September 2013.
^ "Yesterday's Polling". London Evening Standard. 3 April 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 20 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[5] Later Baron FitzWalter

[9] Later Earl Sondes

[10] Later Viscount Chilston

[1] "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. LXIV. An Act to settle and describe the Divisions of Counties, and the Limits of Cities and Boroughs, in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 300–383. Retrieved 27 July 2017.

[stooks-smith-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 157–158. ISBN 0-900178-13-2. Retrieved 4 August 2018.

[3] "Election Doings in East Kent". Morning Chronicle. 29 December 1832. p. 3. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[4] Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1847). Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Volume 15. Dod's Parliamentary Companion. p. 223. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via Google Books.

[6] "Election Intelligence". The Atlas. 24 July 1852. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[7] Fisher, David R. (2009). Fisher, D. R. (ed.). "DERING, Sir Edward Cholmeley, 8th bt. (1807–1896), of Surrenden Dering, nr. Ashford , Kent". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 4 August 2018.

[8] "State of the Disturbed Districts". Newry Telegraph. 26 February 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[craig1832-11] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 403–404. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.

[12] "The Polling". South Eastern Gazette. 25 December 1832. p. 3. Retrieved 2 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[13] "East Kent". Coventry Standard. 10 April 1857. p. 2 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000683/18570410/038/0002. Retrieved 4 August 2018.

[14] "Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser". 4 April 1857. p. 6. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[15] "Election Intelligence." Times [London, England] 3 October 1857: 8. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 29 September 2013.

[16] "Yesterday's Polling". London Evening Standard. 3 April 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 20 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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East Kent
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Context of 1832-1868. Extract from 1837 result: the blue land forming the south-east corner.
County	Kent
1832–1885
Seats	2
Created from	Kent
Replaced by	Faversham Ashford Isle of Thanet St Augustine's