Ramsey (UK Parliament constituency)

UK former constituency infobox
Name = Ramsey
Type = County
Year = 1885
Abolition = 1918
members = one

Ramsey is a former parliamentary constituency in Huntingdonshire, which elected one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

It was created upon the abolition of the two member Huntingdonshire constituency in 1885, as one of the two county divisions. It was abolished in 1918 when Huntingdonshire was re-established as a single member constituency.

Boundaries

The constituency was the North division of the historic county of Huntingdonshire, a small county in the East of England (which in the twenty-first century is part of the non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire). The constituency was named after the small town of Ramsey.

The constituency was to the south of Peterborough, to the south west of Wisbech, to the west of South West Norfolk, to the north of Chesterton, to the north east of Huntingdon and to the east of North Northamptonshire.

History

The division was a predominantly rural area. In addition it included some suburbs of Peterborough and the small towns of Ramsey and St. Ives, as well as part of the Fens.

The Liberal strength in the constituency came from the freeholders of Peterborough (who could vote in Ramsey), the working class Peterborough suburban vote and the smallholders of the Fens. However the area was mostly Conservative, with the rural population under the influence of the largest local landowner Lord de Ramsey. Except for the 1906 general election the Conservative Party won every election in the constituency.

In the 1885 general election one of the former Conservative MPs for the undivided county of Huntingdonshire, William Fellowes was elected the first member from the division. In July 1887 his father, Edward Fellowes, was created the 1st Lord de Ramsey - shortly before his death on 9 August 1887. William Fellowes was thereby elevated to the peerage and vacated his seat in the House of Commons.

The Fellowes family continued to dominate the representation of the division. A younger son of the 1st Baron, the Honourable Ailwyn Fellowes was elected to replace his brother. Fellowes retained the seat until he was defeated in the Liberal landslide in the 1906 general election.

The Liberal MP elected in 1906, Alexander Boulton, was a Canadian lawyer (who later in his career helped found the English-Speaking Union). He was not able to secure re-election in either of the 1910 elections. He was defeated by the fourth and last MP for the constituency, the Conservative Oliver Locker-Lampson.

During the First World War Locker-Lampson served with the R.N.A.S. Armoured Car Unit and also represented the Ministry of Information in various countries. He was involved in France, Belgium, Russia, Romania, Turkey and Persia between 1914 and 1919. He received the Orders of Leopold of Belgium and St Vladimir of Russia amongst other decorations.

Members of Parliament

* "Constituency created" (1885)

Election results

ee also

*List of former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies
*Parliamentary representation from Huntingdonshire

References

* "Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972", compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
* "British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918", compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1974)
* "Social Geography of British Elections 1885-1910". by Henry Pelling (Macmillan 1967)
* "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)
* "Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945", edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)