Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T06:46:14.864Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Role of Redistribution in the Making of the Third Reform Act

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Mary E. J. Chadwick
Mary E. J. Chadwick
Affiliation:
University College, London
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The Third Reform Act has never received the attention which historians have given to its famous predecessors, though its political effects were arguably the most profound of the three. And though there was not the same pressure from extra-parliamentary agitation as in 1831–2 or 1866–7, the enactment of a major electoral reform in 1884–5 predictably overshadowed other parliamentary business. Lord Kimberley saw this clearly in 1883: ‘From the time when we propose the extension of the county franchise until (by some Government) the Redistribution of Seats is carried, there will be a political crisis and all other measures will be practically postponed.’ But in their explanations of the prolonged controversy, which lasted until the end of November 1884, historians have become absorbed in the tactical aspects of the political game and have tended to lose sight of the substantive issues at stake. Charles Seymour stated in 1915 that ‘the question of reform in 1884 was…fought out, not on principles, but upon the method of procedure’. Professor Weston has depicted the situation in terms of a Tory ‘cave’ fostered by the queen, forcing negotiation upon a reluctant Salisbury; while Dr Fair, in seeking to rebut her argument, has taken a similar standpoint to Seymour's. ‘It was not the details of reform or redistribution which were at stake. It was a spirit of mutual distrust.’

Type
Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , September 1976 , pp. 665 - 683
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Kimberley, to Dilke, , 16 Jan. 1883. B.M. Add. MSS 43891, fo. 253.Google Scholar

2 Seymour, Charles, Electoral Reform in England and Wales (reprinted Newton Abbot, 1970), p. 469.Google Scholar

3 Weston, C. C., ‘The Royal Mediation in 1884’, English Historical Review, LXXXII (1967), 396–322.CrossRefGoogle ScholarFair, J. D., ‘Royal Mediation in 1884: a reassessment’, E.H.R. LXXXVIII (1973), 100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

4 Jones, Andrew, The Politics of Reform, 1884 (Cambridge, 1972), p. 237.Google Scholar

5 Jones, , Politics of Reform, pp. 227, 233. 3 Hansard, vol. 296, p. 1826.Google Scholar

6 Weston's analysis fails in an additional way, for she has attempted to draw general conclusions about the crisis of 1884 from the study of the papers of a small section of the Conservative party.

7 SirLambert, J., confidential memorandum, ‘The Extension of the County Franchise and the Redistribution of Seats’, 2 Jan. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 44235, fos. 152–3.Google Scholar

8 48 & 49 Viet. c. 3, c. 15, c. 16, c. 17, c. 20.

9 See Walker, B. M., ‘The Irish Electorate 1868–1915’, Irish Historical Studies, XVIII (1973), 359–406, for the differences between the Irish and British franchise and registration provisions before 1885.Google Scholar

10 3 Hansard, , vol. 297, p. 169.Google Scholar

11 3 Hansard, , vol. 290, p. 112.Google Scholar

12 Memoir, Dilke, 8 July 1884, B.M. Add. MSS 43938, fo. 197.Google Scholar

13 Memoir, Dilke, 9 July 1884, fo. 198.Google Scholar

14 Gladstone, to Victoria, Queen, 14 July 1884.Google ScholarBuckle, G. E. (ed.), The Letters of Queen Victoria (London, 1928), 2nd series, III, 518.Google Scholar

15 Memoranda on the Reform Bill, 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 50060, fo. 2.Google Scholar

16 Dilke Memoir, fo. 204.

17 Buckle, , p. 539.Google Scholar

18 Morley, John, Life of Gladstone (London, 1903), III, 126–7.Google Scholar

19 Memoranda on the Reform Bill. B.M. Add. MSS 50060, fo. 1.

20 Salisbury, to Northcote, , 9 Oct. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 50020, fos. 86–7.Google Scholar

21 Gladstone, to Winmarleigh, (copy), 12 July 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 44487, fos. 74–5.Google Scholar

22 Granville, to Gladstone, , 28 Aug. 1884.Google ScholarRamm, A. (ed.), The Political Correspondence of Mr Gladstone and Lord Granville 1876–86 (Oxford, 1962), II, 238–9.Google Scholar

23 Gladstone's ‘Autobiographical Memoranda’. B.M. Add. MSS 44791, fos. 152–8.

24 Balfour, to Salisbury, , 8 Apr. 1880. Salisbury papers, series E.Google Scholar

25 Memoir, Dilke, fo. 192. Gladstone's minute of cabinet meeting 9 Aug. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 44645, fo. 173.Google Scholar

26 Jenkins, Roy, Sir Charles Dilke. A Victorian Tragedy (London, 1958), p. 173.Google Scholar

27 SirDilke, C. W., ‘Parliamentary Reform’, Politics for the People, no. 2 (London, 1879), PP. 23, 25.Google Scholar

28 Gladstone's minute of cabinet meeting 9 Aug. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 44645, fo. 173.

29 SirDilke, C. W. & SirLambert, J., ‘Explanatory Memorandum’, 16 Sept. 1884. P.R.O., H.O. 45/9649 A37748.Google Scholar

30 SirDilke, C. W., ‘Notes to accompany Explanatory Memorandum’. B.M. Add. MSS 43923, fo. 180.Google Scholar

31 Ibid. fo. 179.

32 Dilke, to Gladstone, , 30 Sept. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 44149, fo. 243. Dilke's Metropolis scheme, November 1884. P.R.O. H.O. 45/9649 A37748.Google Scholar

33 Dilke, and Lambert, , ‘Explanatory Memorandum (revised)’, 8 Oct. 1884. P.R.O. H.O. 45/9649 A37748.Google Scholar

34 Dilke, to Gladstone, , 25 Oct. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 44149, fos. 251–2.Google Scholar

35 J. D. Fair therefore misleads in suggesting that it was first proposed by Carnarvon, Lord on 25 10. E.H.R. LXXXVIII (1973), 106.Google ScholarHartington, to Gladstone, 29 Sept. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 44147, fos. 150–1.Google Scholar

36 Salisbury, Lord, ‘The Value of Redistribution; A Note on Electoral Statistics’, National Review, iv (1884), 145–52.Google Scholar

37 Ibid. p. 145.

38 Chamberlain to Dilke (undated). B.M. Add. MSS 43886, fo. 248.

39 Birmingham Daily Mail, 10 Oct. 1884.

40 Hicks, Lady V. Beach, Life of Sir Michael Hicks Beach (London, 1932), p. 217.Google Scholar

41 Hicks, Beach, p. 219Google Scholar

42 The queen to Northcote, , 31 Oct. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 50013, fo. 82.Google Scholar

43 Salisbury, to the queen, 3 Nov. 1884. Buckle, pp. 566–7.Google Scholar

44 Gladstone, to the queen, 31 Oct. 1884. Buckle, p. 566.Google Scholar

45 See for instance, Chamberlain, to Dilke, , 3 Oct. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 43886, fos. 220–1.Google Scholar

46 Salisbury, to Cairns, (copy), 16 Oct. 1884. Salisbury papers series E.Google Scholar

47 Hicks, Beach, p. 219.Google Scholar

48 Northcote, to Salisbury, , 13 Nov. 1884. Salisbury papers series E.Google Scholar

49 3 Hansard, , vol. 293, pp. 1821–2.Google Scholar

50 Carnarvon, to Salisbury, , 15 July 1884. Salisbury papers series E.Google Scholar

51 Salisbury, to Northcote, , 7 Nov. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 50020, fo. 93.Google Scholar

52 Caine, W. S. to Gladstone, , 6 Nov. 1884. B.M. Add MSS 44488, fos. 32–3.Google Scholar

53 Gladstone, to Granville, , 15 Sept. 1884.Google ScholarRamm, , vol. II, pp. 256–7.Google Scholar

54 3 Hansard, , vol. 293, p. 1807.Google Scholar

55 Masterman, Lucy (ed.), Mary Gladstone: Letters and Diaries (London, 1930). 19 11. 1884, p. 334.Google Scholar

56 Chamberlain, to Dilke, , 23 Nov. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 43886, fos. 272–6.Google ScholarMemoir, Dilke, 26 Nov. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 43938, fo. 327.Google Scholar

57 Salisbury, , ‘The Value of Redistribution’, p. 157.Google Scholar

58 Dilke, ‘Notes to accompany Explanatory Memorandum’. B.M. Add. MSS 43923, fo. 180.

59 Northcote, to Salisbury, , 18–23 Nov. 1884. Salisbury papers series E.Google Scholar

60 Lowther, to Northcote, , 20 Nov. 1884. Salisbury papers (Northcote correspondence) series E.Google Scholar

61 Cornford, James, ‘The Transformation of Conservatism in the late Nineteenth Century’, Victorian Studies VII (1963), 35–66 suggests that Salisbury pressed for single–member seats in order to tap the potential Conservative strength in large urban centres. While this was certainly an important element in his thinking, he was equally concerned with the traditional Tory strongholds of the rural counties. Agricultural representation could only be preserved by careful insulation from urban influences, and this could best be achieved by the division of counties into single-member seats. Salisbury, ‘The Value of Redistribu-tion’, pp. 148, 157.Google Scholar

62 Chamberlain to Dilke (undated note). B.M. Add. MSS 43886, fo. 262.

63 Dilke, to Chamberlain, , 27 Nov. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 43886, fo. 277.Google Scholar

64 Gladstone, to Hartington, (copy), 29 Oct. 1884. B.M. Add MSS 44147, fo. 166.Google Scholar

65 Gladstone's memoranda on the Reform Bill, 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 44768, fo. 158.Google Scholar

66 Southgate, D., The Passing of the Whigs (London, 1962), Appendix 11, pp. 423–4.Google Scholar

67 Salisbury, to Dilke, , 25 Nov. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 43876, fos. 23–5.Google ScholarDilke, to Salisbury, , 26 Nov. 1884. Salisbury papers series E.Google Scholar

68 Memoir, Dilke, 20 Nov. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 43938, fos. 311–12.Google Scholar

69 This brought the Ulster average ratio of representation of 1 M.P.:52,800 people up to a reasonable level compared to that for the rest of Ireland (1:51,200), and gave her, in all, 7 extra members. It is therefore difficult to understand Jones's claim that Gladstone sold Ulster representation down the river as the price of Parnellite support during the stages of the Reform Bill. Jones, , pp. 25–6.Google Scholar

70 Cuthbert, D. D., ‘The Redistribution Act of 1885’ (Ph.D. thesis, Monash University 1968), pp. 61–2.Google Scholar 3 Hansard, , vol. 295, p. 504.Google Scholar

71 For details of the settlement see, ‘The Arlington Street Compact’. B.M. Add. MSS 43876, fos. 42–5.

72 3 Hansard, , vol. 294, pp. 373–85.Google Scholar

73 Gladstone, Mary, Diary, p. 336.Google Scholar

74 3 Hansard, , vol. 297, p. 78.Google Scholar

75 Cecil, Lady G., Life of Robert, Marquess of Salisbury (London, 1931), III, 121.Google Scholar

76 Weston, , p. 316.Google Scholar

77 Buckle, , pp. 566–7.Google Scholar

78 Dilke Memoir, fos. 326–8.

79 Bright, John to Chamberlain, , 22 Dec. 1884. Chamberlain papers JC5/7/22.Google Scholar

80 Northcote, to Salisbury, , 20 Nov. 1884. Salisbury papers series E.Google Scholar

81 Report of the Boundary Commissioners for England and Wales 1885. Parliamentary Papers (1884–1885), XIX 1.Google Scholar

82 D.N.B. vol. XXXII, pp. 18–19.Google Scholar

83 D.N.B. vol. L, p. 271.Google ScholarSalisbury, to Dilke, , 29 Nov. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 43876, fo. 48.Google Scholar

84 Salisbury, to Dilke, , 29 Nov. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 43876, fos. 47–8.Google ScholarCorrespondence relating to the Appointment of Commissioners. P.P. (1884–1885), LXXII, 233.Google Scholar

85 3 Hansard, , vol. 294, p. 655.Google Scholar

86 Salisbury, to Northcote, , 21 Dec. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 50020, fos. 110–11.Google Scholar

87 Northcote, to Salisbury, , 8 Dec. 1884. Salisbury papers series E.Google Scholar

88 Chamberlain, to Dilke, , 23 Oct. 1884. B.M. Add. MSS 43886, fo. 246.Google ScholarMemoir, Dilke, 4 Dec. 1884, fo. 338.Google Scholar

89 Instructions to the Boundary Commissioners, P.P. (1884–1885), LXII 255.Google Scholar

90 Moore, D. C., ‘Concession or Cure: the Sociological Premises of the First Reform Act’, Historical Journal, IX (1966), 39–59, 39–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarCowling, M., 1867: Disraeli, Gladstone and Revolution (Cambridge, 1967), pp. 52–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

91 Irish Boundary Commission papers. Public Record Office of Ireland.

92 Irish Boundary Commission papers. Bundle entitled Drafts and Instructions.

93 Irish Boundary Commission papers. Minutes of Proceedings, p. 4.

94 Wiltshire County Mirror, 6 Jan. 1885.

95 Irish Boundary Commission papers. Letters received nos. 6 and 46. Minutes of Proceedings 6, 7, and 9 Feb. 1885, pp. 5–7.Google Scholar

96 Dilke, to Salisbury, , 21 Nov. 1884. Salisbury papers series E.Google Scholar

97 Freeman's Journal, 4 Feb. 1885.

98 Birmingham Daily Gazette, 19 Jan. 1885.

99 Royal Cornwall Gazette, 19 Dec. 1884.

100 Boundary Commission Report on Cornwall. P.P. (1884–1885), XIX 1Google Scholar

101 Birmingham Daily Gazette, 23 Jan. 1885.

102 Dilke, to MrsPattison, , 5 May 1885. B.M. Add MSS 43906, fos. 70–1.Google Scholar

103 3 Hansard, , vol. 296, p. 1552.Google Scholar

104 3 Hansard, , vol. 294, pp. 658–747, 1806–1861. Vol. 297, pp. 619–717.Google Scholar

105 The Irish Registration Act (48 & 49 Viet. c. 17) translated to Ireland the provisions of the 1865 English Registration Act which tried to deal with problem of frivolous objections.

106 SirDilke, C. W., Electoral Reform (London, 1909), p. 9.Google Scholar