Kingston upon Hull (UK Parliament constituency)

Kingston upon Hull, often simply referred to as Hull, was a parliamentary constituency in Yorkshire, electing two members of parliament to the Parliaments of England, Great Britain and House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, from 1305 until 1885. Its MPs included the anti-slavery campaigner, William Wilberforce, and the poet Andrew Marvell.

History
Kingston upon Hull was a borough constituency in the town (later city) of Hull. Until the Great Reform Act of 1832, it consisted only of the parish of St Mary's, Hull and part of Holy Trinity, Hull, entirely to the west of the River Hull. This excluded parts of the urban area which had not been originally part of the town, but some of these – the rest of Holy Trinity parish, Sculcoates, Drypool, Garrisonside and part of Sutton-on-Hull – were brought into the constituency by boundary changes in 1832. This increased the population of the borough from around 16,000 to almost 50,000.

The borough sent its first two known Members to the Parliament of 1305 and thereafter with fair regularity from 1334. Until the Reform Act, the right to vote in Hull was vested in the freemen of the city, which made the constituency one of the larger and more competitive ones. At the general election of 1831, 2,174 voters went to the polls.

The Hull constituency was abolished for the 1885 general election, the city being divided into three single-member constituencies, Kingston upon Hull Central, Kingston upon Hull East and Kingston upon Hull West.

Elections in the 1830s
Carruthers' death caused a by-election.


 * On petition, Wilberforce's election was declared void and Hutt was declared elected in 1838.

Elections in the 1840s
Baines was appointed President of the Poor Law Board, requiring a by-election.

Elections in the 1850s
After an election petition committee found evidence of bribery and treating, both members were unseated and the writ was suspended in March 1853. A by-election was then held in August 1854.

Watson resigned after being appointed a Baron of the Exchequer, causing a by-election.

Hoare was unseated after an election petition committee found evidence of corruption, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s
Clay's death caused a by-election.