Sheffield was a
borough constituency represented in the
House of Commons of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom 1832 to 1885. It elected two
Members of Parliament (MPs) by the
bloc vote system of elections.
The constituency encompassed the urban part of the
town and
parish (now
city) of
Sheffield,
England, but not the western, rural, parts of Upper Hallam and Ecclesall Bierlow, which were incorporated into Sheffield Town Borough in 1843.
History
Prior to 1832 Sheffield had been represented by the
Yorkshire constituency. The Sheffield Borough constituency was created by the
Reform Act of 1832, and was given two
MPs, the first time that the town had been represented in the
House of Commons. Four candidates stood at the first election contesting these two seats. Voting took place on 13 and 14 December 1832, with the results declared on 15 December (see below). The election sparked a riot on 14 December, which resulted in the military being called out. The soldiers fired on the crowd, killing six people and injuring several others. Following the
Redistribution of Seats Act in 1885, which sought to eliminate constituencies with more than one MP and give greater representation to urban areas, the Borough of Sheffield was sub-divided. The five new divisions—
Attercliffe,
Brightside,
Ecclesall,
Hallam, and
Sheffield Central—each returned a single MP.
Members of Parliament
Two MPs were elected at each general...
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