Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832

United Kingdom legislation defining parliamentary constituencies

See also: Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 and List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974

United Kingdom legislation

Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832[nb 1]Act of Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Long title| 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.
Citation| 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 64
Dates
Royal assent| 11 July 1832
Other legislation
Amended by|

* Statute Law Revision Act 1874
* Statute Law Revision Act 1890

Repealed by| Statute Law Revision Act 1950

Status: Repealed

Text of statute as originally enacted

The Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 64) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which defined the parliamentary divisions (constituencies) in England and Wales required by the Reform Act 1832. The boundaries were largely those recommended by a boundary commission headed by the surveyor Thomas Drummond.

## Provisions

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Sections 1 to 25 of the act defined the divisions of those larger counties of England which under the Reform Act 1832 were to be divided into two divisions. This did not include the seven counties which were to return three members each.[citation needed]

Sections 26 and 27 and schedule M dealt with detached parts of counties. It provided that most detached parts (identified in schedule M) were to form part of the parliamentary county and division in which they were geographically located, rather than of the county to which they otherwise formed a part. Section 28 provided that liberties and other places with a separate jurisdiction (but not the counties corporate of Bristol, Exeter, Lichfield, Norwich, or Nottingham) were to be included in the county and division in which they were geographically located.[citation needed]

Sections 29 to 34 prescribed polling districts and polling places within each constituency.[citation needed]

Sections 35 to 37 and schedule O defined the boundaries of each parliamentary borough. In ancient boroughs these replaced boundaries established by charter or prescription, often centuries out of date. The commissioners favoured rational boundaries, encompassing an urban centre with some suburban room for growth. However, some of the smaller boroughs to escape disfranchisement were given large rural tracts to increase the represented population.[citation needed]

## See also

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* List of constituencies enfranchised and disfranchised by the Reform Act 1832

## References

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### Footnote

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1. ^ Short title as conferred by section 1 of the Short Titles Act 1896; the modern convention for the citation of short titles omits the comma after the word "Act".

### Sources

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* Salmon, Philip (2009). "Surveys: IX. The English Reform Legislation". In Fisher, D.R. (ed.). The House of Commons 1820–1832. The History of Parliament. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 31 July 2019 - via History of Parliament Online.
* Spychal, Martin (August 2017). "'One of the best men of business we had ever met': Thomas Drummond, the boundary commission and the 1832 Reform Act". Historical Research. 90 (249): 543–566\. doi:10.1111/1468-2281.12180.

## Further reading

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* Reports of Boundary Commissioners covering England and Wales :
* Eight volumes on boroughs (text from HathiTrust)
* One volume on county divisions (text from HathiTrust)
* Zoomable map (from Vision of Britain) — links to high-resolution scans of the maps associated with the preceding nine volumes

## External links

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* Text of the Act

* v
* t
* e

Electoral reform in the United Kingdom

Representation of
the People Acts|

| Reform Acts|

* England and Wales, 1832
* Scotland, 1832
* Ireland, 1832
* England and Wales, 1867
* Scotland, 1868
* Ireland, 1868
* 1884

|

* 1918
* 1928
* 1948
* 1949
* 1969
* 1981
* 1983
* 1985
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1993
* 2000

Municipal Reform|

* Scotland, 1833
* England and Wales, 1835
* Ireland, 1840

Constituency reform|

* Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832
* Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832
* Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
* Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918
* Government of Ireland Act 1920
* House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944
* House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949
* Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986
* Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011
* Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020

Other related Acts|

* Parliamentary Elections Act 1868
* Ballot Act 1872
* Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883
* European Assembly Elections Act 1978 (repealed)
* Registration of Political Parties Act 1998
* European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999 (repealed)
* Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000
* Electoral Administration Act 2006
* Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (repealed)
* Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013
* Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022
* Elections Act 2022

Related topics|

* Chartism
* Unreformed House of Commons
* Rotten and pocket boroughs
* University constituency
* Women's suffrage
* Wales
* Historiography
* 2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum
* Elections in the United Kingdom
* Corrupt practices
* Boundary commissions
* Parliament in the Making
* Parliamentary franchise (1885–1918)

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