1860 Londonderry City by-election

UK parliamentary by-election April 2022 The 1860 Londonderry City by-election was held on 2 April following the 13 March 1860 death of the incumbent, the Liberal Party's Sir Robert Ferguson. Ferguson had held the seat since 1830 and had received significant support from the Catholic segment of the constituency. The Liberal Party's candidate Samuel MacCurdy Greer had counted on this support transferring to him, however the Irish Conservative Party's candidate William McCormick, who employed a significant number of Catholic workers, managed to split the Catholic vote. The Liberal Party's Presbyterian support had also been adversely affected by their defeat to the Tories in Londonderry County in 1857, which led many to withdraw from politics. The election resulted in a narrow victory for McCormick, with a 19-vote majority. He held the seat until his retirement at the 1865 United Kingdom general election. Background Londonderry City, a one-seat borough constituency, had been represented in the House of Commons of the British Parliament by Sir Robert Ferguson, 2nd Baronet since the 1830 United Kingdom general election. Ferguson, who represented first the Whig and then the Liberal Party, died on 13 March 1860, triggering a by-election.Ferguson, Sir Robert Alexander, 2nd bt. (1796-1860), of The Farm, nr. Londonderry, co. Londonderry http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/ferguson-sir-robert-1796-1860 History of Parliament Online 15 September 2020 Ferguson had been unopposed in all five elections held in the constituency since 1841.Crosby's Political Record of Parliamentary Elections in Great Britain and Ireland: With Select Biographical Notices and Speeches of Distinguished Statesmen ... 1843 George Crosby York 259 https://books.google.com/books?id=HwxAAAAAYAAJ enThe Annual Register: Or a View of the History, Politics and Literature, for the Year ... 1852 Dodsley London Appendix page 367 https://books.google.com/books?id=ZIhWAAAAcAAJ enThom's Directory of Ireland 1873 Alexander Thom and Co Dublin 889 https://books.google.com/books?id=0T09AQAAMAAJ en Candidates The Irish Conservative Party's candidate was William McCormick, a Donegal-born engineering contractor. He arrived in Londonderry in 1840 as an entrepreneur during a land reclamation project on Lough Swilly. McCormick was popular as he had intervened to save local railway lines running to Coleraine and Enniskillen and employed hundreds of local people.Hume John Derry Beyond the Walls: Social and Economic Aspects of the Growth of Derry : 1825-1850 2002 Ulster Historical Foundation Belfast 978-1-903688-24-3 166 https://books.google.com/books?id=k_JCR-HgIX0C enEdwards Robert Dudley Studies in Irish History, Presented to R. Dudley Edwards 1979 University College Dublin 978-0-901120-61-8 202 https://books.google.com/books?id=hFCCAAAAIAAJ en There were two Liberal Party candidates Samuel MacCurdy Greer and George Skipton. Greer was born in County Londonderry and represented the county constituency as a Radical between the 1857 and 1859 general elections.Samuel McCurdy Greer https://www.newulsterbiography.co.uk/index.php/home/printPerson/578 Dictionary of Ulster Biography 16 September 2020Greer, Samuel MacCurdy 23 Skipton was a resident of Beech Hill in Londonderry.Burke Bernard A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland 1871 Harrison London 1271 https://books.google.com/books?id=H65CAAAAYAAJ en All of the candidates were prominent in the municipal life of Londonderry.Murphy Desmond Derry, Donegal, and Modern Ulster, 1790-1921 1981 Aileach Press Londonderry 114 https://books.google.com/books?id=YcJnAAAAMAAJ en Result The electorate comprised freemen of the city, houseowners with property rated at a value in excess of £10 per year and occupiers of properties rated at £8 or more per year.Dod Robert Phipps The Parliamentary Companion 1862 Whittaker & Company London 120 https://books.google.com/books?id=bmFJAQAAMAAJ en Ferguson had been largely apolitical and had received the support of the Catholic population. However the majority of constituents were Protestants (around 37% Presbyterians and 22% Episcopalians) and, with a weakening of Liberal support in the city following Ferguson's death, from 1860 the Conservative Party entered a period of dominance.Hoppen Karl Theodore Elections, Politics, and Society in Ireland, 1832-1885 1984 Clarendon Press Oxford 978-0-19-822630-7 269 https://books.google.com/books?id=JLdnAAAAMAAJ en The Presbyterians had supported Greer at the 1857 by-election for Londonderry County but the victory of Tory landlord-nominee James Johnston Clark led to the withdrawal of many Presbyterians from politics.Murphy Desmond Derry, Donegal, and Modern Ulster, 1790-1921 1981 Aileach Press Londonderry 113–114 https://books.google.com/books?id=YcJnAAAAMAAJ en McCormick, many of whose employees were Catholic, campaigned heavily for support from this segment of the population. This was successful in splintering the Catholic vote, which Greer had thought he could count on. Skipton had hoped to attract support from across all groups in the city, but because of strong denominational ties in the constituency only received a handful of votes.Murphy Desmond Derry, Donegal, and Modern Ulster, 1790-1921 1981 Aileach Press Londonderry 115 https://books.google.com/books?id=YcJnAAAAMAAJ en McCormick won the election, held on 2 April, with 327 votes compared to 309 for Greer and 82 for Skipton.The Handbook of the Court, the Peerage, the House of Commons 1862 Henry Adams London 241 https://books.google.com/books?id=AecNAAAAQAAJ en An election petition was made against the result but the House of Commons committee declared the result as valid on 8 June 1860.Parliamentary Papers volume 56 1860 H.M. Stationery Office London 588.5 https://books.google.com/books?id=ytcSAAAAYAAJ en McCormick chose to serve only one term, retiring on 11 July 1865 with the dissolution of parliament ahead of the 1865 United Kingdom general election.William McCormick https://membersafter1832.historyofparliamentonline.org/members/4985 Rush Database History of Parliament 16 September 2020 By-election, 2 April 1860: Londonderry CityWalker B.M. Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922 1978 Royal Irish Academy Dublin 0901714127 Irish Conservative Party William McCormick 326 45.6 New Liberal Party (UK) Samuel MacCurdy Greer 307 42.9 N/A Liberal Party (UK) George Skipton 82 11.5 N/A 19 2.7 N/A 715 86.7 N/A 825 Conservative Party (UK) Liberal Party (UK) N/A References Londonderry City by-election Londonderry City by-election Category:19th century in Derry (city) Category:Elections in Derry (city) Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in County Londonderry constituencies Category:1860 elections in Ireland