Carmarthenshire (UK Parliament constituency)
| Carmarthenshire | |
|---|---|
| Former County constituency for the House of Commons |
|
| 1542–1885 | |
| Number of members | one until 1832, then two |
| Replaced by | East Carmarthenshire and West Carmarthenshire |
Carmarthenshire was a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until its representation was increased to two members for the 1832 general election.
At the 1885 general election, it was divided into two new single-member seats: Carmarthenshire East and Carmarthenshire West.
For most of its history, the Carmarthenshire constituency was dominated by a small number of powerful families. Chief among these were the Rice family of Dynevor, who could claim descent from the medieval Lord Rhys of Deheubarth. They drew upon traditional loyaltiy and the connotations linked to the Dynevor name to maintain their status as the leading political family of the county and leaders of the Red or Tory faction.
In 1790 the influence of the Dynevor family was re-asserted when George Talbot Rice was elected unopposed. Four years later, he was elevated to the House of Lords and the family would not be in a position to represent the county again until 1820 when his yet unborn son would have came of age.
A celebrated contest took place in 1802 between James Hamlyn Williams and William Paxton. The contest was said to have cost Paxton a total of £15,000. This included 11,070 breakfasts, 36,901 dinners, 25,275 gallons of ale, 11,068 bottles of spirits, 8,879 bottles of porter, 460 of sherry, 509 of cider and gallons of milk punch. The contest became known as ‘Lecsiwn Fawr’ (the Great Election). Paxton was defeated and spent two years settling his debts.
In 1820, George Rice Trevor was elected MP for Carmarthenshire and held the seat until 1831. Following the Great Reform Act, the county was awarded a second seat. In 1832, Rice Trevor resumed his seat and served until 1852 when he was elevated to the House of Lords upon inheriting the title of Lord Dynevor.
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