South Devon, formally known as the Southern Division of Devon, was parliamentary constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

 in the county of Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. From 1832 to 1885 it returned two Knights of the Shire

Knights of the Shire

From the creation of the Parliament of England in mediaeval times until 1826 each county of England and Wales sent two Knights of the Shire as members of Parliament to represent the interests of the county, when the number of knights from Yorkshire was increased to four...

 to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

, elected by the bloc vote

Plurality-at-large voting

Plurality-at-large voting is a non-proportional voting system for electing several representatives from a single multimember electoral district using a series of check boxes and tallying votes similar to a plurality election...

 system.

Boundaries

In 1832 the county of Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, in south western England, was divided for Parliamentary purposes between this constituency and North Devon

North Devon (UK Parliament constituency)

North Devon is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election....

. In 1868 the Devon county constituencies were re-arranged into North, South and East Devon

East Devon (UK Parliament constituency)

East Devon is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...

 divisions. Each of these divisions returned two members of Parliament.

In 1885 the three constituencies were again redrawn, so that Devon was represented by eight single member County constituencies (there were also three borough constituencies, two of which returned two members and the third one member). The county was split between the new smaller constituencies of Ashburton

Ashburton (UK Parliament constituency)

Ashburton was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament at Westminster, for one Parliament in 1298 and regularly from 1640 until it was abolished for the 1868 general election. It was one of three Devon borough constituencies newly enfranchised in the Long...

 (alternatively the Mid Division), Barnstaple

Barnstaple (UK Parliament constituency)

Barnstaple was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Barnstaple in Devon, in the South West of England. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1885, when its representation was reduced to one member.The constituency...

 (the North-Western Division), Honiton

Honiton (UK Parliament constituency)

Honiton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Honiton in east Devon, formerly represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sent members intermittently from 1300, consistently from 1640. It elected two Members of Parliament until it was...

 (the Eastern Division), South Molton

South Molton (UK Parliament constituency)

South Molton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the small town of South Molton in Devon, in the South West of England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 (the Northern Division), Tavistock

Tavistock (UK Parliament constituency)

Tavistock was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Devon between 1330 and 1974. Until 1885 it was a parliamentary borough, consisting solely of the town of Tavistock; it returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1868, when its...

 (the Western Division), Tiverton

Tiverton (UK Parliament constituency)

Tiverton was a constituency located in east Devon, formerly represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Enfranchised as a parliamentary borough in 1615 and first represented in 1621, it elected two Members of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 (the North-Eastern Division), Torquay

Torquay (UK Parliament constituency)

Torquay was a county constituency in Devon, South West England, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 and Totnes

Totnes (UK Parliament constituency)

Totnes is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament , using the first-past-the-post voting system....

 (the Southern Division). The constituencies in this redistribution are normally referred to by the distinctive place name rather than the alternative compass point designation, so the South Devon division is considered to have been abolished in 1885.

Members of Parliament

Election			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
		1832 United Kingdom general election, 1832 -Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807....	Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC , known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was an English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century....	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...	John Crocker Bulteel	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
		1835 United Kingdom general election, 1835 The 1835 United Kingdom general election was called when Parliament was dissolved on 29 December 1834. Polling took place between 6 January and 6 February 1835, and the results saw Robert Peel's Conservatives make large gains from their low of the 1832 election, but the Whigs maintained a large...			Sir John Buller Yarde-Buller, Bt John Yarde-Buller, 1st Baron Churston John Yarde-Buller, 1st Baron Churston was a British, Conservative politician.Born John Buller-Yarde-Buller, he was the eldest son of Sir Francis Buller-Yarde-Buller, Bt. and his wife, Elizabeth. In 1833, he inherited his father's baronetcy and entered Parliament two years later as MP for South Devon...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
		May 1835 by-election	Montague Edmund Newcombe Parker	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
		1841 United Kingdom general election, 1841 -Seats summary:-Whig MPs who lost their seats:*Viscount Morpeth - Chief Secretary for Ireland*Sir George Strickland, Bt*Sir Henry Barron, 1st Baronet-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987...	Lord Courtenay William Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon William Reginald Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon PC , styled Lord Courtenay between 1835 and 1859, was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1866 to 1867 and as President of the Poor Law Board from 1867 to 1868.-Background and education:Devon was the eldest son...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
		1849 by-election	Sir Ralph Lopes, Bt Sir Ralph Lopes, 2nd Baronet Sir Ralph Lopes, 2nd Baronet , of Maristow in Devon, was a British Member of Parliament .Lopes was born as Ralph Franco. His uncle, Manasseh Masseh Lopes, an MP and borough owner, was created a baronet in 1805, with a special remainder to his nephew...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
		1854 by-election	Sir Lawrence Palk, Bt Lawrence Palk, 1st Baron Haldon Lawrence Palk, 1st Baron Haldon , known as Sir Lawrence Palk, 4th Baronet from 1860 to 1880, was a British Conservative Party politician.-Biography:...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
		1858 by-election			Samuel Trehawke Kekewich Samuel Trehawke Kekewich Samuel Trehawke Kekewich was an English Tory and later Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1826 to 1830 and from 1858 to 1873....	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
		1868 United Kingdom general election, 1868 The 1868 United Kingdom general election was the first after passage of the Reform Act 1867, which enfranchised many male householders, thus greatly increasing the number of men who could vote in elections in the United Kingdom...	Sir Massey Lopes, Bt Sir Massey Lopes, 3rd Baronet Sir Massey Lopes, 3rd Baronet PC , known as Massey Franco until 1831 and as Massey Lopes from 1831 to 1854, was a British Conservative politician and agriculturalist....	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
		1873 by-election			John Carpenter Garnier John Carpenter Garnier John Carpenter Garnier was an English Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1873 to 1884....	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
		1884 by-election			John Tremayne	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
		1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 -Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...	Constituency abolished