This Exeter Working Paper arises from research towards a paper on election ephemera. It avoids discussion of political issues, for this the History of Parliament website is recommended; the main interest is in the bibliographical aspect of this type of street literature. It covers items held in the Devon heritage Centre and the three published collections of addresses, speeches, squibs and songs, which cover Devon (1812, 1816 and 1818), Exeter (1812 and 1818), Barnstaple (1832) and the burlesque election in Ide (1812). It also includes items identified on COPAC. Other libraries, archives and museums have not yet been searched.
Constituencies available:
Devon county.
Barnstaple.
Dartmouth.
East Devon.
Exeter.
Honiton.
North Devon.
Plymouth.
South Devon .
Tavistock.
Tiverton.
Totnes.
Ide burlesque election.
Miscellaneous, including non-Devon.
The constituencies which fall within the scope of this study are listed in the table below. The reforms of 1832, 1868 and 1885 affected both the way the county was carved up and the numbers of candidates each constituency returned.
| 1707-1831 | 1832-1867 | 1868-1885 | 1885-1918 | 1918-1950 |
| Exeter (2) | Exeter (2) | Exeter (2) | Exeter (1) | Exeter (1) |
| Plymouth (2) | Plymouth (2) | Plymouth (2) | Plymouth (2) | Sutton (1) |
| Drake (1) | ||||
| Devonport (2) | Devonport (2) | Devonport (2) | Devonport (1) | |
| Devon (2) | North Devon (2) | North Devon (2) | ||
| Barnstaple (2) | Barnstaple (2) | Barnstaple (2) | Barnstaple (NW - 1) | Barnstaple (1) |
| South Molton (N - 1) | South Molton (1) | |||
| Tiverton (2) | Tiverton (2) | Tiverton (2) | Tiverton (NE - 1) | Tiverton (1) |
| South Devon (2) | South Devon (2) | |||
| Tavistock (2) | Tavistock (2) | Tavistock (1) | Tavistock (West - 1) | Tavistock (1) |
| Okehampton (2) | Abolished | |||
| Bere Alston (2) | Abolished | |||
| Totnes (2) | Totnes (2) | Abolished | Totnes (South - 1) | Totnes (1) |
| Plympton Erle (2) | Abolished | |||
| East Devon (2) | ||||
| Ashburton (2) | Ashburton (1) | Ashburton (1) | Ashburton (Mid - 1) | Ashburton (1) |
| Honiton (2) | Honiton (2) | Abolished | Honiton (East - 1) | Honiton (1) |
| Dartmouth (2) | Dartmouth (1) | Abolished | Torquay (1) | Torquay (1) |
This is very much work in progress and it will be added to and amended during the course of this election year. Any contributions – corrections or additions - using the format adopted, will be gratefully received.
This page last updated 14 January 2015
