Did you know .....until 1832 Stroud was represented in Parliament by the two Members of Parliament (MPs) for the County.
It wasn't until the great Reform Act of 1832, that the Stroud constituency was established (still with 2 MPs). The new Stroud constituency covered a wide area around the five valleys.
It was one of only two new parliamentary boroughs which was not based on major cities (the other was Stoke-on-Trent, which at the time was a collection of small pottery towns).
In December 1832, the first MPs to be elected for the new borough were:
W.H. Hyett of Painswick House
David Ricardo junior of Gatcombe Park, Minchinhampton
Hyett, was a Liberal and a supporter of the anti-slavery movement, but served only one term in parliament.
Between 1835 and 1841 - Lord John Russell was an MP for the borough. Russell later went on to become Prime Minister.
Edward Horsman, who was MP for Stroud from 1853-68, became Chief Secretary for Ireland.
Other MPs included S.S. Dickinson (1868-74) and H.S.P. Winterbotham (1867-73). Winterbotham was one of the leading nonconformists in the House of Commons.
Did you know .....in 1874-75, there were five parliamentary elections in fifteen months following allegations of malpractice!
In 1885, Stroud borough became part of the larger Stroud or Mid-Gloucestershire division of the county.
From January 2016, this website is managed by Stroud Local
History Society
