Stowmarket

Coordinates: 52°11′N 1°00′E / 52.19°N 1.00°E / 52.19; 1.00

Stowmarket (/ˈstoʊˌmɑːrkᵻt/) is a small market town situated in Suffolk, England, on the busy A14 trunk road between Bury St Edmunds to the west and Ipswich to the southeast. The town is on the main railway line between London and Norwich, and lies on the River Gipping, which is joined by its tributary, the River Rat, to the south of the town.

The town takes its name from the Old English word stōw meaning ‘principal place’, and was granted a market charter in 1347 by Edward III. A bi-weekly market is still held there today on Thursday and Saturday.

The population of the town has increased from around 6,000 in 1981 to its current level of around 16,000, with considerable further development planned for the town and surrounding villages as part of an area action plan. It is the largest town in the Mid Suffolk district and is represented in parliament by the MP for Bury St Edmunds, currently David Ruffley.

Historic Events

Disaster struck Stowmarket on 11 August 1871, when an explosion at a local gun cotton factory claimed twenty-four lives and left seventy five injured, the site of the explosion is now home to a large paint factory.

Stowmarket (UK Parliament constituency)

Stowmarket was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Stowmarket in Suffolk. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

History

The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election.

Boundaries

The Sessional Divisions of Stowmarket, Blackbourn, and Lackford, the Municipal Borough of Bury St Edmunds, part of the Sessional Divisions of Newmarket, Thingoe, and Thedwestry, and the part of the Municipal Borough of Thetford which was in Suffolk.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1914/15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;