South Durham, formally the Southern Division of Durham and often referred to as Durham Southern, was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system of election.
The constituency was created by the Great Reform Act for the 1832 general election, when the former Durham constituency was split into the northern and southern divisions, each electing two members using the bloc vote system.
The seat was abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 when the two divisions were replaced by eight single-member divisions. These were Barnard Castle, Bishop Auckland, Chester-le-Street, Houghton-le-Spring, Jarrow, Mid Durham, North West Durham and South East Durham. In addition there were seven County Durham borough constituencies.
1832âÂÂ1885
See map on Vision of Britain website.
From 1868, included non-resident 40 shilling freeholders in the parliamentary boroughs of Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees and The Hartlepools, which were created by the Reform Act 1867.