Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)
| Bedfordshire | |
|---|---|
|
Former County constituency for the House of Commons | |
| 1290–1885 | |
| Number of members | two |
Bedfordshire was a United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency, which elected two Members of Parliament from 1295 until 1885, when it was divided into two constituencies under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.
History
The constituency consisted of the historic county of Bedfordshire. (Although Bedfordshire contained the borough of Bedford, which elected two MPs in its own right, this was not excluded from the county constituency, and owning property within the borough could confer a vote at the county election.)
As in other county constituencies the franchise between 1430 and 1832 was defined by the Forty Shilling Freeholder Act, which gave the right to vote to every man who possessed freehold property within the county valued at £2 or more per year for the purposes of land tax; it was not necessary for the freeholder to occupy his land, nor even in later years to be resident in the county at all.
At the time of the Great Reform Act in 1832, Bedfordshire had a population of approximately 95,000, but under 4,000 votes were cast at the election of 1826, and under 3,000 in election of 1830, even though each voter could cast two votes. Although local landowners could never control a county the size of Bedfordshire in the way they could own a pocket borough, titled magnates still exercised considerable influence over deferential county voters, and the Duke of Bedford was regarded as the hereditary "patron" of the constituency.
Elections were held at a single polling place, Bedford, and voters from the rest of the county had to travel to the county town to exercise their franchise. In many other counties this could make the cost of a contested election prohibitive, since it was normal for voters to expect the candidates for whom they voted to meet their expenses in travelling to the poll; but this was less of a factor in a small county like Bedfordshire, and contested elections were not uncommon.
Under the terms of the Great Reform Act of 1832, the county franchise was extended to occupiers of land worth £50 or more, as well as the forty-shilling freeholders, but Bedfordshire was otherwise left unchanged. Under the new rules, 3,966 were registered and entitled to vote at the general election of 1832. While Bedford remained the place of election, where nominations were taken and the result declared, polling also took place at Luton, Leighton Buzzard, Ampthill, Biggleswade and Sharnbrook.
Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the constituency was abolished and the county divided into two single-member county constituencies, Biggleswade and Luton.
Members of Parliament
MPs 1290–1640
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
- Constituency created (1290)
| Parliament | First member | Second member | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parliament of 1295 | Sir David Flitwick[1] | ||
| Parliament of 1313 (Jul) | Peter de Loring | David Flitwick, K.B.[1] | |
| Parliament of 1313 (Sep) | Sir Peter de Loring | Sir David Flitwick, K.B.[1] | |
| Parliament of 1316 | Roger Dakeney | ||
| Good Parliament (1376) | Johannes Trayle | ||
| Parliament of Jan 1377 | Sir Gerard Braybrooke I | ||
| Parliament of 1379 | William Mordaunt | ||
| Parliament of 1381 | Johannes Trayle | ||
| Parliament of 1385 | Reynold Ragon | ||
| Parliament of 1386 | Ralph Fitzrichard | John Hervey | |
| Parliament of Feb 1388 | Sir Gerard Braybrooke II | Robert Digswell | |
| Parliament of Sep 1388 | William Terrington | Ralph Walton | |
| Parliament of Jan 1390 | Baldwin Pigot | ||
| Parliament of Nov 1390 | Sir Gerard Braybrooke I | Thomas Zouche | |
| Parliament of 1391 | William Terrington | Ralph Walton | |
| Parliament of 1393 | John Worship | ||
| Parliament of 1394 | Reynold Regan | ||
| Parliament of 1395 | Philip Walwyn | Giles Daubeney | |
| Parliament of Jan 1397 | William Terrington | John Worship | |
| Parliament of Sep 1397 | Sir Baldwin Pigot | ||
| Parliament of 1399 | Sir Gerard Braybrooke II | Sir Roger Beauchamp | |
| Parliament of 1401 | Sir Baldwin Pigot | Giles Daubeney | |
| Parliament of 1402 | Reynold Ragon | John Worship | |
| Parliament of Jan 1404 | William Terrington | ||
| Parliament of Oct 1404 | Thomas Durant | William Wenlock | |
| Parliament of 1406 | Hugh Hasilden | ||
| Parliament of 1407 | William Bosom | John Worship | |
| Parliament of 1409 | Returns lost | ||
| Parliament of 1411 | Returns lost | ||
| Parliament of May 1413 | William Bosom | Thomas Waweton | |
| Parliament of Apr 1414 | John Goldington | ||
| Parliament of Nov 1414 | John Enderby | Roger Hunt | |
| Parliament of Mar 1416 | William Bosom | ||
| Parliament of 1417 | Thomas Roxton | ||
| Parliament of 1419 | John Enderby | Sir Thomas Waweton | |
| Parliament of 1420 | Robert Scott | Roger Hunt | |
| Parliament of May 1421 | John Goldington II | Thomas Mordaunt | |
| Parliament of Dec 1421 | Thomas Manningham | Henry Cockayne | |
| Parliament of 1424 | Sir Thomas Waweton | ||
| Parliament of 1431 | |||
| Parliament of 1433 | John Wenlock | ||
| Parliament of 1436 | |||
| Parliament of 1437 | |||
| Parliament of 1439 | |||
| Parliament of 1455 | Sir John Wenlock | ||
| Parliament of 1529 | Sir William Gascoigne | George Acworth (died 1532) John St John | |
| Parliament of 1536 | |||
| Parliament of 1539 | Sir John St John | John Gostwick | |
| Parliament of 1542 | Sir John Gascoigne | ||
| Parliament of 1545 | John Gostwick, died 1545 | Edmund Conquest | |
| Parliament of 1547-1552 | Oliver St John | Lewis Dyve | |
| Parliament of March 1553 | Sir Humphrey Radclyffe | ||
| Parliament of October 1553 | Sir John Gascoigne | Sir John Mordaunt | |
| Parliament of 1554 | Sir Humphrey Radclyffe | ||
| Parliament of 1554-1555 | |||
| Parliament of 1555 | |||
| Parliament of 1558 | Sir John Gascoigne | ||
| Parliament of 1559 | Hon. John St John | Thomas Pigott | |
| Parliament of 1563-1567 | Lewis Mordaunt | ||
| Parliament of 1571 | George Rotherham | Thomas Snagge | |
| Parliament of 1572-1583 | Sir Henry Cheyne (1572 - created a peer) John Thompson (1572-1583) | ||
| Parliament of 1584-1585 | Nicholas Luke | ||
| Parliament of 1586-1587 | Thomas Snagge | ||
| Parliament of 1588-1589 | Hon. Oliver St John | Edward Radclyffe | |
| Parliament of 1593 | George Rotherham | ||
| Parliament of 1597-1598 | Hon. Oliver St John | Sir Edward Radclyffe | |
| Parliament of 1601 | |||
| Parliament of 1604-1611 | |||
| Addled Parliament (1614) | Sir Henry Grey | Sir Oliver Luke | |
| Parliament of 1621-1622 | Sir Beauchamp St John | ||
| Happy Parliament (1624-1625) | Oliver St John | ||
| Useless Parliament (1625) | |||
| Parliament of 1625-1626 | |||
| Parliament of 1628-1629 | Oliver St John | ||
| No Parliament summoned 1629-1640 | |||
MPs 1640–1885
| Year | First member | First party | Second member | Second party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1640 | The Lord Wentworth [2] | Royalist | Sir Oliver Luke | Parliamentarian | ||
| 1641 | Roger Burgoyne | Parliamentarian | ||||
| December 1648 | Burgoyne and Luke excluded in Pride's Purge - both seats vacant | |||||
| 1653 | Nathaniel Taylor | Edward Cater | ||||
| Representation increased to five members in First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | |||||
| Year | First member | Second member | Third member | Fourth member | Fifth member |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1654 | Sir William Boteler | John Harvey | Edmund Wingate | John Neale | Samuel Bedford |
| 1656 | Richard Wagstaffe | Richard Edwards | |||
Election results
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Notes
- 1 2 3 Members of Parliament 1213-1702 (hardback), London: House of Commons, 1878
- ↑ Wentworth was summoned to the House of Lords in his father's barony, by writ of acceleration, before the Long Parliament had met for the first time
- ↑ Declared elected and Harvey unseated on petition
- ↑ Chose to sit for Woodstock
- ↑ Succeeded as 5th baronet in 1759
- ↑ Created Lord Ongley in 1776
- ↑ Declared elected and St John unseated on petition
- ↑ Declared elected and Ongley unseated on petition
- ↑ Sir Richard Gilpin: Obituary in The Times, Monday, Apr 10, 1882; pg. 7; Issue 30477; col F: Died "on Saturday", No issue, Baronetcy extinct.
See also
References
- Beatson, Robert (1807). A chronological register of both houses of the British Parliament, Volume II.
- D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
- John Cannon, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973)
- Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
- F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885" (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
- Robert H O'Byrne, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland, Part I - Bedfordshire (London: John Ollivier, 1848)
- J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Reform 1640-1832 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
- Edward Porritt and Annie G Porritt, The Unreformed House of Commons (Cambridge University Press, 1903)
- Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 2)