Breconshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
Breconshire or Brecknockshire was a constituency in Wales
which returned one Member of Parliament
to the House of Commons
of the English Parliament
, and later to the Parliament of Great Britain
and of the United Kingdom
, between 1542 and 1918. (Historically, the "-shire" suffix was often omitted, leading to potential confusion with the Brecon borough constituency
, which existed until 1885.)
. (Although the county town, Brecon
, was a borough which elected an MP in its own right, it was not excluded from the county constituency, and owning property within the borough could confer a vote at the county election.) The county elected one MP, who was chosen by the first past the post electoral system - when there was a contest at all, which was rare.
As in other county constituencies, the franchise until 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, Breconshire had a population of approximately 47,800, but the rarity of contested elections makes it difficult to make a reliable estimate of the number qualified to vote; the greatest number ever recorded as voting before the Reform Act was 1,641 at the general election of 1818.
For centuries before 1832, Breconshire politics was dominated by the Morgan family
of Tredegar
, who were usually able to nominate the county's MP without opposition (as was also the case in Brecon borough
). The changes introduced by the Reform Act did little to shake this hold, and a Morgan was still sitting unopposed in the 1860s. The Reform Act extended the county franchise slightly, allowing tenants-at-will, copyholders and leaseholders to vote, but Breconshire's electorate was still only 1,668 at the first post-Reform election, though it grew in the subsequent half-century.
Breconshire was always an almost entirely rural constituency, mountainous and offering poor resources for its agricultural population. The industrial revolution
, however, brought coal
-mining to the south of the county, and by the late 19th century this was much the most important economic activity and was probably the most important factor in its developing a political mind of its own. By the 1890s it had abandoned its loyalty to the (Conservative
) Morgans, and like other industrial constituencies in Wales was a safe Liberal
seat.
By the time of the 1911 census, the population of Breconshire was 63,036, and there were around 13,000 voters on the register around the outbreak of the First World War, a respectable size, but neighbouring Radnorshire
with barely 6,000 voters was too small to survive. With effect from the 1918 general election
, the two constituencies were merged, to form a new Brecon and Radnor
constituency.
Notes
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
which returned one Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
of the English Parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
, and later to the Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
and of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, between 1542 and 1918. (Historically, the "-shire" suffix was often omitted, leading to potential confusion with the Brecon borough constituency
Brecon (UK Parliament constituency)
Brecon was a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors, from 1542 until it was abolished for the 1885 general election.-Boundaries:...
, which existed until 1885.)
History
Like the rest of Wales, Breconshire was given the right to representation by the Act of Union 1536, and first returned an MP to the Parliament of 1542. The constituency consisted of the historic county of BrecknockshireBrecknockshire
Brecknockshire , also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, and a former administrative county.-Geography:...
. (Although the county town, Brecon
Brecon
Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...
, was a borough which elected an MP in its own right, it was not excluded from the county constituency, and owning property within the borough could confer a vote at the county election.) The county elected one MP, who was chosen by the first past the post electoral system - when there was a contest at all, which was rare.
As in other county constituencies, the franchise until 1832 was defined by the Forty Shilling Freeholder Act
Forty Shilling Freeholders
Forty shilling freeholders were a group of landowners who had the Parliamentary franchise to vote in county constituencies in various parts of the British Isles. In England it was the only such qualification from 1430 until 1832...
, 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, Breconshire had a population of approximately 47,800, but the rarity of contested elections makes it difficult to make a reliable estimate of the number qualified to vote; the greatest number ever recorded as voting before the Reform Act was 1,641 at the general election of 1818.
For centuries before 1832, Breconshire politics was dominated by the Morgan family
Baron Tredegar
Baron Tredegar, of Tredegar in the County of Monmouth, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.It was created in 1859 for the Welsh politician Sir Charles Morgan, 3rd Baronet, who had earlier represented Brecon in Parliament. His eldest son, Charles Rodney Morgan, sat as Member of...
of Tredegar
Tredegar
Tredegar is a town situated on the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in south-east Wales. Located within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial Revolution in South Wales...
, who were usually able to nominate the county's MP without opposition (as was also the case in Brecon borough
Brecon (UK Parliament constituency)
Brecon was a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors, from 1542 until it was abolished for the 1885 general election.-Boundaries:...
). The changes introduced by the Reform Act did little to shake this hold, and a Morgan was still sitting unopposed in the 1860s. The Reform Act extended the county franchise slightly, allowing tenants-at-will, copyholders and leaseholders to vote, but Breconshire's electorate was still only 1,668 at the first post-Reform election, though it grew in the subsequent half-century.
Breconshire was always an almost entirely rural constituency, mountainous and offering poor resources for its agricultural population. The industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, however, brought coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
-mining to the south of the county, and by the late 19th century this was much the most important economic activity and was probably the most important factor in its developing a political mind of its own. By the 1890s it had abandoned its loyalty to the (Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
) Morgans, and like other industrial constituencies in Wales was a safe Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
seat.
By the time of the 1911 census, the population of Breconshire was 63,036, and there were around 13,000 voters on the register around the outbreak of the First World War, a respectable size, but neighbouring Radnorshire
Radnorshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Radnorshire was created in 1542 as a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918...
with barely 6,000 voters was too small to survive. With effect from the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
, the two constituencies were merged, to form a new Brecon and Radnor
Brecon and Radnorshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Brecon and Radnorshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in 1918, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election; until 1997 its name was simply Brecon and Radnor.The Brecon and Radnorshire Welsh...
constituency.
1542-1640
| Parliament | Member |
|---|---|
| 1545 | John Games (or ap Morgan) |
| 1547 | Sir John Price John Price John Price is a former English cricketer, who played in fifteen Tests for England from 1964 to 1972.... |
| 1553 (Mar) | Sir Roger Vaughan |
| 1553 (Oct) | Sir Roger Vaughan |
| 1554 (Apr) | Sir Roger Vaughan |
| 1554 (Nov) | Rhys Vaughan |
| 1558 | Watkin (or Walter) Herbert |
| 1559 (Jan) | Sir Roger Vaughan |
| 1562 (Dec) | Rowland Vaughan, died and replaced 1566 by Matthew Arudell |
| 1571 | Sir Roger Vaughan |
| 1572 | Thomas Games |
| 1584 (Nov) | Thomas Games |
| 1586 | Thomas Games |
| 1588–1589 | Sir Robert Knollys Robert Knollys (died 1619) Sir Robert Knollys was an English courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1572 and 1611.Knollys was the son of Sir Francis Knollys, Treasurer of the Royal Household, and Catherine Carey, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I. He quickly entered the... |
| 1593 | Sir Robert Knollys Robert Knollys (died 1619) Sir Robert Knollys was an English courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1572 and 1611.Knollys was the son of Sir Francis Knollys, Treasurer of the Royal Household, and Catherine Carey, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I. He quickly entered the... |
| 1597 (Sep) | Sir Robert Knollys Robert Knollys (died 1619) Sir Robert Knollys was an English courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1572 and 1611.Knollys was the son of Sir Francis Knollys, Treasurer of the Royal Household, and Catherine Carey, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I. He quickly entered the... |
| 1601 (Oct) | Sir Robert Knollys Robert Knollys (died 1619) Sir Robert Knollys was an English courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1572 and 1611.Knollys was the son of Sir Francis Knollys, Treasurer of the Royal Household, and Catherine Carey, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I. He quickly entered the... |
| 1614 | Sir Charles Vaughan |
| 1621 | Sir Henry Williams Henry Williams (died 1636) Sir Henry Williams was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1624.Williams was the eldest son of David Williams, the judge, of Gwernyfed and his first wife. He was probably educated at Shrewsbury School in 1589 and was admitted at St John's... |
| 1625 | Sir Charles Vaughan |
| 1626 | John Price |
| 1628 | Sir Henry Williams Henry Williams (died 1636) Sir Henry Williams was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1624.Williams was the eldest son of David Williams, the judge, of Gwernyfed and his first wife. He was probably educated at Shrewsbury School in 1589 and was admitted at St John's... |
| 1629–1640 | No Parliaments summoned |
1640-1918
| Year | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 1640 Long Parliament The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and... |
William Morgan William Morgan (of Dderw) William Morgan was a Welsh lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1649.Morgan was the son of Llewellyn Morgan of Ystradfellte. He was called to the bar. He purchased the estate of Dderw in Llyswen... |
Parliamentarian | |
| November 1640 Long Parliament The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and... |
William Morgan William Morgan (of Dderw) William Morgan was a Welsh lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1649.Morgan was the son of Llewellyn Morgan of Ystradfellte. He was called to the bar. He purchased the estate of Dderw in Llyswen... |
Parliamentarian | |
| 1650 | Colonel Philip Jones | ||
| 1653 | Breconshire was not separately represented in the Barebones Parliament Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector... |
||
| 1654 First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House.... |
Lord Herbert Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort, KG, PC was an English peer. He was styled Lord Herbert from 1646 until 3 April 1667, when he succeeded his father as 3rd Marquess of Worcester.... and Edmund Jones Edmund Jones Edmund Jones is a former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He was first elected on May 18, 1971 Jones served with a heavy automotive repair company during World War II... |
||
| 1656 Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons... |
Colonel Philip Jones and Evan Lewis | ||
| January 1659 Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons... |
Edmund Jones Edmund Jones Edmund Jones is a former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He was first elected on May 18, 1971 Jones served with a heavy automotive repair company during World War II... |
||
| May 1659 Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason.... |
Colonel Philip Jones | ||
| April 1660 | Sir William Lewis | ||
| April 1661 | Sir Henry Williams Sir Henry Williams, 2nd Baronet Sir Henry Williams, 2nd Baronet was a British politician.He was one of the Williams Baronets. He was a Member of Parliament and represented the constituencies of Brecon and Breconshire .-References:... |
||
| November 1661 | John Jeffreys | ||
| 1662 | Edward Progers | ||
| 1679 | Richard Williams | ||
| 1685 | Edward Jones | ||
| 1690 | Rowland Gwynne | ||
| 1695 | Edward Jones | ||
| 1697 | Sir Edward Williams | ||
| 1698 | Sir Rowland Gwynne | ||
| 1702 | John Jeffreys | ||
| 1705 | Sir Edward Williams | ||
| 1721 | William Gwyn Vaughan | ||
| 1734 | John Jeffreys | ||
| 1747 | Thomas Morgan Thomas Morgan (judge advocate) Thomas Morgan was a Welsh politician and lawyer of the 18th century.He was the younger son of John Morgan and his wife Martha. Thomas received the estate of Rhiwpera upon his father's death in 1720. He entered the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Brecon in 1723, which he represented... |
||
| 1769 | Charles Morgan | ||
| 1787 | Sir Charles Gould (later Sir Charles Gould Morgan) | ||
| 1806 | Thomas Wood | Tory | |
| 1832 | Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
||
| 1847 | Sir Joseph Bailey Sir Joseph Bailey, 1st Baronet Sir Joseph Bailey, 1st Baronet was an English ironmaster and Member of Parliament .Bailey was born in 1783 in Great Wenham, Suffolk, the son of John Bailey, of Wakefield and his wife Susannah... |
Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
|
| 1858 | Hon. Godfrey Morgan Godfrey Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar Godfrey Charles Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar was a British Army officer and British politician.Tredegar was born on 28 April 1831 in Ruperra Castle, Glamorganshire... |
Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
|
| 1875 | William Fuller-Maitland William Fuller-Maitland William Fuller-Maitland was an English cricketer who played first class cricket for Oxford University between 1864 and 1867 and for MCC between 1866 and 1870... |
Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day... |
|
| 1895 | Charles Morley | Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day... |
|
| 1906 | Sidney Robinson Sidney Robinson (politician) Sidney Robinson was a Liberal Party politician in Wales who served as Member of Parliament from 1906 to 1922.He was elected to the House of Commons at his first attempt, at the 1906 general election, for the Breconshire constituency... |
Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day... |
|
| 1918 United Kingdom general election, 1918 The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did... |
Constituency abolished | ||
Notes