Bridgnorth (UK Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
Bridgnorth was a parliamentary borough
in Shropshire
which was represented in the House of Commons of England
from 1295 until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain
until 1800, and in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
from 1801 until its abolition in 1885.
It was represented by two burgesses until 1868, when it was reduced to one Member of Parliament
(MP).
At the launch of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies
launched in 2011 by the Boundary Commission for England, the name "Bridgnorth" is set to return in a proposed new "Bridgnorth and Telford South" constituency.
Parliamentary borough
Parliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament...
in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
which was represented in the House of Commons of England
House of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...
from 1295 until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain
House of Commons of Great Britain
The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of the Parliament of Scotland, as one of the most significant...
until 1800, and in the House of Commons of the Parliament 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...
from 1801 until its abolition in 1885.
It was represented by two burgesses until 1868, when it was reduced to 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,...
(MP).
At the launch of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies
Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies
The Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, also known as the 2013 Review, is an ongoing process by which parliamentary constituencies to the British House of Commons will be reformed, to comply with the revised rules for the number and size of constituencies introduced by the...
launched in 2011 by the Boundary Commission for England, the name "Bridgnorth" is set to return in a proposed new "Bridgnorth and Telford South" constituency.
MPs 1295–1640
| Parliament | First member | Second member |
|---|---|---|
| 1388 (Feb) | John Farnales | William Palmer I |
| 1388 (Sep) | William Palmer I | William Goldsmith |
| 1390 (Jan) | William Palmer I | John Farnales |
| 1390 (Nov) | ||
| 1391 | William Palmer I | Thomas Horde |
| 1393 | William Palmer I | John Farnales |
| 1394 | William Palmer I | John Farnales |
| 1395 | William Palmer I | John Farnales |
| 1397 (Jan) | William Palmer I | John Blockley |
| 1397 (Sep) | ||
| 1399 | William Palmer I | Thomas Horde |
| 1402 | Hugh Harnage | John Bruyn |
| 1404 (Jan) | ||
| 1404 (Oct) | ||
| 1406 | Hugh Harnage | Walter Green |
| 1407 | Walter Green | John Cook |
| 1410 | ... Lange | |
| 1411 | Thomas Hopton | Hugh Stanford |
| 1413 (Feb) | ||
| 1413 (May) | Hugh Stanford | Thomas Green |
| 1414 (Apr) | Richard Parlour | Thomas Odyes |
| 1414 (Nov) | Richard Horde | Richard Parlour |
| 1415 | ||
| 1416 (Mar) | Richard Horde | Richard Parlour |
| 1416 (Oct) | ||
| 1417 | Richard Horde | Richard Parlour |
| 1419 | Richard Horde | Richard Parlour |
| 1420 | Richard Horde | William Stapeley |
| 1421 (May) | Thomas Green | Robert Aylesbury |
| 1421 (Dec) | Thomas Green | Richard Parlour |
| 1510-1523 | No names known | |
| 1529 | Humphrey Goldston | George Hayward |
| 1536 | ? | |
| 1539 | ? | |
| 1542 | Edward Hall Edward Hall Edward Hall , English chronicler and lawyer, was born about the end of the 15th century, being a son of John Hall of Northall, Shropshire.... |
William Grey |
| 1545 | Edward Hall Edward Hall Edward Hall , English chronicler and lawyer, was born about the end of the 15th century, being a son of John Hall of Northall, Shropshire.... |
Henry Blount |
| 1547 | Roger Smith | John Pulley |
| 1553 (Mar) | Ambrose Gilberd | Roger Smith |
| 1553 (Oct) | Sir George Blount | Jerome Horde |
| 1554 (Apr) | Jerome Horde | William Acton |
| 1554 (Nov) | John Horde | Jerome Horde |
| 1555 | Jerome Horde | William Acton |
| 1558 | John Broke | Thomas Bromley |
| 1559 | Sir George Blount | Richard Prince |
| 1562/3 | John Broke | Edward Cordell |
| 1571 | Henry Townshend | Thomas Otley |
| 1572 | Henry Townshend | Thomas Seckford, died and replaced in 1580 by Edmund Molyneux |
| 1584 | Jerome Corbet | Walter Lee |
| 1586 | Edward Bromley | John Lutwich |
| 1588 | Edward Bromley | John Lutwich |
| 1593 | Edward Bromley | John Lutwich |
| 1597 | Edward Bromley | John Lutwich |
| 1601 | Thomas Horde | Edward Bromley |
| 1604 | Sir Lewis Lewknor | Edward Bromley, replaced by Francis Lacon |
| 1614 | John Pierse | Richard Singe |
| 1621-1622 | Sir John Hayward | William Whitmore |
| 1624 | Sir William Whitmore | George Smith |
| 1625 | Walter Acton | John Bennet |
| 1626 | Sir William Whitmore | John Bennet |
| 1628-1629 | Sir Richard Shelton | Sir George Paul |
| 1629–1640 | No Parliaments summoned | |
MPs 1640–1868
| Elected | First member | First party | Second member | Second party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1640 Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks.... |
Edward Acton | Royalist | (Sir) Thomas Whitmore Sir Thomas Whitmore, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Whitmore, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England between 1640 and 1644. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War.-Biography:... |
|||
| 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... |
(Sir) Thomas Whitmore Sir Thomas Whitmore, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Whitmore, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England between 1640 and 1644. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War.-Biography:... |
Royalist | ||||
| February 1644 | Acton and Whitmore disabled to sit - both seats vacant | |||||
| 1646 | Robert Clive | Robert Charlton | ||||
| December 1648 | Clive and Charlton not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge Pride's Purge Pride’s Purge is an event in December 1648, during the Second English Civil War, when troops under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed from the Long Parliament all those who were not supporters of the Grandees in the New Model Army and the Independents... |
|||||
| 1653 | Bridgnorth was unrepresented 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.... |
William Crown | Bridgnorth had only one seat in the First 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.... and Second 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... Parliaments of the Protectorate |
||||
| 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... |
Edward Waring | |||||
| 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 Waring | John Humphrys | ||||
| 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.... |
Not represented in the restored Rump 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.... |
|||||
| April 1660 | Sir Walter Acton | John Bennet | ||||
| 1661 | Sir William Whitmore, Bt Sir William Whitmore, 2nd Baronet Sir William Whitmore, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1661 to 1699.Whitmore was the son of Sir Thomas Whitmore, 1st Baronet of Apley, Shropshire and his wife Elizabeth Acton, daughter of Sir William Acton, Bt. His father had been MP for Bridgnorth... |
|||||
| 1663 | Sir Thomas Whitmore | |||||
| 1685 | Roger Pope Roger Pope Roger Pope was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1647. He fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War.... |
|||||
| 1689 | Sir Edward Acton, Bt | Tory | ||||
| 1694 | Roger Pope Roger Pope Roger Pope was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1647. He fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War.... |
|||||
| 1702 | Sir Humphrey Brigges, Bt | |||||
| 1705 | William Whitmore | |||||
| 1710 | Whitmore Acton | Richard Cresswell Richard Cresswell (MP) Richard Cresswell was an English politician.The first son of a “roaring Shropshire squire” Richard Cresswell of Sidbury, Salop and his wife Mary Moreton, and grandson of a staunch Cavalier, also named Richard Cresswell ; Cresswell was nicknamed “Black Dick Cresswell”... |
Tory | |||
| 1713 | William Whitmore | John Weaver | ||||
| 1725 | St John Charlton | |||||
| 1734 | Thomas Whitmore | Grey James Grove | ||||
| 1741 | William Whitmore | |||||
| 1747 | Arthur Weaver | |||||
| 1754 | Hon. John Grey John Grey (MP) John Grey was a British politician, the younger son of Harry Grey, 3rd Earl of Stamford. He was the Clerk of the Green Cloth from 1754 until his death, and at the 1754 general election he was elected unopposed as one of the two Members of Parliament for Bridgnorth in Shropshire... |
William Whitmore | ||||
| 1768 | The Lord Pigot | |||||
| 1771 | Thomas Whitmore | |||||
| 1778 | Hugh Pigot Hugh Pigot (18th century admiral) Admiral Hugh Pigot , of Wychwood Forest in Oxfordshire, was a British naval leader who rose from the ranks to become an admiral. He also served as a Member of Parliament .Pigot joined the navy in 1734 as an able seaman... |
Whig | ||||
| 1784 | Isaac Hawkins Browne Isaac Hawkins Browne (coalowner) Isaac Hawkins Browne was a British Tory politician, industrialist, essayist, and a lord of the manor of Badger, Shropshire.-Family and education:... |
|||||
| 1795 | John Whitmore | |||||
| 1806 | Thomas Whitmore Thomas Whitmore (MP) Thomas Whitmore was an English Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1806 to 1831.Whitmore was the eldest son of Thomas Whitmore of Apley Park and his wife Mary Foley. He was recorder of the borough of Bridgnorth, and lay dean of the royal peculiar of Bridgnorth.In 1806 Whitmore... |
|||||
| 1812 | Hon. Charles Jenkinson Charles Jenkinson, 3rd Earl of Liverpool Charles Cecil Cope Jenkinson, 3rd Earl of Liverpool GCB, PC , styled The Honourable Charles Jenkinson between 1786 and 1828, was a British politician.-Background:... |
|||||
| 1818 | Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt Jones | |||||
| 1820 | William Wolryche-Whitmore William Wolryche-Whitmore William Wolryche-Whitmore was a Shropshire landowner and British Whig politician. He held a seat in the House of Commons from 1820 to 1835, representing first Bridgnorth and later Wolverhampton.-Background:... |
|||||
| 1831 | James Foster James Foster (ironmaster) James Foster was a prominent Worcestershire ironmaster and senior partner in the important iron company of John Bradley & Co., Stourbridge, taking its name from his elder half-brother. As well as the Stourbridge ironworks, the business owned a number of coal and ironstone mines, furnaces, forges... |
|||||
| 1832 United Kingdom general election, 1832 -Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807.... |
Robert Pigot Sir Robert Pigot, 4th Baronet Sir Robert Pigot, 4th Baronet , was a British Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1832 and 1853.Pigot was the son of General Sir George Pigot, 3rd Baronet and his wife Mary Anne Monckton.... |
Tory | Thomas Charlton Whitmore Thomas Charlton Whitmore Thomas Charlton Whitmore was an English Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1832 to 1852.... |
Tory | ||
| 1834 | 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... |
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... |
||||
| 1837 United Kingdom general election, 1837 The 1837 United Kingdom general election saw Robert Peel's Conservatives close further on the position of the Whigs, who won their fourth election of the decade.... |
Henry Hanbury-Tracy Henry Hanbury-Tracy The Honourable Henry Hanbury-Tracy was a British Whig politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1837 to 1838.... |
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... |
||||
| 1838 by-election | Sir Robert Pigot Sir Robert Pigot, 4th Baronet Sir Robert Pigot, 4th Baronet , was a British Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1832 and 1853.Pigot was the son of General Sir George Pigot, 3rd Baronet and his wife Mary Anne Monckton.... |
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... |
||||
| 1852 United Kingdom general election, 1852 The July 1852 United Kingdom general election was a watershed election in the formation of the modern political parties of Britain. Following 1852, the Tory/Conservative party became, more completely, the party of the rural aristocracy, while the Whig/Liberal party became the party of the rising... |
Henry Whitmore Henry Whitmore Henry Whitmore was an English Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1852 and 1870.Whitmore was the son of Thomas Whitmore of Apley Park near Bridgnorth and his wife Catherine Thomasson, daughter of Thomas Thomasson of York. His father was M.P. for Bridgnorth from 1806 to... |
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... |
||||
| 1853 by-election | John Pritchard John Pritchard (MP) John Pritchard was an English lawyer, banker and Conservative Party politician from Broseley , near Bridgnorth in Shropshire.... |
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... |
||||
| 1865 United Kingdom general election, 1865 The 1865 United Kingdom general election saw the Liberals, led by Lord Palmerston, increase their large majority over the Earl of Derby's Conservatives to more than 80. The Whig Party changed its name to the Liberal Party between the previous election and this one.Palmerston died later in the same... |
Sir John Dalberg-Acton, Bt John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, KCVO, DL , known as Sir John Dalberg-Acton, 8th Bt from 1837 to 1869 and usually referred to simply as Lord Acton, was an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer... |
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... |
||||
| '1866 | Henry Whitmore Henry Whitmore Henry Whitmore was an English Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1852 and 1870.Whitmore was the son of Thomas Whitmore of Apley Park near Bridgnorth and his wife Catherine Thomasson, daughter of Thomas Thomasson of York. His father was M.P. for Bridgnorth from 1806 to... |
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... |
||||
| 1868 | Representation reduced to one Member | |||||
MPs 1868–1885
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1868 United Kingdom general election, 1868 The 1868 United Kingdom general election was the first after passage of the Reform Act 1867, which enfranchised many male householders, thus greatly increasing the number of men who could vote in elections in the United Kingdom... |
Henry Whitmore Henry Whitmore Henry Whitmore was an English Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1852 and 1870.Whitmore was the son of Thomas Whitmore of Apley Park near Bridgnorth and his wife Catherine Thomasson, daughter of Thomas Thomasson of York. His father was M.P. for Bridgnorth from 1806 to... |
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... |
|
| 1870 by-election | William Henry Foster | 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... |
|
| 1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 -Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:... |
Constituency abolished under the Redistribution of Seats Act Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across... |
||
Sources
- Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) http://books.google.com/books?vid=024wW9LmFc5kXY0FI2&id=Gh2wKY2rkDUC&printsec=toc&dq=Return+of+Members+of+Parliament&as_brr=1&sig=SK5GVtGLfWQ9ovZDbyZObAyIO5I#PPP9,M1
- D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
- Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) http://www2.odl.ox.ac.uk/gsdl/cgi-bin/library?e=p-000-00---0modhis06--00-0-0-0prompt-10---4------0-1l--1-en-50---20-about---00001-001-1-1isoZz-8859Zz-1-0&a=d&cl=CL1
- David Hayton, 'The Country Party in the House of Commons 1698-1699', Parliamentary History, volume 6 (1987), 141-63
See also
- Parliamentary constituencies in Shropshire#Historical constituencies
- List of former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies
- Unreformed House of CommonsUnreformed House of CommonsThe unreformed House of Commons is the name generally given to the British House of Commons as it existed before the Reform Act 1832.Until the Act of Union of 1707 joining the Kingdoms of Scotland and England , Scotland had its own Parliament, and the term refers to the House of Commons of England...