Wootton Bassett (UK Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
Wootton Bassett was a parliamentary borough
in Wiltshire
, which elected two Members of Parliament
(MPs) to the House of Commons
from 1447 until 1832, when the rotten borough
was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
, a market town in northern Wiltshire. Even when the borough was created by Henry VI
it was a town of little consequence, with no significant industry or trade; by the 19th century it suffered from endemic unemployment, and the money to be gained by electoral corruption was probably one of its economic mainstays.
In 1831, the population of the borough was approximately 1,500, and contained 349 houses. The right to vote was exercised by all inhabitant householders paying scot and lot
. At the last contested election, this amounted to 309 eligible voters, of whom 228 cast valid votes; in other words, only a comparatively small proportion of households were excluded from the franchise. The local landowners were generally recognised as "patrons" of the borough, and at most periods were able to exercise close control as they were the employers of the majority of the voters. However, they were occasionally vulnerable to the intervention of monied outsiders, since Wootton Bassett's voters had few scruples at selling their votes to the highest bidder.
At the end of the 17th century, the St John family
of Lydiard Tregoze
had the predominant influence in the borough, and could usually return their chosen candidates without difficulty, the main competing interest being that of the Hydes
. After Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
fled abroad in 1715 following the Jacobite Rebellion the St John influence was weakened, and a wealthy local landowner and clothier, Robert Neale of Corsham
, was able to secure election in 1741. Neale then began to strengthen his interest, hoping to gain control of the second seat in alliance with the Hydes, and this led to a vigorous contest for control of the borough in the 1750s.
Corruption was playing its part in Wootton Bassett elections at least from the late 17th century. In 1690, a candidate who petitioned against the election of Henry St John was found to have bribed the voters himself, reportedly purchasing votes at one-and-a-half guineas a head, and his agent was taken into custody by order of the House of Commons. Again in 1700, bribery was reported to the Committee and the agent was committed to Newgate Prison
.
At the election of 1754
, Robert Neale attempted to win the support of the Mayor (who was ex-officio returning officer
) with a bribe of £500, and both sides spent lavishly. The St John candidates (John Probyn and Thomas Estcourt Cresswell
) paid 30 guineas a head to voters, the total cost including treating at taverns coming to £6000, while Neale admitted spending £1800 and his co-candidate the Earl of Drumlanrig probably spent a similar amount. St John's candidates were successful, but Neale petitioned against the outcome and (as a supporter of the government) apparently expected a partisan decision to overturn the result in his favour. In the event, the Duke of Newcastle
, then serving as the prime minister, refused to support the petition but Neale was compensated £1000 from secret government funds.
After another contested election in election of 1784
, when George Tierney
, backed by the Hydes, spent £2500 in an unsuccessful attempt to win a seat against the St John candidates, the two families reached an agreement to nominate one MP each at future elections. This lasted until the early years of the following century when a barrister, James Kibblewhite, began to acquire property in the town and secured both a majority on the Corporation and sufficient "influence" with the voters to have his candidates returned as MPs - the nature of the influence is indicated by reports that the price of a vote had risen to 45 guineas a man. When Benjamin Walsh, who was elected on this occasion, was shortly afterwards declared bankrupt it emerged on the investigation of his accounts that he had paid £4000 for his seat. Kibblewhite sold his interest in the borough to Joseph Pitt for £22,000, but Pitt was unable to retain control over the voters despite his domination of the corporation and the St Johns and Hydes once more resumed the patronage.
Perhaps surprisingly, the corruption at Wootton Bassett never led to a major scandal or to any attempts to disfranchise the borough - unlike nearby Cricklade
, which was "thrown into the hundred" for its misdemeanours in the 1770s, or Hindon
which nearly suffered the same fate. However, the town was far too small to justify separate representation after the Great Reform Act, and the constituency was abolished in 1832. The town was within the penally-expanded boundaries of Cricklade, which retained both its MPs, and was thereafter part of that borough constituency.
Notes
Parliamentary borough
Parliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, which elected two Members 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,...
(MPs) 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...
from 1447 until 1832, when the rotten borough
Rotten borough
A "rotten", "decayed" or pocket borough was a parliamentary borough or constituency in the United Kingdom that had a very small electorate and could be used by a patron to gain undue and unrepresentative influence within Parliament....
was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
History
The borough consisted of the town of Wootton BassettWootton Bassett
Royal Wootton Bassett , informally known as Wootton Bassett, is a small market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 11,043 in 2001...
, a market town in northern Wiltshire. Even when the borough was created by Henry VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
it was a town of little consequence, with no significant industry or trade; by the 19th century it suffered from endemic unemployment, and the money to be gained by electoral corruption was probably one of its economic mainstays.
In 1831, the population of the borough was approximately 1,500, and contained 349 houses. The right to vote was exercised by all inhabitant householders paying scot and lot
Scot and lot
Scot and lot is a phrase common in the records of English medieval boroughs, applied to householders who were assessed for a tax paid to the borough for local or national purposes.They were usually members of a merchant guild.Before the Reform Act 1832, those who paid scot and bore...
. At the last contested election, this amounted to 309 eligible voters, of whom 228 cast valid votes; in other words, only a comparatively small proportion of households were excluded from the franchise. The local landowners were generally recognised as "patrons" of the borough, and at most periods were able to exercise close control as they were the employers of the majority of the voters. However, they were occasionally vulnerable to the intervention of monied outsiders, since Wootton Bassett's voters had few scruples at selling their votes to the highest bidder.
At the end of the 17th century, the St John family
Viscount Bolingbroke
Viscount Bolingbroke / Viscount St John is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain and is currently held by Nicholas Alexander Mowbray St John, the 9th Viscount Bolingbroke and 10th Viscount St John who lives in Sydney Australia....
of Lydiard Tregoze
Lydiard Tregoze
Lydiard Tregoze is a small village and civil parish on the western edge of Swindon in the County of Wiltshire, in the south west of England. It has in the past been spelt as Liddiard Tregooze and in other ways.-History:...
had the predominant influence in the borough, and could usually return their chosen candidates without difficulty, the main competing interest being that of the Hydes
Earl of Clarendon
Earl of Clarendon is a title that has been created twice in British history, in 1661 and 1776. The title was created for the first time in the Peerage of England in 1661 for the statesman Edward Hyde, 1st Baron Hyde...
. After Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically despite his atheism. In 1715 he supported the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 which sought to overthrow the...
fled abroad in 1715 following the Jacobite Rebellion the St John influence was weakened, and a wealthy local landowner and clothier, Robert Neale of Corsham
Corsham
Corsham is a historic market town and civil parish in north west Wiltshire, England. It is at the south western extreme of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 which was formerly the main turnpike road from London to Bristol, between Bath and Chippenham ....
, was able to secure election in 1741. Neale then began to strengthen his interest, hoping to gain control of the second seat in alliance with the Hydes, and this led to a vigorous contest for control of the borough in the 1750s.
Corruption was playing its part in Wootton Bassett elections at least from the late 17th century. In 1690, a candidate who petitioned against the election of Henry St John was found to have bribed the voters himself, reportedly purchasing votes at one-and-a-half guineas a head, and his agent was taken into custody by order of the House of Commons. Again in 1700, bribery was reported to the Committee and the agent was committed to Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison in London, at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey just inside the City of London. It was originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall. The gate/prison was rebuilt in the 12th century, and demolished in 1777...
.
At the election of 1754
British general election, 1754
The British general election, 1754 returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 11th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707....
, Robert Neale attempted to win the support of the Mayor (who was ex-officio returning officer
Returning Officer
In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.-Australia:In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a State Electoral Commission who heads the local divisional office...
) with a bribe of £500, and both sides spent lavishly. The St John candidates (John Probyn and Thomas Estcourt Cresswell
Thomas Estcourt Cresswell
Thomas Estcourt Cresswell was an English politician.The son of Richard Cresswell and his wife Elizabeth Estcourt, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Estcourt Knt; of Pinkney Park; Cresswell gained a degree of notoriety as a bigamist after his marriage in February 1744 to a wealthy heiress, Miss...
) paid 30 guineas a head to voters, the total cost including treating at taverns coming to £6000, while Neale admitted spending £1800 and his co-candidate the Earl of Drumlanrig probably spent a similar amount. St John's candidates were successful, but Neale petitioned against the outcome and (as a supporter of the government) apparently expected a partisan decision to overturn the result in his favour. In the event, the Duke of Newcastle
Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, KG, PC was a British Whig statesman, whose official life extended throughout the Whig supremacy of the 18th century. He is commonly known as the Duke of Newcastle.A protégé of Sir Robert Walpole, he served...
, then serving as the prime minister, refused to support the petition but Neale was compensated £1000 from secret government funds.
After another contested election in election of 1784
British general election, 1784
The British general election of 1784 resulted in William Pitt the Younger securing an overall majority of about 120 in the House of Commons of Great Britain, having previously had to survive in a House which was dominated by his opponents.-Background:...
, when George Tierney
George Tierney
George Tierney PC was an English Whig politician.-Background and education:Born in Gibraltar, Tierney was the son of Thomas Tierney, a wealthy Irish merchant of London, who was living in Gibraltar as prize agent. He was sent to Eton and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he took the degree of Law in 1784...
, backed by the Hydes, spent £2500 in an unsuccessful attempt to win a seat against the St John candidates, the two families reached an agreement to nominate one MP each at future elections. This lasted until the early years of the following century when a barrister, James Kibblewhite, began to acquire property in the town and secured both a majority on the Corporation and sufficient "influence" with the voters to have his candidates returned as MPs - the nature of the influence is indicated by reports that the price of a vote had risen to 45 guineas a man. When Benjamin Walsh, who was elected on this occasion, was shortly afterwards declared bankrupt it emerged on the investigation of his accounts that he had paid £4000 for his seat. Kibblewhite sold his interest in the borough to Joseph Pitt for £22,000, but Pitt was unable to retain control over the voters despite his domination of the corporation and the St Johns and Hydes once more resumed the patronage.
Perhaps surprisingly, the corruption at Wootton Bassett never led to a major scandal or to any attempts to disfranchise the borough - unlike nearby Cricklade
Cricklade (UK Parliament constituency)
Cricklade was a parliamentary constituency named after the town of Cricklade in Wiltshire.From 1295 until 1885, Cricklade was a parliamentary borough, returning two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, previously to the House of Commons of...
, which was "thrown into the hundred" for its misdemeanours in the 1770s, or Hindon
Hindon (UK Parliament constituency)
Hindon was a parliamentary borough consisting of the village of Hindon in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1448 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act...
which nearly suffered the same fate. However, the town was far too small to justify separate representation after the Great Reform Act, and the constituency was abolished in 1832. The town was within the penally-expanded boundaries of Cricklade, which retained both its MPs, and was thereafter part of that borough constituency.
1447-1640
| Parliament | First member | Second member |
|---|---|---|
| 1510-1523 | No names known | |
| 1529 | Richard Tracy Richard Tracy -Life:He was the younger son of William Tracy, a noted Lutheran convert, graduated B.A. at Oxford on 27 June 1515, and was admitted student of the Inner Temple in 1519. In 1529 he was elected to the ‘reformation’ parliament as member for Wotton Basset, Wiltshire... |
Walter Winston |
| 1536 | ? | |
| 1539 | ? | |
| 1542 | ? | |
| 1545 | Edmund Brydges Edmund Brydges, 2nd Baron Chandos Edmund Brydges, 2nd Baron Chandos was an English peer and politician. He was a Knight of the Garter, Baron Chandos, Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire and Vice-Admiral of Gloucestershire.-Life:... |
Hugh Westwood |
| 1547 | John Seymour | Robert Huick |
| 1553 (Mar) | Gabriel Pleydell | William Garrard |
| 1553 (Oct) | Henry Poole | John Throckmorton |
| 1554 (Apr) | John Tull | Giles Payne |
| 1554 (Nov) | Giles Payne | William Hampshire |
| 1555 | Edmund Plowden Edmund Plowden Sir Edmund Plowden was a distinguished English lawyer, legal scholar and theorist during the late Tudor period.-Life:... |
Richard Bruning |
| 1558 | Richard Bruning | Humphrey Moseley |
| 1559 | Christopher Dysmars | Humphrey Moseley |
| 1562/3 | John Hippisley, sat for Wells replaced Jan 1563 by Matthew Poyntz |
Gabriel Pleydell |
| 1571 | Henry Knyvet | John Winchcombe |
| 1572 | Henry Knyvet | Edmund Dunch |
| 1584 | Thomas Vavasour | John Hungerford |
| 1586 | Thomas Vavasour | John Hungerford |
| 1589 | Sir Henry Knyvet | John Hungerford |
| 1593 | John Hungerford | William Meredith |
| 1597 | Henry Dacre | John Lowe |
| 1601 | John Wentworth | John Rice |
| 1604-1611 | Henry Martin | Alexander Tutt |
| 1614 | Sir William Willoughby | Edward Hungerford |
| 1621 | Richard Harrison Richard Harrison (Royalist) Sir Richard Harrison was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1621 and 1640. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War.... |
John Wrenham |
| 1624 | Sir Roland Egerton | John Banks |
| 1625 | Robert Hyde | Sir Walter Tichborne |
| 1626 | Sir John Francklyn John Francklyn John Francklyn was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1644.Francklyn was of Wiltshire. He matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford on 18 May 1582, aged 18.... |
Sir Thomas Lake Thomas Lake Sir Thomas Lake was Secretary of State to James I of England. He was a Member of Parliament in 1604, 1614, 1625 and 1626.... |
| 1628 | Sir John Francklyn John Francklyn John Francklyn was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1644.Francklyn was of Wiltshire. He matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford on 18 May 1582, aged 18.... |
Anthony Rowse |
| 1629–1640 | No Parliaments summoned | |
1640-1832
| Year | 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.... |
Thomas Windebanke Sir Thomas Windebanke, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Windebanke, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War.Windebanke was the son of Sir Francis Windebanke Secretary of State to King Charles I... |
Edward Hyde Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:... |
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| 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 Pleydell | Royalist | Edward Poole Edward Poole Sir Edward Poole was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1673.Poole was the eldest son of Sir Neville Poole of Kemble and his first wife Frances Poole, daughter of Sir Henry Poole of Saperton, Gloucestershire. He matriculated at Magdalen Hall,... |
Parliamentarian | ||
| February 1644 | Pleydell disabled from sitting - seat vacant | |||||
| 1645 | Edward Massie Edward Massie Sir Edward Massie , English Parliamentary soldier in the English Civil War, was the son of John Massie of Coddington, Cheshire.-Life:... |
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| December 1648 | Massie and Poole excluded in 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... - both seats vacant |
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| 1653 | 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... and 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 |
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| 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... |
Henry St John | Robert Stevens | ||||
| 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.... |
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| April 1660 | John Pleydell | Lord Herbert of Raglan 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.... |
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| June 1660 | Sir Baynham Throckmorton Sir Baynham Throckmorton, 3rd Baronet Sir Baynham Throckmorton, 3rd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1656 and 1679.Throckmorton was the son of Sir Baynham Throckmorton, 2nd Baronet Sir Baynham Throckmorton, 3rd Baronet (11 December 1629 – 31 July 1681) was an English... |
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| 1661 | Sir Walter St John | |||||
| February 1679 Habeas Corpus Parliament The Habeas Corpus Parliament, also known as the First Exclusion Parliament, was a short-lived English Parliament which assembled on 6 March 1679 during the reign of Charles II of England, the third parliament of the King's reign. It is named after the Habeas Corpus Act, which it enacted in May,... |
Laurence Hyde Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester KG PC was an English statesman and writer. He was originally a supporter of James II but later supported the Glorious Revolution in 1688.-Early life:... |
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| August 1679 | Henry St John | |||||
| 1681 | John Pleydell | |||||
| 1689 | John Wildman | |||||
| 1695 | Thomas Jacob | Henry Pinnell | ||||
| 1698 | Henry St John | |||||
| January 1701 | Henry St John Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically despite his atheism. In 1715 he supported the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 which sought to overthrow the... |
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| November 1701 | Thomas Jacob | |||||
| 1702 | Henry Pinnell | |||||
| 1705 | John Morton Pleydell | |||||
| 1706 | Francis Popham Francis Popham Sir Francis Popham was an English soldier and politician.Francis Popham was the only son of Sir John Popham and was educated at Balliol College, Oxford and the Middle Temple... |
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| 1708 | Robert Cecil Robert Cecil (MP) Robert Cecil was the second son of James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury and Margaret, daughter of John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland.... |
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| October 1710 | Henry St John Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically despite his atheism. In 1715 he supported the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 which sought to overthrow the... |
Richard Goddard | ||||
| December 1710 | Edmund Pleydell | |||||
| 1713 | 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”... |
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| 1715 | Sir James Long Sir James Long, 5th Baronet Sir James Long, 5th Baronet was an English politician.The son of James Long and his wife Susan Strangways, he was baptised at Melbury, Dorchester, Dorset in 1682. Long was Member of Parliament for Chippenham in 1705, 1707, 1708, and 1710, and for Wootton Bassett in 1714... |
William Northey | ||||
| 1722 | Colonel Robert Murray | William Chetwynd | ||||
| 1727 | John St John | John Crosse | ||||
| 1734 | Sir Robert Long Sir Robert Long, 6th Baronet Sir Robert Long, 6th Baronet was an English politician.The only surviving son of Sir James Long, 5th Baronet and his wife Henrietta Greville, Long was baptised on 8 November 1705 at St Martin in the Fields, Westminster, London... |
Captain Nicholas Robinson | ||||
| 1741 | Robert Neale | John Harvey-Thursby | ||||
| 1747 | Martin Madan Martin Madan (MP) Colonel Martin Madan was groom of the bedchamber to Frederick, Prince of Wales, and MP forWootton Basset from 1742 to 1747. Madan also served as a colonel in the Dragoon Guards.-Family:... |
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| 1754 | John Probyn | Thomas Estcourt Cresswell Thomas Estcourt Cresswell Thomas Estcourt Cresswell was an English politician.The son of Richard Cresswell and his wife Elizabeth Estcourt, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Estcourt Knt; of Pinkney Park; Cresswell gained a degree of notoriety as a bigamist after his marriage in February 1744 to a wealthy heiress, Miss... |
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| 1761 | Major the Hon. Henry St John | |||||
| 1774 | Robert Scott | |||||
| 1780 | William Strahan William Strahan William Strahan was a Scottish printer and publisher, and a Member of Parliament.Born in Edinburgh as William Strachan, and educated at the Royal High School, Strahan was originally apprenticed to an Edinburgh printer but became a Master Printer in London... |
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| 1784 | Hon. George North George North, 3rd Earl of Guilford George Augustus North, 3rd Earl of Guilford , known as the Honourable George North until 1790 and as Lord North from 1790 to 1792, was a British politician.... |
Hon. Robert Seymour Conway | ||||
| 1790 | John Thomas Stanley John Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley John Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley , known as Sir John Stanley, 7th Baronet, from 1807 to 1839, was a British peer and politician.... |
The Viscount Downe John Dawnay, 5th Viscount Downe John Christopher Burton Dawnay, 5th Viscount Downe , styled The Honourable John Dawnay until 1780, was a British Whig politician.... |
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| 1796 | John Denison | Edward Clarke | ||||
| July 1802 | General the Hon. Henry St John | Robert Williams Robert Williams (1767–1847) Robert Williams was an English banker and politician. He purchased the Bridehead estate near Dorchester, Dorset around 1797. It comprised the manor of Littlebredy, Bridehead being a name fabricated by Williams, and in later years became the main family residence.Williams was the Member of... |
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| December 1802 | Peter William Baker | Tory | ||||
| 1806 | Robert Knight | Whig | ||||
| 1807 | Sir John Murray Sir John Murray, 8th Baronet General Sir John Murray, 8th Baronet, GCH led a brigade under Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War. Later in the war, he commanded an independent force that operated on the east coast of Spain.... |
Tory | John Cheesment | Tory | ||
| 1808 | Benjamin Walsh | |||||
| 1811 | Robert Knight | Whig | ||||
| March 1812 | John Attersoll | Whig | ||||
| October 1812 | James Kibblewhite | Whig | ||||
| March 1813 | Richard Ellison Richard Ellison (politician) Richard Ellison was a British politician.He was appointed High Sheriff of Lincolnshire in 1793 and was Member of Parliament for Lincoln from 1796 to 1812, and for Wootton Bassett from 1813 to 1820.... |
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| April 1813 | Robert Rickards | |||||
| 1816 | William Taylor Money | |||||
| 1820 | Horace Twiss Horace Twiss Horace Twiss KC was an English writer and politician.Twiss was born at Bath, Somerset, the son of Francis Twiss , a Shakespearian scholar. In his youth he wrote light articles for the papers; and, going to the bar, he obtained a considerable practice and became a Queen's Counsel in 1827... |
Tory | Sir George Philips Bt | Whig | ||
| 1830 | Viscount Mahon Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope FRS , styled Viscount Mahon between 1816 and 1855, was a British politician and historian... |
Tory | Thomas Hyde Villiers Thomas Hyde Villiers Thomas Hyde Villiers was a British politician.The second son of the Hon. George Villiers , he was educated at St John's College, Cambridge... |
Whig | ||
| 1831 | Viscount Porchester Henry Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon Henry John George Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon FRS , known as Lord Porchester from 1811 to 1833, was a British writer, traveller and politician.... |
Tory | ||||
| 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.... |
Constituency abolished | |||||
Notes