Brackley (UK Parliament constituency)

Brackley was a parliamentary borough in Northamptonshire, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1547 until 1832, when the constituency was abolished by the Great Reform Act.

Brackley
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1547–1832
Seats	Two

History

The borough consisted of the town of Brackley, a market town where the main economic interests were making lace and footwear. In 1831, the population of the borough was 2,107, and the town contained 378 houses. While this by no means put it among the smallest of the rotten boroughs, it was barely the half the size which was eventually required to retain representation after 1832.

Brackley was a corporation borough, the right to vote having been restricted to the Mayor, 6 aldermen and 26 "burgesses" (the remaining members of the corporation), a total electorate of 33, in the reign of James II. The Mayor was appointed by the Lord of the Manor, and the major local landowners or "patrons" had total control over the election of MPs. In the mid 18th century the Duke of Bridgewater was able to nominate both MPs;^[1] by the time of the Reform Act, the Earl of Bridgewater nominated to one seat and the Marquess of Stafford to the other.

Brackley lost both its MPs under the provisions of the Reform Act.

Members of Parliament

1547–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1547	Henry Sidney	Francis Saunders[2]
1553 (Mar)	Robert Saunders	?Francis Saunders[2]
1553 (Oct)	Thomas Fermor	Robert Saunders[2]
1554 (Apr)	Thomas Onley	Richard Ardern[2]
1554 (Nov)	George Ferrers	Thomas Onley[2]
1555	George Ferrers	Thomas Boughton[2]
1558	Robert Saunders	Drew Saunders[2]
1558–9	Sir Thomas Knyvet	Robert Saunders[3]
1562–3	Christopher Yelverton	Richard Lucy, died and replaced 1566 by Edward Onley [3]
1571	Thomas Catesby	Matthew Mantell[3]
1572	Matthew Mantell	Thomas Onley[3]
1584 (Oct)	James Croft	George Whitton[3]
1586 (Oct)	James Croft	George Whitton[3]
1588 (Oct)	Humphrey Davenport	Jerome Fermor[3]
1593	Richard Bowle	Sidney Montagu[3]
1597 (Sep)	Robert Spencer	Ranulph Crewe[3]
1601 (Oct)	Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton	John Donne
1604	Sir Richard Spencer	William Lisle
1614	Sir William Spencer	Arthur Terringham
1621	Sir Thomas Wenman	Edward Spencer
1624	Sir Thomas Wenman	Edward Spencer
1625	Sir Thomas Wenman	Edward Spencer
1626	Sir John Hobart	John Crew
1628	Sir Thomas Wenman	John Curzon
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640–1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
November 1640		John Crew	Parliamentarian		Sir Martin Lister	Parliamentarian
December 1648	Both members excluded in Pride's Purge – seats vacant
1653	Brackley was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		Thomas Crew			William Lisle
May 1659	Unrepresented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Sir Thomas Crew			William Lisle
1661					Robert Spencer
February 1679					William Lisle
August 1679		Hon. Richard Wenman[4]			Sir William Egerton
1681					William Lisle
1685					James Griffin
1689					John Parkhurst
1690		Sir William Egerton			John Blencowe
1692		Harry Mordaunt
1695					Charles Egerton[5]
1698		Sir John Aubrey
1701		Harry Mordaunt
1702		John James
May 1705		John Sidney
November 1705		Harry Mordaunt
1708		William Egerton
1711					John Burgh
1713					Paul Methuen
1714 [6]		John Burgh			Henry Watkins
1715		William Egerton			Sir Paul Methuen
1733		Dr George Lee
1742		Sewallis Shirley
1747					Richard Lyttelton
1754		Marshe Dickinson			Thomas Humberston
1755					Sir William Moreton
1761					Robert Wood
1765		Viscount Hinchingbrooke	Tory
1768		William Egerton
1771					Timothy Caswall
1780		John Egerton	Tory
1789					Samuel Haynes
1802					Robert Haldane Bradshaw	Tory
1803		Anthony Henderson	Tory
1810		Henry Wrottesley	Tory
1825		James Bradshaw	Tory
1832	Constituency abolished

Notes

1. Page 144, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
2. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2 October 2011.
3. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2 October 2011.
4. Succeeded as The Viscount Wenman (in the Peerage of Ireland), 1686
5. Egerton was initially declared re-elected at the election of 1710, but on petition he was found not have been duly elected and his opponent Burgh was seated instead
6. At the election of 1713, Methuen and Egerton were initially declared elected, but there was dispute about the franchise. On petition, their seats were given to their opponents, Burgh and Watkins

References

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• 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)
• J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 4)