Boundaries edit
From its first election in 1542 until some time before 1715, the constituency consisted of a number of boroughs within the historic county of Brecknockshire or Breconshire in Wales. From then until 1885 the seat represented the parliamentary borough of Brecon alone. The constituency should not be confused with the county constituency of Breconshire, which existed from the sixteenth century until 1918.
On the basis of information from several volumes of the History of Parliament, it is apparent that the history of the borough representation from Wales and Monmouthshire is more complicated than that of the English boroughs.
The Laws in Wales Act 1535 (26 Hen. 8. c. 26) provided for a single borough seat for each of 11 of the 12 Welsh counties and Monmouthshire. The legislation was ambiguous as to which communities were enfranchised. The county towns were awarded a seat, but this in some fashion represented all the ancient boroughs of the county as the others were required to contribute to the member's wages. It was not clear if the burgesses of the contributing boroughs could take part in the election. The only election under the original scheme was for the 1542 parliament. It seems that only burgesses from the county towns actually took part. The Parliament Act 1543 (35 Hen. 8. c. 11) confirmed that the contributing boroughs could send representatives to take part in the election at the county town. As far as can be told from surviving indentures of returns, the degree to which the out boroughs participated varied, but by the end of the sixteenth century all the seats had some participation from them at some elections at least.
The original scheme was modified by later legislation and decisions of the House of Commons (which were sometimes made with no regard to precedent or evidence: for example in 1728 it was decided that only the freemen of the borough of Montgomery could participate in the election for that seat, thus disenfranchising the freemen of Llanidloes, Welshpool and Llanfyllin).
In the case of Breconshire, the county town and principal borough was Brecon. One ward of the principal borough was an exclave; namely Trecastle, in the township of Llywel eleven miles west of the main town. There is no evidence that any other boroughs in Breconshire actually took part in elections before 1597. The out boroughs then participating were Builth (now known as Builth Wells), Crickhowel or Crickhowell, Hay (now Hay-on-Wye) and Telgarth or Talgarth.
At some point between 1603 and 1715 the out boroughs ceased to participate in elections for the constituency. Until 1727 all the freemen of Brecon formed the electorate, but in 1727 the House of Commons ruled that only the resident freemen could vote. There had been about 180 electors in 1723 and 1727, but only 69 in 1744 after the basis of the franchise had been changed. There were about 100 voters between 1754 and 1790.
Later history edit
When registration of electors and an additional householder franchise were introduced in 1832, the constituency, still based on the town of Brecon, had the smallest electorate in Wales with just 242 registered voters.
Brecon was little affected by the upsurge of radical politics in the 1860s apart from the one occasion in 1866 when Thomas Price, the prominent nonconformist minister, intervened in a by-election contest to compel the Liberal candidate, the Earl of Brecknock, to issue an address more strongly in favour of reform.[1]
Even after the extension of the franchise in 1868, the number of voters only increased to 814. This did, however, result in one of the most tumultuous elections in the history of the borough, which included a torchlight procession and lively meetings at which speakers struggled to make themselves heard.[2] On election day it was generally accepted that supporters of the Conservative candidate, Howel Gwyn, had been caught engaged in bribery.[3] His unseating by petition in April 1869 indicated how Brecon largely remained a closed borough, dominated by the politics of influence.
After 1885 Breconshire was represented in Parliament by the single member county constituency, which included all the boroughs formerly in the Brecon constituency.
Members of Parliament edit
MPs 1542–1640 edit
As there were sometimes significant gaps between Parliaments held in this period, the dates of first assembly and dissolution are given. Where the name of the member has not yet been ascertained or (before 1558) is not recorded in a surviving document, the entry unknown is entered in the table.
The Roman numerals after some names are those used in The House of Commons 1509–1558 to distinguish a member from another politician of the same name.
| Elected | Assembled | Dissolved | Member | Note |
|---|
| 1542 | 16 January 1542 | 28 March 1544 | Edward Games | |
| 1545 | 23 November 1545 | 31 January 1547 | Edward Games | |
| 1547 | 4 November 1547 | 15 April 1552 | Edward Games | |
| 1553 | 1 March 1553 | 31 March 1553 | Edward Games | |
| 1553 | 5 October 1553 | 5 December 1553 | Edward Games | |
| 1554 | 2 April 1554 | 3 May 1554 | Edward Games | |
| 1554 | 12 November 1554 | 16 January 1555 | Meredith Games | |
| 1555 | 21 October 1555 | 9 December 1555 | unknown | |
| 1558 | 20 January 1558 | 17 November 1558 | William Aubrey[4] | |
| 1559 | 23 January 1559 | 8 May 1559 | Roland Vaughan | |
| 1562–63 | 11 January 1563 | 2 January 1567 | Sir Roger Vaughan | |
| 1571 | 2 April 1571 | 29 May 1571 | Richard Price | |
| 1572 | 8 May 1572 | 19 April 1583 | Walter Games | |
| 1584 | 23 November 1584 | 14 September 1585 | David Williams | |
| 1586 | 13 October 1586 | 23 March 1587 | David Williams | |
| 1588 | 4 February 1589 | 29 March 1589 | David Williams | |
| 1593 | 18 February 1593 | 10 April 1593 | Sir Matthew Morgan | |
| 1597 | 24 October 1597 | 9 February 1598 | David Williams | |
| 1601 | 27 October 1601 | 19 December 1601 | Henry Williams | |
| 1604 | 19 March 1604 | 9 February 1611 | Sir Henry Williams | |
| 1614 | 5 April 1614 | 7 June 1614 | Sir John Crompton | |
| 1620 | 16 January 1621 | 8 February 1622 | Sir Walter Pye | |
| 12 January 1624 | 12 February 1624 | 27 March 1625 | Sir Walter Pye | |
| 4 March 1625 | 17 May 1625 | 12 August 1625 | Sir Walter Pye | |
| 12 January 1626 | 6 February 1626 | 15 June 1626 | Sir Walter Pye | Elected to sit for Herefordshire |
| February 1626 | Sir Humphrey Lynde | |
| 31 March 1628 | 17 March 1628 | 10 March 1629 | Walter Pye (Royalist) | |
| 1640 | 13 April 1640 | 5 May 1640 | Herbert Price | |
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MPs 1640–1660 edit
This sub-section includes the Long Parliament and the Rump Parliament, together with the Parliaments of the Commonwealth and the Protectorate (before the Convention Parliament of 1660).
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MPs 1660–1885 edit
| First Election | Member | Party | Note |
|---|
| | 1660, c. April | Sir Henry Williams, Bt | | |
| | 1661, 26 April | Sir Herbert Price | | |
| | 1678, 14 February | Thomas Mansel | | |
| | 1679, 28 February | John Jeffreys | | |
| | 1689, 10 January | Thomas Morgan (of Dderw) | Whig | (1664–1700) |
| | 1690, 6 March | Jeffrey Jeffreys | | |
| | 1698, 25 July | Thomas Morgan (of Dderw) | Whig | (1664–1700) Also returned for Monmouthshire |
| | 1701, 17 January | Sir Jeffrey Jeffreys | | |
| | 1709, 28 November | Edward Jeffreys | | |
| | 1713, 11 September | Roger Jones | | |
| | 1722, 29 March | William Morgan | | (1701–1731) Elected to sit for Monmouthshire |
| | 1723, 24 May | Thomas Morgan | | (1702–1769) |
| | 1734, 1 May | Hon. John Talbot | | |
| | 1754, 15 April | Thomas Morgan (of Rhiwpera) | | (1727–1771) Resigned to contest Monmouthshire |
| | 1763, 5 December | Charles Morgan | | (1736–1787) Resigned to contest Breconshire |
| | 1769, 15 May | John Morgan | | (1742–1792) Resigned to contest Monmouthshire |
| | 1772, 31 January | Charles Van | | Died 3 April 1778 |
| | 1778, 23 April | Sir Charles Gould | | (1726–1806) Resigned to contest Breconshire |
| | 1787, 6 December | Sir Charles Morgan | | (1760–1846) Elected to sit for Monmouthshire |
| | 1796, 2 November | Sir Robert Salusbury, Bt | Tory[5] | |
| | 1812, 9 October | Charles Morgan | Whig[5] | (1792–1875) |
| | 1818, 20 June | George Gould Morgan | Tory[5] | (1794–1845) |
| | 1830, 3 August | Charles Morgan | Whig[5] | (1792–1875) |
| | 1832, 12 December | John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins | Whig[5][6][7] | |
| | 1835, 6 January | Charles Morgan | Conservative[5] | (1792–1875) |
| | 1847, 3 August | John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins | Whig[5][6][7] | |
| | 1852, 9 July | Charles Rodney Morgan | Conservative | (1828–1854) Died 14 January 1854 |
| | 1854, 6 February | John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins | Whig[5][6][7] | Died 28 September 1865 |
| | 1859, April | Liberal |
| | 1866, 27 February | John Pratt | Liberal | Became the 3rd Marquess Camden |
| | 1866, 3 October | Howel Gwyn | Conservative | Election declared void on petition |
| | 1869, 24 April | Edward Villiers | Liberal | Became the 5th Earl of Clarendon |
| | 1870, 19 July | James Gwynne-Holford | Conservative | |
| | 1880, 7 April | Cyril Flower | Liberal | |
| 1885 | Constituency abolished |
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Elections edit
Elections in the 1830s edit
Elections in the 1840s edit
Elections in the 1850s edit
Morgan's death caused a by-election.
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Elections in the 1860s edit
Watkins' death caused a by-election.
Pratt succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Marquess of Camden, causing a by-election.
The election was declared void on petition, causing a by-election.
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Elections in the 1870s edit
Villiers succeeded to the peerage, becoming Earl of Clarendon, causing a by-election.
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Elections in the 1880s edit
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References edit
- ^ Price, Thomas (5 January 1866). "To the Independent Electors of the Borough of Brecon". Seren Cymru. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
- ^ "Brecon Borough Election. Meetings of the Liberal Party". Brecon County Times. 21 November 1868. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
- ^ "The Polling Day". Brecon County Times. 21 November 1868. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
- ^ Watkin, Thomas Glyn (January 2008). "Aubrey, William (c.1529–1595)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online edition, subscription required). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 178–179. Retrieved 19 August 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c Cragoe, Matthew (2004). Culture, Politics, and National Identity in Wales 1832-1886. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 58. ISBN 0-19-820754-9. Retrieved 19 August 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c Ollivier, John (2007). "Alphabetical List of the House of Commons". Ollivier's parliamentary and political director, for the session 1848. p. 37. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
- ^ a b Escott, Margaret. "Brecon". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 498–499. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
- ^ "A Conservative Victory at Brecon". Derby Mercury. 10 October 1866. p. 6. Retrieved 28 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "Brecon Boroughs". Western Daily Press. 9 July 1870. p. 3. Retrieved 28 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Brecon". South Wales Daily News. 29 January 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 28 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Sir Stafford Northcote at Brecon". Western Mail. 27 November 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
Bibliography edit
- Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
- British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
- The House of Commons 1509–1558, by S.T. Bindoff (Secker & Warburg 1982)
- The House of Commons 1558–1603, by P.W. Hasler (HMSO 1981)
- The House of Commons 1715–1754, by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970)
- The House of Commons 1754–1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
- The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
