Brecon (UK Parliament constituency) explained

Brecon
Type:Borough
Parliament:uk
Year:1542
Abolished:1885
Elects Howmany:one
Next:Breconshire

Brecon was a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) 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

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

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

MPs 1542-1640 — MPs 1640-1660 — MPs 1660-1885 — Elections — References

MPs 1542–1640

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.

ElectedAssembledDissolvedMemberNote
1542 16 January 1542 28 March 1544
1545 23 November 1545 31 January 1547
1547 4 November 1547 15 April 1552
1553 1 March 1553 31 March 1553
1553 5 October 1553 5 December 1553
1554 2 April 1554 3 May 1554
1554 12 November 1554 16 January 1555
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
1562–63 11 January 1563 2 January 1567
1571 2 April 1571 29 May 1571
1572 8 May 1572 19 April 1583
1584 23 November 1584 14 September 1585
1586 13 October 1586 23 March 1587
1588 4 February 1589 29 March 1589
1593 18 February 1593 10 April 1593
1597 24 October 1597 9 February 1598
1601 27 October 1601 19 December 1601
1604 19 March 1604 9 February 1611
1614 5 April 1614 7 June 1614
1620 16 January 1621 8 February 1622
12 January 1624 12 February 1624 27 March 1625
4 March 1625 17 May 1625 12 August 1625
12 January 1626 6 February 1626 15 June 1626 Elected to sit for Herefordshire
February 1626
31 March 1628 17 March 1628 10 March 1629
1640 13 April 1640 5 May 1640

MPs 1640–1660

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).

ElectedAssembledDissolvedMemberNote
1640 3 November 1640 Long Parliament
... 1647 20 April 1653 Rump Parliament
... 4 July 1653 12 December 1653 unrepresented Barebones Parliament
1654 3 September 1654 22 January 1655 unrepresented First Protectorate Parliament
1656 17 September 1656 4 February 1658 unrepresented Second Protectorate Parliament
1658–59 27 January 1659 22 April 1659 Third Protectorate Parliament
... 7 May 1659 20 February 1660 unknown Rump Parliament restored
... 21 February 1660 16 March 1660 unknown Long Parliament restored

MPs 1660–1885

First ElectionMemberPartyNote
1660, c. AprilSir Henry Williams, Bt
1661, 26 AprilSir Herbert Price
1678, 14 FebruaryThomas Mansel
1679, 28 FebruaryJohn Jeffreys
1689, 10 JanuaryThomas Morgan (of Dderw)Whig(1664–1700)
1690, 6 MarchJeffrey Jeffreys
1698, 25 JulyThomas Morgan (of Dderw)Whig(1664–1700) Also returned for Monmouthshire
1701, 17 JanuarySir Jeffrey Jeffreys
1709, 28 NovemberEdward Jeffreys
1713, 11 SeptemberRoger Jones
1722, 29 MarchWilliam Morgan(1701–1731) Elected to sit for Monmouthshire
1723, 24 MayThomas Morgan(1702–1769)
1734, 1 MayHon. John Talbot
1754, 15 AprilThomas Morgan (of Rhiwpera)(1727–1771) Resigned to contest Monmouthshire
1763, 5 DecemberCharles Morgan(1736–1787) Resigned to contest Breconshire
1769, 15 MayJohn Morgan(1742–1792) Resigned to contest Monmouthshire
1772, 31 JanuaryCharles Van Died 3 April 1778
1778, 23 AprilSir Charles Gould(1726–1806) Resigned to contest Breconshire
1787, 6 DecemberSir Charles Morgan(1760–1846) Elected to sit for Monmouthshire
1796, 2 NovemberSir Robert Salusbury, BtTory[5]
1812, 9 OctoberCharles MorganWhig(1792–1875)
1818, 20 JuneGeorge Gould MorganTory(1794–1845)
1830, 3 AugustCharles MorganWhig(1792–1875)
1832, 12 DecemberJohn Lloyd Vaughan WatkinsWhig[6] [7]
1835, 6 JanuaryCharles MorganConservative(1792–1875)
1847, 3 AugustJohn Lloyd Vaughan WatkinsWhig
1852, 9 JulyCharles Rodney MorganConservative(1828–1854) Died 14 January 1854
1854, 6 FebruaryJohn Lloyd Vaughan WatkinsWhig<-- 1802 28 Sep 1865 --> Died 28 September 1865
1859, AprilLiberal
1866, 27 FebruaryJohn PrattLiberalBecame the 3rd Marquess Camden
1866, 3 OctoberHowel GwynConservative Election declared void on petition
1869, 24 AprilEdward VilliersLiberalBecame the 5th Earl of Clarendon
1870, 19 JulyJames Gwynne-HolfordConservative
1880, 7 AprilCyril FlowerLiberal
1885Constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1850s

Morgan's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

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.

Elections in the 1870s

Villiers succeeded to the peerage, becoming Earl of Clarendon, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1880s

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. News: Price. Thomas. To the Independent Electors of the Borough of Brecon. 20 November 2014. Seren Cymru. 5 January 1866.
  2. News: Brecon Borough Election. Meetings of the Liberal Party. 5 December 2014. Brecon County Times. 21 November 1868.
  3. News: The Polling Day.. 5 December 2014. Brecon County Times. 21 November 1868.
  4. Web site: Aubrey, William (c.1529–1595) . Watkin . Thomas Glyn . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online edition, subscription required) . . January 2008. 2008-02-24.
  5. Book: Stooks Smith . Henry . The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive . 1845 . Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. . London . 178–179 . . 19 August 2018.
  6. Book: Cragoe . Matthew . Culture, Politics, and National Identity in Wales 1832-1886 . 2004 . . Oxford . 0-19-820754-9 . 58 . . 19 August 2018.
  7. Book: Ollivier. John. Ollivier's parliamentary and political director, for the session 1848. 2007. 37. https://books.google.com/books?id=9J2cuPxlkIMC&pg=PA37. 19 August 2018. Alphabetical List of the House of Commons.