Middlesex (UK Parliament constituency) explained

Middlesex
Type:	County
Parliament:	uk
Year:	1265
Abolished:	1885
Elects Howmany:	two
Next5:	City of London (1298) Westminster (1545) Finsbury, Marylebone and Tower Hamlets (1832) Hackney (from the Tower Hamlets constituency) (1867) Chelsea (1867) (directly)
Next:	Brentford, Ealing, Enfield, Hampstead, Harrow, Hornsey, Tottenham and Uxbridge

Middlesex was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, then of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until abolished in 1885. It returned two members per election by various voting systems including hustings.

Boundaries and boundary changes

This county constituency until 1832 covered all the historic county of Middlesex, in south-eastern England, comprising Spelthorne, Poyle, South Mimms and Potters Bar in other modern counties, together with the north, west, and north-west sectors of the present-day Greater London. Apart from the ability of some voters to participate in the borough franchises of the cities of London and Westminster (after dates of their inception, see top right or below), it gave rise to three more urban offshoot divisions in 1832, one of which was split in two at the next national review or reform, in 1868. Its southern boundary was the River Thames.

The county seat returned two Members of Parliament (sometimes referred to by the medieval term of knights of the shire). The place of election for the county was until 1700 at Hampstead Heath, thereafter at The Butts in the town centre of Brentford. Hustings were typically over a period of a fortnight when candidates set out their stall, and visible bribery had become not uncommon in closer contests around the country in such larger seats at the time, inspiring William Hogarth’s series of four pictures titled ‘Four Prints of An Election’ (when printed).^[1]

Until 1832 the county franchise was limited to forty shilling freeholders. The decrease in the value of money due to inflation and the expansion of the wealth and population as the urbanised area in the east around London and Westminster grew contributed to gradually expanding the electorate. The county was estimated by Henning to have about 1,660 voters in 1681. Sedgwick estimated about 3,000 in the 1715–54 period. Namier and Brook suggested there were about 3,500 in 1754–90. The number had reached about 6,000 by 1790–1820, according to Thorne. Close elections between popular candidates would therefore be expensive - the worth of being a local magistrate, major landowner or other dignitary carrying little weight among such a generally urban and numerous upper-middle class forming the bulk of the electorate.

For subsequent changes in the franchise see Reform Act 1832 and Reform Act 1867. From 1832 voters were registered; the size of the electorate is shown below.

The geographic county until 1885 also contained the borough constituencies of City of London (first recorded as having its extraordinary four members from 1298) and Westminster (enfranchised with two members from 1545). In 1832 three two-seat Boroughs were added (or enfranchised): Finsbury, Marylebone, and Tower Hamlets. In 1867 two new parliamentary boroughs each returning two MPs were constituted: 'Hackney' (St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, St Matthew's Bethnal Green and St John's Hackney) formerly represented in borough elections via Tower Hamlets and 'Chelsea' (parishes of Chelsea, Kensington, Hammersmith and Fulham).^[2] The single-member non-territorial University constituency of London University (1868–1950) was somewhat connected to the county by having most of its graduates eligible to vote.

Possession of a county electoral qualification, deriving from owning various types of property or having ecclesiastical 'offices' (controversially and sporadically defined) in an area not otherwise represented, conferred the right to vote in the county elections.

An 1885 redistribution of seats saw Middlesex and its early breakaway seats in and around the City reformed under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 reflecting the wider electorate of the Reform Act 1884 and need to 'liberate' boroughs, i.e. urban areas without properly apportioned representation:

• Constituencies in the urban south-east part that returned 18 MPs were replaced by 38 single-member seats.
• the City of London constituency (loosely considered with the county) was reduced from 4 to 2 members.
• the Middlesex constituency latterly covering the north, west and south-west of the county returning 2 MPs was replaced by 7 single-member seats.

Local government bodiesIn 1889 the 40 urban constituencies that comprised the south-eastern part fell into (for local government) a County of London save for the much smaller City of London which remained a separate quasi-county and legal jurisdiction. The seven county divisions (constituencies) in the north and west of the historic county came under a new local government body, the administrative county of Middlesex. Both counties were also known by their governing bodies' name, County Councils (abbreviated to LCC and MCC). The seven successor seats were Brentford, Ealing, Enfield, Harrow, Hornsey, Tottenham and Uxbridge. These (and numerous later successor seats) had MCC local governance until its abolition in 1965.

Members of Parliament

Preliminary note: The English civil year started on Lady Day, 25 March, until 1752 (Scotland having changed to 1 January in 1600). The year used in the lists of Parliaments in this article have been converted to the new style where necessary. Old style dates for days between 1 January and 24 March actually referred to days after 31 December. No attempt has been made to compensate for the eleven days which did not occur in September 1752 in both England and Scotland as well as other British controlled territories (when the day after 2 September was 14 September), so as to bring the British Empire fully in line with the Gregorian calendar.

Constituency created (1265): See Montfort's Parliament for further details. Knights of the shire are known to have been summoned to most Parliaments from 1290 (19th Parliament of King Edward I of England) and to every one from 1320 (19th Parliament of King Edward II of England).

Knights of the shire 1265–1660

Some of the members elected during this period have been identified, but this list does not include Parliaments where no member has been identified before the reign of King Henry VIII. In the list (as opposed to the table below) the year given is for the first meeting of the Parliament, with the month added where there was more than one Parliament in the year. If a second year is given this is a date of dissolution. Early Parliaments usually only existed for a few days or weeks, so dissolutions in the same year as the first meeting are not recorded in this list If a specific date of election is known this is recorded in italic brackets. The Roman numerals in brackets, following some names, are those used to distinguish different politicians of the same name in 'The House of Commons' 1509-1558 and 1558–1603.

In this period, Parliament was not an institution with a regular pattern of elections and sittings. Therefore, a separate entry is made for each Parliament, even if the same Knight of the Shire served in successive Parliaments.

List of known Knights of the Shire before 1509

Parliament	First member	Second member
1295 (Nov)	William de Brook	Stephen de Gravesend
1296	Richard de Wyndesor	Richard le Rous
1297 (Oct)	Richard le Rous	?
1298 (Mar)	Richard le Rous	?
1298 (May)	Richard le Rous	?
1300	Richard le Rous	?
1301	Richard le Rous	?
1302 (Oct)	Richard le Rous	?
1305 (Feb)	Richard le Rous	?
1306	Richard le Rous	?
1386	Sir Adam Francis	William Swanland^[3]
1388 (Feb)	Sir Adam Francis
1388 (Sep)	William Barnville	Godfrey Atte Perry
1390 (Jan)	John Shorditch I	Thomas Coningsby
1390 (Nov)	John Shorditch I	Sir Adam Francis
1391	Thomas Bray	William Norton
1393	William Tamworth	Thomas Maidstone
1394	John Shorditch II	James Ormesby
1395	John Shorditch II	Thomas Coningsby
1397 (Jan)	Thomas Goodlake	Thomas Maidstone
1397 (Sep)	Sir Adam Francis	Sir John Wroth
1399	John Durham	Thomas Maidstone
1401	William Loveney	Sir John Wroth
1402	James Northampton	Thomas Coningsby
1404 (Jan)	William Wroth	Sir John Wroth
1404 (Oct)	Sir Roger Strange	William Powe
1406	Henry Somer
1407	Henry Somer
1410
1411	Sir Adam Francis	Sir Roger Strange
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	William Loveney	Richard Wyot
1414 (Apr)	Simon Camp	Walter Green
1414 (Nov)	Thomas Charlton	John Walden
1415	Simon Camp	Thomas Coningsby
1416 (Mar)
1416 (Oct)	Henry Somer	Walter Gawtron
1419	Thomas Frowyk	Thomas Coningsby
1420	Sir John Boys	Walter Green
1421 (May)	Henry Somer	Sir Thomas Charlton
1421 (Dec)	Richard Maidstone	Edmund Bibbesworth
1429	Henry Somer
1442	Thomas Charlton^[4]	John Somerset
1447	Thomas Charlton
1449	Thomas Charlton
1453	Thomas Charlton
1459	Sir Thomas Charlton
1460	Sir Thomas Charlton
1491	Sir Thomas Lovell^[5]

Table of Knights of the Shire 1509-1660

Summoned	Elected	Assembled	Dissolved	First Member	Second Member
17 October 1509	1509–10	21 January 1510	23 February 1510	Sir Thomas Lovell (I)	unknown
28 November 1511	1511–12	4 February 1512	4 March 1514	unknown	unknown
23 November 1514	1514–15	5 February 1515	22 December 1515	unknown	unknown
unknown	1523	15 April 1523	13 August 1523	Sir Thomas More (I) ^a	unknown
9 August 1529	1529	3 November 1529	14 April 1536	Robert Wroth ^b	Richard Hawkes ^c
27 April 1536	1536	8 June 1536	18 July 1536	unknown	unknown
1 March 1539	1539	28 April 1539	24 July 1540		Robert Cheeseman
23 November 1541	1541–42	16 January 1542	28 March 1544		John Hughes ^d
1 December 1544	1544–45	23 November 1545	31 January 1547		Thomas Wroth
2 August 1547	1547	4 November 1547	15 April 1552		John Newdigate
5 January 1553	1553	1 March 1553	31 March 1553		Sir Thomas Wroth
14 August 1553	1553	5 October 1553	5 December 1553		John Newdigate
17 February 1554	1554	2 April 1554	3 May 1554		John Newdigate
3 October 1554	1554	12 November 1554	16 January 1555		Sir Roger Cholmley
3 September 1555	1555	21 October 1555	9 December 1555		Sir Roger Cholmley
6 December 1557	1557–58	20 January 1558	17 November 1558		John Newdigate
5 December 1558	29 December 1558	23 January 1559	8 May 1559		Sir Thomas Wroth
10 November 1562	1562–63	11 January 1563	2 January 1567		Sir Thomas Wroth
unknown	1571	2 April 1571	29 May 1571		John Newdigate
28 March 1572	1572	8 May 1572	19 April 1583	Robert Wroth (I)	Sir Owen Hopton
	12 October 1584	1584	23 November 1584	14 September 1585	Robert Wroth (I)	Sir Owen Hopton
15 September 1586	1586	15 October 1586	23 March 1587	Robert Wroth (I)	William Fleetwood (III)
18 September 1588	19 December 1588	4 February 1589	29 March 1589	Robert Wroth (I)	William Fleetwood (III)
4 January 1593	1593	18 February 1593	10 April 1593	Robert Wroth (I)	Francis Bacon
23 August 1597	15 September 1597	24 October 1597	9 February 1598	Sir Robert Wroth (I)	Sir John Peyton (I)
11 September 1601	8 October 1601	27 October 1601	19 December 1601	Sir John Fortescue (I)	Sir Robert Wroth (I)
31 January 1604	1604	19 March 1604	9 February 1611		Sir Robert Wroth
unknown	1614	5 April 1614	7 June 1614		Sir Thomas Lake
13 November 1620	1620–21	16 January 1621	8 February 1622		Sir Gilbert Gerard, Bt
20 December 1623	1623–24	12 February 1624	27 March 1625		Sir John Suckling
2 April 1625	1625	17 May 1625	12 August 1625		Sir Gilbert Gerard, Bt
20 December 1625	1626	6 February 1626	15 June 1626		Sir Edward Spencer
31 January 1628	1628	17 March 1628	10 March 1629		Sir Henry Spiller
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned
20 February 1640	1640	13 April 1640	5 May 1640		Sir Gilbert Gerard, Bt
24 September 1640	1640	3 November 1640	16 March 1660 ^e	Sir John Francklyn ^f	Sir Gilbert Gerard, Bt ^g
	18 May 1648			Sir Edward Spencer ^h

Notes:-

• ^a Speaker of the House of Commons.
• ^b Wroth ceased to be an MP after 11 May 1535. It is unknown if there was a by-election.
• ^c Hawkes ceased to be MP by May/June 1532. It is unknown if there was a by-election.
• ^d Hughes ceased to be an MP after January/April 1543. It is unknown if there was a by-election.
• ^e In theory the Long Parliament existed throughout the 1640–1660 term, as it could not be lawfully dissolved without its own consent which was not given until 1660. In practice all or part of the membership of the House of Commons were not permitted to sit for lengthy periods. Other bodies considered to be Parliaments existed within parts of the term of the Long Parliament.
• ^f Francklyn died and a by-election was held.
• ^g In December 1648, Gilbert was excluded from Parliament in Pride's Purge and the seat was left vacant.
• ^h Spencer is not recorded as having sat after Pride's Purge in December 1648.

Table of Members of the Commonwealth Parliaments 1653-1659

The county had three nominated members in the Barebones Parliament, four representatives in the First and Second and the usual two in the Third of the Protectorate Parliaments

Summoned	Elected	Assembled	Dissolved	1st Member	2nd Member	3rd Member	4th Member
		4 July 1653	12 December 1653	Sir William Roberts	Augustine Wingfield	Arthur Squib
1 June 1654	1654	3 September 1654	22 January 1655		Sir William Roberts	Josiah Berners	Edmund Harvey
10 July 1656	1656	17 September 1656	4 February 1658	Sir John Barkstead	Sir William Roberts	Chaloner Chute	William Kiffen
9 December 1658	1658–59	27 January 1659	22 April 1659		Chaloner Chute

Knights of the shire 1660–1885

Year	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1660		Sir Lancelot Lake	Non Partisan		Sir William Waller	Non Partisan
1661					Sir Thomas Allen	Non Partisan
1679		Sir Robert Peyton	Non Partisan		Sir William Roberts, Bt	Non Partisan
1681		Robert Atkyns	Non Partisan
1681		Nicholas Raynton	Non Partisan
1685		Sir Charles Gerard, Bt	Non Partisan		Ralph Hawtrey	Non Partisan
1695		Edward Russell	Non Partisan		Sir John Wolstenholme, Bt	Non Partisan
1696		Sir John Bucknall	Non Partisan
1698		Warwick Lake	Non Partisan
1701					Hugh Smithson	Tory
1701					John Austen	Whig
1702					Hugh Smithson	Tory
1705		Scorie Barker	Non Partisan		Sir John Wolstenholme, Bt	Non Partisan
1709					John Austen	Whig
1710		Hon. James Bertie	Tory		Hugh Smithson	Tory
1722					Sir John Austen, Bt.	Whig
1727					Sir Francis Child	Tory
1734		William Pulteney	Whig
1740					Sir Hugh Smithson, Bt (later Sir Hugh Percy, Bt) ^a	Tory
1742		Sir Roger Newdigate, Bt	Tory
1747		Sir William Beauchamp-Proctor, Bt	Whig			Whig
1750					George Cooke	Tory
1768		John Wilkes	Radical
1768					John Glynn	Whig^[6]
1769 (Feb)
1769 (Mar)
1769 (Apr)		Henry Luttrell	Tory
1774		John Wilkes	Radical
1779					Thomas Wood	Whig
1780					George Byng	Whig
1784					William Mainwaring	Tory
1790		George Byng	Whig^[7]
1802					Sir Francis Burdett, Bt	Whig
1804					George Boulton Mainwaring	Tory
1805					Sir Francis Burdett, Bt	Whig
1806					George Boulton Mainwaring	Tory
1806					William Mellish	Tory
1820					Samuel Charles Whitbread	Whig
1830					Joseph Hume	Radical^[8]
1837					Thomas Wood	Conservative
1847		Lord Robert Grosvenor	Whig^[9] ^[10] ^[11]
1847					Ralph Bernal Osborne	Radical^[12] ^[13] ^[14] ^[15] ^[16] ^[17]
1857					Robert Culling Hanbury	Whig^[18] ^[19]
1857		Hon. George Byng (later Viscount Enfield) ^b	Whig^[20] ^[21] ^[22]
1859			Liberal			Liberal
1867					Henry Labouchère	Liberal
1868					Lord George Hamilton	Conservative
1874		Octavius Coope	Conservative
1885	constituency divided and abolished

Notes:-

• ^a Smithson, not the same man as the former member of the same name, changed his surname to Percy before the 1741 general election.
• ^b Byng received the courtesy title of Viscount Enfield in 1860.

Elections

General notes

In multi-member elections the bloc voting system was used. Voters could cast a vote for two candidates or "plump" for one, as they chose. The leading candidates with the largest number of votes were elected.

In by-elections, to fill a single seat, the first past the post system applied.

Table terms

Sources

Results of 1660-1790 are by History of Parliament Trust publications. The results from 1790 - 1832 are by Stooks Smith, thereafter his work becoming the footnotes for results by Craig.

Results 1660–1885

Parliament of England

• Note (1660) vote totals unavailable

• Note (1661) vote totals unavailable

• Note (1679): Roberts was not the same man as the 1660 candidate of the same name.

• Note (1679): Smyth is referred to as Smith in House of Commons 1660-1690, but Smyth seems to be correct from Leigh Rayment's list of baronets.
• Expulsion from the House of Peyton http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=27841

• Note (1685) vote totals unavailable. Smyth is referred to as Smith in House of Commons 1660-1690, but Smyth seems to be correct from Leigh Rayment's list of baronets.

• Note (1689) vote totals unavailable

• Choice of Russell to sit for Cambridgeshire

Parliament of Great Britain

• Death of Wolstenholme

• Death of Child

• Smithson (not the same person as the former MP of the same name) subsequently changed his surname to Percy

• Creation of Pulteney as 1st Earl of Bath

• Succession of Percy as 2nd Earl of Northumberland

• Appointment of Cooke as Joint Paymaster of the Forces

• Note (1768): Stooks Smith attributes 1,292 votes to Wilkes. Stooks Smith does not give candidates party labels in Middlesex until after this election.
• Death of Cooke

• Note (1768): Poll 6 days (Source: Stooks Smith)
• Expulsion from the House of Wilkes, declared incapable of being elected 3 February 1769

• Expulsion from the House of Wilkes, election declared void

• Expulsion from the House of Wilkes, election declared void 17 March 1769

• Election return of Wilkes amended to Luttrell by Parliament on 14 April 1769 and Luttrell seated as the MP 15 April 1769

• Death of Glynn

• Note (1790): The George Byng who contested Middlesex elections from this year is a different person from the one who stood previously

Parliament of the United Kingdom

• Note (1802): Poll 15 days (Source: Stooks Smith)
• Election of Burdett declared void 9 July 1804

• Note (1804): Poll 15 days (Source: Stooks Smith)
• Election of Mainwaring challenged by a petition of Burdett. Mainwaring unseated and Francis Burdett seated on 5 March 1805. (Source: The Times (of London), edition of 6 March 1805)
• Election of Burdett challenged by a petition of Mainwaring. Burdett unseated and George Boulton Mainwaring seated with effect from 10 February 1806. (Source: The Times (of London), edition of 10 February 1806)

• Note (1806): Poll 15 days (Source: Stooks Smith)

• Note (1820): Poll 12 days (Source: Stooks Smith)

• Note (1835): The Thomas Wood who contested Middlesex elections from this year is a different person from the one who was elected in 1779

Byng's death caused a by-election.

12577

• Creation of Grosvenor as 1st Baron Ebury

• Byng became known by the courtesy title of Viscount Enfield when his father became 2nd Earl of Strafford in 1860

• Death of Hanbury

• Appointment of Hamilton as Vice-President of the Privy Council Committee on Education

• Appointment of Hamilton as First Lord of the Admiralty

• Constituency divided in the 1885 redistribution

See also

• List of former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies
• Unreformed House of Commons
• List of parliaments of England
• Duration of English, British and United Kingdom parliaments from 1660

References

Sources

• British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The 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 1660-1690, by Basil Duke Henning (Secker & Warburg 1983)
• 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 House of Commons 1790-1820, by R.G. Thorne (Secker & Warburg 1986)
• 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)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
• 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) https://web.archive.org/web/20150904125310/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
• List of members nominated for Parliament of 1653 at British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36965

Notes and References

1. http://www.brentfordtw8.com/default.asp?section=info&page=localhistory011.htm "Brentford Elections In The Past: scenes of riot, disorder and tumult"
2. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1867/102/pdfs/ukpga_18670102_en.pdf?view=extent Reform Act 1867, Sch. B & Sch. C
3. Web site: History of Parliament. 2011-09-17.
4. Charlton, Sir Thomas. 2004. 10.1093/ref:odnb/92982. 2011-12-01.
5. Book: Cavill. The English Parliaments of Henry VII 1485-1504.
6. Book: Stooks Smith , Henry. . . The Parliaments of England . 1844-1850 . 2nd . 1973 . Parliamentary Research Services . Chichester . 0-900178-13-2 . 206–208 .
7. News: Middlesex Election . 17 May 2019 . Leeds Times . 17 January 1835 . 2 . . subscription.
8. Book: Mosse. Richard Bartholomew. The Parliamentary Guide: a concise history of the Members of both Houses, etc. 1838. 127–128. 17 May 2019 . .
9. News: Forthcoming Elections . 11 August 2018 . London Daily News . 31 July 1847 . 4 . . subscription.
10. Grosvenor, Robert (1801-1893) . Pollard . Alfred Frederick . Albert Pollard . 1 . 11 August 2018-->.
11. Book: Dod, Charles Roger . Dod, Robert Phipps. Charles Roger Dod. Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Volume 15 . 1847 . Dod's Parliamentary Companion. 177. 11 August 2018 . .
12. Web site: Ralph Bernal. Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London. 11 August 2018.
13. Book: Malcolmson. A. P. W.. The Pursuit of the Heiress: Aristocratic Marriage in Ireland 1740-1840. 2006. Ulster Historical Foundation. 9781903688656. 176. Illustrated. 11 August 2018 . .
14. News: The Brazil Controversy. 11 August 2018. The Spectator. 18 February 1865. 13.
15. Book: William Rubinstein. Hilary L. Rubinstein. Rubinstein. William D.. Jolles. Michael A.. Rubinstein. Hilary L.. The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. 2011. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke. 978-1-4039-3910-4. 191. 11 August 2018 . .
16. Book: Hawkins. Angus. Victorian Political Culture: 'Habits of Heart & Mind'. 2015. Oxford University Press. Oxford. 978-0-19-872848-1. 280. 11 August 2018 . Google Books.
17. News: Members Returned, with Their Political Predilections . 11 August 2018 . Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette . 12 August 1847 . 2 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
18. News: Middlesex . 11 August 2018 . Coventry Standard . 10 April 1857 . 2–3 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
19. News: Portsmouth Times and Naval Gazette . 11 August 2018 . 18 April 1857 . 6 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
20. News: Latest News . 15 July 2018 . York Herald . 5 September 1857 . 7 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
21. News: Representation of Middlesex . 11 August 2018 . Leeds Mercury . 1 September 1857 . 4 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
22. News: Representation of Middlesex . 11 August 2018 . London Daily News . 2 September 1857 . 4 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .