Berkshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom 1801 1885

Berkshire was a parliamentary constituency in England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885. The county returned two knights of the shire until 1832 and three between 1832 and 1885.

This county constituency consisted of the historic county of Berkshire, in south eastern England to the west of modern Greater London. Its northern boundary was the River Thames. See Historic counties of England for a map and other details. The Great Reform Act made some minor changes to the parliamentary boundaries of the county, transferring parts of five parishes to neighbouring counties while annexing parts of four other parishes which had previously been in Wiltshire. The county, up to 1885, also contained the borough constituencies of Abingdon (1 seat from 1558), New Windsor (2 seats 1302–1868, 1 seat from 1868), Reading (2 seats from 1295) and Wallingford (2 seats 1295–1832, 1 seat from 1832). Although these boroughs elected MPs in their own right, they were not excluded from the county constituency, and owning property within the borough could confer a vote at the county election.

As in other county constituencies the franchise between 1430 and 1832 was defined by the Forty Shilling Freeholder Act, which gave the right to vote to every man who possessed freehold property within the county valued at £2 or more per year for the purpose of land tax; it was not necessary for the freeholder to occupy his land, nor even in later years to be resident in the county at all. At the time of the Great Reform Act in 1832, Berkshire had a population of about 145,000, but only 3,726 votes were cast at the election of 1818, the highest recorded vote in the county before 1832, even though each voter could cast two votes. Although local landowners could never control a county the size of Berkshire in the way they could own a pocket borough, titled magnates still exercised considerable influence over deferential county voters: in the early 19th century Lord Craven and Lord Braybrooke were considered the "patrons" of the Berkshire constituency and could usually persuade the voters to support their favoured candidates. The place of election for the county was the then county town of Abingdon. In 1880, according to the report in The Times (of London), the ballot boxes were taken to Reading for the count and declaration of the result, instead of these taking place at Abingdon as had happened previously. Before the Reform Act it was normal for voters to expect the candidates for whom they voted to meet their expenses in travelling to the poll and to provide food, liquor and lodgings when they arrived, making the cost of a contested election in some counties prohibitive, but this was less of a factor in a comparatively small county like Berkshire, and contested elections were not uncommon. Nevertheless, potential candidates preferred to canvass support beforehand and usually did not insist on a vote being taken unless they were confident of winning. There were contests in Berkshire at 11 of the 29 general elections between 1701 and 1832, but in the other 18 the candidates were returned unopposed. Under the Great Reform Act of 1832, the county franchise was extended to occupiers of land worth £50 or more, as well as the forty shilling freeholders, and Berkshire was given a third MP. Under the new rules, 5,582 electors were registered and entitled to vote at the general election of 1832. The constituency was abolished in 1885, and the county was divided into three single member constituencies: the Northern or Abingdon Division; the Southern or Newbury Division; and the Eastern or Wokingham Division. The Abingdon Division absorbed the abolished parliamentary boroughs of Abingdon and Wallingford, whilst the parliamentary boroughs of Reading and New Windsor were retained, each with 1 MP.

Constituency created (1265): See Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and Montfort's Parliament for further details. Knights of the shire are known to have been summoned to most Parliaments from 1290 (the 19th Parliament of Edward I) and to every one from 1320 (the 19th Parliament of Edward II).

Some of the members elected during this period have been identified, but this list does not include Parliaments where no member has been identified. The year given is that of 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 sat 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 shown in italic brackets. The Roman numerals in brackets, following some names, are used to distinguish different MPs of the same name in 'The House of Commons' 1509 1558 and 1558 1603. ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1300 Hugh le Blount 1307 Hugh le Blount 1332 Thomas Foxley Sir Gilbert Talbot 1423 Sir Peter Bessels 1425 1426 John Golafre 1491 William Harcourt 1510 Sir Thomas Englefield ? 1512 1515 1529Sir William Essex Sir Henry NevilleHenry James Pye 1790Winchcombe Henry Hartley 1794 by electionCharles Dundas Whig1852George Henry Vansittart Conservative1857 Hon. Philip Pleydell Bouverie Whig 1859Leicester Viney Vernon ConservativeJohn Walter Liberal Liberal1860 by electionRichard Benyon Conservative 1865Robert Loyd Lindsay ConservativeSir Charles Russell, 3rd Baronet Conservative1868John Walter Liberal1876 by electionPhilip Wroughton Conservative1885Constituency abolished

Note (1722): Vote totals not available. Sedgwick states that the majority was over 400 and that 2,177 electors voted. Note (1727–1768): Namier and Brook observe that there were no contested elections and that the county was represented by a succession of Tory country gentlemen. Sedgwick however identified a contested election in 1727.

Note (1812): Poll 15 days; 1,992 voted. (Source: Stooks Smith). Stooks Smith and Thorn refer to the Hon. Richard Griffin as the Hon. R. Neville, a name he used before 1797 see Baron Braybrooke for more details. Note (1818): Poll 15 days. (Source: Stooks Smith). Stooks Smith and Thorn refer to the Hon. Richard Griffin as the Hon. R. Neville, see note (1812).

Note (1820): Poll 15 days; 1,258 voted. Stooks Smith refers to the Hon. Richard Griffin as the Hon. R. Neville, see note (1812). Stooks Smith commented that "this was the third election at which Mr Hallett, without any chance of success, kept the poll open for 15 days".