Herefordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Herefordshire
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Herefordshire
1290–1885
Number of members	Two
Replaced by	Leominster Ross

The county constituency of Herefordshire, in the West Midlands of England bordering on Wales, was abolished when the county was divided for parliamentary purposes in 1885. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885.

The undivided county was represented from 1290 by two Knights of the Shire until 1832 and three thereafter. After the county was split two new county constituencies were created, the North division or Leominster and the South division or Ross.

Boundaries

The constituency consisted of the historic county of Herefordshire. Although Herefordshire contained a number of parliamentary boroughs, each of which elected one or two MPs in its own right for parts of the period when Herefordshire was a constituency, these areas were not excluded from the county constituency. Owning freehold property of the required value, within such boroughs, could confer a vote at the county election. From 1832 only non-resident owners of forty shilling freeholds, situated in borough seats, could qualify for a county vote on the basis of that property.

Members of Parliament

1290–1604

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Constituency created (1290)

Parliament	First member	Second member
1290	Sir Roger le Rous
1315	Sir Hugh de Croft
1318	Sir Roger Chandos
1330	John le Rous
1336–1337	John le Rous
1340	John le Rous
1340	Sir Roger Chandos
1343	John le Rous
1343	Sir Roger Chandos
1355	Sir Thomas Chandos
1355	Sir Richard de la Bere
1360	Sir Thomas Chandos
1370	Sir Thomas Chandos
1376	Peter de la Mare
1377 (Jan)		Sir Robert Whitney
1377 (Oct)	Peter de la Mare
1378	Sir Walter Devereux of Bodenham	Sir John Eylesford
1379	Sir Walter Devereux of Bodenham	Sir Robert Whitney
1380 (Jan)	Peter de la Mare	Sir Robert Whitney
1381	Sir Walter Devereux of Bodenham	Ralph Lengayne
1381	Sir Walter Devereux of Bodenham	Peter de la Mare
1382	Sir John Eylesford	Peter de la Mare
1382 (May, Sep)	Sir Walter Devereux of Bodenham	Peter de la Mare
1383	Sir William Devereux of Frome	Sir Andrew Herle
1383 (Oct)	Sir Walter Devereux of Bodenham	Sir Andrew Herle
1384	Kynard de la Bere	Richard Mawarden
1386	Kynard de la Bere	Sir Thomas de la Barre
1388 (Feb)	Leonard Hakluyt	Richard Nash
1388 (Sep)	Malcolm de la Mare	William Seymour
1390 (Jan)	(Sir) Kynard de la Bere	Thomas Oldcastle
1390 (Nov)	Roger Wigmore	Richard Nash
1391	Sir Robert Whitney	Roger Wigmore
1393	Sir John Chandos	Thomas Oldcastle
1394	(SIR) Leonard Hakluyt	Thomas Clanvowe
1395	Sir John Chandos	Thomas Walwyn I
1397 (Jan)	(Sir) Thomas Clanvowe	Thomas Walwyn II
1397 (Sep)	(Sir) Thomas Clanvowe	John Skydemore
1399	(Sir) Kynard de la Bere	Thomas Walwyn II
1401	Sir Walter Devereux of Bodenham and Weobley	Sir John Greyndoe
1402	Sir Thomas de la Barre	Philip Holgot
1404 (Jan)	Sir John Oldcastle	Thomas Walwyn II
1404 (Oct)	Sir John Greyndore	Thomas Walwyn II
1406	John ap Harry	Thomas Holgot
1407	John ap Harry	Thomas Holgot
1410	John ap Harry	Thomas Holgot
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	Thomas de la Hay	Thomas Holgot
1414 (Apr)	Sir John Skydemore	John Russell
1414 (Nov)	Sir John Skydemore	Thomas Holgot
1415
1416 (Mar)	Sir Thomas de la Barre	Sir Robert Whitney II
1416 (Oct)
1417	John Russell	Thomas Holgot
1419	John Russell	John Merbury
1420	John Russell	John Brugge
1421 (May)	John Russell	John Merbury
1421 (Dec)	John Russell	John Merbury
1422	John Russell	Sir Robert Whitney II
1423	John Russell	Thomas de la Hay
1425	John Merbury
1426	John Russell	Sir John Skydemore
1427	John Merbury
1428	Walter Devereux
1429	John Russell	Sir John Skydemore
1431	John Russell	Giles Brydges
1432	John Russell
1433	John Russell	Sir John Skydemore
1434	Walter Devereux
1436	Sir Walter Devereux	Sir Kynard de la Bere
1437		John Abrahall
1439		John Abrahall
1440	Sir Walter Devereux	John Abrahall
1442		John Abrahall
1450 (Nov)	Sir Walter Devereux
1455	Giles Brydges
1459	Walter Devereux
1471	Sir Richard Croft
1472	Thomas Brydges
1476	Sir James Baskerville
1504	__? Mynors	Sir Gruffydd ap Rhys
1510–1515	No Names Known
1523	Sir Richard Cornwall	?
1529	Sir Richard Cornwall, died and replaced c.1533 by James Baskerville	John Rudhale, died and replaced c.1532 by John Scudamore
1536
1539	George Cornwall	John Lingen
1542	?John Vaughan	James Croft
1545
1547	James Baskerville	John Gwillim
1553 (Mar)
1553 (Oct)	Humphrey Coningsby	Stephen Parry
1554 (Apr)	John Lingen	John Baskerville
1554 (Nov)	Richard Sebourne	Thomas Havard
1555	John Baskerville	Stephen Parry
1558	Gregory Price	John Pateshall
1559 (Jan)	Sir Robert Whitney	Humphrey Coningsby
1562–1563	Sir James Croft	James Warnecombe
1571	Sir James Croft	John Scudamore
1572 (Apr)	Sir James Croft	John Scudamore
1584 (Nov)	Sir James Croft	John Scudamore
1586 (Oct)	Sir James Croft	John Scudamore
1588 (Oct)	Sir James Croft	John Scudamore
1593	Sir Thomas Coningsby	Herbert Croft
1597 (Sep)	Sir Thomas Coningsby	Sir John Scudamore
1601	Sir Thomas Coningsby	Sir Herbert Croft

1604–1832

As there were sometimes significant gaps between Parliaments, the dates of first assembly and dissolution are given for those up to 1640. Where the name of the member has not yet been ascertained or is not recorded in a surviving document, the entry unknown is entered in the table.

Elected	Assembled	Dissolved	First member	Second member
1604	19 March 1604	9 February 1611	Sir James Scudamore	Sir Herbert Croft
1614	5 April 1614	7 June 1614	Sir James Scudamore	Sir Herbert Croft
1621	16 January 1621	8 February 1622	Sir John Scudamore, Bt	Fitzwilliam Coningsby
1624	12 February 1624	27 March 1625	Sir John Scudamore, Bt	Sir Robert Harley
1625	17 May 1625	12 August 1625	John Rudhale	Sir Giles Brydges, Bt
1626	6 February 1626	15 June 1626	Sir Robert Harley	Sir Walter Pye
1628	17 March 1628	10 March 1629	Sir Giles Brydges, Bt	Sir Walter Pye
1629–1640	No Parliaments convened

Election			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
Herefordshire was represented by 2 elected Knights of the Shire
		1640, April	Sir Robert Harley		Sir Walter Pye
		1640, November	Sir Robert Harley	Parliamentarian	Fitzwilliam Coningsby
		c. 1641			Humphrey Coningsby	Royalist
		c. 1644			vacant
		c. 1646			Edward Harley	Parliamentarian
		1647, 29 January			vacant
		1648, 8 June			Edward Harley	Parliamentarian
		1648, 6 December	vacant		vacant
Herefordshire was represented by 2 nominated MPs in Barebone's Parliament
		1653	Wroth Rogers		John Herring
Herefordshire's representation was increased to 4 elected MPs in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
		1654	John Scudamore	John Pateshal	John Flacket	Richard Read
		1656	James Berry	Edward Harley	Bennet Hoskyns	Benjamin Mason
Herefordshire's representation was decreased to 2 MPs in the Third Parliament of the Protectorate and thereafter
		1659, January	Wroth Rogers		Bennet Hoskyns
		1659, May	vacant		vacant
		1660, 18 April	Edward Harley		William Powell
		1661, 20 March	James Scudamore		Thomas Prise
		1668, 23 September	Sir John Kyrle
		1679, 26 February	The Viscount Scudamore		Sir Herbert Croft, Bt
		1679, 10 September			Sir Edward Harley
		1685, 18 March	Sir John Morgan, Bt	Tory	Sir John Hoskyns, Bt
		1689, 15 January			Sir Edward Harley	Whig
		1690, 12 March			Sir Herbert Croft, Bt	Whig
		1693, 8 February	Sir Edward Harley	Whig
		1698, 3 August	Henry Cornewall	Tory	Henry Gorges	Tory
		1701, 16 January	Sir John Williams, Bt	Tory
		1705, 16 May	The Viscount Scudamore	Tory
		1708, 12 May			John Prise	Tory
		1712, 30 July			Sir Thomas Morgan, Bt	Tory
		1715, 9 February	Richard Hopton
		1717, 6 March			Sir Hungerford Hoskyns, Bt
		1722, 28 March	Velters Cornewall	Tory	Sir Edward Goodere, Bt	Tory
		1727, 6 September			Edward Harley	Tory
		1742, 6 January			Thomas Foley
		1747, 15 July			Lord Harley
		1755, 5 May			Sir John Morgan, Bt
		1767, 18 May			Thomas Foley
		1768, 6 April	Thomas Foley
		1774, 12 October			Sir George Cornewall, Bt
		1776, 22 May	Thomas Harley	Tory
		1780, 18 September				Whig
		1796, 8 June			Robert Biddulph	Whig
		1802, 14 July	Sir George Cornewall, Bt	Tory	John Cotterell	Tory
		1803, 31 March			John Matthews	Tory
		1806, 8 November			Sir John Cotterell, Bt	Tory
		1807, 13 May	Thomas Foley	Whig
		1818, 29 June	Sir Robert Price, Bt	Whig
		1831, 7 May			Kedgwin Hoskins	Whig
Herefordshire's representation was increased to 3 MPs in the 1832 general election and thereafter

1832–1885

Election	First member		First party	Second member		Second party	Third member		Third party
1832		Edward Thomas Foley	Tory		Kedgwin Hoskins	Liberal		Sir Robert Price, Bt	Liberal
1834			Conservative
1841		Thomas Baskerville	Conservative					Joseph Bailey	Conservative
1847		Francis Richard Haggitt (F.R. Wegg-Prosser, 1849)	Conservative		George Cornewall Lewis	Liberal
1850 by-election								Thomas William Booker-Blakemore	Conservative
1852		James King King	Conservative		Hon. Charles Hanbury	Conservative
1857					Sir Geers Cotterell, Bt	Liberal
1858 by-election								Lord Montagu Graham	Conservative
1859					Humphrey Mildmay	Liberal
1865					Sir Joseph Bailey	Conservative		Michael Biddulph	Liberal
1868		Sir Herbert Croft, Bt	Conservative
1874		Daniel Peploe	Conservative
1880		Thomas Duckham	Liberal
1885	Constituency abolished: see Leominster and Ross.

Notes

Elections

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

See also

• List of former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies
• Unreformed House of Commons

References

• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) [1]
• The House of Commons 1690–1715, by Eveline Cruickshanks, Stuart Handley and D.W. Hayton (Cambridge University Press 2002)
• 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))
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 2)
• Calendar of Close Rolls, Richard II, Volume 1, by H.C. Maxwell Lyte (editor). (London: 1914). British History Online [2], 16 November 1378, 27 May 1379, 25 Feb 1382, 22 May 1382, and 26 November 1383.
• Calendar of Fine Rolls, Henry VI, Volume 16, 1430-1437. (London:1936). Page 281, 3 January 1436 (membrane 11)
• Calendar of Fine Rolls, Henry VI, Volume 17, 1437-1445. (London: 1936). Page 148, 24 April 1440 (membrane 12)

• Sir Robert Harley was excluded by the Army, 6 December 1648.
• Fitzwilliam Coningsby was expelled 30 October 1641, for being a monopolist.
• Humphrey Coningsby was disabled for joining the King's Oxford Parliament. New writ issued 11 September 1646.
• Edward Harley was disabled on charges brought by Thomas Fairfax and the Army, on 29 January 1647.
• The order disabling Edward Harley was revoked by another, on 8 June 1648. Excluded by the Army, 6 December 1648?
• From: 'List of members nominated for Parliament of 1653', Diary of Thomas Burton esq, volume 4: March – April 1659 (1828), pp. 499–500. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36965. Date accessed: 27 January 2008.
• Major-General Berry being returned to serve as a Knight for Three Counties; viz. for the Counties of Worcester, Hereford, and Monmouth, doth make his Election to serve as a Knight for the County of Worcester; and waves his Election for the County of Monmouth; the Election for the County of Hereford being questioned. From: 'House of Commons Journal Volume 7: 2 October 1656', Journal of the House of Commons: volume 7: 1651–1660 (1802), pp. 431–433. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=24466. Date accessed: 27 January 2008. A new election was ordered on 17 July 1657.
• Edward Harley was elected but not allowed to take his seat. The Council of State explained to the House of Commons "That the Council, in pursuance of their Duty, and according to the Trust reposed in them, have examined the said Returns, and have not refused to approve any who have appeared to them to be Persons of Integrity to the Government, fearing God, and of good Conversation: And those who are not approved, his Highness hath given Order to some Persons to take Care, that they do not come into the House." From: 'House of Commons Journal Volume 7: 22 September 1656', Journal of the House of Commons: volume 7: 1651–1660 (1802), pp. 426. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=24458. Date accessed: 27 January 2008. The excluded members were permitted to take their seats for the second session of the Parliament, which began on 20 January 1658.
• Stooks Smith classifies Hoskins (or Hoskyns) as a Whig candidate in the 1722 election, which he lost. He is not classified by party for the 1717 by-election,
• Stooks Smith classifies Velters Cornewall as a Tory candidate in the 1722 election, but does not classify him by party in subsequent elections.
• Stooks Smith did not classify George Cornewall by party before the 1780 general election. He is classified as a Whig in the 1780, 1784 and 1790 elections; however he is classified as a Tory in the 1796 election, which he lost.
• Election of Cotterell declared void