Hedon (UK Parliament constituency)

Hedon
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1547–1832
SeatsTwo

Hedon, sometimes spelt Heydon, was a parliamentary borough in the East Riding of Yorkshire, represented by two Members of Parliament in the House of Commons briefly in the 13th century and again from 1547 to 1832.

History

The constituency consisted of the market town of Hedon, in Holderness to the east of Hull, which had been of some importance in medieval times but which by 1831 had dwindled to 217 houses and a population of 1,080, and the borough was disfranchised in the Great Reform Act of 1832.

The right of election in Hedon was vested in the burgesses generally, meaning that a high proportion of the male population had the vote. In 1826, when the election was contested, 331 burgesses recorded their votes. Nevertheless, the result was rarely in doubt, Hedon being a classic example of a pocket borough where the influence of the landowner or "patron" was substantial if not absolute. At first the influence seems to have been shared between two families of important local landowners, the Constables of Burton Constable and the Hildyards of Winestead. The patron at the start of the 18th century was Henry Guy; he bequeathed it to his protégé William Pulteney, who not only sat for the borough himself for much of his career but made the other seat available to his cousin and his brother. After Pulteney's death the borough passed to the distinguished admiral Lord Anson,[1] who used his patronage to provide seats for some of his naval colleagues;[2] one of these, Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, inherited the patronage in turn when Anson died.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1547–1640

Parliament First member Second member
1547 Edward Elrington Robert Googe[3]
1553 (Mar) Sir John Constable Robert Shakerley[3]
1553 (Oct) Sir John Constable Robert Shakerley[3]
1554 (Apr) Hon. Sir Thomas Wharton Richard Cuthbert[3]
1554 (Nov) John Long Richard Cuthbert[3]
1555 George Brooke alias Cobham Richard Cuthbert[3]
1558 Sir John Constable John Goldwell[3]
1558/9 John Vaughan John Salveyn[4]
1562/3 Sir John Constable Christopher Hilliard[4]
1571 Christopher Hilliard William Paler[4]
1572 Christopher Hilliard John Moore[4]
1584 (Oct) Sir Henry Constable Fulke Greville[4]
1586 (Oct) Sir Henry Constable John Hotham[4]
1588 (Oct) John Alford Christopher Hilliard[4]
1593 Henry Brooke alias Cobham II Christopher Hilliard[4]
1597 (Sep) Thomas Salveyn Christopher Hilliard[4]
1601 (Oct) Matthew Patteson Christopher Hilliard[4]
1604 Christopher Hilliard Sir Henry Constable,
replaced 1610 by John Digby
1614 Christopher Hilliard Clement Coke, sat for Clitheroe
replaced by William Sheffield
1621 Sir Matthew Boynton, Bt Sir Thomas Fairfax of Walton
1624 Sir Thomas Fairfax of Walton Christopher Hilliard
1625
1626
1628 Sir Christopher Hilliard Thomas Alured
1629–1640 No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1832

Year First member First party Second member Second party
April 1640 John Alured Parliamentarian Sir Philip Stapleton
November 1640 Sir William Strickland Parliamentarian
1651 Alured died 1651, seat vacant thereafter
1653 Hedon was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659 Thomas Strickland[5] Colonel Matthew Alured
May 1659 Sir William Strickland One seat vacant
April 1660 Sir John Cloberry[6] Sir Hugh Bethell
July 1660 Henry Hildyard
1661 Sir Matthew Appleyard
1670 Henry Guy
1680 William Boynton
1685 Charles Duncombe Tory
1689 Matthew Appleyard (younger)
October 1695 Lord Spencer[7] Sir William Trumbull[8]
December 1695 Thomas Frankland Hugh Bethell
1698 Anthony Duncombe
January 1701 Sir Robert Bedingfield
December 1701 Sir Robert Hildyard
July 1702 Sir Charles Duncombe[9] Tory Henry Guy
November 1702 Anthony Duncombe
1705 William Pulteney Whig
1708 Hugh Cholmley Whig
March 1722 Daniel Pulteney[10] Whig
November 1722 Harry Pulteney Whig
1734 Sir Francis Boynton George Berkeley
1739 Harry Pulteney Whig
1741 Francis Chute[11] Luke Robinson
1742 The Earl of Mountrath Whig George Berkeley
1744 George Anson
1746 Samuel Gumley[12]
February 1747 Luke Robinson
July 1747 Sir John Savile[13]
1754 Captain Sir Charles Saunders, RN[14] Captain Peter Denis, RN[15]
1768 Beilby Thompson
1776 Hon. Lewis Watson
1780 Christopher Atkinson[16] William Chaytor
1783 Stephen Lushington Foxite Whig
1784 Lionel Darell[17]
1790 Beilby Thompson
1796 Christopher Atkinson[18]
1802 George Johnstone[19]
1806 Anthony Browne
1813 John Broadhurst Whig
1818 Edmund Turton Robert Farrand Whig
1820 John Baillie Tory
1826 Thomas Hyde Villiers Whig
1830 Sir Thomas Clifford-Constable, Bt Tory Robert Farrand Tory

Notes

  1. ^ Page 144, Lewis Namier, "The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III" (2nd edition - London: Macmillan, 1957)
  2. ^ Pages 29-30, Lewis Namier, "The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III" (2nd edition - London: Macmillan, 1957)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "History of Parliament". Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "History of Parliament". Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  5. ^ Strickland was also elected for Beverley, which he chose to represent. The vacancy was unfilled when the Parliament ended
  6. ^ Cloberry was also elected for Launceston, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Hedon
  7. ^ Spencer was also elected for Tiverton, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Hedon
  8. ^ Trumbull was also elected for Oxford University, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Hedon
  9. ^ Sir Charles Duncombe was also elected for Downton, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Hedon in this parliament
  10. ^ Pulteney was also elected for Preston, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Hedon
  11. ^ Chute and Robinson were initially declared elected at the general election, but Mountrath and Berkeley were seated in their place on petition
  12. ^ Gumley was initially declared elected at the by-election, but Robinson was returned on petition
  13. ^ Savile was created Lord Pollington in the peerage of Ireland in 1753
  14. ^ Rear Admiral from 1756
  15. ^ Created Sir Peter Denis, Bt., in 1767
  16. ^ Expelled from the House for perjury, 1783
  17. ^ Created Sir Lionel Darell, Bt., in 1795
  18. ^ Called Christopher Atkinson Savile from October 1798
  19. ^ Johnstone was re-elected at the general election of 1812, but shortly afterwards began to suffer from epileptic seizures, and never retook his seat

References

  • Michael Brock, The Great Reform Act (London: Hutchinson, 1973)
  • D Brunton & D H Pennington, “Members of the Long Parliament” (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
  • J E Neale, "The Elizabethan House of Commons" (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
  • J Holladay Philbin, "Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
  • Henry Stooks Smith, "The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847" (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
  • Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 2)