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| Northumberland County constituency |
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| Created: | 1290 |
| Abolished: | 1832 |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| Members: | two |
Northumberland, was a County 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 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament.
The constituency was split into two two-member divisions, for Parliamentary purposes, by the Reform Act of 1832. The county was then represented by the Northumberland North and Northumberland South constituencies.
Contents |
Boundaries
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Members of Parliament
1290-1640
- 1555-1559: Sir Thomas Wharton
- 1584-1587: Edward Talbot
- 1597-1601: Sir Robert Carey
- 1604-1611: Sir Ralph Grey
- 1604-1611: Sir Henry Widdrington
- 1621-1622: Sir William Grey
- 1621-1622: Sir Henry Widdrington
- 1624-1629: Sir John Fenwick
1640-1832
Notes
- ^ Expelled, December 1641, "for being concerned in a plot to bring up the King's army in the North, to over-awe the Parliament"
- ^ Fenwick was temporarily disabled from sitting in January 1644, but re-admitted in June 1646
- ^ Charles Howard, Robert Fenwick, Henry Dawson and Henry Ogle were collectively nominated for the Four Northern Counties (Northumberland, Durham, Westmorland and Cumberland]]
- ^ Created a baronet, June 1660
- ^ Expelled from the House of Commons for involvement in the Jacobite Rising
- ^ On petition, Wrightson was adjudged not to have been duly elected
- ^ On petition, Ossulston waived his return in favour of his opponent, Allgood
- ^ Styled Viscount Howick from 1806
Elections
The county franchise, from 1430, was held by the adult male owners of freehold land valued at 40 shillings or more. Each elector had as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings, which took place in the town of Alnwick. The expense and difficulty of voting at only one location in the county, together with the lack of a secret ballot contributed to the corruption and intimidation of electors, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system.
The expense, to candidates, of contested elections encouraged the leading families of the county to agree on the candidates to be returned unopposed whenever possible. Contested county elections were therefore unusual. The Tory Percys, led by the Duke of Northumberland, shared the county representation with the Whig Grey Family.
See also
Sources
- Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
- 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) [2]
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
