Staffordshire (UK Parliament constituency)
| Staffordshire | |
|---|---|
| Former County constituency for the House of Commons | |
| County | Staffordshire |
| 1290–1832 | |
| Seats | Two |
| Replaced by | North Staffordshire and South Staffordshire |
Staffordshire was a
History
Boundaries and franchise
The constituency, which first returned members to Parliament in 1290, consisted of the historic county of Staffordshire, excluding the city of Lichfield which had the status of a county in itself after 1556. (Although Staffordshire also contained the boroughs of Stafford and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and part of the borough of Tamworth, each of which elected two MPs in its own right for part of the period when Staffordshire was a constituency, these were not excluded from the county constituency, and owning property within the borough could confer a vote at the county election. This was not the case, though, for Lichfield.)
As in other
Except briefly during the period of the
Character
In the Middle Ages Staffordshire was mainly an agricultural county, but was transformed by the
Nevertheless, the urban and industrial interests had no opportunity to develop political leverage in Staffordshire. Although the qualified electorate numbered some 5,000 in the 18th century, control of the representation was entirely in the hands of a small number of aristocratic families, most notably the Leveson-Gowers (
Abolition
The constituency was abolished in 1832 by the
Members of Parliament
MPs 1290–1640
 |
MPs 1640–1832
Elections
|
See also
References
- 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)
- John Cannon, Parliamentary Reform 1640-1832 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972)
- Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) [2]
- Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988) [3]
- Lewis Namier & John Brooke, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754-1790 (London: HMSO, 1964)
- J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
- Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847, Volume 2 (London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co, 1845) [4]
- Heywood Townshend, Historical Collections:: or, An exact Account of the Proceedings of the Four last Parliaments of Q. Elizabeth (1680) [5]
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 4)
- Diary of Thomas Burton, online at www.british-history.ac.uk
- ^ Wedgwood, Josiah C. (1917). Staffordshire Parliamentary History, Volume I. William Salt Archaeological Society. p. 13.
- ^ Staffordshire Parliamentary History, Volume I. p. 60.
- ^ Staffordshire Parliamentary History, Volume I. p. 68.
- ^ Staffordshire Parliamentary History, Volume I. p. 85.
- ^ Staffordshire Parliamentary History, Volume I. p. 124.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "History of Parliament". Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ^ Staffordshire Parliamentary History, Volume I. p. 145.
- ^ Staffordshire Parliamentary History, Volume I. p. 250.
- ^ Staffordshire Parliamentary History, Volume I. pp. 278–279.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "History of Parliament". Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f "History of Parliament". Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ^ Succeeded to a baronetcy, February 1705
- ^ Succeeded to a baronetcy, January 1768
- ^ Succeeded to a baronetcy, July 1769; promoted to Lieutenant Colonel 1770, Colonel 1779, Major-General 1782
