City of London (Parliament of England constituency)

The City of London was a parliamentary constituency of the Parliament of England until 1707.

Boundaries and history to 1707

This borough constituency consisted of the City of London, which was the historic core of the modern Greater London. In the twenty-first century, the City forms part of the London Region of England.
The southern boundary of the city is the north bank of the River Thames. The City of Westminster is situated to the west. The districts of Holborn and Finsbury are to the north, Shoreditch to the north-east and Whitechapel to the east.
Before 1298, the area was represented as part of the county constituency of Middlesex. The City formed part of the geographic county, even though from early times it was not administered as part of Middlesex.
London is first known to have been enfranchised and represented in Parliament in 1298. It was the most important city in England and was administered as a county of itself from before boroughs were first represented in Parliament. It received four seats in Parliament instead of the normal two for an English constituency. The extra two seats were supposed to represent the county-like status of London. No such extra seats were awarded to other cities or boroughs which received the status of being counties of themselves in later times.
By the sixteenth century it was the practice for the Court of Aldermen to summon a meeting at the Guildhall. The aldermen met and selected two candidates to sit as the city's knights in Parliament. One was normally an alderman. The other was normally the Recorder of London, whose legal expertise was essential to the City which had a lot of legislation it wanted drafted and passed by Parliament. On one occasion in the sixteenth century the Recorder was already a burgess representing another borough in Parliament, so two aldermen were chosen.
The aldermen also prepared a list of twelve prominent Londoners, who were not themselves aldermen. The nominees for knight were then put to the liverymen, who had been waiting whilst the aldermen met, for approval and an election was held to select two citizens from the list of twelve nominees to fill the other two seats in the House of Commons. The London election thus took place in a single day.
If the Recorder resigned during a Parliament or a citizen was elected an alderman, he was disqualified and the new Recorder or another citizen was elected.
At some point after 1603 the City adopted a more normal system for nominations and elections. The two London Sheriffs appointed a day for candidates nominations to be submitted, at a meeting in the Guildhall. If there were more than four candidates a poll was held at a later date which usually extended for several weeks. Although it was no longer a legal requirement, there was a custom that two City seats were filled by Aldermen and two by non-Aldermen.
During the Protectorate the city was allocated six seats in the House of Commons, under the terms of the Instrument of Government adopted on 15 December 1653. However, by the time the Third Protectorate Parliament assembled in 1659 the constituency had reverted to its traditional four seats.
The City of London was a densely populated area in the period up to 1707. The composition of the City electorate was not as democratic as that of some other borough constituencies, such as neighbouring Westminster. The right of election was held by members of the livery companies. However, the size and wealth of the community meant that it had more voters than most other borough constituencies. Only Westminster had a larger borough electorate. Duke Henning estimated the City liverymen at about 4,000 in 1661 and about 6,000 by 1680.

Members of the House of Commons

Some of the members elected during this period have been identified. The Roman numerals in brackets, following some names, are those used to distinguish different politicians of the same name in 'The House of Commons' 1509-1558 and 1558–1603. As there are considerable gaps between some of the parliaments in this period, each members career is sub-divided by parliament in the tables, even if he served in successive parliaments.
The elected date is for the City constituency. When an exact general election date is unavailable, the year or years between the dates of the parliament being summoned and assembling, are used.

1298–1385

1386–1421

1422–1508

Parliaments of King Henry VIII of England

No.	Summoned	Elected	Assembled	Dissolved
1st	17 October 1509	1509/10	21 January 1510	23 February 1510
2nd	28 November 1511	1511/12	4 February 1512	4 March 1514
3rd	23 November 1514	1514/15	5 February 1515	22 December 1515
4th	...	?1523	15 April 1523	13 August 1523
5th	9 August 1529	1529	3 November 1529	14 April 1536
6th	27 April 1536	1536	8 June 1536	18 July 1536
7th	1 March 1539	1539	28 April 1539	24 July 1540
8th	23 November 1541	1541/42	16 January 1542	28 March 1544
9th	1 December 1544	19 January 1545	23 November 1545	31 January 1547

No.	Elected	First member	Second member	Third member	Fourth member
1st	1509/10	Sir John Tate	John Chaloner	James Yarford	John Brydges
1st	1510	Sir John Tate	John Chaloner	Thomas More	John Brydges
2nd	1511/12	Sir William Capell	Richard Broke	William Calley	John Kyme
3rd	1514/15	Sir William Capell	Richard Broke	William Calley	John Kyme
3rd	1515	Sir William Capell	Richard Broke	unknown	John Kyme
4th	?1523	George Monoux	William Shelley	John Hewster	William Roche
5th	1529	Sir Thomas Seymour	John Baker	John Petyt	Paul Withypoll
5th	18 February 1533	Sir Thomas Seymour	John Baker	William Bowyer	Paul Withypoll
5th	?1534	Sir Thomas Seymour	Sir Roger Cholmley known as Sir Roger Cholmeley	William Bowyer	Paul Withypoll
5th	27 October 1534	Sir Thomas Seymour	Sir Roger Cholmley known as Sir Roger Cholmeley	Robert Pakington	Paul Withypoll
5th	1535	unknown	Sir Roger Cholmley known as Sir Roger Cholmeley	Robert Pakington	Paul Withypoll
6th	1536	unknown	Sir Roger Cholmley known as Sir Roger Cholmeley	unknown	unknown
7th	1539	Sir Richard Gresham	Sir Roger Cholmley known as Sir Roger Cholmeley	?Richard Fermor	Paul Withypoll
8th	1541/42	Sir William Roche	Sir Roger Cholmley known as Sir Roger Cholmeley	John Sturgeon	Nicholas Wilford
9th	19 January 1545	Sir William Roche	Sir Roger Cholmley known as Sir Roger Cholmeley	John Sturgeon	Paul Withypoll
9th	February 1545	Sir William Forman	Sir Roger Cholmley known as Sir Roger Cholmeley	John Sturgeon	Paul Withypoll
9th	February 1545	Sir Richard Gresham	Sir Roger Cholmley known as Sir Roger Cholmeley	John Sturgeon	Paul Withypoll
9th	17 November 1545	Sir Richard Gresham	Robert Broke	John Sturgeon	Paul Withypoll

Notes:

Parliaments of King Edward VI of England

No.	Summoned	Elected	Assembled	Dissolved
1st	2 August 1547	1547	4 November 1547	15 April 1552
2nd	5 January 1553	1553	1 March 1553	31 March 1553

No	Elected	First member	Second member	Third member	Fourth member
1st	1547	Sir Martin Bowes	Robert Broke	Thomas Curteys	Thomas Bacon
1st	4 March 1552	Sir Martin Bowes	Robert Broke	John Blundell	Thomas Bacon
2nd	1553	Sir Martin Bowes	Robert Broke	John Marshe	John Blundell

Note:-

Parliaments of Queen Mary I of England

No.	Summoned	Elected	Assembled	Dissolved
1st	14 August 1553	1553	5 October 1553	5 December 1553
2nd	17 February 1554	1554	2 April 1554	3 May 1554
3rd	3 October 1554	1554	12 November 1554	16 January 1555
4th	3 September 1555	1555	21 October 1555	9 December 1555
5th	6 December 1557	1557/58	20 January 1558	17 November 1558

No	Elected	First member	Second member	Third member	Fourth member
1st	1553	Sir Rowland Hill	Robert Broke	John Marshe	John Blundell
2nd	1554	Sir Martin Bowes	Robert Broke	John Marshe	John Blundell
3rd	1554	Sir Martin Bowes	Ralph Cholmley	Richard Grafton	Richard Burnell
4th	1555	Sir Martin Bowes	Ralph Cholmley	Philip Bold	Nicholas Chowne
5th	1558	Sir William Garrard	Ralph Cholmley	John Marshe	Richard Grafton