Middlesex (UK Parliament constituency)

Middlesex was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, then of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until abolished in 1885. It returned two members per election by various voting systems including hustings.

Boundaries and boundary changes

This county constituency until 1832 covered all the historic county of Middlesex, in south-eastern England, comprising Spelthorne, Poyle, South Mimms and Potters Bar in other modern counties, together with the north, west, and north-west sectors of the present-day Greater London. Apart from the ability of some voters to participate in the borough franchises of the cities of London and Westminster, it gave rise to three more urban offshoot divisions in 1832, one of which was split in two at the next national review or reform, in 1868. Its southern boundary was the River Thames.
The county seat returned two Members of Parliament. The place of election for the county was until 1700 at Hampstead Heath, thereafter at The Butts in the town centre of Brentford. Hustings were typically over a period of a fortnight when candidates set out their stall, and visible bribery had become not uncommon in closer contests around the country in such larger seats at the time, inspiring William Hogarth’s series of four pictures titled ‘Four Prints of An Election’.
Until 1832 the county franchise was limited to forty shilling freeholders. The decrease in the value of money due to inflation and the expansion of the wealth and population as the urbanised area in the east around London and Westminster grew contributed to gradually expanding the electorate. The county was estimated by Henning to have about 1,660 voters in 1681. Sedgwick estimated about 3,000 in the 1715–54 period. Namier and Brook suggested there were about 3,500 in 1754–90. The number had reached about 6,000 by 1790–1820, according to Thorne. Close elections between popular candidates would therefore be expensive - the worth of being a local magistrate, major landowner or other dignitary carrying little weight among such a generally urban and numerous upper-middle class forming the bulk of the electorate.
For subsequent changes in the franchise see Reform Act 1832 and Reform Act 1867. From 1832 voters were registered; the size of the electorate is shown below.
The geographic county until 1885 also contained the borough constituencies of City of London and Westminster. In 1832 three two-seat Boroughs were added : Finsbury, Marylebone, and Tower Hamlets. In 1867 two new parliamentary boroughs each returning two MPs were constituted: 'Hackney' formerly represented in borough elections via Tower Hamlets and 'Chelsea'. The single-member non-territorial University constituency of London University was somewhat connected to the county by having most of its graduates eligible to vote.
Possession of a county electoral qualification, deriving from owning various types of property or having ecclesiastical 'offices' in an area not otherwise represented, conferred the right to vote in the county elections.
An 1885 redistribution of seats saw Middlesex and its early breakaway seats in and around the City reformed under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 reflecting the wider electorate of the Reform Act 1884 and need to 'liberate' boroughs, i.e. urban areas without properly apportioned representation:

Constituencies in the urban south-east part that returned 18 MPs were replaced by 38 single-member seats.
the City of London constituency was reduced from 4 to 2 members.
the Middlesex constituency latterly covering the north, west and south-west of the county returning 2 MPs was replaced by 7 single-member seats.

;Local government bodies
In 1889 the 40 urban constituencies that comprised the south-eastern part fell into a County of London save for the much smaller City of London which remained a separate quasi-county and legal jurisdiction. The seven county divisions in the north and west of the historic county came under a new local government body, the administrative county of Middlesex. Both counties were also known by their governing bodies' name, County Councils. The seven successor seats were Brentford, Ealing, Enfield, Harrow, Hornsey, Tottenham and Uxbridge. These had MCC local governance until its abolition in 1965.

Members of Parliament

Preliminary note: The English civil year started on Lady Day, 25 March, until 1752. The year used in the lists of Parliaments in this article have been converted to the new style where necessary. Old style dates for days between 1 January and 24 March actually referred to days after 31 December. No attempt has been made to compensate for the eleven days which did not occur in September 1752 in both England and Scotland as well as other British controlled territories, so as to bring the British Empire fully in line with the Gregorian calendar.
Constituency created : See Montfort's Parliament for further details. Knights of the shire are known to have been summoned to most Parliaments from 1290 and to every one from 1320.

Knights of the shire 1265–1660

Some of the members elected during this period have been identified, but this list does not include parliaments where no member has been identified before the reign of King Henry VIII. In the list the year given is for the first meeting of the parliament, with the month added where there was more than one parliament in the year. If a second year is given this is a date of dissolution. Early parliaments usually only existed for a few days or weeks, so dissolutions in the same year as the first meeting are not recorded in this list If a specific date of election is known this is recorded in italic brackets. 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.
In this period, Parliament was not an institution with a regular pattern of elections and sittings. Therefore, a separate entry is made for each parliament, even if the same Knight of the Shire served in successive parliaments.
List of known Knights of the Shire before 1509

Parliament	First member	Second member
1295	William de Brook	Stephen de Gravesend
1296	Richard de Wyndesor	Richard le Rous
1297	Richard le Rous	?
1298	Richard le Rous	?
1298	Richard le Rous	?
1300	Richard le Rous	?
1301	Richard le Rous	?
1302	Richard le Rous	?
1305	Richard le Rous	?
1306	Richard le Rous	?
1386	Sir Adam Francis	William Swanland
1388	Sir Adam Francis	William Swanland
1388	William Barnville	Godfrey Atte Perry
1390	John Shorditch I	Thomas Coningsby
1390	John Shorditch I	Sir Adam Francis
1391	Thomas Bray	William Norton
1393	William Tamworth	Thomas Maidstone
1394	John Shorditch II	James Ormesby
1395	John Shorditch II	Thomas Coningsby
1397	Thomas Goodlake	Thomas Maidstone
1397	Sir Adam Francis	Sir John Wroth
1399	John Durham	Thomas Maidstone
1401	William Loveney	Sir John Wroth
1402	James Northampton	Thomas Coningsby
1404	William Wroth	Sir John Wroth
1404	Sir Roger Strange	William Powe
1406	Henry Somer	Sir John Wroth
1407	Henry Somer	William Loveney
1410		-
1411	Sir Adam Francis	Sir Roger Strange
1413		-
1413	William Loveney	Richard Wyot
1414	Simon Camp	Walter Green
1414	Thomas Charlton	John Walden
1415	Simon Camp	Thomas Coningsby
1416		-
1416	Henry Somer	Walter Gawtron
1419	Thomas Frowyk	Thomas Coningsby
1420	Sir John Boys	Walter Green
1421	Henry Somer	Sir Thomas Charlton
1421	Richard Maidstone	Edmund Bibbesworth
1429	Henry Somer	-
1442	Thomas Charlton	John Somerset
1447	Thomas Charlton	-
1449	Thomas Charlton	-
1453	Thomas Charlton	-
1459	Sir Thomas Charlton	-
1460	Sir Thomas Charlton	-
1491	Sir Thomas Lovell	-

Table of Knights of the Shire 1509-1660

Summoned	Elected	Assembled	Dissolved	First Member	Second Member
17 October 1509	1509–10	21 January 1510	23 February 1510	Sir Thomas Lovell	unknown
28 November 1511	1511–12	4 February 1512	4 March 1514	unknown	unknown
23 November 1514	1514–15	5 February 1515	22 December 1515	unknown	unknown
unknown	1523	15 April 1523	13 August 1523	Sir Thomas More ^a	unknown
9 August 1529	1529	3 November 1529	14 April 1536	Robert Wroth ^b	Richard Hawkes ^c
27 April 1536	1536	8 June 1536	18 July 1536	unknown	unknown
1 March 1539	1539	28 April 1539	24 July 1540	Sir Ralph Sadler	Robert Cheeseman
23 November 1541	1541–42	16 January 1542	28 March 1544	Robert Cheeseman	John Hughes ^d
1 December 1544	1544–45	23 November 1545	31 January 1547	Sir William Paget	Thomas Wroth
2 August 1547	1547	4 November 1547	15 April 1552	Sir Thomas Wroth	John Newdigate
5 January 1553	1553	1 March 1553	31 March 1553	Sir Robert Bowes	Sir Thomas Wroth
14 August 1553	1553	5 October 1553	5 December 1553	Sir Edward Hastings	John Newdigate
17 February 1554	1554	2 April 1554	3 May 1554	Sir Edward Hastings	John Newdigate
3 October 1554	1554	12 November 1554	16 January 1555	Sir Edward Hastings	Sir Roger Cholmley
3 September 1555	1555	21 October 1555	9 December 1555	Sir Edward Hastings	Sir Roger Cholmley
6 December 1557	1557–58	20 January 1558	17 November 1558	Sir Roger Cholmley	John Newdigate
5 December 1558	29 December 1558	23 January 1559	8 May 1559	Sir Roger Cholmley	Sir Thomas Wroth
10 November 1562	1562–63	11 January 1563	2 January 1567	Sir William Cordell	Sir Thomas Wroth
unknown	1571	2 April 1571	29 May 1571	Francis Newdigate	John Newdigate
28 March 1572	1572	8 May 1572	19 April 1583	Robert Wroth	Sir Owen Hopton
12 October 1584	1584	23 November 1584	14 September 1585	Robert Wroth	Sir Owen Hopton
15 September 1586	1586	15 October 1586	23 March 1587	Robert Wroth	William Fleetwood
18 September 1588	19 December 1588	4 February 1589	29 March 1589	Robert Wroth	William Fleetwood
4 January 1593	1593	18 February 1593	10 April 1593	Robert Wroth	Francis Bacon
23 August 1597	15 September 1597	24 October 1597	9 February 1598	Sir Robert Wroth	Sir John Peyton
11 September 1601	8 October 1601	27 October 1601	19 December 1601	Sir John Fortescue	Sir Robert Wroth
31 January 1604	1604	19 March 1604	9 February 1611	Sir William Fleetwood	Sir Robert Wroth
unknown	1614	5 April 1614	7 June 1614	Sir Julius Caesar	Sir Thomas Lake
13 November 1620	1620–21	16 January 1621	8 February 1622	Sir Francis Darcy	Sir Gilbert Gerard, Bt
20 December 1623	1623–24	12 February 1624	27 March 1625	Sir Gilbert Gerard, Bt	Sir John Suckling
2 April 1625	1625	17 May 1625	12 August 1625	Sir John Francklyn	Sir Gilbert Gerard, Bt
20 December 1625	1626	6 February 1626	15 June 1626	Sir Gilbert Gerard, Bt	Sir Edward Spencer
31 January 1628	1628	17 March 1628	10 March 1629	Sir Francis Darcy	Sir Henry Spiller
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned	No Parliaments summoned	No Parliaments summoned	No Parliaments summoned	No Parliaments summoned
20 February 1640	1640	13 April 1640	5 May 1640	Sir John Francklyn	Sir Gilbert Gerard, Bt
24 September 1640	1640	3 November 1640	16 March 1660 ^e	Sir John Francklyn ^f	Sir Gilbert Gerard, Bt ^g
24 September 1640	18 May 1648	3 November 1640	16 March 1660 ^e	Sir Edward Spencer ^h	Sir Gilbert Gerard, Bt ^g

Notes:-

^a Speaker of the House of Commons.
^b Wroth ceased to be an MP after 11 May 1535. It is unknown if there was a by-election.
^c Hawkes ceased to be MP by May/June 1532. It is unknown if there was a by-election.
^d Hughes ceased to be an MP after January/April 1543. It is unknown if there was a by-election.
^e In theory the Long Parliament existed throughout the 1640–1660 term, as it could not be lawfully dissolved without its own consent which was not given until 1660. In practice all or part of the membership of the House of Commons were not permitted to sit for lengthy periods. Other bodies considered to be Parliaments existed within parts of the term of the Long Parliament.
^f Francklyn died and a by-election was held.
^g In December 1648, Gilbert was excluded from Parliament in Pride's Purge and the seat was left vacant.
^h Spencer is not recorded as having sat after Pride's Purge in December 1648.

Table of Members of the Commonwealth Parliaments 1653-1659
The county had three nominated members in the Barebones Parliament, four representatives in the First and Second and the usual two in the Third of the Protectorate Parliaments