Bridgnorth was a parliamentary borough in Shropshire which was represented in the House of Commons of England from 1295 until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain until 1800, and in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until its abolition in 1885.

It was represented by two burgesses until 1868, when it was reduced to one Member of Parliament (MP).

Boundaries According to the 1881 census, the borough of Bridgnorth comprised the parishes of Quatford, part of Quatt, St. Leonard and St Mary (in Bridgnorth town), Astley Abbotts, Eardingdon, Oldbury, Romsley and Tasley. This was smaller than the municipal borough, which only contained the first four.

History

By the eighteenth century Bridgnorth had one of the widest franchises in England, consisting of "the burgesses and freement within and without the borough". There were more than a thousand voters in the contested elections of 1727, 1734 and 1741Pages 242 to 243,Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957) although in 1920 it was noted as 700. Between 1661 and 1870 at least one of the MPs for Bridgnorth came from the Whitmore family.

Members of Parliament MPs 1295–1640

MPs 1295-1640 — MPs 1640-1868 — MPs 1868-1885 — Elections — See also — Notes and references — Sources

ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1388 (Feb) John Farnales William Palmer I 1388 (Sep) William Palmer I William Goldsmith 1390 (Jan) William Palmer I John Farnales 1390 (Nov) 1391 William Palmer I Thomas Horde 1393 William Palmer I John Farnales 1394 William Palmer I John Farnales 1395 William Palmer I John Farnales 1397 (Jan) William Palmer I John Blockley 1397 (Sep) 1399 William Palmer I Thomas Horde 1402 Hugh Harnage John Bruyn 1404 (Jan) 1404 (Oct) 1406 Hugh Harnage Walter Green 1407 Walter Green John Cook 1410 ... Lange 1411 Thomas Hopton Hugh Stanford 1413 (Feb) 1413 (May) Hugh Stanford Thomas Green 1414 (Apr) Richard Parlour Thomas Odyes 1414 (Nov) Richard Horde Richard Parlour 1415 1416 (Mar) Richard Horde Richard Parlour 1416 (Oct) 1417 Richard Horde Richard Parlour 1419 Richard Horde Richard Parlour 1420 Richard Horde William Stapeley 1421 (May) Thomas Green Robert Aylesbury 1421 (Dec) Thomas Green Richard Parlour 1425 John Bruyn 1510-1523No names known 1529 Humphrey Goldston George Hayward 1536 ? 1539 ? 1542 Edward Hall William Grey 1545 Edward Hall Henry Blount 1547 Roger Smith John Pulley 1553 (Mar) Ambrose Gilberd Roger Smith 1553 (Oct) Sir George Blount Jerome Horde 1554 (Apr) Jerome Horde William Acton 1554 (Nov) John Horde Jerome Horde 1555 Jerome Horde William Acton 1558 John Broke Thomas Bromley 1559 Sir George Blount Richard Prince 1562–3 John Broke Edward Cordell 1571 Henry Townshend Thomas Otley 1572 Henry Townshend Thomas Seckford, died and replaced in 1580 by Edmund Molyneux 1584 Jerome Corbet Walter Lee 1586 Edward Bromley John Lutwich 1588 Edward Bromley John Lutwich 1593 Edward Bromley John Lutwich 1597 Edward Bromley John Lutwich 1601 Thomas Horde Edward Bromley 1604 Sir Lewis Lewknor Edward Bromley, replaced by Francis Lacon 1614 John Pierse Richard Singe 1621-1622 Sir John Hayward William Whitmore 1624 Sir William Whitmore George Smith 1625 Sir William Whitmore George Vernon 1626 Sir Richard Shelton George Vernon 1628-1629 Sir Richard Shelton Sir George Paule 1629–1640No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1868 ElectedFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party April 1640 Edward Acton Royalist(Sir) Thomas Whitmore November 1640(Sir) Thomas WhitmoreCreated a baronet, June 1641RoyalistFebruary 1644Acton and Whitmore disabled to sit - both seats vacant1646Robert CliveRobert CharltonDecember 1648Clive and Charlton not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge1653Bridgnorth was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament1654William Crown Bridgnorth had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate1656Edmund WaringJanuary 1659Edmund WaringJohn HumphrysMay 1659Not represented in the restored Rump April 1660Sir Walter Acton John Bennet 1661Sir William Whitmore, Bt 1663Sir Thomas Whitmore 1685Roger Pope 1689Sir Edward Acton, Bt Tory1694Roger Pope 1702Sir Humphrey Brigges, Bt 1705William Whitmore 1710Whitmore Acton Richard Cresswell Tory 1713William Whitmore John Weaver 1725St John Charlton 1734Thomas Whitmore Grey James Grove 1741William Whitmore 1747Arthur Weaver 1754Hon. John Grey William WhitmoreLater Lieutenant-General1768The Lord Pigot 1771Thomas Whitmore Tory1778Hugh PigotLater AdmiralWhig1784Isaac Hawkins Browne Tory1795John Whitmore Tory1806Thomas Whitmore Tory1812Hon. Charles Jenkinson Tory1818Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt Jones Tory1820William Wolryche-Whitmore Whig1831James Foster Whig 1832Robert Pigot ToryThomas Charlton Whitmore Tory 1834Conservative Conservative1837Henry Hanbury-Tracy Whig1838 by-electionSir Robert Pigot Conservative1852Henry Whitmore Conservative1853 by-electionThe re-election of Sir Robert Pigot at the 1852 general election was voided on petition, triggering the 1853 by-election. A petition was also lodged against Henry Whitmore, but was dismissed.John Pritchard Conservative1865The election in 1865 of Sir John Dalberg-Acton, Bt was overturned on petition in 1866, and in 1866 the seat was awarded instead to Henry WhitmoreSir John Dalberg-Acton, Bt Liberal1866Henry Whitmore Conservative1868Representation reduced to one Member

MPs 1868–1885 ElectionMemberParty1868Henry WhitmoreConservative1870 by-electionWilliam Henry FosterLiberal1880Conservative1885Constituency abolished under the Redistribution of Seats Act

Elections 1830s – 1840s – 1850s – 1860s – 1870s – 1880s – See also – Notes and references – Sources

Elections in the 1830s

Hanbury-Tracy resigned, by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, after a petition was lodged against his election.

Elections in the 1840s

Elections in the 1850s

Pigot's election was declared void on petition due to bribery, causing a by-election.

Whitmore was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

On 22 March 1866, after scrutiny, Dalberg-Acton was unseated and Whitmore was duly elected in his place.

Whitmore was then appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

The seat was reduced to one member for the 1868 election.

Elections in the 1870s Whitmore resigned, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1880s

See also Parliamentary constituencies in Shropshire#Historical constituencies List of former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies Unreformed House of Commons

Notes and references

Sources Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) 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) David Hayton, 'The Country Party in the House of Commons 1698-1699', Parliamentary History, volume 6 (1987), 141-63