Thirsk was a parliamentary borough in Yorkshire, represented in the English and later British House of Commons in 1295, and again from 1547. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until 1832, and by one member from 1832 to 1885, when the constituency was abolished and absorbed into the new Thirsk and Malton division of the North Riding of Yorkshire.
The borough consisted of originally of the town of Old Thirsk, and included a population of only 1,378 at the 1831 census. The right to vote was restricted to the holders of burgage tenements, of which there were 50 in 1831. The Frankland family were the local landowners (in 1816 Sir Thomas owned 49 of the 50 burgage tenements), and in effect could nominate whoever they wanted as Members of Parliament; there was no contested election in Thirsk between 1715 and 1832.
The Great Reform Act 1832 expanded the boundaries to include the townships of Thirsk, Sowerby, Carlton Miniott, Sandhutton, Bagby and South Kilvington, increasing the population to 4,672 and encompassing 1,064 houses, which was considered big enough for the borough to retain one of its two members.
Members of Parliament
Constituency re-created (1547)
MPs 1547–1660 ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1547 Sir William Cavendish Robert Flint 1553 (Mar) Thomas Lee Reginald Beseley 1553 (Oct) Thomas Eynns John Gascoigne 1554 (Apr) Thomas Waterton Reginald Beseley 1554 (Nov) Christopher Lascelles Edward Beseley 1555 Christopher Lascelles Robert Roos 1558 Christopher Lascelles Thomas Eynns 1558–9 Thomas Eynns Francis Wilstrop 1562–3 Thomas Eynns Christopher Lascelles 1571 John Dawney Thomas Layton 1572 (Apr) John Dawney Edward Gates 1584 Sir John Dawney Robert Bowes 1586 (Oct) Sir John Dawney Henry Bellasis 1588–9 Sir John Dawney Henry Bellasis 1593 Sir John Dawney Henry Bellasis 1597 (Sep) George Leycester Thomas Belasyse 1601 (Oct) Henry Bellasis John Mallory 1604–1611 Sir Edward SwiftTimothy Whittingham 1614Thomas Belasyse Sir Robert Yaxley 1620Thomas Belasyse Sir John Gibson 1624 Thomas BelasyseSir William Sheffield 1625 Henry Belasyse Henry Stanley 1626 Henry Belasyse William Cholmeley 1628 Christopher Wandesford William Frankland 1629–1640No parliaments summoned
MPs 1640–1832
YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party April 1640 William Frankland John Belasyse November 1640Sir Thomas Ingram Royalist John Belasyse Royalist September 1642Ingram and Belasyse both disabled from sitting - seats vacant1645William Ayscough Francis Lascelles December 1648Ayscough excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant1653Thirsk was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659 Colonel Thomas Talbot Major General Goodricke May 1659Not represented in the restored Rump April 1660Barrington BourchierWilliam Stanley July 1660The Earl of Ancram 1661Sir Thomas IngramWalter Strickland 1671Sir William Frankland 1673Sir William Wentworth 1679Nicholas Saunderson 1681Sir William Ayscough 1685Thomas FranklandSir Hugh Cholmeley 1689Richard Staines 1695Sir Godfrey Copley 1698Sir Thomas Frankland 1709Leonard Smelt 1710Ralph Bell 1711Thomas Worsley 1713Thomas Frankland Succeeded to the baronetcy as Sir Thomas Frankland, October 17261717Thomas Pitt 1722William St QuintinSucceeded to the baronetcy as Sir William St Quintin, June 17231727Thomas Robinson 1734Frederick Meinhardt Frankland1747Thomas FranklandSucceeded to the baronetcy as Sir Thomas Frankland, January 17681749William MoncktonSucceeded as 2nd Viscount Galway in the peerage of Ireland in 1751 1754Roger Talbot 1761Henry Grenville 1765James Grenville 1768William Frankland 1774Thomas Frankland 1780Sir Thomas Gascoigne Beilby Thompson 1784Sir Thomas Frankland Sir Gregory Page-Turner 1785Robert Vyner 1796Sir Thomas Frankland, Bt 1801William Frankland1805Hon. Richard Griffin 1806James Topping Robert Greenhill-RussellCreated a baronet as Sir Robert Greenhill-Russell, September 1831Whig1807William FranklandWhig 1815Robert FranklandSucceeded to the baronetcy as Sir Robert Frankland, January 1831Whig 1832 Representation reduced to one member
MPs 1832–1885 ElectionMemberParty 1832 Sir Robert Frankland Whig 1834 by-election Samuel CromptonSir Samuel Crompton from 1838Whig 1841 John BellIn July 1849 a Commission of Lunacy declared Bell to be of unsound mind, but as the law then stood he could not be deprived of his seat on those grounds and remained an MP until his death in 1851 Whig March 1851 by-election Sir William Payne-Gallwey Conservative1880 Hon. Lewis Payn Dawnay Conservative 1885 constituency abolished
Election results Elections in the 1830s
Frankland resigned, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1840s
Elections in the 1850s Bell's death caused a by-election.
Elections in the 1860s
Elections in the 1870s
Elections in the 1880s
Notes
References 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) F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885" (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989) J Holladay Philbin, "Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965) Henry Stooks Smith, "The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847" (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973) Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)