Brackley was a parliamentary borough in Northamptonshire, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1547 until 1832, when the constituency was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
History The borough consisted of the town of Brackley, a market town where the main economic interests were making lace and footwear. In 1831, the population of the borough was 2,107, and the town contained 378 houses. While this by no means put it among the smallest of the rotten boroughs, it was barely the half the size which was eventually required to retain representation after 1832.
Brackley was a corporation borough, the right to vote having been restricted to the Mayor, 6 aldermen and 26 "burgesses" (the remaining members of the corporation), a total electorate of 33, in the reign of James II. The Mayor was appointed by the Lord of the manor, and the major local landowners or "patrons" had total control over the election of MPs. In the mid 18th century the Duke of Bridgewater was able to nominate both MPs;Page 144, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin's Press, 1957) by the time of the Reform Act, the Earl of Bridgewater nominated to one seat and the Marquess of Stafford to the other.
Brackley lost both its MPs under the provisions of the Reform Act.
Members of Parliament 1547–1640
ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1547 Henry Sidney Francis Saunders 1553 (Mar) Robert Saunders ?Francis Saunders 1553 (Oct) Thomas Fermor Robert Saunders 1554 (Apr) Thomas Onley Richard Ardern 1554 (Nov) George Ferrers Thomas Onley 1555 George Ferrers Thomas Boughton 1558 Robert Saunders Drew Saunders 1558–9 Sir Thomas Knyvet Robert Saunders 1562–3 Christopher Yelverton Richard Lucy, died and replaced 1566 by Edward Onley 1571 Thomas Catesby Matthew Mantell 1572 Matthew Mantell Thomas Onley 1584 (Oct) James Croft George Whitton 1586 (Oct) James Croft George Whitton 1588 (Oct) Humphrey Davenport Jerome Fermor 1593 Richard Bowle Sidney Montagu 1597 (Sep) Robert Spencer Ranulph Crewe 1601 (Oct) Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton John Donne 1604 Sir Richard Spencer William Lisle 1614 Sir William Spencer Arthur Terringham 1621 Sir Thomas Wenman Edward Spencer 1624 Sir Thomas Wenman Edward Spencer 1625 Sir Thomas Wenman Edward Spencer 1626 Sir John Hobart John Crew 1628 Sir Thomas Wenman John Curzon 1629–1640No Parliaments summoned
1640–1832
YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyNovember 1640 John CrewParliamentarian Sir Martin ListerParliamentarian December 1648Both members excluded in Pride's Purge – seats vacant1653Brackley was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659 Thomas Crew William Lisle May 1659Unrepresented in the restored RumpApril 1660 Sir Thomas Crew William Lisle 1661 Robert Spencer February 1679 William Lisle August 1679 Hon. Richard WenmanSucceeded as The Viscount Wenman (in the Peerage of Ireland), 1686 Sir William Egerton 1681 William Lisle 1685 James Griffin 1689 John Parkhurst 1690 Sir William Egerton John Blencowe 1692 Harry Mordaunt 1695 Charles EgertonEgerton was initially declared re-elected at the election of 1710, but on petition he was found not have been duly elected and his opponent Burgh was seated instead 1698 Sir John Aubrey 1701 Harry Mordaunt 1702 John James May 1705 John Sidney November 1705 Harry Mordaunt 1708 William Egerton 1711 John Burgh 1713 Paul Methuen 1714 At the election of 1713, Methuen and Egerton were initially declared elected, but there was dispute about the franchise. On petition, their seats were given to their opponents, Burgh and Watkins John Burgh Henry Watkins 1715 William Egerton Sir Paul Methuen 1733 Dr George Lee 1742 Sewallis Shirley 1747 Richard Lyttelton 1754 Marshe Dickinson Thomas Humberston 1755 Sir William Moreton 1761 Robert Wood 1765 Viscount Hinchingbrooke Tory 1768 William Egerton 1771 Timothy Caswall 1780 John Egerton Tory 1789 Samuel Haynes 1802 Robert Haldane Bradshaw Tory 1803 Anthony Henderson Tory 1810 Henry Wrottesley Tory 1825 James Bradshaw Tory1832 Constituency abolished
Notes
References 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) J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)