Aldborough was a parliamentary borough located in the West Riding of Yorkshire, abolished in the Great Reform Act 1832.
Boundaries Aldborough was a small borough (not even including the whole parish of Aldborough, since Boroughbridge, also within the boundaries, was also a borough with its own two MPs). By the time of the Reform Act 1832 it had a population only just over 500 and an electorate of less than 100. This made it a pocket borough and easy for the local landowner to dominate.
History Aldborough returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) from 1558 until 1832.
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It was a "scot and lot" borough, meaning that any man paying the poor rate was eligible to vote.
In the 18th century, Aldborough was controlled by the Duke of Newcastle. In April 1754 Newcastle, who had just become Prime Minister, selected his junior colleague and future Prime Minister, William Pitt (Pitt the Elder), to sit as its MP. Pitt represented Aldborough for two-and-a-half years, but having fallen out with Newcastle and been dismissed from his ministry, he was forced to find a new constituency when he next needed to be re-elected to the Commons in 1756.
Members of Parliament Constituency created (1558)
MPs 1558–1640 ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1558 John Gascoigne II John Browne II 1559 Richard Onslow Richard Assheton 1563 William Lambarde Anthony Tailboyes 1571 Thomas Eynns Barnaby Googe 1572 Richard Bunny II Richard Tempest 1584 William Waad David Waterhouse 1586 George Horsey Ralph Hurleston 1588 Thomas Fairfax, 1st Lord Fairfax of Cameron David Waterhouse 1593 Andrew Fisher Edward Hancock 1597 Henry Bellasis Richard Gargrave 1601 Sir Edward Cecil Richard Theakston 1604–1611 Sir Henry SavileSir Edmund Sheffield 1614 Sir Henry Savile George Wetherid 1621 Christopher Wandesford John Carvile 1624 Christopher Wandesford John Carvile 1625 Richard Aldborough John Carvile 1626 Richard Aldborough John Carvile 1628 Henry Darley Robert Stapleton 1629–1640No Parliaments summoned
MPs 1640–1832 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640 Richard AldeburghRoyalist Brian Palmes Royalist November 1640 Richard AldeburghRoyalist Robert Strickland Royalist September 1642Strickland disabled to sit – seat vacantJanuary 1643Aldeburgh disabled to sit – seat vacant1645Thomas Scott (died January 1648)Brian StapyltonMarch (?) 1648James ChalonerDecember 1648Stapylton not recorded as having sat after Pride's Purge1653Aldborough was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659 Francis Goodricke John LambertLambert was also elected for Pontefract, which he chose to represent. The vacancy was unfilled when the Parliament endedMay 1659 No representatives in the restored Rump 1660 Sir Solomon Swale, BtFrancis Goodricke 1673 Sir John Reresby, BtAt the by-election in November 1673, the Returning Officer made a double return of Reresby and Robert Benson; the dispute was decided in Reresby's favour, and he took his seat, in April 1675. 1678 Ruisshe WentworthFebruary 1679 Henry ArthingtonMay 1679 Sir Godfrey Copley, BtSir John Reresby was declared re-elected at the general election in February 1679 but unseated on petition, Copley being elected in his place. August 1679 Sir Brian Stapylton, Bt 1681 Sir John Reresby, Bt 1685 Sir Michael WentworthSir Roger Strickland1689 Christopher Tancred 1696 Henry FairfaxFairfax's election was voided by a resolution of the House of Commons (21 December 1696) for breaking the law in his spending on the election; the writ to hold a new election was not issued until December 1697 January 1698 William Wentworth July 1698 Sir George CookeSir Abstrupus Danby 1701 Robert Monckton WhigCyril Arthington 1702 William Jessop Whig 1713 John DawnayA petition was raised against Dawnay's election that had not been resolved by the time the Parliament was dissolved. Dawnay had also been elected for Pontefract and, not being required to choose which constituency he would represent while there was an outstanding petition against one of the elections, sat for both boroughs throughout the ParliamentPaul Foley February 1715 James StanhopeStanhope was also elected for Cockermouth, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Aldborough Whig William Jessop Whig April 1715 by-election William Monson 1722 Charles Stanhope 1734 Henry PelhamPelham was also elected for Sussex, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Aldborough Whig 1735 by-election John Jewkes Whig Andrew WilkinsonWhig 1743 by-election Nathaniel Newnham 1754 William Pitt Whig1756 by-election Nathaniel Cholmley 1765 by-election Viscount Villiers 1768 Hon. Aubrey Beauclerk Andrew Wilkinson Whig 1772 by-election Earl of Lincoln Tory 1774 Charles Wilkinson Abel Smith Tory1777 by-election William Baker 1778 by-election Hon. William Hanger September 1780 Sir Richard Sutton, BtSutton was also elected for Sandwich, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Aldborough Charles Mellish November 1780 by-election Edward Onslow1781 by-election Sir Samuel Fludyer, BtJanuary 1784 by-election John Gally Knight March 1784 Richard ArdenSir Richard Arden from 1788 Whig1790 Trench Chiswell1796 Charles Duncombe 1797 by-election John Blackburn 1802 John Sullivan 1806 Henry FynesTory Gilbert Jones Tory 1812 Henry Dawkins Tory 1814 by-election Henry Gally Knight Tory 1815 by-election Granville Harcourt-Vernon Tory 1820 Gibbs Antrobus Tory 1826 Clinton James Fynes ClintonTory Sir Alexander Grant, BtTory 1830 Viscount Stormont Ultra-Tory 1831 Michael Thomas SadlerTory1832Constituency abolished
Notes
Elections Elections in the 1830s
References
Robert Beatson, "A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament" (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) Michael Brock,The Great Reform Act (London: Hutchinson, 1973). 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) D Englefield, J Seaton & I White, Facts About the British Prime Ministers (London: Mansell, 1995) Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988) J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949) J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832, England and Wales, (New Haven, Connecticut: 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, Volume I (London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society, 1979)