| Wendover | |
|---|---|
| Formerborough constituency for theHouse of Commons | |
| 1300–1832 |
Wendover was aborough constituency of theHouse of Commons of theParliament of England then of theParliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of theParliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was based on the borough ofWendover, was represented by two Members of Parliament, and was considered a classic example of apocket borough.
Wendover first sent members to Parliament in 1300, but after 1308, elected no burgesses for more than 300 years. However, in the 17th century a solicitor namedWilliam Hakewill, ofLincoln's Inn, rediscovered ancient writs confirming thatAmersham,Great Marlow, and Wendover had all sent members to Parliament in the past, and succeeded in re-establishing their privileges (despite the opposition ofJames I), so that they resumed electing members from the Parliament of 1624. Hakewill himself was elected for Amersham in 1624.
The borough consisted of most of the market town ofWendover in Buckinghamshire. It was one of the smallest boroughs in England: in 1831, the population of the borough was approximately 802, and contained 171 houses. (The whole town contained 198 houses.) The right to vote was exercised by all inhabitant householders not receiving alms, which amounted to about 130 voters in 1831. Although this was a relatively large electorate for the time based on apparently democratic franchise, the borough and inhabitants were totally dependent on theLord of the Manor, who was able to exercise considerable influence and sometimes total control over the choice of MPs. In the 17th century, this patronage lay with the Hampden family, but in 1720Richard Hampden apparently attempted to sell his interest in the borough to the government after losing £80,000 in theSouth Sea Bubble; what price he received for it, or whether the sale ever took place, is not recorded. By the 1750s, Wendover had passed toEarl Verney, andNamier lists his power as only being one of influence rather than total control;[1] but by 1832 the Smith family (headed byLord Carrington) seem to have been able to regard it as an absolutely secure pocket borough.
Wendover was abolished as a constituency by theGreat Reform Act in 1832, those of its inhabitants who were qualified to vote under the new franchise doing so in theBuckinghamshirecounty constituency.
| Year | First member | Second member |
|---|---|---|
| 1300 | Thomas Niccolls | Egidius Wilson |
| 1300 | Walter de Kent | John de Sandwell |
| 1300 | Robert atte Hull | Elias de Broughton |
| Year | First member | Second member |
|---|---|---|
| 1624 | John Hampden | Alexander Denton |
| 1625 | Richard Hampden | |
| 1626 | Sampson Darrell | |
| 1628 | Ralph Hawtree | |
| April 1640 | Bennet Hoskyns | |
| November 1640 | Robert Croke (Royalist) Disabled to sit, November 1643 | Thomas Fountaine (Parliamentarian), Died 1646 |
| 1645(?) | Richard Ingoldsby | |
| 1646 | Thomas Harrison | |
| Wendover was unrepresented in theBarebones Parliament and theFirst andSecond Parliaments of the Protectorate | ||
| 1659 | John Baldwin | William Hampden |
