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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; 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

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)

1640–1832

Notes

1. Page 144, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
2. ^ "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2 October 2011.
3. ^ "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2 October 2011.
4. Succeeded as The Viscount Wenman (in the Peerage of Ireland), 1686
5. Egerton 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
6. 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

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)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 4)

• Parliamentary constituencies in Northamptonshire (historic)
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1547
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1832
• Rotten boroughs
• Brackley