Aldborough

Aldborough was a parliamentary borough located in the West Riding of Yorkshire, abolished in the Great Reform Act of 1832. Aldborough returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) from 1558 until 1832.

Aldborough was a "scot and lot" borough, meaning that any man paying the poor rate was eligible to vote. Nevertheless, it 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), and by the time of the Reform Act 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.

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

Parliament	First member	Second member
1558	John Gascoigne II	John Browne II[1]
1559	Richard Onslow	Richard Assheton[2]
1563	William Lambarde	Anthony Tailboyes [2]
1571	Thomas Eynns	Barnaby Googe [2]
1572	Richard Bunny II	Richard Tempest [2]
1584	William Waad	Robert Waterhouse [2]
1586	George Horsey	Ralph Hurleston [2]
1588	Thomas Fairfax, 1st Lord Fairfax of Cameron	David Waterhouse [2]
1593	Andrew Fisher[disambiguation needed ]	Edward Hancock [2]
1597	Henry Bellasis	Richard Gargrave [2]
1601	Sir Edward Cecil	Richard Theakston [2]
1604–1611	Sir Edward Cecil	Sir Henry Savile
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
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

MPs 1640–1832

Notes

1. ^ Aldborough "History of Parliament Online 1509 - 1558". http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/constituencies/aldborough Aldborough. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Aldborough "History of Parliament Online 1558 - 1603". http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/constituencies/aldborough Aldborough. 
3. ^ Lambert was also elected for Pontefract, which he chose to represent. The vacancy was unfilled when the Parliament ended
4. ^ At 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.
5. ^ Sir John Reresby was declared re-elected at the general election in February 1679 but unseated on petition, Copley being elected in his place.
6. ^ Fairfax'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
7. ^ A 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 Parliament
8. ^ Stanhope was also elected for Cockermouth, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Aldborough
9. ^ Pelham was also elected for Sussex, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Aldborough
10. ^ Sutton was also elected for Sandwich, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Aldborough
11. ^ Sir Richard Arden from 1788

References

• Robert Beatson, "A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament" (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
• 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) [2]
• 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) [3]
• 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)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)^{[self-published source?][better source needed]}

See also

• Aldborough (Yorkshire)