Brecon (UK Parliament constituency)


Brecon was a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors, from 1542 until it was abolished for the 1885 general election.

Boundaries

From its first election in 1542 until some time before 1715, the constituency consisted of a number of boroughs within the historic county of Brecknockshire or Breconshire in Wales. From then until 1885 the seat represented the parliamentary borough of Brecon alone. The constituency should not be confused with the county constituency of Breconshire, which existed from the sixteenth century until 1918.
On the basis of information from several volumes of the History of Parliament, it is apparent that the history of the borough representation from Wales and Monmouthshire is more complicated than that of the English boroughs.
The Laws in Wales Act 1535 provided for a single borough seat for each of 11 of the 12 Welsh counties and Monmouthshire. The legislation was ambiguous as to which communities were enfranchised. The county towns were awarded a seat, but this in some fashion represented all the ancient boroughs of the county as the others were required to contribute to the members wages. It was not clear if the burgesses of the contributing boroughs could take part in the election. The only election under the original scheme was for the 1542 Parliament. It seems that only burgesses from the county towns actually took part. An Act of 1544 confirmed that the contributing boroughs could send representatives to take part in the election at the county town. As far as can be told from surviving indentures of returns, the degree to which the out boroughs participated varied, but by the end of the sixteenth century all the seats had some participation from them at some elections at least.
The original scheme was modified by later legislation and decisions of the House of Commons.
In the case of Breconshire, the county town and principal borough was Brecon. One ward of the principal borough was an exclave; namely Trecastle, in the township of Llywel eleven miles west of the main town. There is no evidence that any other boroughs in Breconshire actually took part in elections before 1597. The out boroughs then participating were Bulith, Crickhowel or Crickhowell, Hay and Telgarth or Talgarth.
At some point between 1603 and 1715 the out boroughs ceased to participate in elections for the constituency. Until 1727 all the freemen of Brecon formed the electorate, but in 1727 the House of Commons ruled that only the resident freemen could vote. There had been about 180 electors in 1723 and 1727, but only 69 in 1744 after the basis of the franchise had been changed. There were about 100 voters between 1754 and 1790.

Later history

When registration of electors and an additional householder franchise were introduced in 1832 Brecon, still based on the town of Brecon, had the smallest electorate in Wales with just 242 registered voters.
Brecon was little affected by the upsurge of radical politics in the 1860s apart from the one occasion in 1866 when Thomas Price, the prominent nonconformist minister, intervened in a by-election contest to compel the Liberal candidate, the Earl of Brecknock, to issue an address more strongly in favour of reform.
Even after the extension of the franchise in 1868, the number of voters only increased to 814. This did, however, result in one of the most tumultuous elections in the history of the borough, which included torchlight procession and lively meetings at which speakers struggled to make themselves heard. On the day of the election it was generally accepted that supporters of the Conservative candidate, Howel Gwyn, had been caught engaged in bribery.
The unseating of Howel Gwyn by petition in April 1869 indicated how Brecon largely remained a closed borough, dominated by the politics of influence.
After 1885 Breconshire was represented in Parliament by the single member county constituency, which included all the boroughs at one time in the Brecon constituency.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1542–1640

As there were sometimes significant gaps between Parliaments held in this period, the dates of first assembly and dissolution are given. Where the name of the member has not yet been ascertained or is not recorded in a surviving document, the entry unknown is entered in the table.
The Roman numerals after some names are those used in The House of Commons 1509–1558 to distinguish a member from another politician of the same name.
ElectedAssembledDissolvedMemberNote
154216 January 154228 March 1544Edward Games
154523 November 154531 January 1547Edward Games
15474 November 154715 April 1552Edward Games
15531 March 155331 March 1553Edward Games
15535 October 15535 December 1553Edward Games
15542 April 15543 May 1554Edward Games
155412 November 155416 January 1555Meredith Games
155521 October 15559 December 1555unknown
155820 January 155817 November 1558William Aubrey
155923 January 15598 May 1559Roland Vaughan
1562/6311 January 15632 January 1567Sir Roger Vaughan
15712 April 157129 May 1571Richard Price
15728 May 157219 April 1583Walter Games
158423 November 158414 September 1585David Williams
158613 October 158623 March 1587David Williams
15884 February 158929 March 1589David Williams
159318 February 159310 April 1593Sir Matthew Morgan
159724 October 15979 February 1598David Williams
160127 October 160119 December 1601Henry Williams
160419 March 16049 February 1611Sir Henry Williams
16145 April 16147 June 1614Sir John Crompton
162016 January 16218 February 1622Sir Walter Pye
12 January 162412 February 162427 March 1625Sir Walter Pye
4 March 162517 May 162512 August 1625Sir Walter Pye
12 January 16266 February 162615 June 1626Sir Walter PyeElected to sit for Herefordshire
February 16266 February 162615 June 1626Sir Humphrey Lynde
31 March 162817 March 162810 March 1629Walter Pye
164013 April 16405 May 1640Herbert Price

  1. Members_of_Parliament|

    MPs 1640–1660

This sub-section includes the Long Parliament and the Rump Parliament, together with the Parliaments of the Commonwealth and the Protectorate.
ElectedAssembledDissolvedMemberNote
16403 November 1640Herbert PriceLong Parliament
...164720 April 1653Ludovic LewisRump Parliament
...4 July 165312 December 1653unrepresentedBarebones Parliament
16543 September 165422 January 1655unrepresentedFirst Protectorate Parliament
165617 September 16564 February 1658unrepresentedSecond Protectorate Parliament
1658/5927 January 165922 April 1659Samuel WightwickThird Protectorate Parliament
...7 May 165920 February 1660unknownRump Parliament restored
...21 February 166016 March 1660unknownLong Parliament restored

  1. Members_of_Parliament|

    MPs 1660–1885

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

Elections in the 1840s

Elections in the 1850s

Morgan's death caused a by-election.
  1. Elections|

    Elections in the 1860s

Watkins' death caused a by-election.
Pratt succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Marquess of Camden, causing a by-election.
The election was declared void on petition, causing a by-election.
  1. Elections|

    Elections in the 1870s

Villiers succeeded to the peerage, becoming Earl of Clarendon, causing a by-election.
  1. Elections|

    Elections in the 1880s