Bishop's Castle (UK Parliament constituency)

Bishop's Castle was a borough constituency in Shropshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Bishop's Castle
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
BoroughBishop's Castle
1290–1832
Seats2
Replaced bySouth Shropshire

The market town of Bishop's Castle became a parliamentary borough in 1584 and was a constituency of the House of Commons of England until 1707, of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two burgesses.

The historian Lewis Namier claimed that in the middle of the eighteenth century it was the one notoriously corrupt parliamentary borough in Shropshire.[1] It was abolished under the Reform Act 1832.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1584–1660

ParliamentFirst memberSecond member
1584Thomas JukesJohn Cole
1586Charles WalcotThomas Darrell
1588Charles WalcotAlexander King
1593Francis BeavansAlexander King
1597Hayward TownsendEdmund Baynham
1601Hayward TownsendAlexander King
1604William TwynehoSamuel Lewknor
1614Edward Littleton[2]Thomas Hitchcock
1621Francis RobertsGilbert Cornwall
1624Sir Robert Howard[3]Richard Oakeley
1625William OakeleyEdward Waring
1626William OakeleyEdward Waring
1628Sir Robert HowardSir Edward Fox
1629–1640No Parliaments summoned
1640 (Apr)Sir Robert HowardRichard Moor
1640 (Nov)Sir Robert HowardRichard Moor
1645Isaiah ThomasJohn Corbet
1648Isaiah ThomasJohn Corbet
1653Bishop's Castle not represented in Barebones Parliament
1654Bishop's Castle not represented in 1st Protectorate Parliament
1656Bishop's Castle not represented in 2nd Protectorate Parliament
1659Samuel MoreWilliam Oakeley

MPs 1660–1832

YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party
1660William OakeleyEdmund Waring
1679Richard Scriven
1681Sir Richard MasonRichard More
1685Edmund WaringFrancis Charlton
1689Richard MoreWalter Waring
Mr. 1690William OakeleyRichard Mason
May 1690Walter Waring
Mr. 1695Richard More
Oct. 1695Charles Mason
1698Sir William Brownlow
Jan. 1701George Walcot
Nov. 1701Henry Brett
1706Henry NewportWhig
1708Richard HarnageCharles Mason
1710Sir Robert Raymond
1715Charles Mason
1719Sir Matthew Decker
1722William Peere WilliamsBowater Vernon
1726Charles Mason
1727Robert MoreJohn Plumptre
1734Edward Kynaston
1741Henry BrydgesAndrew Hill
1744Granville Leveson-Gower
1747Samuel ChildJohn Robinson Lytton
1753John Dashwood-King
1754Barnaby Backwell
1755Walter Waring
1759Henry Grenville
1761Francis ChildPeregrine Cust
1763George Clive
1768William Clive
1770Alexander Wedderburn
1774Henry Strachey
1778Alexander Wedderburn
1779William Clive
1780Henry Strachey
1802John Robinson
1819Douglas Kinnaird
1820William HolmesTory[4]Edward RogersTory[5]
1830Frederick Hamilton CornewallTory[6]
1831James Knight-BruceTory[7]
  • Constituency abolished / disenfranchised (1832)

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election, 30 April 1831: Bishop's Castle[8]
PartyCandidateVotes%
ToryEdward Rogers (MP)Unopposed
ToryJames KnightUnopposed
Registered electorsc. 200
Tory hold
Tory hold
General election, 31 July 1830: Bishop's Castle[8]
PartyCandidateVotes%
ToryEdward Rogers (MP)Unopposed
ToryFrederick Cornewall (Bishop's Castle MP)Unopposed
Registered electorsc. 200
Tory hold
Tory hold

See also

References