# Heytesbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Heytesbury was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire which elected two Members of Parliament. From 1449 until 1707 it was represented in the House of Commons of England, and then in the British House of Commons until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Reform Act 1832.

## History

The borough consisted of a small part of the small market town or large village of Heytesbury, in the south-west of Wiltshire. In 1831, when the population of the whole parish was 1,394, the borough had a population of only 81. Already a small settlement, much of Heytesbury burned to the ground in 1765, but this did not affect its right to return members to parliament. The houses lost were subsequently rebuilt.
Heytesbury was a burgage borough, meaning that the right to vote was reserved to the householders of specific properties or "burgage tenements" within the borough; there were twenty-six of these tenements by the time of the Reform Act, and all had been owned by the heads of the A'Court family since the 17th century, giving them control of the choice of the two Members. Shortly before the Reform Act, the head of the family, Sir William Ashe A'Court, was raised to the peerage as Lord Heytesbury. By 1832 there had been no contested elections for more than half a century.
Heytesbury was abolished as a constituency by the Reform Act, which swept away all such rotten and pocket boroughs. Its residents who were qualified to vote were transferred into the new South Wiltshire county division.

## Members of Parliament
### 1449–1640

| Parliament | First member | Second member |
| 1491 | John Kingsmill | |
| 1510–1523 | No names known | No names known |
| 1529 | Sir John Seymour | Robert Seymour |
| 1536 | ? |
| 1539 | ? |
| 1542 | ? |
| 1545 | William Sharington | Edward Chamberlain |
| 1547 | Thomas Throckmorton | Thomas Eynns |
| 1553 (Mar) | ? |
| 1553 (Oct) | Fulk Mounslowe alias Langley | Thomas Hill |
| 1554 (Apr) | Richard Forsett | Christopher Dymars |
| 1554 (Nov) | Henry Unton | ?Thomas Chaffyn |
| 1555 | Thomas Hungerford | Fulk Mounslowe alias Langley |
| 1558 | Christopher Sackville | Henry Partridge |
| 1559 | Sir Ralph Hopton | Richard Pallady |
| 1562–3 | Richard Kingsmill | Richard Cabell |
| 1571 | Thomas Wroughton | Richard Cabell |
| 1572 | Sir John Thynne, died and replaced 1580 by Jasper Moore | Edward Stafford |
| 1584 | John Thynne | Lawrence Hyde I (died 1590) |
| 1586 | John Thynne | John Bennett |
| 1588 | Francis Zouche | Joshua Elmer |
| 1593 | John Thynne | Thomas Thynne |
| 1597 | John Thynne | Lawrence Hyde II |
| 1601 | John Thynne | Richard Smythe |
| 1604–1611 | Sir William Eyre | Walter Gowen |
| 1614 | Sir Henry Ludlow | Walter Gowen |
| 1621–1622 | Sir Thomas Thynne | Sir Henry Ludlow |
| 1624 | Sir Thomas Thynne | Sir Henry Ludlow |
| 1625 | Sir Charles Berkeley | Edward Bisse |
| 1626 | Sir Charles Berkeley | William Blake |
| 1628–1629 | Sir Charles Berkeley | William Rolfe |
| 1629–1640 | No Parliaments summoned | No Parliaments summoned |

### 1640–1832

| Year | | First member | First party | | Second member | Second party |
| April 1640 | | Sir John Berkeley | | | Thomas Moore | |
| November 1640 | | Edward Ashe | Parliamentarian | | Thomas Moore | Parliamentarian |
| December 1648 | | Edward Ashe | Parliamentarian | Moore excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant | Moore excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant | Moore excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant |
| 1653 | Heytesbury was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Heytesbury was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Heytesbury was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Heytesbury was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Heytesbury was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Heytesbury was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate |
| January 1659 | | John Ashe | | | Samuel Ashe | |
| May 1659 | Not represented in the restored Rump | Not represented in the restored Rump | Not represented in the restored Rump | Not represented in the restored Rump | Not represented in the restored Rump | Not represented in the restored Rump |
| April 1660 | | Thomas Moore | | | John Jolliffe | |
| 1661 | | Sir Charles Berkeley | | | John Jolliffe | |
| 1668 | | William Ashe | Whig | | John Jolliffe | |
| February 1679 | | William Ashe | Whig | | Edward Ashe | |
| 1689 | | William Ashe | Whig | | William Sacheverell | Whig |
| 1690 | | William Ashe | Whig | | William Trenchard | |
| 1695 | | William Ashe | Whig | | Edward Ashe | |
| 1701 | | Sir Edward Ernle | | | Edward Ashe | |
| 1702 | | William Monson | | | Edward Ashe | |
| 1708 | | William Ashe | | | Edward Ashe | |
| 1713 | | Pierce A'Court | | | Edward Ashe | |
| 1715 | | William Ashe | | | Edward Ashe | |
| 1722 | | Pierce A'Court | | | Edward Ashe | |
| 1725 | | Lord Charles Cavendish | Whig | | Edward Ashe | |
| 1727 | | Horatio Townshend | | | Edward Ashe | |
| 1734 | | Pierce A'Court-Ashe | | | Edward Ashe | |
| 1747 | | Pierce A'Court-Ashe | | | William Ashe | |
| 1751 | | Pierce A'Court-Ashe | | | William A'Court | |
| 1768 | | Charles FitzRoy-Scudamore | | | William A'Court | |
| 1774 | | Hon. William Gordon | | | William A'Court | |
| September 1780 | | William Eden | | | William A'Court | |
| December 1780 | | Francis Burton | | | William A'Court | |
| 1781 | | Francis Burton | | | William Pierce Ashe A'Court | |
| 1784 | | William Eden | | | William Pierce Ashe A'Court | |
| 1790 | | William Eden | | | Michael Angelo Taylor | |
| 1791 | | William Eden | | | The Earl of Barrymore | |
| 1793 | | William Eden | | | Charles Rose Ellis | |
| 1793 | | The Viscount Clifden | | | Charles Rose Ellis | |
| 1796 | | The Viscount Clifden | | | Sir John Leicester, Bt | |
| February 1802 | | William Wickham | | | Sir John Leicester, Bt | |
| July 1802 | | Charles Abbot | | | Viscount Kirkwall | |
| December 1802 | | Dr Charles Moore | | | Viscount Kirkwall | |
| 1806 | | Charles Abbot | | | Sir William a'Court | |
| January 1807 | | Dr Charles Moore | | | Michael Symes | |
| May 1807 | | Dr Charles Moore | | | Viscount Fitzharris | |
| 1812 | | Samuel Hood | | | Charles Duncombe | |
| 1818 | | George James Welbore Agar-Ellis | | | William Henry John Scott | |
| March 1820 | | Edward Henry A'Court | | | Charles Ashe A'Court | |
| August 1820 | | Edward Henry A'Court | | | Henry Handley | |
| 1826 | | Edward Henry A'Court | | | Henry Stafford Northcote | |
| 1830 | | Edward Henry A'Court | | | Sir George Staunton | Independent |
| 1831 | | Edward Henry A'Court | | | Sir George Staunton | Independent |
| 1832 | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished |
Notes
* ↑ Namier, Lewis (1957). The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd ed.). London: St Martin's Press. pp. 1–4, 146, 438 n2.
* ↑ Cavill. The English Parliaments of Henry VII 1485-1504.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "History of Parliament 1509–1558: Heytesbury". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "History of Parliament 1558–1603: Heytesbury". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
* ↑ "BISSE, Edward (c.1588-by 1647), of Spargrove, Som". historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
* ↑ William A'Court Ashe from 1768
* ↑ Eden was also elected for Woodstock, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Heytesbury in this Parliament
* ↑ Created The Lord Auckland (in the Peerage of Ireland), September 1789
* ↑ Abbot was also elected for Woodstock, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Heytesbury
* ↑ Abbot was also elected for Oxford University, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Heytesbury
* ↑ Succeeded as The Lord Bridport (in the Peerage of Ireland), May 1814