# Boroughbridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Boroughbridge was a parliamentary borough in Yorkshire from 1553 until 1832, when it was abolished under the Great Reform Act. Throughout its existence it was represented by two Members of Parliament in the House of Commons.
The constituency consisted of the market town of Boroughbridge in the parish of Aldborough (which was also a borough with two MPs of its own). By 1831 it contained only 154 houses, and had a population of 947.
Boroughbridge was a burgage borough, meaning that the right to vote was vested in the tenants of certain specified properties, of which there seem to have been about 65 by the time the borough was abolished. Since these properties could be freely bought and sold, the effective power of election rested with whoever owned the majority of the burgages (who, if necessary, could simply assign the tenancies to reliable placemen shortly before an election). For more than a century before the Reform Act, Boroughbridge was owned by the Dukes of Newcastle, who controlled around fifteen seats across the country; however, in the 1790s, they sold one of the seats for £4,000 to the banker Thomas Coutts, who used it to put his son-in-law, Francis Burdett, into Parliament.

## Members of Parliament

* Constituency created (1553)

### 1553–1640

| Parliament | First member | Second member |
| 1553 (Oct) | William Tancred | Christopher Wray |
| 1554 (Apr) | Ralph Cholmley | Christopher Wray |
| 1554 (Nov) | Christopher Wray | John Holmes |
| 1555 | Christopher Wray | Robert Kempe |
| 1558 | William Fairfax | Christopher Wray |
| 1558–9 | Sir John York | Richard Bunny |
| 1562–3 | John Astley | Thomas Disney |
| 1571 | Cotton Gargrave | Thomas Boynton |
| 1572 (Apr) | Thomas Eynns (died 1578) | Cotton Gargrave |
| 1584 (Oct) | Henry Cheke | Nicholas Faunt |
| 1586 (Sep) | George Savile | Robert Briggs |
| 1588–9 | Sir Edward Fitton | Francis Moore |
| 1593 | John Brograve | Vincent Skinner |
| 1597 (Sep) | Henry Fanshawe | Thomas Crompton |
| 1601 | Richard Whalley | Thomas Fairfax |
| 1604 | John Ferne | Sir Henry Jenkins |
| 1609 | Sir Thomas Vavasour | Sir Henry Jenkins |
| 1614 | Sir Ferdinando Fairfax | George Marshall |
| 1621 | Sir Ferdinando Fairfax | George Wethered |
| 1624 | Sir Ferdinando Fairfax | Christopher Mainwaring |
| 1625 | Sir Ferdinando Fairfax | William Mainwaring |
| 1626 | Sir Ferdinando Fairfax | Philip Mainwaring |
| 1628 | Sir Ferdinando Fairfax | Francis Neville |
| 1629–1640 | No Parliaments summoned | No Parliaments summoned |

### 1640–1832

| Year | First member | First party | Second member | Second party |
| April 1640 | Ferdinando, Lord Fairfax | | Francis Neville | |
| November 1640 | Sir Philip Stapylton (d. September 1647) | Parliamentarian | Thomas Mauleverer | Parliamentarian |
| 1648 | Henry Stapylton | | Thomas Mauleverer | Parliamentarian |
| December 1648 | Stapylton excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant | Stapylton excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant | | Thomas Mauleverer | Parliamentarian |
| 1653 | Boroughbridge not represented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Boroughbridge not represented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Boroughbridge not represented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Boroughbridge not represented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate |
| January 1659 | Colonel Laurence Parsons | | Robert Stapylton | |
| May 1659 | Not represented in the restored Rump as Thomas Mauleverer had died in the interim | Not represented in the restored Rump as Thomas Mauleverer had died in the interim | Not represented in the restored Rump as Thomas Mauleverer had died in the interim | Not represented in the restored Rump as Thomas Mauleverer had died in the interim |
| 1660 | Conyers Darcy | | Sir Henry Stapylton | |
| 1661 | Sir Richard Mauleverer, Bt | | Robert Long | |
| 1673 | Sir Richard Mauleverer, Bt | | Sir Henry Goodricke, Bt | |
| 1675 | Sir Michael Warton | | Sir Henry Goodricke, Bt | |
| March 1679 | Sir Thomas Mauleverer, Bt | | Sir Henry Goodricke, Bt | |
| August 1679 | Sir Thomas Mauleverer, Bt | | Sir John Brookes, Bt | |
| 1685 | Sir Thomas Mauleverer, Bt | | Sir Henry Goodricke, Bt | |
| 1689 | Christopher Vane | Whig | Sir Henry Goodricke, Bt | |
| 1690 | Sir Brian Stapylton | | Sir Henry Goodricke, Bt | |
| 1695 | Thomas Harrison | | Sir Henry Goodricke, Bt | |
| 1698 | Sir Brian Stapylton | | Sir Henry Goodricke, Bt | |
| 1705 | John Stapylton | | Craven Peyton | |
| 1708 | Sir Brian Stapylton | | Craven Peyton | |
| 1713 | Sir Brian Stapylton | | Edmund Dunch | Whig |
| 1715 | Thomas Wilkinson | | Sir Richard Steele | Whig |
| 1718 | Sir Wilfrid Lawson, Bt | | Sir Richard Steele | Whig |
| March 1722 | Conyers Darcy | | James Tyrrell | |
| October 1722 | Joseph Danvers | | James Tyrrell | |
| 1727 | George Gregory | | James Tyrrell | |
| 1742 | George Gregory | | William Murray | Tory |
| 1746 | Earl of Dalkeith | | William Murray | Tory |
| 1750 | Hon. Lewis Monson Watson | | William Murray | Tory |
| 1754 | John Fuller | | William Murray | Tory |
| 1755 | Sir Cecil Bisshopp, Bt | | William Murray | Tory |
| 1756 | Sir Cecil Bisshopp, Bt | | Earl of Euston | Whig |
| 1757 | Sir Cecil Bisshopp, Bt | | Thomas Thoroton | |
| 1761 | Sir Cecil Bisshopp, Bt | | Brice Fisher | |
| 1767 | Sir Cecil Bisshopp, Bt | | James West the younger | |
| 1768 | Nathaniel Cholmley | | James West | |
| 1772 | Nathaniel Cholmley | | Major-General Henry Clinton | |
| 1774 | Anthony Eyre | | Charles Mellish | |
| 1775 | Anthony Eyre | | Colonel William Phillips | |
| 1780 | Anthony Eyre | | Charles Ambler, KC | |
| 1784 | Sir Richard Sutton, Bt | | The Viscount Palmerston | |
| 1790 | Sir Richard Sutton, Bt | | Morris Robinson | |
| 1796 | Francis Burdett | Independent Radical | Sir John Scott | Tory |
| 1799 | Francis Burdett | Independent Radical | Hon. John Scott | Tory |
| 1802 | Edward Berkeley Portman | Whig | Hon. John Scott | Tory |
| January 1806 | Edward Berkeley Portman | Whig | Viscount Castlereagh | Tory |
| November 1806 | Brigadier William Henry Clinton | Tory | Henry Dawkins | Tory |
| 1808 | Brigadier William Henry Clinton | Tory | Henry Clinton | Tory |
| 1818 | Marmaduke Lawson | Whig | George Mundy | Tory |
| March 1820 | Marmaduke Lawson | Whig | Richard Spooner | Radical |
| June 1820 | Captain George Mundy, RN | Tory | Lt Colonel Henry Dawkins | Tory |
| 1830 | Sir Charles Wetherell | Tory | Matthias Attwood | Tory |
* Constituency abolished (1832)

## Elections

Source: The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)

### Elections in the 1800s

    At the 1802 general election, Edward Berkeley Portman and John Scott were elected unopposed.
    At the 1806 and 1807 general elections, William Henry Clinton and Henry Dawkins were elected unopposed.
    At the Boroughbridge by-election, 1808, Henry Clinton was elected unopposed.

### Elections in the 1810s

    At the 1812 general election, William Henry Clinton and Henry Clinton were elected unopposed.
General election 1818: Boroughbridge (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Tory | Marmaduke Lawson | 37 | 39.8 | N/A |
| | Tory | George Mundy | 33 | 35.5 | N/A |
| | Tory | Thomas Murdoch | 25 | 24.7 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8 | 8.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 93 | | N/A |
In the Boroughbridge by-election, 1819, Marmaduke Lawson was elected unopposed.

### Elections in the 1820s

General election 1820: Boroughbridge (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Tory | Richard Spooner | 38 | 28.6 | N/A |
| | Tory | Marmaduke Lawson | 38 | 28.6 | N/A |
| | Tory | George Mundy | 28 | 21.0 | N/A |
| | Tory | Henry Dawkins (1788–1864) | 28 | 21.0 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10 | 7.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 133 | | N/A |
| | Tory hold | Tory hold | Swing | | |
    Mundy and Dawkins were seated on petition.
    At the 1826 United Kingdom general election, George Mundy and Henry Dawkins were elected unopposed.

### Elections in the 1830s

General election, 2 August 1830: Boroughbridge :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Tory | Charles Wetherell | 38 | 32.8 |
| | Tory | Matthias Attwood | 38 | 32.8 |
| | Tory | Andrew Lawson | 20 | 17.2 |
| | Tory | William Alexander Mackinnon | 20 | 17.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 18 | 15.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | c. 58 | c. 89.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | c. 65 | |
| | Tory hold | Tory hold | Tory hold | Tory hold |
| | Tory hold | Tory hold | Tory hold | Tory hold |
General election, 29 April 1831: Boroughbridge :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Tory | Charles Wetherell | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Tory | Matthias Attwood | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | c. 65 | |
| | Tory hold | Tory hold | Tory hold | Tory hold |
| | Tory hold | Tory hold | Tory hold | Tory hold |