# Hedon (UK Parliament constituency)

Hedon, sometimes spelt Heydon, was a parliamentary borough in the East Riding of Yorkshire, represented by two Members of Parliament in the House of Commons briefly in the 13th century and again from 1547 to 1832.

## History

The constituency consisted of the market town of Hedon, in Holderness to the east of Hull, which had been of some importance in medieval times but which by 1831 had dwindled to 217 houses and a population of 1,080, and the borough was disfranchised in the Reform Act 1832.
The right of election in Hedon was vested in the burgesses generally, meaning that a high proportion of the male population had the vote. In 1826, when the election was contested, 331 burgesses recorded their votes. Nevertheless, the result was rarely in doubt, Hedon being a classic example of a pocket borough where the influence of the landowner or "patron" was substantial if not absolute. At first the influence seems to have been shared between two families of important local landowners, the Constables of Burton Constable and the Hildyards of Winestead. The patron at the start of the 18th century was Henry Guy; he bequeathed it to his protégé William Pulteney, who not only sat for the borough himself for much of his career but made the other seat available to his cousin and his brother. After Pulteney's death the borough passed to the distinguished admiral Lord Anson, who used his patronage to provide seats for some of his naval colleagues; one of these, Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, inherited the patronage in turn when Anson died.

## Members of Parliament
### MPs 1547–1640

| Parliament | First member | Second member |
| 1547 | Edward Elrington | Robert Googe |
| 1553 (Mar) | Sir John Constable | Robert Shakerley |
| 1553 (Oct) | Sir John Constable | Robert Shakerley |
| 1554 (Apr) | Hon. Sir Thomas Wharton | Richard Cuthbert |
| 1554 (Nov) | John Long | Richard Cuthbert |
| 1555 | George Brooke alias Cobham | Richard Cuthbert |
| 1558 | Sir John Constable | John Goldwell |
| 1558/9 | John Vaughan | John Salveyn |
| 1562/3 | Sir John Constable | Christopher Hilliard |
| 1571 | Christopher Hilliard | William Paler |
| 1572 | Christopher Hilliard | John Moore |
| 1584 (Oct) | Sir Henry Constable | Fulke Greville |
| 1586 (Oct) | Sir Henry Constable | John Hotham |
| 1588 (Oct) | John Alford | Christopher Hilliard |
| 1593 | Henry Brooke alias Cobham II | Christopher Hilliard |
| 1597 (Sep) | Thomas Salveyn | Christopher Hilliard |
| 1601 (Oct) | Matthew Patteson | Christopher Hilliard |
| 1604 | Christopher Hilliard | Sir Henry Constable, replaced 1610 by John Digby |
| 1614 | Christopher Hilliard | Clement Coke, sat for Clitheroe replaced by William Sheffield |
| 1621 | Sir Matthew Boynton, Bt | Sir Thomas Fairfax of Walton |
| 1624 | Sir Thomas Fairfax of Walton | Christopher Hilliard |
| 1625 | Sir Thomas Fairfax of Walton | Christopher Hilliard |
| 1626 | Sir Thomas Fairfax of Walton | Christopher Hilliard |
| 1628 | Sir Christopher Hilliard | Thomas Alured |
| 1629–1640 | No Parliaments summoned | No Parliaments summoned |

### MPs 1640–1832

| Year | First member | First party | Second member | Second party |
| April 1640 | John Alured | Parliamentarian | Sir Philip Stapleton | |
| November 1640 | John Alured | Parliamentarian | Sir William Strickland | Parliamentarian |
| 1651 | Alured died 1651, seat vacant thereafter | Alured died 1651, seat vacant thereafter | | Sir William Strickland | Parliamentarian |
| 1653 | Hedon was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Hedon was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Hedon was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Hedon was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate |
| January 1659 | Thomas Strickland | | Colonel Matthew Alured | |
| May 1659 | Sir William Strickland | | One seat vacant | One seat vacant |
| April 1660 | Sir John Cloberry | | Sir Hugh Bethell | |
| July 1660 | Henry Hildyard | | Sir Hugh Bethell | |
| 1661 | Sir Matthew Appleyard | | Sir Hugh Bethell | |
| 1670 | Henry Guy | | Sir Hugh Bethell | |
| 1680 | Henry Guy | | William Boynton | |
| 1685 | Henry Guy | | Charles Duncombe | Tory |
| 1689 | Henry Guy | | Matthew Appleyard (younger) | |
| October 1695 | Lord Spencer | | Sir William Trumbull | |
| December 1695 | Thomas Frankland | | Hugh Bethell | |
| 1698 | Anthony Duncombe | | Hugh Bethell | |
| January 1701 | Anthony Duncombe | | Sir Robert Bedingfield | |
| December 1701 | Anthony Duncombe | | Sir Robert Hildyard | |
| July 1702 | Sir Charles Duncombe | Tory | Henry Guy | |
| November 1702 | Anthony Duncombe | | Henry Guy | |
| 1705 | Anthony Duncombe | | William Pulteney | Whig |
| 1708 | Hugh Cholmley | Whig | William Pulteney | Whig |
| March 1722 | Daniel Pulteney | Whig | William Pulteney | Whig |
| November 1722 | Harry Pulteney | Whig | William Pulteney | Whig |
| 1734 | Sir Francis Boynton | | George Berkeley | |
| 1739 | Harry Pulteney | Whig | George Berkeley | |
| 1741 | Francis Chute | | Luke Robinson | |
| 1742 | The Earl of Mountrath | Whig | George Berkeley | |
| 1744 | George Anson | | George Berkeley | |
| 1746 | George Anson | | Samuel Gumley | |
| February 1747 | George Anson | | Luke Robinson | |
| July 1747 | Sir John Savile | | Luke Robinson | |
| 1754 | Captain Sir Charles Saunders, RN | | Captain Peter Denis, RN | |
| 1768 | Captain Sir Charles Saunders, RN | | Beilby Thompson | |
| 1776 | Hon. Lewis Watson | | Beilby Thompson | |
| 1780 | Christopher Atkinson | | William Chaytor | |
| 1783 | Stephen Lushington | Foxite Whig | William Chaytor | |
| 1784 | Lionel Darell | | William Chaytor | |
| 1790 | Lionel Darell | | Beilby Thompson | |
| 1796 | Lionel Darell | | Christopher Atkinson | |
| 1802 | George Johnstone | | Christopher Atkinson | |
| 1806 | George Johnstone | | Anthony Browne | |
| 1813 | John Broadhurst | Whig | Anthony Browne | |
| 1818 | Edmund Turton | | Robert Farrand | Whig |
| 1820 | John Baillie | Tory | Robert Farrand | Whig |
| 1826 | John Baillie | Tory | Thomas Hyde Villiers | Whig |
| 1830 | Sir Thomas Clifford-Constable, Bt | Tory | Robert Farrand | Tory |