Hedon (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1801–1832

Hedon

Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1547–1832
Seats| Two

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

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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,[1] who used his patronage to provide seats for some of his naval colleagues;[2] one of these, Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, inherited the patronage in turn when Anson died.

## Members of Parliament

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### MPs 1547–1640

[edit]

Parliament | First member | Second member

|
|

1547 | Edward Elrington | Robert Googe[3]
1553 (Mar) | Sir John Constable | Robert Shakerley[3]
1553 (Oct) | Sir John Constable | Robert Shakerley[3]
1554 (Apr) | Hon. Sir Thomas Wharton | Richard Cuthbert[3]
1554 (Nov) | John Long | Richard Cuthbert[3]
1555 | George Brooke alias Cobham | Richard Cuthbert[3]
1558 | Sir John Constable | John Goldwell[3]
1558/9 | John Vaughan | John Salveyn[4]
1562/3 | Sir John Constable | Christopher Hilliard[4]
1571 | Christopher Hilliard | William Paler[4]
1572 | Christopher Hilliard | John Moore[4]
1584 (Oct) | Sir Henry Constable | Fulke Greville[4]
1586 (Oct) | Sir Henry Constable | John Hotham[4]
1588 (Oct) | John Alford | Christopher Hilliard[4]
1593 | Henry Brooke alias Cobham II | Christopher Hilliard[4]
1597 (Sep) | Thomas Salveyn | Christopher Hilliard[4]
1601 (Oct) | Matthew Patteson | Christopher Hilliard[4]
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 |
1626 |
1628 | Sir Christopher Hilliard | Thomas Alured
1629–1640 | No Parliaments summoned

### MPs 1640–1832

[edit]

Year | First member | First party | Second member | Second party

|
|
|
|

|  | April 1640 | John Alured | Parliamentarian | Sir Philip Stapleton |
| November 1640 | Sir William Strickland | Parliamentarian
| 1651  | Alured died 1651, seat vacant thereafter
|  | 1653  | Hedon was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
|  | January 1659 | Thomas Strickland[5] |  | Colonel Matthew Alured |
|  | May 1659 | Sir William Strickland |  | One seat vacant
|  | April 1660  | Sir John Cloberry[6] |  | Sir Hugh Bethell |
|  | July 1660  | Henry Hildyard |
|  | 1661  | Sir Matthew Appleyard |
|  | 1670  | Henry Guy |
|  | 1680  | William Boynton |
|  | 1685  | Charles Duncombe | Tory
|  | 1689  | Matthew Appleyard (younger) |
|  | October 1695  | Lord Spencer[7] |  | Sir William Trumbull[8] |
|  | December 1695  | Thomas Frankland |  | Hugh Bethell |
|  | 1698  | Anthony Duncombe |
|  | January 1701  | Sir Robert Bedingfield |
|  | December 1701  | Sir Robert Hildyard |
|  | July 1702  | Sir Charles Duncombe[9] | Tory | Henry Guy |
|  | November 1702  | Anthony Duncombe |
|  | 1705  | William Pulteney | Whig
|  | 1708  | Hugh Cholmley | Whig
|  | March 1722  | Daniel Pulteney[10] | Whig
|  | November 1722  | Harry Pulteney | Whig
|  | 1734  | Sir Francis Boynton |  | George Berkeley |
|  | 1739  | Harry Pulteney | Whig
|  | 1741 | Francis Chute[11] |  | Luke Robinson |
|  | 1742  | The Earl of Mountrath | Whig | George Berkeley |
|  | 1744  | George Anson |
|  | 1746  | Samuel Gumley[12] |
|  | February 1747  | Luke Robinson |
|  | July 1747  | Sir John Savile[13] |
|  | 1754 | Captain Sir Charles Saunders, RN[14] |  | Captain Peter Denis, RN[15] |
|  | 1768  | Beilby Thompson |
|  | 1776  | Hon. Lewis Watson |
|  | 1780 | Christopher Atkinson[16] |  | William Chaytor |
|  | 1783  | Stephen Lushington | Foxite Whig
|  | 1784  | Lionel Darell[17] |
|  | 1790  | Beilby Thompson |
|  | 1796  | Christopher Atkinson[18] |
|  | 1802  | George Johnstone[19] |
|  | 1806  | Anthony Browne |
|  | 1813  | John Broadhurst | Whig
|  | 1818  | Edmund Turton |  | Robert Farrand | Whig
| 1820  | John Baillie | Tory
| 1826 | Thomas Hyde Villiers | Whig
|  | 1830 | Sir Thomas Clifford-Constable, Bt | Tory | Robert Farrand | Tory

## Notes

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1. ^ Page 144, Lewis Namier, "The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III" (2nd edition - London: Macmillan, 1957)
2. ^ Pages 29-30, Lewis Namier, "The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III" (2nd edition - London: Macmillan, 1957)
3. ^ a b c d e f g "History of Parliament". Retrieved 27 September 2011.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "History of Parliament". Retrieved 27 September 2011.
5. ^ Strickland was also elected for Beverley, which he chose to represent. The vacancy was unfilled when the Parliament ended
6. ^ Cloberry was also elected for Launceston, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Hedon
7. ^ Spencer was also elected for Tiverton, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Hedon
8. ^ Trumbull was also elected for Oxford University, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Hedon
9. ^ Sir Charles Duncombe was also elected for Downton, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Hedon in this parliament
10. ^ Pulteney was also elected for Preston, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Hedon
11. ^ Chute and Robinson were initially declared elected at the general election, but Mountrath and Berkeley were seated in their place on petition
12. ^ Gumley was initially declared elected at the by-election, but Robinson was returned on petition
13. ^ Savile was created Lord Pollington in the peerage of Ireland in 1753
14. ^ Rear Admiral from 1756
15. ^ Created Sir Peter Denis, Bt., in 1767
16. ^ Expelled from the House for perjury, 1783
17. ^ Created Sir Lionel Darell, Bt., in 1795
18. ^ Called Christopher Atkinson Savile from October 1798
19. ^ Johnstone was re-elected at the general election of 1812, but shortly afterwards began to suffer from epileptic seizures, and never retook his seat

## References

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* Michael Brock, The Great Reform Act (London: Hutchinson, 1973)
* D Brunton & D H Pennington, “Members of the Long Parliament” (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
* J E Neale, "The Elizabethan House of Commons" (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
* J Holladay Philbin, "Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
* Henry Stooks Smith, "The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847" (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
* Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)
* Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 2)