Heytesbury was a parliamentary borough

Parliamentary borough

Parliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament...

 in Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

 which elected two Members of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

. From 1449 until 1707 it was represented in the House of Commons of England

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

, and then in the British House of Commons until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Reform Act 1832

Reform Act 1832

The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...

.

History

The borough consisted of a small part of the small market town or large village of Heytesbury

Heytesbury

Heytesbury is a village in Wiltshire, England, in the Wylye Valley, about three miles south of Warminster.-History:...

, 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

Burgage

Burgage is a medieval land term used in England and Scotland, well established by the 13th century. A burgage was a town rental property , owned by a king or lord. The property usually, and distinctly, consisted of a house on a long and narrow plot of land, with the narrow end facing the street...

 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 Lords Heytesbury

Baron Heytesbury

Baron Heytesbury, of Heytesbury in the County of Wiltshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1828 for the prominent politician and diplomat Sir William à Court, 2nd Baronet, who later served as Ambassador to Russia and as Viceroy of Ireland. His son, the second...

 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

William à Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury

William à Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury GCB PC , known as Sir William à Court, Bt, from 1817 to 1828, was a British diplomat and Conservative politician.-Background and education:...

, was elevated to a 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. Its residents who were qualified to vote were transferred into the new South Wiltshire county division

South Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency)

South Wiltshire, formally known as the Southern division of Wiltshire or Wiltshire Southern was a county constituency in the county of Wiltshire in South West England...

.

1449-1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1510-1523	No names known
1529	Sir John Seymour	Robert Seymour
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	William Sharington William Sharington Sir William Sharington was an English courtier of the time of Henry VIII, master and embezzler of the Bristol Mint, member of parliament, conspirator, and High Sheriff of Wiltshire.-Early life:...	Edward Chamberlain II
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
1586	John Thynne	John Bennett
1588	Francis Zouche, Joshua Elmer
1593	John Thynne	Thomas Thynne
1597	John Thynne	Lawrence Hyde Lawrence Hyde (attorney-general) Sir Lawrence Hyde was an English lawyer who was attorey-general to the consort of King James I. He sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1584 and 1611....
1601	John Thynne	Richard Smythe
1604-1611	Sir William Eyre William Eyre William Eyre was an English landscape painter. He exhibited at the Croydon Art Society for 20 years but travelled extensively. From early on it the 1970s he lived in North Wales and continued to paint and exhibit. Eyre was a most accomplished artist working in both oil and watercolour. His work is...	Walter Gowen
1614	Sir Henry Ludlow	Walter Gowen
1621-1622	Sir Thomas Thynne Thomas Thynne (died 1639) Sir Thomas Thynne , of Longleat, Wiltshire, was an English landowner and member of parliament.Thynne was the son and heir of Sir John Thynne of Longleat, a knight of the shire, by his marriage to Joan Hayward, daughter of Sir Rowland Hayward, a Lord Mayor of London.Thynne first made his mark in May...	Sir Henry Ludlow
1624	Sir Thomas Thynne Thomas Thynne (died 1639) Sir Thomas Thynne , of Longleat, Wiltshire, was an English landowner and member of parliament.Thynne was the son and heir of Sir John Thynne of Longleat, a knight of the shire, by his marriage to Joan Hayward, daughter of Sir Rowland Hayward, a Lord Mayor of London.Thynne first made his mark in May...	Sir Henry Ludlow
1625	Sir Charles Berkeley Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1621 and 1668....	Edward Bysshe
1626	Sir Charles Berkeley Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1621 and 1668....	William Blake
1628-1629	Sir Charles Berkeley Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1621 and 1668....	William Rolfe
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640-1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640 Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....		Sir John Berkeley John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton was an English royalist soldier. From 1648 he was closely associated with James, Duke of York, and rose to prominence, fortune and fame.-First English Civil War:...			Thomas Moore
November 1640 Long Parliament The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...		Edward Ashe Edward Ashe Edward Ashe was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1652.Ashe was the son of James Ashe of Freshford, Somerset and his wife Grace Pitt, daughter of Richard Pitt of Melcombe Regis He acquired the manor of Halstead, Kent.In November 1640, Ashe was elected Member of...	Parliamentarian		Thomas Moore	Parliamentarian
December 1648				Moore excluded in Pride's Purge Pride's Purge Pride’s Purge is an event in December 1648, during the Second English Civil War, when troops under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed from the Long Parliament all those who were not supporters of the Grandees in the New Model Army and the Independents...  - seat vacant
1653	Heytesbury was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector...  and the First First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....  and Second Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...  Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659 Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons...		John Ashe			Samuel Ashe Samuel Ashe (MP) Samuel Ashe was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1659 and from 1679 to 1681.Ashe was the son of James Ashe, a clothier of Freshford, Somerset and his wife Grace Pitt, daughter of Richard Pitt of Melcombe Regis He entered Inner Temple in 1646 and was called to the...
May 1659 Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....	Not represented in the restored Rump Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....
April 1660		Thomas Moore			John Jolliffe John Jolliffe (merchant) John Jolliffe was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1679.Jolliffe was a merchant of the City of London and a member of the Worshipful Company of Skinners. He was one of the court assistants from 1650 to 59 and a member of the committee of the East...
1661		Sir Charles Berkeley Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1621 and 1668....
1668		William Ashe	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
February 1679 Habeas Corpus Parliament The Habeas Corpus Parliament, also known as the First Exclusion Parliament, was a short-lived English Parliament which assembled on 6 March 1679 during the reign of Charles II of England, the third parliament of the King's reign. It is named after the Habeas Corpus Act, which it enacted in May,...					Edward Ashe
August 1679					Edward Ashe
1689					William Sacheverell William Sacheverell William Sacheverell was an English statesman.He was the son of Henry Sacheverell, a country gentleman. His family had been prominent in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire since the 12th century, the name appearing as Sent Cheveroll in the roll of Battle Abbey; William inherited large estates from his...	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
1690					William Trenchard
1695		Edward Ashe
1701					Sir Edward Ernle
1702					William Monson
1708					William Ashe
1713					Pierce A'Court
1715					William Ashe
1722					Pierce A'Court
1725					Lord Charles Cavendish Lord Charles Cavendish Lord Charles Cavendish FRS was a British nobleman, Whig politician and scientist.Cavendish was the youngest son of William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire and Rachel Russell....	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
1727					Horatio Townshend
1734					Pierce A'Court-Ashe
1747		William Ashe
1751		William A'Court William Ashe-à Court William Ashe-à Court was a British military commander and Member of Parliament.Born William à Court, he was the son of Pierce à Court and Elizabeth Ashe. He achieved the rank of General in the British Army and also sat as Member of Parliament for Heytesbury between 1751 and 1781. In 1768 he...
1768					Charles FitzRoy-Scudamore Charles FitzRoy-Scudamore Charles FitzRoy-Scudamore was a British politician.Born Charles FitzRoy, he was the illegitimate son of Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton. Fitzroy married Frances Scudamore after her divorce from Henry Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort in 1744...
1774					Hon. William Gordon
September 1780					William Eden
December 1780					Francis Burton Francis Burton Francis Burton , from Buncraggy, County Clare, was an Irish politician.He was a Member of Parliament for Coleraine from 1721 until 1727 and sat subsequently in the Irish House of Commons for Clare from 1727 until his death in 17434.-Family:He married the sister of Henry Conyngham, 1st Earl Conyngham...
1781		William Pierce Ashe A'Court Sir William à Court, 1st Baronet Sir William Pierce Ashe à Court, 1st Baronet was a British soldier and Member of Parliament.à Court was the son of General William Ashe-à Court and Anne Vernon. He represented Heytesbury in the House of Commons from 1781 to 1790 and again from 1806 to 1807. In 1795 he was created a Baronet, of...
1784					William Eden
1790		Michael Angelo Taylor Michael Angelo Taylor Michael Angelo Taylor was an English politician.He was a son of Sir Robert Taylor , the architect, and was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, becoming a barrister at Lincoln's Inn in 1774...
1791		The Earl of Barrymore Richard Barry, 7th Earl of Barrymore Richard Barry, 7th Earl of Barrymore was an English nobleman of Ireland, as well as an infamous rake, gambler, sportsman, theatrical enthusiast and womanizer....
1793		Charles Rose Ellis Charles Ellis, 1st Baron Seaford Charles Rose Ellis, 1st Baron Seaford , was a British politician.Ellis was elected to the House of Commons for Heytesbury in 1793, a seat he held until 1796, and then represented Seaford from 1796 to 1806 and from 1812 to 1826 and East Grinstead from 1807 to 1812...
1793					The Viscount Clifden Henry Ellis, 2nd Viscount Clifden Henry Welbore Ellis, 2nd Viscount Clifden SA , styled The Honourable Henry Agar between 1776 and 1789, was an Irish politician.-Background:...
1796		Sir John Leicester, Bt
February 1802					William Wickham
July 1802		Charles Abbot Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester PC, FRS was a British barrister and statesman. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1802 and 1817.-Background and education:...			Viscount Kirkwall
December 1802		Dr Charles Moore
1806		Charles Abbot Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester PC, FRS was a British barrister and statesman. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1802 and 1817.-Background and education:...			Sir William Pierce Ashe A'Court Sir William à Court, 1st Baronet Sir William Pierce Ashe à Court, 1st Baronet was a British soldier and Member of Parliament.à Court was the son of General William Ashe-à Court and Anne Vernon. He represented Heytesbury in the House of Commons from 1781 to 1790 and again from 1806 to 1807. In 1795 he was created a Baronet, of...
January 1807		Dr Charles Moore			Michael Symes
May 1807					Viscount Fitzharris James Edward Harris, 2nd Earl of Malmesbury James Edward Harris, 2nd Earl of Malmesbury was a British peer, styled Viscount FitzHarris from 1800 to 1820....
1812		Samuel Hood Samuel Hood, 2nd Baron Bridport Samuel Hood, 2nd Baron Bridport succeeded his great-uncle Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport as Baron Bridport....			Charles Duncombe Charles Duncombe, 1st Baron Feversham Charles Duncombe, 1st Baron Feversham was a British Member of Parliament.Feversham was appointed High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1790. He was elected to the House of Commons for Shaftesbury in 1790, a seat he held until 1796, and then represented Aldborough from 1796 to 1806, Heytesbury from 1812 to...
1818		George James Welbore Agar-Ellis George Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover PC FRS FSA was a British politician and man of letters. He was briefly First Commissioner of Woods and Forests under Lord Grey between 1830 and 1831.-Background and education:...			William Henry John Scott
March 1820		Edward Henry A'Court			Charles Ashe A'Court
August 1820					Henry Handley
1826					Henry Stafford Northcote
1830					Sir George Staunton
1832 United Kingdom general election, 1832 -Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807....	Constituency abolished

Notes

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