At the beginning of Elizabeth’s reign the leading county families in Pembrokeshire were divided into factions supporting either Sir John Perrot of Haroldston or William Philipps of Picton in their long-standing feud. However, despite violent clashes in London between Philipps and Perrot, and a contested borough election at Haverfordwest, there is no evidence of a contested county election in this period.
Edward Herbert I of Montgomery castle was unquestionably the most powerful figure in the county at the beginning of the reign and the representation of the shire was entirely in his hands. He himself monopolized the county seat in the first three Parliaments and then nominated his fellow deputy lieutenant and brother-in-law, John Price II, in 1572, his son and heir, Richard Herbert I, in 1584 and a close associate, Oliver Lloyd of Leighton, in 1586.
During the earlier part of this period the parliamentary representation of Merioneth was largely in the hands of Ellis Price, the Earl of Leicester’s agent, who, however, sat once only for the county, in 1563. The 1559 MP was John Wyn ap Cadwaladr of Rhiwlas, his nephew. In 1571 his influence was challenged by an opposing faction who put up Price’s old enemy John Salesbury.
The representation of Flintshire during this period was in the hands of a group of leading county families related to one another by marriage. Although several of the MPs were related to such powerful patrons as the earls of Derby and Thomas Egerton I, the lord keeper, there is no hint of any outside interference in the county elections.
Traditionally Denbighshire was split into west and east, a fact recognized by the Act of Union which stipulated that county day should be held alternately at Denbigh and Wrexham, the capital towns of the two areas. Similarly, west and east had each its own deputy lieutenant and coroner. However, like the rest of the Welsh counties, Denbighshire returned only one knight of the shire to Parliament.
Carmarthen, the setting for the county and borough parliamentary elections in the Elizabethan period, was the administrative, financial and judicial centre for South Wales. A flourishing shire town with more than a thousand inhabitants at the beginning of the seventeenth century, it was incorporated in 1546 and governed by a mayor, two bailiffs, twenty councilmen and a recorder.J. E. Lloyd, Carm. ii. 13-17; HMC Hatfield, xii. 168; W. Wales Hist. Soc. viii. 4, 14-16.
The leading family in Elizabethan Carmarthenshire was that of Jones of Abermarlais, members of which represented the county in five Parliaments during this period. Next in the county hierarchy came the Vaughans of Golden Grove, who were to supersede the Jones family in the next century. Three Vaughans represented the county in Parliament. Walter Vaughan came in at a by-election in 1576, succeeding to his father’s parliamentary seat as well as his estates. Walter Rice (1584) of Newton, from an old and well-connected Carmarthenshire family, was Walter Vaughan’s brother-in-law.
The county court met alternately at Cardigan and at Aberystwyth.The representation of Cardiganshire was virtually monopolized during Elizabeth’s reign by the Price family of Gogerddan. John Price I, j.p., custos rotulorum and member of the council in the marches of Wales, sat in three successive Parliaments. His son Richard Price II, succeeded him in 1584 and sat in the Parliament of that year while still in his twenties. He succeeded to all his father’s offices and became deputy lieutenant of Cardiganshire in 1597.
During Elizabeth’s reign the Wynns of Gwydir were the leading family in Caernarvonshire and three members of the family took county seats. Despite the difference in surname, Maurice Wynn (1563) and John Gwynne II (1572) were brothers. Maurice, as eldest son of John Wynn ap Meredydd, had succeeded to the Gwydir estates in 1559, while John had left Wales to make his future in Cambridge and London, where he settled.
County representation in Breconshire was monopolized during this period by the Vaughans of Porthaml and their relatives. Sir Roger Vaughan, the head of this branch of the family, took the county seat in 1559, but gave his son the opportunity to sit for the shire in 1563. When Rowland Vaughan died before the second session of the Parliament, he was replaced by Matthew Arundell from Dorset. Although Arundell had no obvious connexion with either Breconshire or the Vaughans. the most likely explanation for his return lies in a court connexion with the family.
