Government of London in the sixteenth century was in the hands of the court of aldermen, composed of the lord mayor and his 25 fellow-aldermen, and the common council. In addition, the city had two sheriffs, who also served as sheriffs of Middlesex, a recorder, a chamberlain and other officials. The court of aldermen, dominated by the wealthier merchants, was virtually a self-perpetuating body. The 26 members—one lot each ward—normally held office for life.
As in other periods, Middlesex was a county open to court influence, though at times its Members could be strikingly independent. Some of them had estates there, others just qualified as residents, bearing in mind that Middlesex then included Westminster and much of what is now London.
The Members for Lincolnshire in this period were a mixture of courtiers and country gentlemen. Sir William Cecil, just appointed secretary, was elected to the senior seat in the first two Parliaments of the reign, choosing, however, to represent Northamptonshire in 1563. He was replaced by another courtier, Thomas Heneage, who had lands in Lincolnshire, and Essex, and represented both counties in Parliament; he was again returned for Lincolnshire in 1571 and 1572. Cecil’s heir Sir Thomas was elected senior knight of the shire in 1584 and 1586.
Leicestershire was an English county dominated to a degree unparalleled in this period by one family. Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon (1560-95) was lord lieutenant and his two brothers, Sir George Hastings and Francis Hastings I, his deputies. Nine out of the available 20 seats were taken by members of the Hastings family, which thrice (1584, 1586, 1597) monopolized the county representation. This supremacy was challenged only once, at the last election in this period, in the following circumstances.
The earls of Derby held the lord lieutenancy of Lancashire without a break from 1559 to 1594. The county election writ, instead of being sent direct to the sheriff, went via the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. Thus both the earls of Derby and the chancellors of the duchy had the opportunity to influence Lancashire elections. In practice neither exerted much patronage, though consultation was expected. Without exception the Lancashire MPs were landed gentry resident in the county.
Throughout the Elizabethan period, Kent was represented by members of the leading county families. Sir Richard Sackville of Westenhanger, elected for both Kent and Sussex, chose to sit for Sussex and was replaced in Kent by Sir Thomas Kempe of Wye at a by-election on 6 Feb. 1559. The senior knight, Sir Anthony St. Leger of Leeds Castle, died before the end of the 1559 session but no evidence of a by-election to replace him has been found. From then until 1584 the Sidney family dominated the electoral scene in Kent, taking a seat in four successive Parliaments.
During this period, Huntingdonshire county elections were dominated by the owners of three great estates, Leighton Bromswold, Hinchingbrooke and Kimbolton. In 1559 Sir Robert Tyrwhitt of Leighton Bromswold was elected without opposition since Kimbolton was in the hands of a minor and Hinchingbrooke was owned by the Cromwellalias Williams family, recent additions to the county. Tyrwhitt had already represented the shire in 1554. Simon Throckmorton of Brampton took the junior seat.
Throughout this period the senior Hertfordshire seat was monopolized by courtiers, and only three of the junior knights (Henry Capell I, John Brocket and Sir Philip Butler) can be regarded as independent. Sir George Carey and Henry Carey were to succeed to peerages; Henry Cocke obtained the lucrative office of cofferer of the Household in 1597; Rowland Lytton followed ‘his father in an hereditary dependence on’ the Cecils, eventually becoming captain of the gentlemen pensioners.
Herefordshire was represented by county landowning families throughout Elizabeth’s reign. Parliamentary elections were dominated by the Crofts of Croft Castle and the Coningsbys of Hampton Court, families of outstanding local importance. Humphrey Coningsby I, who had represented the county in 1553, was elected in 1559 along with Robert Whitney of Whitney. Coningsby died a month before the 1559 Parliament ended, but no evidence of a by-election has been found.
There was a strong conservative strain in Hampshire in accord with the lead it received from its principal nobleman, William Paulet, Marquess of Winchester. This famous statesman was in his seventies at the time of Elizabeth’s accession. A superlative administrator, he served four successive sovereigns, and for 22 years, until his death in 1572, was lord treasurer of England, accommodating himself with easy flexibility to the political and religious changes of those dangerous years.
