Bishop's Castle was a borough constituency in Shropshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The market town of Bishop's Castle became a parliamentary borough in 1584 and was a constituency of the House of Commons of England until 1707, of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two burgesses.
The historian Lewis Namier claimed that in the middle of the eighteenth century it was the one notoriously corrupt parliamentary borough in Shropshire. It was abolished under the Reform Act 1832.
Members of Parliament
MPs 1584–1660 ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1584 Thomas Jukes John Cole 1586 Charles Walcot Thomas Darrell 1588 Charles Walcot Alexander King 1593 Francis Beavans Alexander King 1597 Hayward Townsend Edmund Baynham 1601 Hayward Townsend Alexander King 1604 William Twyneho Samuel Lewknor 1614 Edward LittletonChristopher W. Brooks, ‘Littleton, Edward, Baron Littleton (1589–1645)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004|| online edn, Jan 2008 Thomas Hitchcock 1621 Francis Roberts Gilbert Cornwall 1624 Sir Robert Howard Richard Oakeley 1625 William Oakeley Edward Waring 1626 William Oakeley Edward Waring 1628 Sir Robert Howard Sir Edward Fox 1629–1640No Parliaments summoned 1640 (Apr) Sir Robert Howard Richard Moor 1640 (Nov) Sir Robert Howard Richard Moor 1645 Isaiah Thomas John Corbet 1648 Isaiah Thomas John Corbet 1653Bishop's Castle not represented in Barebones Parliament 1654 Bishop's Castle not represented in 1st Protectorate Parliament 1656Bishop's Castle not represented in 2nd Protectorate Parliament 1659 Samuel More William Oakeley
MPs 1660–1832 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party 1660William Oakeley Edmund Waring 1679Richard Scriven 1681Sir Richard Mason Richard More 1685Edmund Waring Francis Charlton 1689Richard More Walter Waring Mr. 1690William Oakeley Richard Mason May 1690Walter Waring Mr. 1695Richard More Oct. 1695Charles Mason 1698Sir William Brownlow Jan. 1701George Walcot Nov. 1701Henry Brett 1706Henry Newport Whig 1708Richard Harnage Charles Mason 1710Sir Robert Raymond 1715Charles Mason 1719Sir Matthew Decker 1722William Peere Williams Bowater Vernon 1726Charles Mason 1727Robert More John Plumptre 1734Edward Kynaston 1741Henry Brydges Andrew Hill 1744Granville Leveson-Gower 1747Samuel Child John Robinson Lytton 1753John Dashwood-King 1754Barnaby Backwell 1755Walter Waring 1759Henry Grenville 1761Francis Child Peregrine Cust 1763George Clive 1768William Clive 1770Alexander Wedderburn 1774Henry Strachey 1778Alexander Wedderburn 1779William Clive 1780Henry Strachey 1802John Robinson 1819Douglas Kinnaird 1820William Holmes ToryEdward Rogers Tory1830Frederick Hamilton Cornewall Tory1831James Knight-Bruce Tory
Constituency abolished / disenfranchised (1832)
Election results Elections in the 1830s
See also Parliamentary constituencies in Shropshire#Historical constituencies List of former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies Unreformed House of Commons
References