Buckingham

Borough

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Elections

DateCandidate
1558/9ROBERT DRURY 1
 WILLIAM RISELEY 2
1562/3ROBERT NEWDIGATE I
 PAUL WENTWORTH
1571ROBERT NEWDIGATE I
 THOMAS WENMAN
1572HENRY CAREY
 LAWRENCE HOLINSHED
1584MICHAEL HARCOURT
 JOHN CAREY
1586JOHN FORTESCUE I
 CHRISTOPHER EDMONDS
1588/9JOHN CAREY
 FRANCIS FORTESCUE
1593JOHN CAREY
 FRANCIS FORTESCUE
10 Oct. 1597(SIR) EDWARD [recte EDMUND] CAREY3
 FRANCIS FORTESCUE
15 Oct. 1601CHRISTOPHER HATTON II
 ROBERT NEWDIGATE II

Main Article

In this period Buckingham was governed by 12 principal burgesses, a bailiff and a steward, in accordance with the charter of incorporation granted to the town in 1554. The corporation chose John Fortescue I of Salden as steward by 1584. The electorate consisted of the bailiff and the capital burgesses. The Carey family, former lords of the manor of Buckingham, maintained a residual interest in the borough, and exercised the dominant patronage there, securing one seat in each Parliament except that of 1559 for their family or followers. Carey influence was no doubt behind the returns of the Robert Newdigates I and II, father and son, Robert Newdigate I being a follower of (Sir) Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, whose three sons were also returned for Buckingham. Another influential family was that of the Fortescues of Salden. John Fortescue I was steward of the borough when he took the senior seat in 1586, and a Privy Councillor by 1589, when his son was returned for the borough. Francis Fortescue sat again in 1593 and 1597. It is likely that John Fortescue I also secured the return of Christopher Hatton II. Of the remaining seven MPs five were returned through their local standing (Robert Drury, William Riseley, Paul Wentworth, Thomas Wenman and Michael Harcourt). Lawrence Holinshed (1572) was a follower of Lord Grey of Whaddon, near Buckingham, and Christopher Edmonds (1586) was an Oxfordshire gentleman, having no known connexion with the borough.4

Authors: R.C.G. / M.A.P.

Notes

  • 1. E371/402(1).
  • 2. Ibid.
  • 3. Folger V. b. 298.
  • 4. VCH Bucks. iii. 471, 476, 477, 479, 481; Buckingham recs., corp. bk.