Haverfordwest

Single Member Borough

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Background Information

Right of Election:

in the freeholders, freemen, and inhabitants paying scot and lot

Number of voters:

about 500

Elections

DateCandidate
29 Apr. 1754William Edwardes
2 Apr. 1761William Edwardes
22 Mar. 1768William Edwardes
17 Oct. 1774William Edwardes
19 Sept. 1780William Edwardes, Baron Kensington
6 Apr. 1784Richard Philipps, Baron Milford
6 Feb. 1786Lord Kensington vice Milford, vacated his seat

Main Article

Two interests were dominant in Haverfordwest: those of the Edwardes family of Johnston and of the Philipps family of Picton Castle. But it was generally understood between them that William Edwardes should be allowed to represent the borough, in return for supporting the Philipps family in the county. This arrangement broke down in 1784 when Lord Milford, defeated in Pembrokeshire, canvassed Haverfordwest; and forced Lord Kensington (as Edwardes had become) to decline. When Milford vacated his seat in 1786 in order to stand for the county, Kensington came in again for Haverfordwest.

Author: Peter D.G. Thomas

Notes