Brecon (UK Parliament constituency)

Brecon was a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors, from 1542 until it was abolished for the 1885 general election.

Brecon
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1542–1885
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Breconshire

Boundaries

From its first election in 1542 until some time before 1715, the constituency consisted of a number of boroughs within the historic county of Brecknockshire or Breconshire in Wales. From then until 1885 the seat represented the parliamentary borough of Brecon alone. The constituency should not be confused with the county constituency of Breconshire, which existed from the sixteenth century until 1918.

On the basis of information from several volumes of the History of Parliament, it is apparent that the history of the borough representation from Wales and Monmouthshire is more complicated than that of the English boroughs.

The Laws in Wales Act 1535 (26 Hen. VIII, c. 26) provided for a single borough seat for each of 11 of the 12 Welsh counties and Monmouthshire. The legislation was ambiguous as to which communities were enfranchised. The county towns were awarded a seat, but this in some fashion represented all the ancient boroughs of the county as the others were required to contribute to the members wages. It was not clear if the burgesses of the contributing boroughs could take part in the election. The only election under the original scheme was for the 1542 Parliament. It seems that only burgesses from the county towns actually took part. An Act of 1544 (35 Hen. VIII, c. 11) confirmed that the contributing boroughs could send representatives to take part in the election at the county town. As far as can be told from surviving indentures of returns, the degree to which the out boroughs participated varied, but by the end of the sixteenth century all the seats had some participation from them at some elections at least.

The original scheme was modified by later legislation and decisions of the House of Commons (which were sometimes made with no regard to precedent or evidence: for example in 1728 it was decided that only the freemen of the borough of Montgomery could participate in the election for that seat, thus disenfranchising the freemen of Llanidloes, Welshpool and Llanfyllin).

In the case of Breconshire, the county town and principal borough was Brecon. One ward of the principal borough was an exclave; namely Trecastle, in the township of Llywel eleven miles west of the main town. There is no evidence that any other boroughs in Breconshire actually took part in elections before 1597. The out boroughs then participating were Bulith (now known as Builth Wells), Crickhowel or Crickhowell, Hay (now Hay-on-Wye) and Telgarth or Talgarth.

At some point between 1603 and 1715 the out boroughs ceased to participate in elections for the constituency. Until 1727 all the freemen of Brecon formed the electorate, but in 1727 the House of Commons ruled that only the resident freemen could vote. There had been about 180 electors in 1723 and 1727, but only 69 in 1744 after the basis of the franchise had been changed. There were about 100 voters between 1754 and 1790.

Later history

When registration of electors and an additional householder franchise were introduced in 1832 Brecon, still based on the town of Brecon, had the smallest electorate in Wales with just 242 registered voters.

Brecon was little affected by the upsurge of radical politics in the 1860s apart from the one occasion in 1866 when Thomas Price, the prominent nonconformist minister, intervened in a by-election contest to compel the Liberal candidate, the Earl of Brecknock, to issue an address more strongly in favour of reform.[1]

Even after the extension of the franchise in 1868, the number of voters only increased to 814. This did, however, result in one of the most tumultuous elections in the history of the borough, which included torchlight procession and lively meetings at which speakers struggled to make themselves heard.[2] On the day of the election it was generally accepted that supporters of the Conservative candidate, Howel Gwyn, had been caught engaged in bribery.[3]

The unseating of Howel Gwyn by petition in April 1869 indicated how Brecon largely remained a closed borough, dominated by the politics of influence.

After 1885 Breconshire was represented in Parliament by the single member county constituency, which included all the boroughs at one time in the Brecon constituency.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1542-1640 — MPs 1640-1660 — MPs 1660-1885 — Elections — References

MPs 1542–1640

As there were sometimes significant gaps between Parliaments held in this period, the dates of first assembly and dissolution are given. Where the name of the member has not yet been ascertained or (before 1558) is not recorded in a surviving document, the entry unknown is entered in the table.

The Roman numerals after some names are those used in The House of Commons 1509–1558 to distinguish a member from another politician of the same name.

Elected	Assembled	Dissolved	Member	Note
1542	16 January 1542	28 March 1544	Edward Games
1545	23 November 1545	31 January 1547	Edward Games
1547	4 November 1547	15 April 1552	Edward Games
1553	1 March 1553	31 March 1553	Edward Games
1553	5 October 1553	5 December 1553	Edward Games
1554	2 April 1554	3 May 1554	Edward Games
1554	12 November 1554	16 January 1555	Meredith Games
1555	21 October 1555	9 December 1555	unknown
1558	20 January 1558	17 November 1558	William Aubrey[4]
1559	23 January 1559	8 May 1559	Roland Vaughan
1562/63	11 January 1563	2 January 1567	Sir Roger Vaughan
1571	2 April 1571	29 May 1571	Richard Price
1572	8 May 1572	19 April 1583	Walter Games
1584	23 November 1584	14 September 1585	David Williams
1586	13 October 1586	23 March 1587	David Williams
1588	4 February 1589	29 March 1589	David Williams
1593	18 February 1593	10 April 1593	Sir Matthew Morgan
1597	24 October 1597	9 February 1598	David Williams
1601	27 October 1601	19 December 1601	Henry Williams
1604	19 March 1604	9 February 1611	Sir Henry Williams
1614	5 April 1614	7 June 1614	Sir John Crompton
1620	16 January 1621	8 February 1622	Sir Walter Pye
12 January 1624	12 February 1624	27 March 1625	Sir Walter Pye
4 March 1625	17 May 1625	12 August 1625	Sir Walter Pye
12 January 1626	6 February 1626	15 June 1626	Sir Walter Pye	Elected to sit for Herefordshire
February 1626			Sir Humphrey Lynde
31 March 1628	17 March 1628	10 March 1629	Walter Pye (Royalist)
1640	13 April 1640	5 May 1640	Herbert Price

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MPs 1640–1660

This sub-section includes the Long Parliament and the Rump Parliament, together with the Parliaments of the Commonwealth and the Protectorate (before the Convention Parliament of 1660).

Elected	Assembled	Dissolved	Member	Note
1640	3 November 1640		Herbert Price	Long Parliament
...	1647	20 April 1653	Ludovic Lewis	Rump Parliament
...	4 July 1653	12 December 1653	unrepresented	Barebones Parliament
1654	3 September 1654	22 January 1655	unrepresented	First Protectorate Parliament
1656	17 September 1656	4 February 1658	unrepresented	Second Protectorate Parliament
1658/59	27 January 1659	22 April 1659	Samuel Wightwick	Third Protectorate Parliament
...	7 May 1659	20 February 1660	unknown	Rump Parliament restored
...	21 February 1660	16 March 1660	unknown	Long Parliament restored

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MPs 1660–1885

First Election		Member	Party	Note
	1660, c. April	Sir Henry Williams, Bt
	1661, April 26	Sir Herbert Price
	1678, February 14	Thomas Mansel
	1679, February 28	John Jeffreys
	1689, January 10	Thomas Morgan (of Dderw)	Whig	(1664–1700)
	1690, March 6	Jeffrey Jeffreys
	1698, July 25	Thomas Morgan (of Dderw)	Whig	(1664–1700) Also returned for Monmouthshire
	1701, January 17	Sir Jeffrey Jeffreys
	1709, November 28	Edward Jeffreys
	1713, September 11	Roger Jones
	1722, March 29	William Morgan		(1701–1731) Elected to sit for Monmouthshire
	1723, May 24	Thomas Morgan		(1702–1769)
	1734, May 1	Hon. John Talbot
	1754, April 15	Thomas Morgan (of Rhiwpera)		(1727–1771) Resigned to contest Monmouthshire
	1763, December 5	Charles Morgan		(1736–1787) Resigned to contest Breconshire
	1769, May 15	John Morgan		(1742–1792) Resigned to contest Monmouthshire
	1772, January 31	Charles Van		Died 3 April 1778
	1778, April 23	Sir Charles Gould		(1726–1806) Resigned to contest Breconshire
	1787, December 6	Sir Charles Morgan		(1760–1846) Elected to sit for Monmouthshire
	1796, November 2	Sir Robert Salusbury, Bt	Tory[5]
	1812, October 9	Charles Morgan	Whig[5]	(1792–1875)
	1818, June 20	George Gould Morgan	Tory[5]	(1794–1845)
	1830, August 3	Charles Morgan	Whig[5]	(1792–1875)
	1832, December 12	John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins	Whig[5][6][7]
	1835, January 6	Charles Morgan	Conservative[5]	(1792–1875)
	1847, August 3	John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins	Whig[5][6][7]
	1852, July 9	Charles Rodney Morgan	Conservative	(1828–1854) Died 14 January 1854
	1854, February 6	John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins	Whig[5][6][7]	Died 28 September 1865
	1859, April		Liberal
	1866, February 27	John Pratt	Liberal	Became the 3rd Marquess Camden
	1866, October 3	Howel Gwyn	Conservative	Election declared void on petition
	1869, April 24	Edward Villiers	Liberal	Became the 5th Earl of Clarendon
	1870, July 19	James Gwynne-Holford	Conservative
	1880, April 7	Cyril Flower	Liberal
1885		Constituency abolished

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Elections

Decades:

1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Brecon[5][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Charles Morgan	Unopposed
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1831: Brecon[5][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Charles Morgan	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 21
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Brecon[5][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins	110	51.4
	Tory	Charles Morgan	104	48.6
Majority			6	2.8
Turnout			214	88.4
Registered electors			242
	Whig hold

General election 1835: Brecon[5][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Charles Morgan	Unopposed
Registered electors			309
	Conservative gain from Whig

General election 1837: Brecon[5][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Charles Morgan	156	60.5
	Whig	John Lloyd	102	39.5
Majority			54	21.0
Turnout			258	76.1
Registered electors			339
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Brecon[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Rodney Morgan	Unopposed
Registered electors			331
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Brecon[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins	Unopposed
Registered electors			304
	Whig gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Brecon[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Rodney Morgan	159	56.6	New
	Whig	John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins	122	43.4	N/A
Majority			37	13.2	N/A
Turnout			281	83.6	N/A
Registered electors			336
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

Morgan's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 6 February 1854: Brecon[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins	Unopposed
	Whig gain from Conservative

General election 1857: Brecon[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins	Unopposed
Registered electors			323
	Whig gain from Conservative

General election 1859: Brecon[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins	Unopposed
Registered electors			302
	Liberal hold

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Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Brecon[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins	Unopposed
Registered electors			281
	Liberal hold

Watkins' death caused a by-election.

By-election, 27 Feb 1866: Brecon[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Pratt	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Pratt succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Marquess of Camden, causing a by-election.

By-election, 3 Oct 1866: Brecon[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Howel Gwyn	128	55.7	New
	Liberal	Alfred Spencer-Churchill[10]	102	44.3	N/A
Majority			26	11.4	N/A
Turnout			230	81.9	N/A
Registered electors			281
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: Brecon[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Howel Gwyn	372	51.0	N/A
	Liberal	Hugh Powell Price[11]	357	49.0	N/A
Majority			15	2.0	N/A
Turnout			729	89.6	N/A
Registered electors			814
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

The election was declared void on petition, causing a by-election.

1869 Brecon by-election[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Villiers	391	54.4	+5.4
	Conservative	Claud Hamilton	328	45.6	-5.4
Majority			63	8.8	N/A
Turnout			719	88.3	-1.3
Registered electors			814
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.4

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Elections in the 1870s

Villiers succeeded to the peerage, becoming Earl of Clarendon, causing a by-election.

1870 Brecon by-election[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Gwynne-Holford	372	52.4	+1.4
	Liberal	Hugh Powell Price[11]	338	47.6	-1.4
Majority			34	4.8	+2.8
Turnout			710	87.2	-2.4
Registered electors			814
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.4

General election 1874: Brecon[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Gwynne-Holford	374	51.4	+0.4
	Liberal	William Vaughan Morgan[12]	353	48.6	-0.4
Majority			21	2.8	+0.8
Turnout			727	86.2	-3.4
Registered electors			843
	Conservative hold		Swing

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Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Brecon[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Cyril Flower	438	53.6	+5.0
	Conservative	James Gwynne-Holford[13]	379	46.4	−5.0
Majority			59	7.2	N/A
Turnout			817	92.8	+6.6
Registered electors			880
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.0

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References

1. Price, Thomas (5 January 1866). "To the Independent Electors of the Borough of Brecon". Seren Cymru. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
2. "Brecon Borough Election. Meetings of the Liberal Party". Brecon County Times. 21 November 1868. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
3. "The Polling Day". Brecon County Times. 21 November 1868. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
4. Watkin, Thomas Glyn (January 2008). "Aubrey, William (c.1529–1595)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online edition, subscription required). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
5. Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 178–179. Retrieved 19 August 2018 – via Google Books.
6. Cragoe, Matthew (2004). Culture, Politics, and National Identity in Wales 1832-1886. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 58. ISBN 0-19-820754-9. Retrieved 19 August 2018 – via Google Books.
7. Ollivier, John (2007). "Alphabetical List of the House of Commons". Ollivier's parliamentary and political director, for the session 1848. p. 37. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
8. Escott, Margaret. "Brecon". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
9. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 498–499. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
10. "A Conservative Victory at Brecon". Derby Mercury. 10 October 1866. p. 6. Retrieved 28 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Brecon Boroughs". Western Daily Press. 9 July 1870. p. 3. Retrieved 28 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Brecon". South Wales Daily News. 29 January 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 28 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "Sir Stafford Northcote at Brecon". Western Mail. 27 November 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 18 December 2017.

Bibliography

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
• The House of Commons 1509–1558, by S.T. Bindoff (Secker & Warburg 1982)
• The House of Commons 1558–1603, by P.W. Hasler (HMSO 1981)
• The House of Commons 1715–1754, by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970)
• The House of Commons 1754–1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
• The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 5)