Knight of the shire ( Latin : milites comitatus ) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons , from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 ended the practice of each county (or shire ) forming a single constituency . The corresponding titles for other MPs were burgess in a borough constituency (or citizen if the borough had city status ) and baron for a Cinque Ports constituency . Knights of the shire had more prestige than burgesses, and sitting burgesses often stood for election for the shire in the hope of increasing their standing in Parliament.
16-1511: William Lowther may refer to: Politicians [ edit ] William Lowther (died c.1421) , MP for Cumberland (UK Parliament constituency) William Lowther (MP for Appleby) , in 1420, MP for Appleby (UK Parliament constituency) Sir William Lowther (died 1688) (c. 1612–1688), Member of Parliament for Pontefract 1661–1679 Sir William Lowther (1639–1705) , Member of Parliament for Pontefract 1695–1698 Sir William Lowther, 1st Baronet, of Swillington (1663–1729), Member of Parliament for Pontefract 1701–1710 and 1716–1729 William Lowther (1668–1694) , Member of Parliament for Carlisle 1692–1694 Sir William Lowther, 1st Baronet, of Marske (1676–1705), Member of Parliament for Lancaster 1702–1705 Sir William Lowther, 2nd Baronet (c. 1694–1763), Member of Parliament for Pontefract 1729–1741 Sir William Lowther, 3rd Baronet (1727–1756), Member of Parliament for Cumberland 1755–1756 William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale (1757–1844), Member of Parliament for Carlisle, Cumberland and Rutland William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale (1787–1872), Member of Parliament for Cockermouth, Dunwich, West Cumberland and Westmorland William Lowther (diplomat) (1821–1912), Member of Parliament for Appleby 1885–1892 and Westmorland 1868–1885 Others [ edit ] Sir William Lowther, 1st Baronet, of Little Preston (1707–1788), English landowner and curate [REDACTED] Topics referred to by
32-636: A county had to have a forty-shilling freehold in that county in order to be a voter there. Over the course of time, authorities began to consider a great number of different types of property as forty-shilling freeholds . Subsequently, the residence requirement disappeared. Until the Representation of the People Act 1832 , each county continued to send two knights (apart from Yorkshire , which had its number of knights increased to four in 1826). How these knights were chosen varied from one county to
48-402: A spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings , which took place in the town of Cockermouth . The expense and difficulty of voting at only one location in the county, together with the lack of a secret ballot contributed to the corruption and intimidation of electors, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system. The expense, to candidates, of contested elections encouraged
64-606: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Cumberland (UK Parliament constituency) Cumberland is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency . It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It
80-470: Is probable that all free inhabitant householders voted and that the parliamentary qualification was, like that which compelled attendance in the county court , merely a 'resiance' or residence qualification." He goes on to explain why Parliament decided to legislate about the county franchise. "The Act of 1430," he said, "after declaring that elections had been crowded by many persons of low estate, and that confusion had thereby resulted, accordingly enacted that
96-573: The suffrage should be limited to persons qualified by a freehold of 40s". The Parliament of England legislated the new uniform county franchise, in the Electors of Knights of the Shires Act 1429 ( 8 Hen. 6 . c. 7). It was included as a recital in the Electors of Knights of the Shire Act 1432 ( 10 Hen. 6 . c. 2), which amended and re-enacted the 1430 law to make clear that the resident of
112-407: The 19th century; but by the 14th century men who were not knights were commonly elected. An act of Henry VI ( 23 Hen. 6 . c. 14) stipulated that those eligible for election were knights and "such notable esquires and gentlemen as have estates sufficient to be knights, and by no means of the degree of yeoman ". From Simon de Montfort's Parliament in 1265, each shire sent two knights, and
128-496: The following century, in 1341, Edward III split Parliament into its current bicameral structure, which includes the House of Commons and the House of Lords . It opted in 1376 to appoint Sir Peter de la Mare to convey to the Lords complaints about heavy taxes, demands for an accounting of the royal expenditures, and criticism of the king's management of the military. Although de la Mare was imprisoned for his actions, many recognised
144-511: The franchise , means that county and borough constituencies now differ only slightly, as to election expenses and their type of returning officer . The term "knight of the shire" has been used more recently in a tongue-in-cheek manner for senior Conservative Party backbenchers representing rural constituencies in England and Wales . The precursor to the English parliamentary system
160-531: The leading families of the county to agree on the candidates to be returned unopposed whenever possible. Contested county elections were therefore unusual. Election results taken from the History of Parliament Trust series. Knights of the Shire The name "knight of the shire" originally implied that the representative had to be a knight , and the writ of election referred to a belted knight until
176-621: The next and evolved over time. The 1832 Act increased the number of knights sent by some populous counties to as many as six. The term became obsolete due to the final destruction of counties mentioned by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 and widened structure of electorate in the Reform Act of 1884 (the Third Great Reform Act) , and in the Representation of the People Act 1918 . The term rapidly died out during
SECTION 10
#1732771863748192-422: The number was standard until 1826 when Yorkshire gained two additional knights after the disfranchisement of Grampound borough . Under the Representation of the People Act 1832 counties with larger populations sent more knights than smaller ones. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 split each multiple-seat shire into multiple single-seat divisions. This change, together with the concomitant standardisation of
208-408: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Lowther&oldid=514380163 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
224-618: The value of a single representative voice for the Commons. Accordingly, an office of Speaker of the House of Commons was created. Mare was soon released after the death of Edward III and became the Speaker of the House again in 1377. Before 1430, the franchise (electorate) for elections of knights of the shire was not restricted to forty-shilling freeholders . Discussing the original county franchise, historian Charles Seymour suggested, "It
240-491: Was a Magnum Concilium or great council, an advice chamber to the king consisting of peers , ecclesiastics, and knights of the shire (with the king summoning two of these from each county). In 1264, this council evolved to include representatives from the boroughs (burgesses), requiring that all members be elected ( Montfort's Parliament ). The parliament gained legislative powers in 1295 (the Model Parliament ). In
256-590: Was represented by two Knights of the Shire . It was divided between the constituencies of Cumberland East and Cumberland West in 1832. Mike Jenkinson, Conservative, served as the local MP in Workington from 2019 until the dissolution of parliament in 2024. Notes The county franchise, from 1430, was held by the adult male owners of freehold land valued at 40 shillings or more. Each elector had as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by
#747252