Jump to content

Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hertfordshire
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
CountyHertfordshire
1290–1885
Seats1290–1832: Two
1832–1885: Three
Replaced byHertford
St Albans
Hitchin
Watford

Hertfordshire was a county constituency covering the county of Hertfordshire in England. It returned two Knights of the Shire to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain until 1800, and to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1832. The Reform Act 1832 gave the county a third seat with effect from the 1832 general election.

Elections were held using the bloc vote system, when contested. However, even after the 1832 reforms, contested elections were the exception: of the 17 elections from 1832 to 1880, 9 were uncontested, including the 1880 general election. In such cases all the nominated candidates were returned without a vote.[1]

History

[edit]

The constituency consisted of the historic county of Hertfordshire. (Although Hertfordshire contained two boroughs, Hertford and St Albans, each of which elected two MPs in its own right, these were not excluded from the county constituency, and owning property within the borough could confer a vote at the county election.)

As in other county constituencies the franchise between 1430 and 1832 was defined by the Forty Shilling Freeholder Act, which gave the right to vote to every man who possessed freehold property within the county valued at £2 or more per year for the purposes of land tax; it was not necessary for the freeholder to occupy his land, nor even in later years to be resident in the county at all.

Except during the period of the Commonwealth, Hertfordshire has two MPs elected by the bloc vote method, under which each voter had two votes. In the nominated Barebones Parliament, two members represented Hertfordshire. In the First and Second Parliaments of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate, however, there was a general redistribution of seats and Hertfordshire elected five members, while each of the boroughs had their representation reduced to a single MP. The traditional arrangements were restored from 1659.

General character of the constituency before the Reform Act

[edit]

At the time of the Great Reform Act in 1832, Hertfordshire had a population of approximately 143,000, and was entirely agricultural in character, although there was a limited urban vote: at the election of 1805, when 2628 votes were cast, four towns (St Albans, Bishops Stortford, Ware and Hitchin) provided more than 100 votes each though none provided more than 160.

Elections were held at a single polling place, Hertford, and voters from the rest of the county had to travel to the county town to exercise their franchise; but in a physically small county like Hertfordshire, with good roads, this was less prohibitively expensive than in some others. (It was normal for voters to expect the candidates for whom they voted to meet their expenses in travelling to the poll, making the cost of a contested election substantial in many counties. Even in Hertfordshire, it was reported that accommodation and entertainment for the voters at the county meeting in September 1774 cost the candidates £4,000; and that was merely a meeting to discuss the candidates and see if consensus could be reached without the need for a contest – the cost of the poll the following month, that in the end could not be averted, was on top of this.)

Contested elections were relatively frequent (there were contests at 13 of the 28 general elections between 1701 and 1831), and were often vigorously fought – the voters valued their independence, and at least from the middle of the 18th century no landed interests had much influence over them, although fifty years earlier the local gentry reckoned to return one of the two MPs without opposition.

The by-election of 1805

[edit]

Peter Jupp includes in his collection of documents relating to elections round the turn of the 19th century a contemporary account of the Hertfordshire by-election, written by one of the candidates, William Baker, which gives a vivid picture of electioneering in the county at this period. The election was a straight fight between Baker and Hon. Thomas Brand to fill the vacancy left by the death of Hon. Peniston Lamb; Baker had been the county's MP until three years previously, and was backed by Pitt and his government, while Brand had particular support among the religious dissenters.

Baker's campaign took the form of a personal canvass of the voters, by visiting every town and village of any size in the county, if possible on market day: Hertford on the 26th; Ware on the 28th; then Watton; Stevenage; Hitchin and Baldock on the same day; and so through the whole of Hertfordshire in two weeks, over snow-bound roads with even the high road between St Albans and Berkhamsted barely passable in places. He travelled mostly on horseback, his carriage "attending me as it could at intervals by the great roads, and meeting me at the places where I was to sleep". In most of the county he had already pledges of solid support (he records that at Stevenage he had "nothing to do but go round... and thank the voters for their promises already made in my favour to their Rector"), and where possible in each place he was met by the local magnates who joined him in his canvassing to demonstrate their support.

The informality of the election itself seems strange today. After the candidates had made their final speeches at Hertford, the Sheriff took a show of hands and could have ended the proceedings there and then, had the candidates been content; but, Brand demanding the poll that was his right everybody proceeded to the hustings. Voting thus began around one in the afternoon. The poll was continued on the second day, the arrangement being that voting would be from eight o'clock until three, but ended as soon as Brand admitted defeat, some half-an-hour before the agreed deadline. By this time Baker had 1,556 votes and Brand only 1,076, and plainly he felt he had too few supporters unpolled to have any hope of making up the deficit.

The election ended in typically rumbustious fashion. Baker having been declared the victor, his supporters celebrated by chairing their candidate round the town, but

"Wilshere's coachman... had the insolence to drive his master's carriage full speed through the crowd at the time of chairing, to the risk of the lives of hundreds. Providentially, however, no person was materially injured. Brand made an apology to me afterwards by letter for the outrage, and Wilshere, though not at my desire, has since turned the servant away..."
- Letter of William Baker to his son, 22 February 1805, in Hertfordshire County Records Office, quoted by Jupp, op cit

After the Reform Act

[edit]

In 1832, the Great Reform Act increased the county's representation from two to three MPs (a change that had not been in the original Reform Bill of 1830 but was adopted the following year), as well as making minor boundary changes. (One parish, Coleshill, was transferred to Buckinghamshire.) The extension of the franchise to tenants-at-will, copyholders and leaseholders increased the electorate a little, but the 4,245 electors registered in 1832 was not much higher than the 4,000 qualified voters who have been estimated for 1754. However, the electorate grew by almost half over the next thirty years, and the extension of the franchise in 1868 increased the electorate still further, to more than 9,000.

Abolition

[edit]

The borough of St Albans was disenfranchised for corruption in 1852 and the borough of Hertford was reduced to single-member representation by the 1867 Reform Act. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the borough of Hertford ceased to exist, and the county of Hertfordshire was divided into four new single-member constituencies: the Mid or St Albans division of Hertfordshire, the Eastern or Hertford division, the Northern or Hitchin division and the Western or Watford division.

Members of Parliament

[edit]

MPs 1290–1640

[edit]
Parliament First member Second member
1294 Roger Bryan
1296 Roger Bryan
1306 Ranulph de Monte Canisto
1312, 1337, 1349 Sir Phillip de Peletot[2]
1377 (Jan) Sir Walter Lee[3]
1379 Sir Walter Lee[3]
1380 (Jan) Sir Walter Lee[3]
1380 (Nov) Sir Walter Lee[3]
1381 Sir Walter Lee[3]
1384 Sir Edward Benstede
1385 Sir Walter Lee[3]
1386 Sir Walter Lee Thomas Lee[4]
1388 (February) Sir Walter Lee Sir Robert Turk[4]
1388 (September) Sir Walter Lee Sir Robert Turk[4]
1390 (January) Sir Walter Lee Sir John Thornbury[4]
1390 (November) Sir Walter Lee John Ruggewyn[4]
1391 John Norbury Sir John Thornbury[4]
1393 Sir Robert Turk John Ruggewyn[4]
1394 Richard de la Pantry John Ruggewyn[4]
1395 Sir Thomas Morewell John Ruggewyn[4]
1397 (January) Sir Edward Benstede John Ruggewyn[4]
1397 (September) Sir Edward Benstede John Ruggewyn[4]
1399 Sir Edward Benstede John Ludwick[4]
1401 Sir Thomas de la Barre Robert Newport[4]
1402 Sir Edward Benstede Sir Robert Corbet[4]
1404 (January) Sir John Poultney Sir Robert Corbet[4]
1404 (October) Sir John Poultney William Parker[4]
1406 Sir John Poultney John Goldington[4]
1407 William Parker Sir Thomas de la Barre[4]
1410
1411 Sir Thomas de la Barre Robert Newport[4]
1413 (February)
1413 (May) John Hotoft John Leventhorpe[4]
1414 (April) John Hotoft William Flete{[4]
1414 (November) John Hotoft William Flete[4]
1415
1416 (March) John Hotoft John Leventhorpe[4]
1416 (October)
1417 Sir Philip Thornbury John Hotoft[4]
1419 John Fray John Hotoft[4]
1420 John Fray John Barley[4]
1421 (May) Robert Louthe William Rokesburgh[4]
1421 (December) Sir Philip Thornbury John Kirby[4]
1422 John Leventhorpe John Hotoft
1427 Sir John Tyrell
1435 Thomas Broket
1439 Sir John Cressy
1447 John Troutbeck
1449 Sir Robert Wingfield
October 1450 Sir William Oldhall
March 1453 John Say Bartholemew Halley
April 1453 John Say Bartholemew Halley
February 1454 John Say Bartholemew Halley
1463 Sir John Say
1467 Sir John Say
1472 Sir John Say
January 1478 Sir John Say John Sturgeon
1491 Sir William Say
1495 Sir William Say
1510–1523 No names known[5]
1529 Henry Barley Philip Butler[5]
1536
1539 Sir Henry Parker Sir Philip Butler[5]
1542 Sir Ralph Sadler Edward Brocket or John Brocket, snr[5]
1545 Sir Richard Lee John Cock[5]
1547 Sir Anthony Denny, died
and repl. October 1549 by Sir Henry Parker, died
and repl. January 1552 by John Cock		 Sir Ralph Rowlett[5]
1553 (Mar) Sir Ralph Sadler John Cock[5]
1553 (Oct) Sir John Butler Sir John Brocket, snr[5]
1554 (Apr) John Cock Francis Southwell[5]
1554 (Nov) John Cock Edward Brocket[5]
1555 Sir John Brocket, snr John Cock[5]
1558 John Foster John Purvey[5]
1559 (Jan) Sir Thomas Parry Sir Ralph Sadler[6]
1562–3 Sir Ralph Sadler Henry Capell[6]
1571 Sir Ralph Sadler Sir George Carey[6]
1572 (Apr) Sir Ralph Sadler Sir John Brocket, jnr [6]
1584 (Nov) Sir Ralph Sadler Sir Henry Cocke[6]
1586 (Oct) Sir Ralph Sadler Sir Henry Cocke[6]
1588 (Oct) Robert Cecil Sir Philip Butler[6]
1593 Sir Robert Cecil Sir Henry Cocke[6]
1597 (Sep) Sir Robert Cecil Rowland Lytton[6]
1601 (Oct) Sir Robert Cecil Sir Henry Cary[6]
1604 Sir Henry Cary Rowland Lytton
1614 Sir Henry Carey Ralph Coningsby
1621 Sir Henry Cary[7] Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet
1624 Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet Sir William Lytton
1625 John Boteler Sir John Boteler
1626 Sir Thomas Dacres
1628 Sir William Lytton Sir Thomas Dacres
1629–1640 No Parliament summoned

MPs 1640–1653

[edit]
Year First member First party Second member Second party
April 1640 Arthur Capel Royalist Sir William Lytton
November 1640 Sir William Lytton Parliamentarian
August 1641 Sir Thomas Dacres Parliamentarian
December 1648 Dacres and Lytton excluded in Pride's Purge – both seats vacant
1653 Henry Lawrence William Reeve

MPs 1654–1658

[edit]
First Protectorate Parliament: representation increased to 5 members
Year First member Second member Third member Fourth member Fifth member
1654 Henry Lawrence Sir Richard Lucy, Bt John Wittewrong The Earl of Salisbury Thomas Nicholl
1656 Sir John Gore Rowland Lytton

MPs 1659–1832

[edit]
Third Protectorate Parliament: representation reverted to 2 members
Year First member First party Second member Second party
January 1659 Richard Galston Rowland Lytton
May 1659 Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660 Henry Caesar Rowland Lytton
1661 Sir Richard Franklin Sir Thomas Fanshawe
1666 Sir Henry Caesar
1668 Viscount Cranborne
1669 William Hale
February 1679 Silius Titus
August 1679 Sir Jonathan Keate Sir Charles Caesar
1681 William Hale
1685 Ralph Freman Thomas Halsey
1689 Sir Thomas Blount Sir Charles Caesar
1690 Ralph Freman
1695 Thomas Halsey
1697 Ralph Freman, junior
1705 Sir John Spencer, Bt
1708 Thomas Halsey
1715 Sir Thomas Sebright, Bt
1727 Charles Caesar Tory
1734 William Plumer Whig
1736 Charles Caesar Tory
1741 Jacob Houblon Tory Charles Gore Tory
1747 Paggen Hale
1755 William Plumer Whig
1761 Thomas Plumer Byde Jacob Houblon Tory
1768 William Plumer Thomas Halsey
1784 The Viscount Grimston
1790 Whig[8] William Baker Whig[8]
1802 Hon. Peniston Lamb Whig[8]
1805 William Baker Tory[8]
1807 Hon. Thomas Brand Whig[8] Sir John Sebright, Bt Whig[8]
1819 Hon. William Lamb Whig[8]
1826 Nicolson Calvert Whig[8]
1832 Representation increased to three members
The head and shoulders of a middle-aged man, wearing a brown jacket and a black top.
William Lamb, MP for Hertfordshire 1819–1826 and Prime Minister of the UK 1835–1841 as Viscount Melbourne, leading from the House of Lords

MPs 1832–1885

[edit]
Election First member First party Second member Second party Third member Third party
1832 Sir John Sebright, Bt Whig[8][9] Nicolson Calvert Whig[8][9] Viscount Grimston Tory[8]
1834 Conservative[8]
1835 Abel Smith, senior Conservative[8] Rowland Alston Whig[8][10][11]
1841 Hon. Granville Ryder Conservative[8]
1846 by-election Thomas Plumer Halsey Conservative
1847 Sir Henry Meux, Bt Conservative Thomas Brand[12] Whig[13][14]
1852 Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Bt Conservative
1854 by-election Abel Smith, junior Conservative
1857 Christopher William Puller Whig[15][16]
1859 Abel Smith, junior Conservative Liberal
1864 by-election Henry Surtees Conservative
1865 Hon. Henry Cowper Liberal
1866 by-election Abel Smith, junior Conservative
1868 Henry Brand Liberal
1874 Frederick Halsey Conservative
1885 Constituency abolished

Election results

[edit]

Elections in the 1830s

[edit]
General election 1830: Hertfordshire (2 seats)[8][17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig John Sebright Unopposed
Whig Nicolson Calvert Unopposed
Registered electors c. 4,000
Whig hold
Whig hold
General election 1831: Hertfordshire (2 seats)[8][17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig John Sebright Unopposed
Whig Nicolson Calvert Unopposed
Registered electors c. 4,000
Whig hold
Whig hold
General election 1832: Hertfordshire (3 seats)[8][18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig John Sebright 2,154 25.7
Whig Nicolson Calvert 2,141 25.6
Tory James Grimston 2,074 24.8
Whig Rowland Alston 2,007 24.0
Turnout 3,845 90.6
Registered electors 4,245
Majority 67 0.8
Whig hold
Whig hold
Majority 67 0.8
Tory win (new seat)
General election 1835: Hertfordshire (3 seats)[8][18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Rowland Alston Unopposed
Conservative James Grimston Unopposed
Conservative Abel Smith, Sr. Unopposed
Registered electors 4,520
Whig hold
Conservative hold
Conservative gain from Whig
General election 1837: Hertfordshire (3 seats)[8][18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Rowland Alston Unopposed
Conservative James Grimston Unopposed
Conservative Abel Smith, Sr. Unopposed
Registered electors 5,137
Whig hold
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

[edit]
General election 1841: Hertfordshire (3 seats)[18][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Grimston 2,585 27.5 N/A
Conservative Granville Ryder 2,552 27.2 N/A
Conservative Abel Smith, Sr. 2,525 26.9 N/A
Whig Rowland Alston 1,732 18.4 N/A
Majority 793 8.5 N/A
Turnout 3,845 71.1 N/A
Registered electors 5,409
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative gain from Whig Swing N/A

Grimston succeeded to the peerage, becoming 2nd Earl of Verulam and causing a by-election.

By-election, 8 January 1846: Hertfordshire[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Plumer Halsey Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1847: Hertfordshire (3 seats)[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Plumer Halsey Unopposed
Conservative Henry Meux Unopposed
Whig Thomas Brand Unopposed
Registered electors 5,591
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
Whig gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1850s

[edit]
General election 1852: Hertfordshire (3 seats)[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Plumer Halsey 2,225 17.9 N/A
Conservative Henry Meux 2,219 17.8 N/A
Conservative Edward Bulwer-Lytton 2,190 17.6 N/A
Whig Thomas Trevor 2,043 16.4 N/A
Whig Christopher William Puller 1,890 15.2 N/A
Whig George Jacob Bosanquet [19] 1,868 15.0 N/A
Majority 147 1.2 N/A
Turnout 4,145 (est) 71.7 (est) N/A
Registered electors 5,779
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative gain from Whig Swing N/A

Halsey's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 24 May 1854: Hertfordshire[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Abel Smith jnr. 2,205 50.6 −2.7
Whig Christopher William Puller 2,151 49.4 +2.8
Majority 54 1.2 0.0
Turnout 4,356 75.7 +4.0
Registered electors 5,752
Conservative hold Swing −2.8
General election 1857: Hertfordshire (3 seats)[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Meux Unopposed
Conservative Edward Bulwer-Lytton Unopposed
Whig Christopher William Puller Unopposed
Registered electors 6,061
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
Whig gain from Conservative

Bulwer-Lytton was appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 8 June 1858: Hertfordshire[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Bulwer-Lytton Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1859: Hertfordshire (3 seats)[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Abel Smith jnr. Unopposed
Conservative Edward Bulwer-Lytton Unopposed
Liberal Christopher William Giles-Puller Unopposed
Registered electors 6,190
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

[edit]

Puller's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 14 March 1864: Hertfordshire (1 seat)[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Henry Surtees 2,274 52.9 N/A
Liberal Henry Cowper 2,026 47.1 N/A
Majority 248 5.8 N/A
Turnout 4,300 74.9 N/A
Registered electors 5,742
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing N/A
General election 1865: Hertfordshire (3 seats)[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Cowper 2,537 25.5 N/A
Conservative Edward Bulwer-Lytton 2,485 25.0 N/A
Conservative Henry Surtees 2,478 24.9 N/A
Conservative Abel Smith 2,447 24.6 N/A
Majority 52 0.5 N/A
Turnout 5,007 (est) 80.4 (est) N/A
Registered electors 6,228
Liberal hold Swing N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A

Bulwer-Lytton was elevated to the peerage, becoming Lord Lytton and causing a by-election.

By-election, 23 July 1866: Hertfordshire (1 seat)[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Abel Smith Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1868: Hertfordshire (3 seats)[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Cowper 3,693 26.2 +13.4
Liberal Henry Brand 3,625 25.8 +13.0
Conservative Abel Smith 3,396 24.1 −0.5
Conservative Henry Surtees 3,356 23.9 −1.0
Majority 229 1.7 +1.2
Turnout 7,035 (est) 74.7 (est) −5.7
Registered electors 9,423
Liberal hold Swing +3.6
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +3.5
Conservative hold Swing −6.9

Elections in the 1870s

[edit]
General election 1874: Hertfordshire (3 seats)[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Frederick Halsey 4,499 30.1 +6.2
Conservative Abel Smith 4,498 30.1 +6.0
Liberal Henry Cowper 2,974 19.9 −6.3
Liberal Henry Brand 2,964 19.8 −6.0
Majority 1,524 10.2 N/A
Turnout 7,468 (est) 76.1 (est) +1.4
Registered electors 9,809
Conservative hold Swing +3.1
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +3.0
Liberal hold Swing −6.2

Elections in the 1880s

[edit]
General election 1880: Hertfordshire (3 seats)[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Henry Cowper Unopposed
Conservative Frederick Halsey Unopposed
Conservative Abel Smith Unopposed
Registered electors 10,050
Liberal hold
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

References

[edit]

Notes

  1. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 398–399. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
  2. ^ Andrews, William Frampton (1903). Memorial brasses in Hertfordshire churches. Harvard University. Ware : G. Price; London : E. Stock.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "LEE, Sir Walter (c.1350–1395), of Albury, Herts". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "History of Parliament". Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "History of Parliament". Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "History of Parliament". Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  7. ^ Knighted 1616|| created The Viscount Falkland (in the Peerage of Scotland), November 1620
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844–1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 144–145. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
  9. ^ a b "The Latest Intelligence". Newcastle Journal. 17 January 1835. p. 2. Retrieved 10 May 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. p. 15.
  11. ^ Hall, Catherine; Draper, Nicholas; McClelland, Keith; Donington, Katie; Lang, Rachel, eds. (2014). Legacies of British Slave-ownership: Colonial Slavery and the Formation of Victorian Britain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 289. ISBN 978-1-107-04005-2.
  12. ^ Later adopted the surname Trevor
  13. ^ "London Daily News". 29 July 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ "The Hertfordshire Election". Herts Guardian, Agricultural Journal, and General Advertiser. 24 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ^ "Bucks Chronicle and Bucks Gazette". 20 May 1854. p. 4. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. ^ "Nominations". Morning Chronicle. 1 April 1857. p. 6. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ^ a b Fisher, David R. "Hertfordshire". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 398–399. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  19. ^ "To the Electors of the County of Hertford". Hertford Mercury and Reformer. 3 July 1852. p. 1. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  • D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
  • John Cannon, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973)
  • Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) [1]
  • F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
  • Peter Jupp, British and Irish Elections 1784–1831 (Newton Abbott: David & Charles, 1973)
  • Lewis Namier & John Brooke, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754–1790 (London: HMSO, 1964)
  • J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
  • J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Reform 1640–1832 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
  • Robert Walcott, English Politics in the Early Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1956)
  • British History Online – Parliamentary papers
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hertfordshire_(UK_Parliament_constituency)&oldid=1234618998"