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Representatives of Devonshire in the Parliament Dissolved September 21st, 1710

In Miscellaneous Devonshire Gleanings, Part II, Trans. Devon. Assoc., 1875, Vol VII, pp. 72-73.

by W. Pengelly, FRS, etc.

Prepared by Michael Steer

Devon was a parliamentary constituency represented by two Knights of the Shire, in the House of Commons of England until 1707, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. Elections were held using the bloc vote system. Under the Reform Act 1832, it was split into two divisions, North Devon and South Devon, for the 1832 general election. The article, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

Representatives of Devonshire in the Parliament Dissolved September 21st, 1710. [There is in Colonel Morgan Clifford's Library a large printed sheet entitled] "The Whole and Exact Last of the Late Parliament, as well Scotch as English, Dissolv'd the 21st of September last 1710, wherein is Distinguish'd those who Voted for or against Dr. Henry Sacheverel; *******

Note, those with this mark [*] were for the Doctor, the rest against him."

[The following is the portion of the list appertaining to Devonshire.]

"DEVONSHIRE 26" [Members of the House of Commons]

[The County]*Sir William Courtenay, Bar.
 *Robert Rolle, Esq.
City of Exeter*Nicholas Wood, Esq.
 John Harris, Esq.
Borough of Totness*Sir Edward Seymour, Bar.
 *George Courtenay, Esq.
Borough of PlymouthSir George Bing, Kt.
 Hon. Charles Trelawny, Esq.
Town of OakehamptonJohn Dibble, Esq.
 William Harris, Esq.
Borough of Barnstable*Richard Ackland, Esq.
 *Nicholas Hooper, Esq. One of Her Majesty's Serjeants at Law.
Borough of PlymptonGeorge Treby, Esq.
 Richard Edgcomb, Esq.
Borough of Honiton*Sir Will. Drake, Kt. and Bar.
 Sir Walter Yonge, Bar.
Borough of TavestockSir John Cope, Jun. Kt.
 *Henry Manaton, Esq.
Burough of AshburtonRoger Tuckfield, Esq.
 Robert Balle, Esq.
Borough of Clifton Dartmouth 
Hardnes*Nathanel Heme, Esq.
 Frederick Heme, Esq.
Borough of BoralstonSpencer Cowper, Esq.
 Sir Peter King, Kt. Recorder of the City of London.
Borough of TivertonThomas Bere, Esq.
 *Richard Mervin, Esq.

[The total number of the Commons is given as 558. The following words occur at the foot of the page.]

*London: Printed, and Sold by A. Collins, at the Black-Boy, over-against St Dunstan's-Church, Fleet-street Price Two Pence." 1710.

[It is, perhaps, worthy of remark that M Sir George Bing," Member for Plymouth, was, according to Mr. Worth's list ("Hist, of Plym." p. 109), the "Hon. Sir G. Byng" in 1710. He represented Plymouth in successive Parliaments from 1705 to 1720.

Affixing " Esq." to names to which "Hon." is prefixed, as in the case of "Hon. Charles Trelawny, Esq.," appears not to have been unintentional or an oversight, as it occurs in 40 other instances in the case of "Hon." and 6 times in the case of "Rt. Hon." Indeed, the only exception is that of the "Hon. George Douglas," Member for the "Burgh of Linlithgow." The word "The," in a very few cases, precedes "Hon." and "Rt. Hon."

It will be observed that whilst Totness, Plymouth, &c., are called Boroughs, Oakehampton is called a Town. The following appear in the list under the latter designation : — Bedford, Buckingham, Cambridge, Derby, Pool, Leicester, Stamford, Lyn Regis, Great Yarmouth, Northampton, Brackley [Northamptonshire], Newcastle upon Tyne, Berwick upon Tweed, Nottingham, Newark upon Trent, Salop, Bishop-Castle, Southampton, Portsmouth, Kingston upon Hull, Bye, Winchelsea, Seaford, Brecon, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Caroavan, Denbigh, Flint, Cardiffe, Montgomery, Pembroke, Haverford West, and New Radnor. Indeed, Beaumaris is the only Welsh Borough in the list.

The only instances in which the names of places in Devonshire are not spelt as at present, are the following: — Oakehampton, Barnstable, Tavestock, and Boralston.

Considerable freedom is used in spelling the word Borough, for whilst the form just given is much more prevalent than any other, Ashburton is not the only instance of a Burough for the same orthography is employed for Melcomb-Regis and Ludlow, whilst Ilchester, Milbourn Port, Yarmouth, Petersfield, Newport alias Medena, Stockbridge, Newton (Southamptonshire), Christ-Church, Lymington, Whitchurch, and Andover are Borroughs; and Southwark is a Bourough.]