Wendover was a borough constituency of the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 of the Parliament of England

Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...

 then of the Parliament of Great Britain

Parliament of Great Britain

The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...

 from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

, and was considered a classic example of a pocket borough.

History

Wendover first sent members to Parliament in 1300, but after 1308, elected no burgesses for more than 300 years. However, in the 17th century a solicitor named William Hakewill

William Hakewill

-Life:Born in Exeter, Devon, son of John Hakewill and his wife Thomasine . Educated, according to Anthony Wood at Exeter College, Oxford , he later studied law at Lincoln's Inn....

, of Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

, rediscovered ancient writs confirming that Amersham

Amersham (UK Parliament constituency)

Amersham, often spelt as Agmondesham, was a constituency of the House of Commons of England until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832...

, Great Marlow

Great Marlow (UK Parliament constituency)

Great Marlow, sometimes simply called Marlow, was a parliamentary borough in Buckinghamshire. It elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons between 1301 and 1307, and again from 1624 until 1868, and then one member from 1868 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.-History:In the...

, and Wendover had all sent members to Parliament in the past, and succeeded in re-establishing their privileges (despite the opposition of James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

), so that they resumed electing members from the Parliament of 1624. Hakewill himself was elected for Amersham in 1624.

The borough consisted of most of the market town of Wendover

Wendover

Wendover is a market town that sits at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district...

 in Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

. It was one of the smallest boroughs in England: in 1831, the population of the borough was approximately 802, and contained 171 houses. (The whole town contained 198 houses). The right to vote was exercised by all inhabitant householders not receiving alms, which amounted to about 130 voters in 1831. Although this was a relatively large electorate for the time based on apparently democratic franchise, the borough and inhabitants were totally dependent on the Lord of the Manor

Lord of the Manor

The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...

, who was able to exercise considerable influence and sometimes total control over the choice of MPs. In the 17th century, this patronage lay with the Hampden family, but in 1720 Richard Hampden

Richard Hampden (1674-1728)

Richard Hampden PC was an English politician, the son of John Hampden.He sat for Wendover from 1701 to 1708, 1713 to 1714 and 1722 to 1728, and Buckinghamshire from 1708 to 1710, 1715 to 1722, and 1727 to 1728. In 1718, he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Treasurer of the Navy, an...

 apparently attempted to sell his interest in the borough to the government after losing £80,000 in the South Sea Bubble; what price he received for it, or whether the sale ever took place, is not recorded. By the 1750s, Wendover had passed to Earl Verney

Ralph Verney, 2nd Earl Verney

Ralph Verney, 2nd Earl Verney PC, FRS , styled Viscount Fermanagh between 1743 and 1752, was a British politician.-Background:...

, and Namier lists his power as only being one of influence rather than total control; but by 1832 the Smith family (headed by Lord Carrington

Baron Carrington

Baron Carrington is a title that has been created three times, once in the Peerage of England, once in the Peerage of Ireland and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1643 in favour of Sir Charles Smyth. Only a few days later he was created...

) seem to have been able to regard it as an absolutely secure pocket borough.

Wendover was abolished as a constituency by the Great Reform Act in 1832, those of its inhabitants who were qualified to vote under the new franchise doing so in the Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Buckinghamshire 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 1885.Its most prominent member was...

 county constituency.

Members of Parliament

Year	First member	Second member
1300	Thomas Niccolls	Egidius Wilson
1300	Walter de Kent	John de Sandwell
1300	Robert atte Hull	Elias de Broughton

• Constituency disenfranchised (1309)
• Constituency re-enfranchised (1624)

  Year	First member	Second member
  1624	John Hampden John Hampden John Hampden was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643) was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643)...	Alexander Unton
  1625		Richard Hampden
  1626		Sampson Darrell
  1628		Ralph Hawtree
  April 1640		Bennet Hoskyns Sir Bennet Hoskyns, 1st Baronet Sir Bennet Hoskyns, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1659.Hoskyns was the son of Mr Serjeant Hoskyns and his wife Benedicta Moyle, daughter of Robert Moyle of Buckwell, Kent...
  November 1640	Robert Croke Robert Croke Sir Robert Croke was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1640 and 1643.Croke was the son of Sir Henry Croke, of Hampton Poyle, Oxfordshire and his wife Bridget Hawtrey, daughter of Sir WIlliam Hawtrey of Chequers...  (Royalist) Disabled to sit, November 1643	Thomas Fountaine (Parliamentarian), Died 1646
  1645(?)	Richard Ingoldsby Richard Ingoldsby Colonel Sir Richard Ingoldsby was an English officer in the New Model Army during the English Civil War and a politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1647 and 1685...
  1646		Thomas Harrison
  Wendover was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector...  and the First First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....  and Second Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...  Parliaments of the Protectorate
  1659 Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons...	John Baldwin John Baldwin (MP) John Baldwin was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1659 and 1660.Baldwin was a gentleman porter of the Tower of London from 1645...	William Hampden

Year			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
		1660	Richard Hampden Richard Hampden Richard Hampden was an English Whig politician and son of John Hampden. He was sworn a Privy Counsellor in 1689 and was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 18 March 1690 until 10 May 1694....	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...	John Baldwin John Baldwin (MP) John Baldwin was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1659 and 1660.Baldwin was a gentleman porter of the Tower of London from 1645...
		1661			Robert Croke Robert Croke Sir Robert Croke was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1640 and 1643.Croke was the son of Sir Henry Croke, of Hampton Poyle, Oxfordshire and his wife Bridget Hawtrey, daughter of Sir WIlliam Hawtrey of Chequers...
		1673			Edward Backwell Edward Backwell Edward Backwell was an English goldsmith, financier, and politician. He has been called "the principal founder of the banking system in England", and "far and away the best documented banker of his time".-Life:...
		1673			Hon. Thomas Wharton Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton PC was an English nobleman and politician. He was the son of Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton and his second wife, Jane Goodwin, only daughter of Colonel Arthur Goodwin of Upper Winchendon, Buckinghamshire, and heiress to the extensive Goodwin estates in...	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
		1679			Edward Backwell Edward Backwell Edward Backwell was an English goldsmith, financier, and politician. He has been called "the principal founder of the banking system in England", and "far and away the best documented banker of his time".-Life:...
		1681	John Hampden John Hampden (1653-1696) John Hampden , the second son of Richard Hampden, returned to England after residing for about two years in France, and joined himself to Lord William Russell and Algernon Sidney and the party opposed to the arbitrary government of Charles II...
		1685	Richard Hampden Richard Hampden Richard Hampden was an English Whig politician and son of John Hampden. He was sworn a Privy Counsellor in 1689 and was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 18 March 1690 until 10 May 1694....		John Backwell John Backwell John Backwell was an English politician, the son of the financier Edward Backwell.In 1678, he married Elizabeth Tyringham, only daughter of Sir William Tyringham, by whom he had a son, Tyringham Blackwell. He inherited his father-in-law's estates in Buckinghamshire, and was twice returned for...
		1689			John Hampden John Hampden (1653-1696) John Hampden , the second son of Richard Hampden, returned to England after residing for about two years in France, and joined himself to Lord William Russell and Algernon Sidney and the party opposed to the arbitrary government of Charles II...
		1690	Richard Beke		John Backwell John Backwell John Backwell was an English politician, the son of the financier Edward Backwell.In 1678, he married Elizabeth Tyringham, only daughter of Sir William Tyringham, by whom he had a son, Tyringham Blackwell. He inherited his father-in-law's estates in Buckinghamshire, and was twice returned for...
		January 1701	Richard Hampden Richard Hampden (1674-1728) Richard Hampden PC was an English politician, the son of John Hampden.He sat for Wendover from 1701 to 1708, 1713 to 1714 and 1722 to 1728, and Buckinghamshire from 1708 to 1710, 1715 to 1722, and 1727 to 1728. In 1718, he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Treasurer of the Navy, an...
		November 1701			Richard Crawley
		July 1702			Sir Roger Hill
		November 1702			Richard Crawley
		1705			Sir Roger Hill
		1708	Thomas Ellys
		1709	Henry Grey Henry Grey (MP) Henry Grey was a British politician, born Henry Neville.The younger son of Richard Neville of Billingbear House in Berkshire and Katherine Grey, daughter of Ralph Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Werke, he changed his surname to Grey in 1707 to inherit the estates of his uncle Ralph Grey, 4th Baron Grey of...	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
		1713	Richard Hampden Richard Hampden (1674-1728) Richard Hampden PC was an English politician, the son of John Hampden.He sat for Wendover from 1701 to 1708, 1713 to 1714 and 1722 to 1728, and Buckinghamshire from 1708 to 1710, 1715 to 1722, and 1727 to 1728. In 1718, he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Treasurer of the Navy, an...
		1714	James Stanhope James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope PC was a British statesman and soldier who effectively served as Chief Minister between 1717 and 1721. He is probably best remembered for his service during War of the Spanish Succession...	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
		1715	Richard Grenville
		1722	Richard Hampden Richard Hampden (1674-1728) Richard Hampden PC was an English politician, the son of John Hampden.He sat for Wendover from 1701 to 1708, 1713 to 1714 and 1722 to 1728, and Buckinghamshire from 1708 to 1710, 1715 to 1722, and 1727 to 1728. In 1718, he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Treasurer of the Navy, an...		Sir Richard Steele Richard Steele Sir Richard Steele was an Irish writer and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine The Spectator....	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
		1727			The Viscount Limerick
		1728	John Hamilton
		1734	John Boteler		John Hampden
		1735	The Viscount Limerick
		1741 British general election, 1741 The British general election, 1741 returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707...	The Earl Verney Ralph Verney, 1st Earl Verney Ralph Verney, 1st Earl Verney , styled The Honourable from 1703 to 1717 and subsequently known as The Viscount Fermanagh until 1742, was an Irish peer and Tory politician.-Background:...	Tory
		1753	The Earl Verney Ralph Verney, 2nd Earl Verney Ralph Verney, 2nd Earl Verney PC, FRS , styled Viscount Fermanagh between 1743 and 1752, was a British politician.-Background:...	Tory
		1754			John Calvert
		1761	Richard Chandler-Cavendish		Verney Lovett
		1765			Edmund Burke Edmund Burke Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
		1768	Sir Robert Darling
		1770	Joseph Bullock
		October 1774			John Adams
		December 1774			Henry Drummond
		1775	Thomas Dummer Thomas Dummer Thomas Dummer was an English Member of Parliament for Newport , Yarmouth , Downton in Wiltshire , Wendover in Buckinghamshire and Lymington in Hampshire ....
		1780	Richard Smith		John Mansell Smith
		1784	Robert Burton		John Ord
		1790	John Barker Church John Barker Church John Barker Church was born in Lowestoft, England, befriended the cause of the American Revolution , was Commissary General of the French Army in America, and financially aided the new government. Returning to England after the war, he was elected a Member of Parliament...		Hon. Hugh Seymour-Conway
		1796	John Hiley Addington John Hiley Addington John Hiley Addington was a British Tory Party politician.-Background and education:Addington was the second son of Anthony Addington and his wife Mary, daughter of Haviland John Hiley. His older brother was Henry Addington, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and under whose...	Tory	George Canning George Canning George Canning PC, FRS was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister.-Early life: 1770–1793:...	Tory
		1802	Charles Long Charles Long, 1st Baron Farnborough Charles Long, 1st Baron Farnborough GCB PC PC FRS FSA was an English politician and connoisseur of the arts.-Early life:...	Tory	John Smith John Smith (Wendover MP) John Smith was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1806 to 1835 and a banker.He was the sixth son of Abel Smith, a Nottingham banker who was a Member of Parliament for Aldborough, St Ives, and St Germans, and the brother of Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington. He lived at...	Tory
		1806	Viscount Mahon Philip Henry Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope Philip Henry Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope FRS , was an English aristocrat, chiefly remembered for his role in the Kaspar Hauser case during the 1830s....	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...	George Smith	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
		1807	Francis Horner Francis Horner Francis Horner was a Scottish Whig MP for St. Ives in 1806, Wendover in 1807, and St. Mawes in 1812 ....	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
		1812	Abel Smith	Tory
		1818	Robert John Carrington Robert John Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington Robert John Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington was a baron in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He was the son of Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington....	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
		1820	Samuel Smith	Tory
		1830			Abel Smith	Tory