| Date | Candidate | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Jan. 1559 | WILLIAM DANIELL | |
| JOHN YOUNG II | ||
| 1562/63 | MICHAEL BLOUNT | |
| LEONARD DANNETT | ||
| 1571 | JOHN CORNWALL | |
| PHILIP GODWYN | ||
| 22 Apr. 1572 | NICHOLAS ST. JOHN | |
| JOHN STANHOPE | ||
| 9 Nov. 1584 | HENRY UGHTRED | |
| EDWARD STANHOPE II | ||
| 10 Oct. 1586 | EDWARD STANHOPE II | |
| EDMUND HUNGERFORD | ||
| 24 Oct. 1588 | RICHARD WHELER | |
| JOHN CORNWALL | ||
| 1593 | RICHARD WHELER | |
| ANTHONY HUNGERFORD | ||
| 3 Oct. 1597 | RICHARD DIGGES | |
| RICHARD WHELER | ||
| 5 Oct. 1601 | RICHARD DIGGES | |
| LAWRENCE HYDE II |
Most of the identified MPs for Marlborough were connected with Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, constable of the castle, master forester of Savernake forest and in James’s reign, high steward of the town. Among them was Hertford’s servant Lawrence Hyde (1601), uncle of the Earl of Clarendon. There are problems of identification over John Young II (1559) and Edmund Hungerford (1586). All that is known for certain about Hungerford is that he is described as of Marlborough on the return. Anthony Hungerford, of a Great Bedwyn family, was returned in 1593, so perhaps he and Edmund were related. William Daniell (1559) was also a local man (though connected with Hertford), and so were both the 1571 men, elected when Hertford was under arrest. One of them, John Cornwall, came in again in 1588. Richard Digges (1597, 1601) was a local lawyer, of counsel to the Marlborough corporation. All the remaining Marlborough MPs in this period may be considered Hertford’s nominees, which means that he brought in both Members in 1562/3, 1572, 1584 and one in 1586, 1588, 1593, 1597 and 1601.
Returns at parliamentary elections were made by the mayor and burgesses, said to have numbered about 100 by the reign of James I.
J Waylen, Marlborough, 60, 61, 73, 92, 111, 114, 127, 131; Wilts. Borough Recs. (Wilts. Arch. Soc. recs. br.), v. 35-37; C219/26/31.