Background Information
Constituency business
Date Candidate Votes
2 Jan. 1559 SIR WILLIAM BRERETON I
SIR RALPH LEYCESTER
28 Dec. 1562 SIR THOMAS VENABLES
WILLIAM MASSEY
1571 GEORGE CALVERLEY
THOMAS STANLEY
5 May 1572 SIR GEORGE CALVERLEY
WILLIAM BOOTH 1Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.
1584 THOMAS EGERTON I 2Browne Willis
HUGH CHOLMONDELEY 3Ibid.
3 Oct. 1586 THOMAS EGERTON I
JOHN SAVAGE
1588/89 SIR GEORGE BEESTON
JOHN SAVAGE
1593 THOMAS HOLCROFT II
JOHN DONE
1597 SIR WILLIAM BRERETON II 4Folger V. b. 298.
THOMAS EGERTON II 5Ibid.
1601 SIR PETER LEGH
THOMAS HOLCROFT II
Main Article

The chamberlain of Cheshire (the county palatine of Chester) was responsible for conveying the election writ to the sheriff. During this period the chamberlain were the 3rd Earl of Derby (1559-65), the Earl of Leicester (1565-88), the 4th Earl of Derby (1588-93) and Lord Keeper Egerton (1593-1603). They do not appear to have exercised undue influence on the county elections, which followed the usual pattern of the period, with the leading landowning families taking their turn as knights of the shire. The only exception was Thomas Egerton I, whose elections for Cheshire in 1584 and 1586 are attributable to his position as solicitor-general, his connexions with the 4th Earl of Derby and his interests in the county. No evidence of a by-election has been found following William Booth’s death in 1579.

Author
Notes
  • 1. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.
  • 2. Browne Willis
  • 3. Ibid.
  • 4. Folger V. b. 298.
  • 5. Ibid.