Flintshire

Until the Union the small county of Flint had been partially dependent on the county palatine of Chester, and the ties between the two remained close throughout the century. After the 3rd Earl of Derby, who was lord of Caergwrle or Hope and other property in the shire, the most influential families were the Hanmers, Mostyns and Salusburys. Of the six knights for Flintshire all but George Wood belonged to, or were allied to, this interknit group of gentle families. Wood, who was an Inner Templar of Staffordshire origin, may have owed his return to his brother-in-law Richard Grosvenor of Cheshire; since no indenture survives for the election of 1547 there is a possibility that he entered Parliament at a by-election, perhaps during Grosvenor’s shrievalty late in 1551 or early in 1552. Robert Massey, although a kinsman of the Salusburys, presumably owed his Membership not so much to local affiliations as to Chancellor Gardiner whose servant he was: Gardiner could have worked through the agency of the Earl of Derby or the council in the marches. There is no evidence that the bishop of St. Asaph influenced the elections. Massey alone had experience of Parliament before being returned as knight, having sat for Flint Boroughs, and he sat for them again before being re-elected: John Conway and Peter Mostyn were elected for the Boroughs later.2Flints. Hist. Soc. Pub. i. 16; xiv. 22.

Elections took place at meetings of the county court at Flint. Indentures written in Latin survive for the Parliaments of 1545, 1553, 1554 and 1555. The contracting parties are the sheriff of Flintshire and between ten and 30 named electors, ‘and many other persons of the ... county’ or ‘with the consent of the whole county’. Conways, Hanmers and Mostyns, sometimes several of the same family, appear regularly as voters. The second indenture for 1554 bears the date 12 Nov., the day when Parliament opened, but states that the election was held at the first county court after the receipt of the writ; since this is dated 3 Oct., it must have been delayed on its way to Flint if it had not arrived in time for the October court. Several lordships, including St. Asaph, assigned to Denbighshire at the division of the shires were restored to Flintshire by Act in 1542 (33 Hen. VIII, c.11).3C219/ 18C/178, 20/189, 21/232, 22/133, 23/197, 24/239, 240.