Monmouth was made the shire town of the new county which came into being in 1536 as a result of the Act of Union. The town was incorporated in 1549 and the government of the borough placed in the hands of a mayor and two bailiffs. It had long been a possession of the duchy of Lancaster. The leading local duchy offices, those of steward and receiver, were held throughout the Elizabethan period by the earls of Pembroke and by another branch of the powerful Herbert family.
Government of London in the sixteenth century was in the hands of the court of aldermen, composed of the lord mayor and his 25 fellow-aldermen, and the common council. In addition, the city had two sheriffs, who also served as sheriffs of Middlesex, a recorder, a chamberlain and other officials. The court of aldermen, dominated by the wealthier merchants, was virtually a self-perpetuating body. The 26 members—one lot each ward—normally held office for life.
The city of Westminster, composed of the parishes of St. Margaret and St. Martin-in-the-Fields, was beginning to lose its separate identity in the Elizabethan period: a continuous line of buildings along the Strand connected it with London. Many of its inhabitants were employed in the royal services or in various government offices. Municipal development had been limited, the dean and chapter of the collegiate church of St. Peter having inherited from the abbots the civil as well as ecclesiastical government of the city and its liberties.
The market town of Stamford, incorporated in 1462, was governed by an alderman and 12 comburgesses, assisted by 12 capital burgesses. Election procedure in the Elizabethan period remains obscure, but two of the four surviving returns contain the names of the alderman and of more than a score of burgesses—perhaps the members of the council. Only one name, that of Francis Harington in 1572, appears to have been inserted in a different hand. The surviving returns are those concerning 1559, 1572, 1597 and 1601 Parliaments.
As in other periods, Middlesex was a county open to court influence, though at times its Members could be strikingly independent. Some of them had estates there, others just qualified as residents, bearing in mind that Middlesex then included Westminster and much of what is now London.
The early municipal history of ‘the Queen’s Majesty’s town and borough of Great Grimsby’—the phrase comes from the 1584 election return—is uncertain. The surviving returns show that the MPs were chosen by the mayor and burgesses with their ‘whole and mutual assents and consents, voices and agreements’ but it is impossible to say how many were present at the elections.
The city of Lincoln, with a population of more than 2,000 in the middle of the sixteenth century, was a county in itself. It was governed by a mayor and 12 aldermen, constituting a self-perpetuating body usually known as the ‘inner chamber’: most of its members were merchants. There was also a common council of ‘discreet and honest persons’, chosen by the aldermen. The city had a recorder, usually elected from the local gentry, and two sheriffs.
By the beginning of this period Boston was in decline, the townsmen a ‘factious people imbued with a puritan spirit’. Its charter of 1545 provided for a mayor, 12 aldermen, 18 common councilmen, a recorder, town clerk and other officials. The recordership was honorary, a deputy performing the duties of the office. Sir William Cecil was recorder throughout this period until his death in 1598, when he was succeeded by his son Thomas, 2nd Lord Burghley.
In this period Grantham was governed by an alderman and 12 comburgesses. There was also a recordership held for much of the Elizabethan period by the Thorold family, who lived nearby. In a letter dated 1581 Anthony Thorold implied that he had held the position for many years and his father before him.
A place of considerable importance in the sixteenth century and ‘one of the ancientest and greatest towns’ belonging to the duchy of Lancaster—the description dates from 1587—Leicester was governed in Elizabeth’s reign by a close oligarchic corporation consisting of the mayor and aldermen (known as the 24) and 48 councilmen or comburgesses. The latter body, selected by the mayor and 24 from ‘the most wise and sad commons only’, represented the commonalty in municipal and parliamentary elections; they could be replaced ‘as often as seems necessary’.
