Commons 1660-1690

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By caroline, 25 May, 2010

1661

<p style="text-align: justify;">The ‘Cavalier’ Parliament – so-called because of the predominance of royalist MPs elected to it – was to last without intermission from 1661 until 1679. Although initially the Commons could be described as a ‘house of courtiers’ giving solid support to the King’s administration, by 1667 a stern body of critics had emerged among them.

By caroline, 25 May, 2010

1660

<p style="text-align: justify;">On 16 Mar. 1660 the Long Parliament dissolved itself having ordered the issue of writs for the election of a new parliament. It had become clear that the increasingly unstable republican regime could no longer provide stability and security, and left no option but to attempt a restoration of the monarchy. The assembly which met on 25 Apr. and lasted until the end of the year is invariably described as a ‘Convention’ rather than a Parliament, having not been summoned by royal authority.

Sources

As in other sections of the History one footnote only (if necessary) has been attached to each paragraph of the text, and many standard sources are not cited at all. What follows is a guide to works frequently used, not a complete bibliography.

Appendix IX: Franchises and Contested Elections

In 1660 there were 52 counties and 215 parliamentary boroughs, returning a total of 507 Members. The 39 English counties (Durham had not yet been enfranchised) each returned two MPs, the 12 Welsh counties one Member each. The 12 Welsh boroughs were all single-Member constituencies, as were five English ones (Abingdon, Banbury, Bewdley, Higham Ferrers and Monmouth). Two constituencies, London and the linked boroughs of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, returned four Members. Durham County and city were enfranchised by Act of Parliament in 1673, and Newark by royal charter in the same year.

Appendix VIII: Malefactors and Lunatics

Many Members fell foul of the authorities at some point in their careers and only the more spectacular misdeeds can be mentioned here. A number of MPs killed opponents in duels: Sir Thomas Armstrong (later executed for complicity in the Rye House Plot); the Hon. Henry Bulkeley, who had already acquired a conviction for manslaughter before crossing swords with Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory (fortunately without fatal results); Richard Coote and Roger Kirkby, who both killed fellow-officers; and Sir Jonathan Jennings.

Appendix VII: MPs and the Commissions of the Peace

Immediately before the Restoration, commissions were issued for all the ‘counties, cities, towns and liberties within England and Wales as they were approved of and allowed by the late Parliament after the readmission of the secluded Members’A Perfect List of all Such Persons ... [as] are now Confirmed... to be Justices of the Peace ... Very few men whose names had been on the previous commission were left off, but a large number were appointed, many of whom must have been known to have favoured a restoration.

Appendix IV: Chairmen of the Committees of Supply and Ways and Means

During this period the modern system of passing financial measures through the Commons became standard practice. Committees of the whole House were instructed first to recommend the total sum to be raised (supply) and then to propose how it should be raised (ways and means). But it was not until the succeeding period that it became necessary for the Government to approach the House for supply in every session, and that the chairmen of the two committees held office continuously.

Commons 1660-1690