Oxfordshire

Polls survive in the municipal records for all the elections in this period except the last, and reveal the intense political activity in Oxford. Most successful candidates were nearby residents who had close ties with the city. In 1660 Oxford returned Lord Falkland, son of the royalist secretary of state, and an obscure Presbyterian resident, James Huxley, against the corporation candidates, Richard Croke, the deputy recorder, and John Nixon, one of the aldermen who had sat as a recruiter in the Long Parliament.

Edward Atkyns and Sir Thomas Spencer, both local residents and moderate Royalists in 1660, were returned to the Convention. Although Atkyns ‘gave unto this borough the first bell of the ring here, which cost £27’, he lost his seat to Sir William Fleetwood, the ranger of Woodstock Park, in 1661. The corporation was purged in 1662 and a new charter granted on 23 Aug. 1664, under which crown sanction was required for the appointment of high steward, recorder and town clerk.

The freemen of Banbury claimed the franchise in this period on only one occasion, and though the assistants were reckoned part of the corporation they voted only at mayoral elections. On this narrow franchise the borough showed little sign of its notorious Puritanism in its representation, though John Fiennes was reported elected in 1660.

This borough was incorporated by a charter of 1453 as ‘the mayor and commonalty of the vill of New Woodstock’; only one official other than the mayor, a serjeant-at-mace, was mentioned in the charter. Orders made by the corporation for ‘the quiet and civil government’ of the town in 1580 reveal that by then there were also a high steward, six aldermen (from among whom the mayor had to be chosen) and twenty common councilmen. Parliamentary returns were made by ‘the mayor and commonalty’, and the indenture was occasionally signed by the mayor.A. Ballard, Chrons.

The town of Oxford, granted the title of city in 1546, was governed by a mayor, two bailiffs and a council consisting of four aldermen, the past bailiffs and twenty-four common councilmen elected for life by the whole body of freemen or ‘hanasters’. By 1558 there had appeared an inner council of thirteen ‘associates’ or ‘assistants’ to the mayor. Parliamentary returns were made by ‘the mayor, bailiffs and commonalty’, under which description the city received incorporation in 1605.

Banbury, a single Member constituency, was governed by a bailiff, 12 aldermen and 12 capital burgesses, and parliamentary returns were made by ‘the bailiff, aldermen and burgesses’. The names of the Elizabethan high stewards, if any, have not been found, but the 1608 charter appointed William Knollys to that office.

Oxford, which received its first charter in 1156, was constituted a city in November 1546. At this time municipal authority was exercised by a mayor and two bailiffs, with two chamberlains who were chosen from among 24 common councilmen, and by a number of lesser officials: four aldermen formed an inner council with the mayor and were joined by eight assistants to the mayor in 1554. The customs of Oxford resembled those of the city of London, and its mayor, who was elected annually on the Monday before St.

New Woodstock was incorporated in 1453, when it was granted similar liberties to those of New Windsor but was expressly exempted from the obligation ‘to choose any burgesses from the borough to come to the King’s Parliaments’, although it had done so at least twice in the early 14th century: according to a local historian the charter, with the same concession, was confirmed in 1552. A mayor and a serjeant-at-mace were the only officials mentioned in 1453 but by 1519 there were also four aldermen and 13 councilmen.

Banbury owed its importance to a bridge across the river Cherwell, which divided Oxfordshire from Northamptonshire, and to a castle built there by the bishops of Lincoln. The population has been estimated at about 1,000 at the beginning of Edward VI’s reign, when a chantry certificate recorded that 460 inhabitants were of age to receive the eucharist: in 1549 12 townsmen were assessed for subsidy.Leland, Itin. ed. Smith, ii. 38; A. Beesley, Banbury, 211; E179/162/276.

In the last quarter of the 14th century Oxford was easily the biggest and most important town in the middle Thames valley and of the surrounding counties, with a lay population twice the size of that of Reading or Newbury, and rather larger than that of Gloucester. Besides making use of links afforded by the waterway, it also developed as a major route centre for overland traffic, having good communications with London, Bristol, Southampton, Leicester, Worcester and, very easy of access, the Cotswold wool towns.