Surveys

Over the course of the early seventeenth century a silent and hitherto unnoticed revolution took place in respect of the Commons’ working arrangements.

Addressing the assembled electors for Cheshire in early February 1624 the county sheriff, Sir Richard Grosvenor, reminded his listeners that the task of choosing knights of the shire was a serious

Under the Tudors it was clearly understood that the right to manage the Commons, like the right of summons and dissolution, lay exclusively with the monarch.

Addressing the representatives of the Lords at a conference between both Houses in December 1601, Sir Robert Cecil declared that ‘we be all members of one body, and as we cannot be without your lor

Law-making was one of the prime functions of parliaments. Before the accession of James I, the future of parliamentary law-making seemed secure.

Speeches, like legislation and petitions, were the stuff of parliaments.

Unlike their Tudor counterparts, students of early Stuart parliaments have paid scant attention to the attendance of the Commons by its Members.

The Speaker

Ever since the middle of the sixteenth century the House of Commons had assembled in St. Stephen’s Chapel. Located in the heart of the medieval Palace of Westminster, St.

It is a point that deserves more attention than it has received that both James and Charles came to believe that the difficulties they experienced with their parliaments were attributable, i

Between 1604 and 1629 seven parliaments met, each of which was preceded by nationwide elections in more than 200 constituencies.

Few constituencies in the early seventeenth century had any difficulty in finding men ready and willing to stand for election.

Speaking at the start of the 1621 Parliament, with memories of the disastrous Addled Parliament clearly uppermost in his thoughts, James I reminded the assembled members of both Houses ‘what a Parl

List of abbreviations used in the notes to this volume

These volumes of the History contain biographies of the 1,754 Members who sat in the House of Commons between the opening of the first Jacobean Parliament in March 1604 and the dissolution

Military and Naval Men in the Commons

The Parliament of 1604-10

Barnham, Sir Francis

Godolphin, Sir William

Leveson, Sir Richard

Sammes, Sir John

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1628-1629

Date of writs of election: 31 Jan. 1628CD 1628, iv. 242, n. 56; C219/41A/1, nos. 23, 26.

Session dates:

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1626

Date of writs of election: 26 Dec. 1625Essex RO, D/B5 Gb3, f. 51v.

Session dates:

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1625

Date of writs of election: 2 Apr. 1625Essex RO, D/B5 Gb3, f. 44v.

Session dates:

The Parliament of 1624

Date of writs of election: 30 Dec. 1623C219/38/2, pt. 5, nos. 120, 126, 135, 141.

Session dates:

The Parliament of 1621

Date of writs of election: 13 Nov. 1620Stuart Royal Proclamations I, 493.

Session dates:

The Parliament of 1614

Date of writs of election: 19 Feb. 1614Procs. 1614 (Commons), 477-8.

Session dates:

The Parliament of 1604-1610

Date of writs of election: 31 Jan. 1604CJ, i. 140a.

Session dates:

Bibliography of Manuscript Sources

Scheme:

London repositories

United Kingdom repositories outside London

Borough repositories

Officers of the King’s Household with seats in the Commons

Merchant Members

Lawyer Members of the House of Commons

GI Gray’s Inn

IT Inner Temple

LI Lincoln’s Inn

MT Middle Temple

Members elected in 1628 who failed to pay the Forced Loan or refused to serve as Loan Commissioners

PC: summoned before the Privy Council to explain refusal

Officers of the Commons and Chairmen of standing committees

Speaker

Failed Candidates 1604-29

Principal Officeholders 1603-29