Name Index

To

Devon County Members of Parliament, Part V. The Early Oligarchic Period (1688-1760)

Trans. Devon Assoc., vol. 48, (1916), pp. 320-340

by

J.J. Alexander

Prepared by Michael Steer

The paper was read at the Association’s July 26th, 1917 Barnstaple meeting.  The early oligarchic period in this series of papers focuses on Devon’s Members of Parliament during the reigns of the late Stuarts and early Hanoverians. This was a period when the monarch was no longer the most important element in the English constitution. In theory the king now ruled, not by right of inheritance, but by the will of the people, and in virtue of an implied contract with them. Therefore, the House of Commons, which was presumed to represent the people, and was entrusted with the enforcement of the contract, was the supreme authority. However, in practice the Lower House did not represent the people. It was usually controlled by a few dozen territorial magnates, of whom some were peers, and others were wealthy men who wanted titles; some were honest patriots, and others were greedy adventurers. These magnates possessed extensive patronage. Through their influence in the smaller boroughs they secured the return of members pledged to vote as they wished; and among unpledged members their following was augmented by money presents, gifts of appointments, and the allurements of social position. The paper is from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal that can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.