English MPs: Legislators and Servants of their Constituents, 1750–1800

Description

What was the role of elected legislators? Was it to represent the opinions of constituents or to vote according to their informed opinions reflecting the needs of the kingdom? Most authorities have accepted Edmund Burke’s depiction of 18th-century MPs, insisting it was their right to form their opinions without reference to the instructions of constituents. This study provides answers to these important questions and, in doing so, reveals that Burke’s vision does not represent how the House of Commons functioned during the last two decades of the 18th century. Rather than focusing on specific issues or demographic groups, English MPs brings to the fore the legislative activity of a broad segment of late 18th-century English MPs. This book shows they were diligent legislators who attended to the needs of constituents, in the process developing strong connections with them. It demonstrates that these connections did not rest on shared beliefs in reformist ideologies except in, and around, the metropolis. Instead, they grew out of the members’ timely and effective tending, session after session, to the host of measures brought forward by constituents and neighbours. McCahill explores, in fascinating detail, the consequences of this bond. In this book, McCahill draws from an impressive array of primary sources and secondary literature to combine a structural analysis with broad surveys and detailed case-studies. The result is an illuminating and a comprehensive account of the House of Commons between 1760 and 1790. Cover Halftitle page Title page Copyright page Contents Figures Tables Acknowledgements 1 MPs and Legislation in Late Eighteenth-Century Parliaments I: Methodology II: The Legislative Process III: Backbench MPs and General Measures IV: MPs’ Level of Legislative Activity V: Case Studies VI: Impact of Specific and Local Legislation VII: Motivations VIII: Conclusions 2 Knights of the Shire I: Active County Legislators II: Sir George Savile III: Active County MPs, 1780s IV: County MPs and General Legislation V: Complexity of Legislating VI: Conclusion 3 Contentious Constituencies: Plymouth, Kingston-upon-Hull, Bristol and their MPs I: Plymouth II: Hull III: Bristol IV: Bristol and its MPs V: Burke and Bristol VI: Bristol: 1780–90 VII: Conclusion 4 Successful and Less Significant Legislators: Blackstone, Newdigate and Windham I: William Blackstone II: Sir Roger Newdigate, 5th Bt. III: William Windham IV: Conclusion 5 Thomas Gilbert: Legislator Par Excellence I: Early General Reforms II: Political and Court Reforms III: Poor Law Reforms 6 Essex Imbroglios I: Essex Gaol Bill 7 Interest Groups: The West India Interest I: Lobbies – Background II: Early Development of the West India Interest: Structure and Composition III: The Interest’s Structure IV: West Indians in the Commons V: Extent of the Interest’s Influence VI: The Interest and the American War of Independence VII: The Interest in Decline 8 Lobbies: Birmingham, The Chamber of Manufacturers and the Fisheries I: Indirect Representation II: Canals III: The Birmingham Assay Office IV: Other Birmingham Issues, 1770s: America, Patents and Theatres V: Coal, Fustians and the Chamber VI: Chamber of Manufacturers VII: Disillusionment VIII: –Birmingham Conclusions IX: The Fisheries 9 Parliamentary Reform: Instructions and Representation I: Context II: State of Parliamentary Representation III: Reform Movements IV: Petitions V: Instructions VI: A House More Open to Democracy? VII: Other Modes of Communication 10 The Commons and the Lords: A Legislative Partnership? I: Constraints: Peers’ Electoral Interests II: Constraints: Lords’ and Commons’ Privileges III: Other Sources of Institutional Conflict IV: Co-ordination V: Legislative Friction VI: Commons’ Bills Lost in the Lords, 1754–90 VII: Conclusion 11 Conclusion I: MPs and Representation II: Smaller Constituencies and Representation Bibliography Index