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Representatives in Parliament Parliament evolved over many years from the Saxon Witenagemot and the Norman Curia Regis which were groups of noblemen and churchmen who advised the Sovereign. until about 1240 when the term parliament came into use. All Shires were required to send Knights of the Shire to parliament although it still had advisory powers only. By 1265 an elected parliament was in place with freeholders with land valued at 40 shillings being entitled to vote for shire and borough representatives. By 1295 two parliaments were created called the model parliament - one for the Lords and Bishops and the other for Knights and Commoners. Over the next few hundred years Parliament grew in power taking more and more powers until it became the controlling force in the country. Parliaments were of no fixed length and so some ran for a few months and some for many years. Until 1700's there were no political parties although groups such as the puritans and cavaliers dominated various parliaments and set the agenda. Many of the people representing Maldon were ' carpetbaggers' ie they lived away from Maldon with no real local connections but bought some land or bought the freedom of the Borough to entitle them to stand. Many never even visited Maldon expect for polling day. Contested elections were often decided by the liberal amount of favours that candidates favoured on the small number of electors or of course influence brought to bear by the influential members of the community. In the 1826 election the votes of 3,200 freemen were polled despite the male adult population being 1,859. In 1852 the Parliamentary Commission reported that 'At Maldon the bribery oath was taken by all the electros without hesitation and merely added perjury to the political immorality of the inhabitants.' Returns for this election showed that the candidates expenses for drinks in the public houses at Maldon came to £5,000 with the cost of beer drink at Maldon and heybridge alone amounting to £2,150. Quentin Dick fought and won 3 elections during which he had spent £30,000 of gifts and a corrupt loan system where electors received loans in exchange for their votes. This system meant that the money was often recouped by advantages taken in London from being a MP and perhaps explains why a number of MP's were arrested for embezzlement and theft. East Essex is a major part of the Maldon Constituency which has had several names and constituency area but has always included the Town of Maldon and the East Essex area of the Dengie 100. Records are difficult to trace and so listed are some Members of Parliament for Maldon in the early years and a complete listing from 1885. From 1689 MP's often represented political parties although the alliance was less formal than the party politics system seen today. Robert Darcy 1416 , 1419, 1421 , 1422 , 1425, 1426, 1439, 1445 Resident of Rochford who bought a large amount of Land in Maldon Robert Darcy ( Junior) 1450 A Lancastrian during war of roses. He served as Sheriff of Essex and Herts Thomas Drakes 1466
James Wright - 1467 William Albon 1469 and 1472 Robert Harlesdon 1469 A Lancastrian who had his estates confiscated and was killed in 1471 William Tendring 1478 Robert Plomer 1483 and 1491 Lawyer and Royal servant John Chauncy 1491 Richard Tay 1529 Richard Payton 1529 Sir Walter Mildmay 1553 Chancellor of the Exchequer for Queen Elizabeth I Edward Lewkenor 1584, 1586,1593, 1604 An extreme Puritan who launched many attacks on the Church. One of these attacks was made outside the Houses of Parliament where he no longer held parliamentary priveledge for which Lewkenor was sent to the Tower for a short period. William Wyseman 1601 Sir Julius Ceaser 1620 Master of the Rolls Sir Henry Mildmay 1625,1628, 1640 In 1620 was appointed Keeper of the Kings Jewel House. He was a Royalist although became a Parliamentarian by 1640 and in 1649 was one of the Judges for Charles I trial. In 1661 when the return of Charles II was due he was asked to account for the Kings Jewels but was unable to do so and fled to France. This was a failure as he was arrested at Rye and brought to the tower where he was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1664 this was varied to transportation to Tangier but he died in transit. Sir William Masham 1626 Sent to Marchelsea Prison with his father in law Sir Frannces barrington for opposing the funds required by Charles I Sir Thomas Checke 1626 Sir John Clotworthy 1640 Was arrested in 1647 for embezzleing funds from parliament and spent 3 years in prison Sir John Bramston 1678 , 1685 Chairman of many parliamentary committees Sir Thomas Darcy 1685 Charles Montague 1689 Whig The son of the Earl of Manchester . Montague was Lord of the Traesury, Chancellor of the Exchequor. He bacame Earl of Halifax. John Bullock 1698 Whig Samuel Tufnell 1715 Robert Colebrooke 1741,1747,1754 Whig John Bullock ( Junior) 1754,1761,1768 Whig John Huske 1763, 1768 Huske was an American from Boston who came to live in England in 1748. He fled to France to avaoid arrest for defrauding Mr Townsend of £30,000. Eliab Harvey 1780 Was Captain of the 'Temeraire 'in the Battle of Trafalgar. John Strutt 1784,1790 Tory Lived at Terling Place Drigue Billers Olmius 1784, the second Baron Waltham John Holden Strutt 1790 Tory Represented Maldon for 40 years George Mark Arthur Allanson Winn 1826 Tory Thomas Barrett Lennard 1826, 1830,1831 Whig Quintin Dick 1830,1831, 1837 Tory John Round 1837 Tory Edward Bentall 1868 George Sandford 1874 George Courtauld 1883 Liberal In 1885 there was a redistribution of seats. The two seats at Maldon Borough and the Essex County representation were discontinued and replaced with a Parlimentary Constituency of Maldom with one seat. Arthur Kitching 1885-1886 Liberal Charles Gray 1886-1892 Conservative Cyril Dodd 1892-1895 Liberal Charles Hedley-Strutt 1895-1906 Conservative Chairman of Essex Quarter Sessions Thomas Bethell 1906-1910 Liberal Sir James Fortescue Flannery 1910-1922 Conservative Flannery was a famous engineer of his time. He was born in Liverpool but moved south on marriage. Major E Ruggles-Brise 1922-1923 Conservative Ruggles Brise was a landowner in the Finchingfield area. He served in the First World War with distinction being awareded the Legion D'Honneur. Valentine Crittall 1923 -1924 Liberal A member of the Crittall family of buisnessmen. Valentine designed the model village of Silver End to act as a home for men working in his factory. Major E Ruggles Brise 1924-1944 Conservative During this period Ruggles-Brise was promoted to Colonel Tom Driberg 1944-1955 Labour A journalist who became a leading Labour Party thinker. He lived at Bradwell Lodge and took the title Baron Bradwell . On losing his Maldon seat he became MP for West Ham. Obtained notoriety for his casual approach to his homosexuality. Brian (Alistair) Harrison 1955-1970 Conservative Born in Australia with a distinguished war service . Came to the UK in 1948 In 1983 the constituency boundary was changed to be Colchester south and Maldon John Wakeham 1970-1992 Conservative A leading Conservative under the Margaret Thatcher Government . His wife was killed and he was badly injured in the IRA Brighton bombing .Now Lord Wakeham In 1997 the constituency boundary was changed to be Maldon and East Chelmsford John Whittingdale 1992 - current Conservative
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