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Bletchingley
Borough
Available from Boydell and Brewer
Elections
Date | Candidate |
---|---|
1558/9 | JOHN BRACE 1 |
WILLIAM PORTER 2 | |
1562/3 | JOHN COKER |
JOHN ELSEDON | |
1571 | ROWLAND MAYLARD |
RICHARD BOSTOCK | |
24 Apr. 1572 | THOMAS BROWNE |
HENRY KENRICK | |
1 Nov. 1579 | RICHARD BOSTOCK vice Kenrick, deceased |
1584 | RICHARD BOSTOCK 3 |
JOHN COX 4 | |
1586 | (SIR) THOMAS BROWNE |
JOHN COX | |
4 Nov. 1588 | RICHARD BOSTOCK |
JOHN COX | |
1593 | JULIUS CAESAR |
STEPHEN RIDDLESDEN | |
12 Oct. 1597 | CHARLES HOWARD II |
JOHN TREVOR | |
25 Nov. 1597 | SIR RICHARD TREVOR vice Howard, chose to sit for Surrey |
11 Oct. 1601 | JOHN TURNER |
BOSTOCK FULLER |
Main Article
Bletchingley formed part of the possessions of Sir Thomas Cawarden, who died in 1559. It was sold by his executors in 1560 to William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham, in whose family it remained for the rest of this period.5
Neither of the 1559 MPs had obvious connexions with the borough. However, John Brace, a London Exchequer official, may have owed his return either to Roger Alford, a fellow Exchequer official, or to Henry Polsted†, a former MP for the borough, while William Porter, a Lincolnshire lawyer, may have had a London connexion with Cawarden, the borough owner. Neither of the 1563 MPs (John Coker and John Elsedon) has been identified. From 1571 onwards Howard influence dominated parliamentary elections at Bletchingley. Rowland Maylard (1571) was a servant of the Howard family as also was John Cox (1584, 1586, 1589). The and Baron Howard held the office of lord high admiral from 1585 and as such was responsible for the return of Julius Caesar (1593), an Admiralty judge and Stephen Riddlesden (1593), an Admiralty official. John Trevor (1597) was Howard’s secretary and later surveyor of the navy. Trevor’s brother, Sir Richard, replaced Charles Howard II, Lord Howard’s younger son, when he chose to sit for the county.
Richard Bostock (1571, 1581, 1584, 1589) was a local man on good terms with the Howards. His nephew and heir, Bostock Fuller, was returned in 1601 also with Howard approval. Thomas Browne (1572, 1586), who lived in Betchworth castle nearby, and John Turner (1601), a local man with property in the borough, also no doubt depended on Howard goodwill to secure their seats.
The remaining MP, Henry Kenrick (1572) has not been identified.