Exeter's Members of Parliament

Page added 24 November 2009

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Exeter has had Member's of Parliament representing the City from way before 1660, which is the starting point of this list. This page is based on the list that appears in Leigh Rayment's Peerage Website. Before 1885, the City had two MPs, who often owed their election to the purchase of votes. In the election of 1790, Bamfylde paid out £8,000, Baring £10,000 and Buller £16,000 – Buller's cash-book indicates that £12,000 was distributed to the landlord of the Three Cranes in Milk Street, while another £4,000 went to the landlords of the Swan Tavern, Valiant Soldier, Bull Inn, the London Inn and the Bristol Inn, who no doubt offered liquid inducements to the roughly 1,500 electorate.

Before the 1832 Reform Act, the franchise consisted of Freemen of the city – after the Act, the franchise was extended to include owners of land worth more than £10 and certain long-term lease holders. In 1867 the franchise was extended to all male householders. The contest was always between Tories (Conservatives), Whigs (Liberals) and some independents. Early candidates were often sponsored by the Chamber, and therefore their political leanings would reflect that of the said Chamber. Exeter did not get its first Labour candidate in a General Election until 1923.

Other sources: Eighteenth-Century Exeter by Robert Newton, Victorian Exeter by Robert Newton and Two Thousand Years in Exeter by W G Hoskins.

Election Date	Name and notes	Birth – Death – Age at Death
April 1660	John Maynard – Constitutionalist (involved in founding of Maynards and Heles Schools)	18 Jul 1604 – 8 Oct 1690 – 86
	Thomas Bampfield - represented Exeter during the Commonwealth	circa 1623 – 8 Oct 1693
	Richard Ford
	Double return between Maynard and Ford – this meant the election was doubtful and it was for the Recorder to decide the victor. Maynard declared elected 4 Jun 1660
16 April 1661	Robert Walker	c 1597 – 23 Aug 1673
	Sir James Smyth (to 1679)	c 1621 – 18 Nov 1681
20 Nov 1673	Thomas Walker	c 1632 – 24 Nov 1682
25 Feb 1679	William Glyde	d 20 Aug 1710
	Malachi Pyne	d circa 1683
22 Feb 1681	Sir Thomas Carew	19 Jul 1624 – 25 Jul 1681 – 57
	Thomas Walker	c 1632 – 24 Nov 1682
17 Mar 1685	James Walker	b circa 1635
16 Jan 1692	Sir Edward Seymour, 4th baronet (to 1695) – Tory	1633 – 17 Feb 1708 – 74
14 Jan 1689	Henry Pollexfen – Whig	c 1632– 15 Jun 1691
6 Jun 1689	Christopher Bale – High Tory	d Dec 1708
12 Nov 1695	Edward Seyward – Whig	28 Oct 1634 – 1 Mar 1704 – 69
	Sir Joseph Tily – Whig	c 1654 – Jan 1708
16 Aug 1698	Sir Edward Seymour, 4th baronet (to April 1708) – Tory and Royalist	1633 – 17 Feb 1708 – 74
	Sir Bartholomew Shower – High Tory	14 Dec 1658 – 4 Dec 1701 – 42
27 Jan 1702	John Snell  (to May 1708) – Tory	c 1638 – 26 Aug 1717
13 Apr 1708	John Harris (to 1710) – Whig	c 1675 – 1714
11 May 1708	Nicholas Wood – High Tory	d 1742
24 Oct 1710	Sir Coplestone Warwick Bampfylde, 3rd baronet – Tory	c 16897 – Oct 1727
	John Snell - Tory	c 1638 – 26 Aug 1717
4 Sep 1713	John Rolle – Tory	8 Dec 1679 – 6 May 1730 – 50
	Francis Drewe (to 1734) – Tory	c 1674 – 13 Sep 1734
8 Feb 1715	John Bampfylde – Tory	8 Apr 1691 – 17 Sep 1750 – 59
27 Mar 1722	John Rolle – Tory	8 Dec 1679 – 6 May 1730 – 50
5 Sep 1727	Samuel Molyneux – Whig	16 Jul 1689– 13 Apr 1728 – 38
25 May 1728	John Belfield – Tory	21 Dec 1669 – 19 Oct 1751 – 81
7 May 1734	John King, later Baron King – Whig	13 Jan 170610 Feb 1740 - 34
	Thomas Balle (to 1741) – Whig	28 Jun 1671 – 11 Jun 1749 – 77
11 Mar 1735	Sir Henry Northcote, 5th baronet (to 1743)  – Tory	1710 – 24 May 1743 – 32
26 May 1741	Humphrey Sydenham (to 1754) – Tory	24 Oct 1694 – 12 Aug 1757 – 62
20 Dec 1743	Sir Richard Warwick Bampfylde, 4th baronet	21 Nov 1722 – 15 Jul 1776 – 53
1 Jul 1747	John Tuckfield (to 1767) – Tory	c 1719 – 6 Dec 1767
19 Apr 1754	John Rolle Walter (to 1776) – Independent	c 1714 – 30 Nov 1779
19 Dec 1767	William Spicer – Independent	c 1735 – 21 Oct 1788
17 Mar 1768	John Buller – Independent	28 Feb 1745 – 26 Nov 1793 – 48
7 Oct 1774	Sir Charles Warwick Bampfylde, 5th baronet (to 1790) – Whig	23 Jan 1753 – 19 Apr 1823 – 70
9 Nov 1776	John Baring (to 1802) – Independent	5 Oct 1730 – 29 Jan 1816 – 85
17 Jun 1790	James Buller – Whig	14 May 1766 – 18 Aug 1827 – 61
27 May 1796	Sir Charles Warwick Bampfylde, 5th baronet (to 1812) – Whig	23 Jan 1753 – 19 Apr 1823 – 70
5 Jul 1802	James Buller (to 1818) – Whig	14 May 1766 – 18 Aug 1827 – 61
6 Oct 1812	William Courtenay (to Feb 1826) – Tory	19 Jun 1777 – 19 Mar 1859 – 81
20 Jun 1818	Robert William Newman, later [1836] 1st baronet (to Jun 1826)	18 Aug 1776 – 24 Jan 1848 – 71
9 Feb 1826	Samuel Trehawke Kekewich (to 1830) – Conservative	1796  – 1 Jun 1873 – 76
10 Jun 1826	Lewis William Buck (to 1832) – Conservative	1784 – 25 April 1858 – 73
29 Jul 1830	James Wentworth Buller (to 1835) – Whig	1 Oct 1798 – 13 Mar 1865 – 66
12 Dec 1832	Edward Divett (to 1864) – Liberal	d 25 Jul 1864
8 Jan 1835	Sir William Webb Follett – Conservative	2 Feb 1798 – 28 Jun 1845 – 47
7 Jul 1845	Sir John Thomas Buller Duckworth, 2nd baronet – Conservative	17 Mar 1809 – 29 Nov 1887 – 78
27 Mar 1857	Richard Sommers Gard (to 1865) – Conservative	1797 – 16 Dec 1868 – 71
4 Aug 1864	Edward Baldwin Courtenay, styled Viscount Courtenay, later Earl of Devon (to 1868) – Conservative	7 May 1836 – 15 Jan 1891 – 54
11 Jul 1865	John Duke Coleridge, later Baron Coleridge (to 1873) – Liberal	3 Dec 1821 – 14 Jun 1894 – 72
16 Nov 1868	Edgar Alfred Bowring (to 1874) – Liberal	1826 – 8 Aug 1911 – 85
11 Dec 1873	Arthur Mills (to 1880) – Conservative	20 Jul 1816 – 12 Oct 1898 – 82
5 Feb 1874	John George Johnson	1829
2 Apr 1880	Edward Johnson – Conservative	1833 – 2 Nov 1894 – 61
	Henry Stafford Northcote, later Baron Northcote (to 1899) – Conservative	18 Nov 1846 – 29 Sep 1911 – 64
6 Nov 1899	Sir Edgar Vincent, later Viscount D'Abernon – Conservative	19 Aug 1857 – 1 Nov 1941 – 84
17 Jan 1906	Sir George William Kekewich – Liberal	1 Apr 1841 – 5 Jul 1921 – 80
17 Jan 1910	Henry Edward Duke, later Baron Merrivale – Conservative	5 Nov 1855 – 20 May 1939 – 83
Dec 1910	Richard Harold St. Maur – Liberal (majority of four votes over Henry Edward Duke)	1869 – 5 Apr 1927 – 57
11 Apr 1911	Henry Edward Duke, later Baron Merrivale – Conservative (an enquiry into the 1910 election, and recount, found that Duke had a majority of a single vote – he was duly declared the winner)	5 Nov 1855 – 20 May 1939 – 83
May 1918	Sir Robert Hunt Stapylton Dudley Lydston Newman, later Baron Mamhead – Independent	27 Oct 1871 – 2 Nov 1945 – 74
27 Oct 1931	Arthur Conrad Reed – Conservative	1881 – 15 Jan 1961 – 79
26 Jul 1945	John Cyril Maude – Conservative	3 Apr 1901 – 16 Aug 1986 – 85
25 Oct 1951	Sir Rolf Dudley Dudley-Williams,1st baronet – Conservative	17 Jun 1908 – 8 Oct 1987 – 79
31 Mar 1966	Gwyneth Patricia Dunwoody – Labour	12 Dec 1930 – 17 Apr 2008 – 77
18 Jun 1970	Sir John Gordon Hannam – Conservative	2 Aug 1929
1 May 1997	Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw - Labour	30 Aug 1960

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