University Representation in England, 1604–1690

Originally published in 1954, this work is a history of university representation in England from its beginning in 1604, when King James first gave the two universities the right to send two members each to the House of Commons, to the close of the Convention Parliament of 1688–89. It takes up the question of electoral procedures in university elections, and describes the election campaigns and the political issues in which the universities were involved, the individual university members and their careers. A careful analysis is made from time to time to determine the trends of university politics and personnel throughout the great events of the century. Such matters as royal domination, and freedom of election in the university constituencies, contributions made by university members to public service and to learning (or their failure to contribute) are constantly kept before the reader. It deals with university representation as part of the history of a century that is one of the most notable in England’s constitutional development.