Herbert Westfaling (3 January 1630 – 1705) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

in 1660. Westfaling was the son of Herbert Westfaling of Mansell Gamage and his wife Elizabeth Frogmore, daughter of John Frogmore of Claines,

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

. In 1660, Westfaling was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

in the Convention Parliament.History of Parliament Online - Westfaling, Herbert
/ref> In 1661 he fought a highly contentious election for the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

. Sir Henry Lingen, the other member, sought to replace Westfaling by his friend Sir Edward Hopton and gained control of the corporation before the royalist councillors were restored. The mayor created 80 freemen from Lingen's supporters and refused to do likewise for Westfaling. Lingen was returned unopposed, but Westfaling demanded a poll against Hopton. The mayor was detained in the Guild Hall on the first day and refused to go to the poll on the second day, declaring Hopton elected from Hopton's House. Westfaling persuaded the sheriff to take another return and Hopton topped the poll but with what turned out to be a number of invalid votes. Hopton was allowed to sit but the matter was referred to the elections committee. Sir Job Charlton noted that "there was a very strange carriage and some disturbance in the elections" and recommended Hopton be unseated. However parliament declared the election void, and Lingen and Westfaling were returned at the by-election. Westfaling sat until 1679. Westfaling was mayor of Hereford in 1683.Hereford City Council - Mayors of Hereford
Westfaling died at the age of 75. Westfaling married Ann Edwards daughter of Sir Thomas Edwards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westfaling, Herbert 1630 births 1705 deaths English MPs 1660 Mayors of Hereford English MPs 1661–1679