Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a

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 o ...

(MP) representing a

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constitue ...

in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 65 ...

, from its origins in the medieval

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advise ...

until the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

ended the practice of each

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

(or ''

shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the begin ...

'') forming a single

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

. The corresponding titles for other MPs were '' burgess'' in a

borough constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...

(or ''

citizen Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

'' if the borough had city status) and ''

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or kn ...

'' for a Cinque Ports constituency. Knights of the shire had more prestige than burgesses, and sitting burgesses often stood for election for the shire in the hope of increasing their standing in Parliament. The name "knight of the shire" originally implied that the representative had to be a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

, and the

writ of election A writ of election is a writ issued ordering the holding of an election. In Commonwealth countries writs are the usual mechanism by which general elections are called and are issued by the head of state or their representative. In the United ...

referred to a belted knight until the 19th century; but by the 14th century men who were not knights were commonly elected. An act of Henry VI stipulated that those eligible for election were knights and "such notable

esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

s and

gentlemen A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the r ...

as have estates sufficient to be knights, and by no means of the degree of

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...

". From

Simon de Montfort's Parliament Simon de Montfort's Parliament was an English parliament held from 20 January 1265 until mid-March of the same year, called by Simon de Montfort, a baronial rebel leader. Montfort had seized power in England following his victory over Henry I ...

in 1265, each shire sent two knights, and the number was standard until 1826 when

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

gained two additional knights after the disfranchisement of Grampound borough. Under the Great Reform Act of 1832 counties with larger populations sent more knights than smaller ones. The

split each multiple-seat shire into multiple single-seat divisions. This change, together with the concomitant standardisation of the franchise, means that county and borough constituencies now differ only slightly, as to election expenses and their type of

returning officer In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. Australia In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral ...

. The term "knight of the shire" has been used more recently in a

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...

manner for senior

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the ...

s representing rural constituencies in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is En ...

Middle Ages

The precursor to the English parliamentary system was a Magnum Concilium or great council, an advice chamber to the king consisting of peers, ecclesiastics, and Knights of the Shire (with the king summoning two of these from each county). In 1264, this council evolved to include representatives from the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

s (burgesses), requiring that all members be elected ( Montfort's Parliament). The parliament gained legislative powers in 1295 (the Model Parliament). In the following century

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

split parliament into its current bicameral structure, which includes 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. T ...

and the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

, in 1341. It opted in 1376 to appoint Sir

Peter de la Mare Sir Peter de la Mare (died after 1387) was an English politician and Speaker of the House of Commons during the Good Parliament of 1376. Family His parents were probably Sir Reginald de la Mare (died before 1358), of Yatton and Little Heref ...

to convey to the Lords complaints about heavy taxes, demands for an accounting of the royal expenditures, and criticism of the king's management of the military. Although de la Mare was imprisoned for his actions, many recognised the value of a single representative voice for the Commons. Accordingly, an office of Speaker of the House of Commons was created. Mare was soon released after the death of Edward III and became the Speaker of the House again in 1377. Until legislation in 1430, the franchise (electorate) for elections of knights of the shire was not restricted to forty shilling freeholders. Discussing the original county franchise, historian

Charles Seymour Charles Seymour (January 1, 1885 – August 11, 1963) was an American academic, historian and the 15th President of Yale University from 1937 to 1951. As an academic administrator, he was instrumental in establishing Yale's residential colle ...

suggested, "It is probable that all free inhabitant householders voted and that the parliamentary qualification was, like that which compelled attendance in the

county court A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of ''county courts'' held by the hig ...

, merely a 'resiance' or residence qualification." He goes on to explain why Parliament decided to legislate about the county franchise. "The Act of 1430," he said, "after declaring that elections had been crowded by many persons of low estate, and that confusion had thereby resulted, accordingly enacted that the

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

should be limited to persons qualified by a freehold of 40s". The

legislated the new uniform county franchise, in the statute 8 Henry VI, c. 7. However the ''Chronological Table of the Statutes'' does not mention such a 1430 Act, as it was included in the Consolidated Statutes as a recital in the Electors of Knights of the Shire Act 1432 (10 Henry VI, c. 2), which amended and re-enacted the 1430 law to make clear that the resident of a county had to have a forty shilling freehold in that county in order to be a voter there. Over the course of time, authorities began to consider a great number of different types of property as ''forty shilling freeholds''. Subsequently, the residence requirement disappeared.

Reform

Until the Great Reform Act of 1832, each county continued to send two Knights (apart from

, which had its number of Knights increased to four in 1826). How these knights were chosen varied from one county to the next and evolved over time. The 1832 Act increased the number of Knights sent by some populous counties to as many as six.

Modern usage

The term became obsolete due to the final destruction of counties mentioned by the

and widened structure of electorate in the Reform Act of 1884 (the Third Great Reform Act), and in the Representation of the People Act of 1918. The term rapidly died out during the 20th century in reference to

Members 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 ...

who represent

county constituencies In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constitue ...

; for they no longer represented a whole county. The term occasionally features as journalese to describe elderly Members of Parliament, usually any Conservative

backbenchers In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of ...

with long service who possess a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

References

Citations

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Sources