Devil's Menagerie - 1832 - British Library

In the political history of Britain, placemen were

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 ofte ...

who held paid office in the civil service, generally

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval ch ...

s, simultaneously with their seat in the legislature.

William and Mary

Placemen exerted substantial influence over legislation during the reign of William III and

Mary II Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife ...

, who jointly acceded to the throne following the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

of 1688–89. Estimates of the number of placemen in Parliament during the 1690s vary, but the consensus among contemporary chroniclers converges around 100 or so (with a few outliers among government critics such as

Samuel Grascome Samuel Grascome (1641–1708) was a clergyman of the Church of England, then, after the nonjuring schism, a member of the breakaway church. Early life The son of John Grascome of Coventry, he was educated at Coventry grammar school, and was admi ...

, who put the number far higher). As of 1690, William's court adopted an explicit policy directing placemen—who, at that time, included customs officers as well as others with 'Pentions' or 'other Advantages' provided by royal largesse—to advance the Crown's interest in Parliament, particularly as regards voting supply. Rubini notes that this is not surprising, as placemen 'received some of what they voted as their reward'. A 1692 bill, which failed to pass, would have shortened the length of parliaments and banned officeholders from serving in Parliament. John Granville, apparently recalling the

Self-denying Ordinance The Self-denying Ordinance was passed by the English Parliament on 3 April 1645. All members of the House of Commons or Lords who were also officers in the Parliamentary army or navy were required to resign one or the other, within 40 days fro ...

of 1645, called it a 'self-denying bill' in debate. An anonymous pamphleteer writing in 1698 about the selection of a speaker expresses exasperation with the 'well paid Forces' of the Crown as compared to the 'undisciplin'd Militia' of the country party:

'Tis true, the ablest General alone, and without Troops, is insignificant: But when regulated and well paid Forces have a bold and skilful Leader at their Head, they must conquer; especially if those they encounter be an undisciplin'd Militia just brought out of their several Counties.

In many cases, placemen under William III exercised their control over Parliament simply by showing up: attendance at legislative sessions during William's reign was generally low, so a bloc determined to vote could pass its favoured measures by default. A provision included in a draft version of the

Act of Settlement 1701 The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, be ...

would have banned all placemen from serving in Parliament, but the language was ultimately omitted.

Notes

Sources

* {{Cite book, last=Rubini, first=Dennis, url=https://archive.org/details/courtcountry16880000rubi, title=Court and Country 1688–1702, date=1968, publisher=Hart-Davis, location=London, language=en, oclc=1148594363 Politics of the United Kingdom 17th century in England Parliament of the United Kingdom 18th century in England