The 4th Parliament of William III was summoned by

William III of England William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic f ...

on 13 July 1698 and assembled on 24 August 1698 (but prorogued until 6 December 1698). The party political constitution of the new

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 ...

was 246 Whigs, 208 Tories and 59 others. Sir Thomas Littleton, the Whig member for

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

, was elected

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

. The house was divided between the pro-government faction led by the

Whig Junto The Whig Junto is the name given to a group of leading Whigs who were seen to direct the management of the Whig Party and often the government, during the reigns of William III and Anne. The Whig Junto proper consisted of John Somers, later ...

and a Country Whig-Tory alliance, the New Country party, led by Robert Harley. Once assembled the House returned to the question of the size of the standing army. Harley moved, and the House accepted, that the English establishment be reduced to 7000 (plus a further 12,000 on the Irish establishment). By the end of the first session the

were reeling from further attacks of the Opposition and during the summer recess Edward Russell (now Lord Orford) resigned from the Admiralty and

Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1661 – 19 May 1715), was an English statesman and poet. He was the grandson of the 1st Earl of Manchester and was eventually ennobled himself, first as Baron Halifax in 1700 and later as Earl ...

from the Treasury. After reconvening for the second session in November 1699 Harley pressed for further budget reductions including a reduction in the size of the Navy to 7000 men. He also wanted Irish forfeited estates, which commissioners calculated were worth £1,600,000, and which the King had granted to loyal followers, to be considered as public assets. After a stormy passage through the Lords, the supply bill eventually received Royal assent on 11 April 1700. In the autumn of 1700 the King selected a new Tory dominated ministry and dissolved Parliament on 19 December.

Notable Acts passed by the Parliament

* Billingsgate, etc. Act 1698 * Exportation Act 1698 * Governors of Plantations Act 1698 *

Piracy Act 1698 The Piracy Act 1698 (11 Will 3 c 7) was an Act of the Parliament of England passed in the eleventh year of King William III. The main purpose behind the statute was to make some corrections to the Offences at Sea Act 1536. The Act The Act ...

Popery Act 1698 The Popery Act 1698 (11 Will. III, c. 4) was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England enacted in 1700. The long title of the Act was "An Act for the further preventing the Growth of Popery".'William III, 1698-9: An Act for the further pr ...

References

* - ''Note:4th Parliament considered to be the 3rd by History of Parliament'' 1698 establishments in England 1698 in politics The Restoration {{England-hist-stub

Notable Acts passed by the Parliament

See also

References