Berkshire | |
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Former County constituency for the House of Commons |
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County | Berkshire |
1265–1885 | |
Number of members | Two until 1832; Three from 1832 to 1885 |
Replaced by | Abingdon, Newbury, Windsor and Wokingham |
Berkshire was a parliamentary constituency in England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885. The county returned two knights of the shire until 1832 and three between 1832 and 1885.
This county constituency consisted of the historic county of Berkshire, in south-eastern England to the west of modern Greater London. Its northern boundary was the River Thames. See Historic counties of England for a map and other details. The Great Reform Act made some minor changes to the parliamentary boundaries of the county, transferring parts of five parishes to neighbouring counties while annexing parts of four other parishes which had previously been in Wiltshire.
The county, up to 1885, also contained the borough constituencies of Abingdon (1 seat from 1558), New Windsor (2 seats 1302-1868, 1 seat from 1868), Reading (2 seats from 1295) and Wallingford (2 seats 1295-1832, 1 seat from 1832). Although these boroughs elected MPs in their own right, they were not excluded from the county constituency, and owning property within the borough could confer a vote at the county election.