The gaols committee of the House of Commons, by William Hogarth, c. 1729. National Portrait Gallery, London

Members 1715-1754

Published in 1970

From the dissolution in 1715 to that in 1754 2,041 men were elected to the House of Commons. Biographies of all of them are accessible through the lists above. As with other volumes, the biographies include those who were elected to Parliament even if they did not take their seats, among them, most oddly, Captain Edward Legge RN, who died in the West Indies on 19 Sept. 1747 three months before he was elected for Portsmouth.

An Appendix to the Introductory Survey covering the period analyses their age and parliamentary experience, education, religion, office, and other occupational categories. It gives particular attention to the numbers of placemen and pensioners who sat in the House: not just royal servants, government contractors, diplomats and professional civil servants, but also army and navy officers, who were liable to dismissal on political grounds, including voting against the government's line in the House. The Place Act of 1742 disqualified certain government officials from election to Parliament.
