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.

As in other county constituencies the franchise between 1430 and 1832 was defined by the Forty Shilling Freeholder Act, which gave the right to vote to every man who possessed freehold property within the county valued at £2 or more per year for the purpose of land tax; it was not necessary for the freeholder to occupy his land, nor even in later years to be resident in the county at all.

At the time of the Great Reform Act in 1832, Berkshire had a population of about 145,000, but only 3,726 votes were cast at the election of 1818, the highest recorded vote in the county before 1832, even though each voter could cast two votes. Although local landowners could never control a county the size of Berkshire in the way they could own a pocket borough, titled magnates still exercised considerable influence over deferential county voters: in the early 19th century Lord Craven and Lord Braybrooke were considered the "patrons" of the Berkshire constituency and could usually persuade the voters to support their favoured candidates.

The place of election for the county was the then county town of Abingdon. In 1880, according to the report in The Times (of London), the ballot boxes were taken to Reading for the count and declaration of the result, instead of these taking place at Abingdon as had happened previously. Before the Reform Act it was normal for voters to expect the candidates for whom they voted to meet their expenses in travelling to the poll and to provide food, liquor and lodgings when they arrived, making the cost of a contested election in some counties prohibitive, but this was less of a factor in a comparatively small county like Berkshire, and contested elections were not uncommon. Nevertheless, potential candidates preferred to canvass support beforehand and usually did not insist on a vote being taken unless they were confident of winning. There were contests in Berkshire at 11 of the 29 general elections between 1701 and 1832, but in the other 18 the candidates were returned unopposed.

Under the Great Reform Act of 1832, the county franchise was extended to occupiers of land worth £50 or more, as well as the forty-shilling freeholders, and Berkshire was given a third MP. Under the new rules, 5,582 electors were registered and entitled to vote at the general election of 1832.

The constituency was abolished in 1885, and the county was divided into three single-member constituencies: the Northern or Abingdon Division; the Southern or Newbury Division; and the Eastern or Wokingham Division. The Abingdon Division absorbed the abolished parliamentary boroughs of Abingdon and Wallingford, whilst the parliamentary boroughs of Reading and New Windsor were retained, each with 1 MP.

• Constituency created (1265): See Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and Montfort's Parliament for further details. Knights of the shire are known to have been summoned to most Parliaments from 1290 (the 19th Parliament of Edward I) and to every one from 1320 (the 19th Parliament of Edward II).

Knights of the shire 1265–1660

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)

Some of the members elected during this period have been identified, but this list does not include Parliaments where no member has been identified. The year given is that of the first meeting of the Parliament, with the month added where there was more than one Parliament in the year. If a second year is given this is a date of dissolution. Early Parliaments usually only sat for a few days or weeks, so dissolutions in the same year as the first meeting are not recorded in this list. If a specific date of election is known this is shown in italic brackets. The Roman numerals in brackets, following some names, are used to distinguish different MPs of the same name in 'The House of Commons' 1509-1558 and 1558-1603.

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Parliament	First member	Second member
1300	Hugh le Blount[1]
1307	Hugh le Blount[1]
1313	Hugh le Blount (twice)[1]
1327	Thomas Foxley	[2]
1332	Thomas Foxley	[2]
1338	Thomas Foxley	[2]
1370	Sir Thomas Foxley	[2]
1372	Sir Thomas Foxley	[2]
1380 (Jan)	Richard Brunce
1383 (Oct)	Richard Brunce
1384 (Apr)	Richard Brunce
1384 (Nov)	Richard Brunce
1385	Richard Brunce
1386	Richard Brunce[3]	Sir Gilbert Talbot[3]
1388 (Feb)	Laurence Drew[3]	Edmund Sparsholt[3]
1388 (Sep)		William Golafre[3]
1390 (Jan)	Richard Brouns[3]	Sir John Kentwood[3]
1390 (Nov)	John Arches[3]	Thomas Childrey[3]
1391	Laurence Drew[3]	John Eastbury[3]
1393	Sir John Kentwood[3]	Edmund Sparsholt[3]
1394	Sir Richard Abberbury[3]	Sir William Langford[3]
1395	William Brunce[3]	William Wood[3]
1397 (Jan)	Sir Richard Abberbury[3]	Robert James[3]
1397 (Sep)	John Englefield[3]	John Hartington[3]
1399	Robert James[3]	Edmund Sparsholt[3]
1401	John Golafre[3]	Thomas Gloucester[3]
1402	John Arches	Robert James[3]
1404 (Jan)	Sir William Langford[3]	Edmund Sparsholt[3]
1404 (Oct)	John Arches[3]	John Golafre[3]
1406	Thomas Childrey[3]	Laurence Drew[3]
1407	John Golafre[3]	Edmund Sparsholt[3]
1410		Robert James[3]
1411	returns missing
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	John Golafre[3]	Robert de la Mare[3]
1414 (Apr)		Edmund Sparsholt[3]
1414 (Nov)	Laurence Drew[3]	John Shotesbrook[3]
1415	returns missing
1416 (Mar)	Sir Peter Bessels[3]	John Golafre[3]
1416 (Oct)	returns missing
1417	Robert de la Mare[3]	Thomas Rothwell[3]
1419	Thomas Beckingham[3]	John Shotesbrook[3]
1420	William Danvers[3]	Thomas Rothwell[3]
1421 (May)	William Fynderne[3]	John Golafre[3]
1421 (Dec)	William Danvers[3]	William Perkins[3]
1422	John Golafre[4]
1423	Sir Peter Bessels
1425
1426	John Golafre[4]
1427	John Golafre[4]
1429	John Golafre[4]
1485	__? Fetiplace[5]
1491	William Harcourt[6]
1510	Sir Thomas Englefield	?[7]
1512
1515
1529	Sir William Essex[7]	Sir Richard Weston[7]
1536
1539	Sir Thomas Pope[7]	Richard Brydges[7]
1542	Sir William Essex[7]	Thomas Weldon[7]
1545
1547	Henry Norreys[7]	Thomas Denton[7]
1553 (Mar)	Sir Henry Neville[7]	Sir William Fitzwilliam (I)[7]
1553 (Oct)	Sir Francis Englefield[7]	William Hyde[7]
1554 (Apr)	Sir Richard Brydges[7]
1554 (Nov)		Sir Francis Englefield[7]
1555	William Hyde[7]
1558	John Fettiplace[7]
1558–1559	Sir William Fitzwilliam (I)[8]	Sir Henry Neville[8]
1562–1563	John Cheney[8]
1571	Sir Henry Neville[8]	Richard Warde[8]
1572 (Apr)	Sir Edward Unton[8]	William Forster, died and replaced Feb 1576 by William Norris, also died and was repl. in 1580 by ?Edward Hoby[8]
1584 (Nov)	Sir Henry Neville[8]	Edward Unton[8]
1586 (Oct)	Edward Unton[8]	Thomas Parry[8]
1588 (Oct)	Sir Henry Norreys (II)[8]	Sir Edward Hoby[8]
1593	Sir Henry Unton[8]	Sir Humphrey Forster[8]
1597 (Sep)	Sir Henry Norreys (II)[8]	Francis Knollys[8]
1601	Sr Richard Lovelace[8]	George Hyde[8]
1604	Sir Henry Neville	Francis Knollys
1614		Sir Thomas Parry
1621	Sir Richard Lovelace	Sir Robert Knollys
1624	Edmund Dunch	Sir Richard Harrison
1625		Sir Francis Knollys
1626	John Fettiplace	Edmund Dunch
1628		Sir Richard Harrison
1629–1640	No parliaments summoned
Apr 1640	John Fettiplace	Henry Marten,
Nov 1640	John Fettiplace, disabled 1644 replaced by Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke who died and was replaced by Henry Neville	Henry Marten

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More information Parliament, First member ...

Parliament	First member	Second member	Third member	Fourth member	Fifth member
1653	Samuel Dunch	Vincent Goddard	Thomas Wood	Three seats only
1654	George Purefoy	Edmund Dunch	Sir Robert Pye	John Dunch	John Southby
1656	William Trumball	Edmund Dunch	William Hide	John Dunch	John Southby
1659	John Dunch	Sir Robert Pye	Restored to two seats only

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In multi-member elections the bloc voting system was used. Voters could cast a vote for one or two (or three in three-member elections 1832–1868) candidates, as they chose. The leading candidates with the largest number of votes were elected. In 1868 the limited vote was introduced, which restricted an individual elector to using one or two votes, in elections to fill three seats.

In by-elections, to fill a single seat, the first past the post system applied.

After 1832, when registration of voters was introduced, a turnout figure is given for contested elections. In three-member elections, when the exact number of participating voters is unknown, this is calculated by dividing the number of votes by three (to 1868) and two thereafter. To the extent that electors did not use all their votes this will be an underestimate of turnout.

Where a party had more than one candidate in one or both of a pair of successive elections change is calculated for each individual candidate, otherwise change is based on the party vote.

Candidates for whom no party has been identified are classified as Non Partisan. The candidate might have been associated with a party or faction in Parliament or consider himself to belong to a particular political tradition. Political parties before the 19th century were not as cohesive or organised as they later became. Contemporary commentators (even the reputed leaders of parties or factions) in the 18th century did not necessarily agree who the party supporters were. The traditional parties, which had arisen in the late 17th century, became increasingly irrelevant to politics in the 18th century (particularly after 1760), although for some contests in some constituencies party labels were still used. It was only towards the end of the century that party labels began to acquire some meaning again, although this process was by no means complete for several more generations.

Sources: The results are based on the History of Parliament Trust's volumes on the House of Commons in various periods for 1660–1820, Stooks Smith from 1820 until 1832 and Craig from 1832. Where Stooks Smith gives additional information this is indicated in a note. See references below for further details of these sources.

• List of former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies
• Unreformed House of Commons