Worcestershire

Worcestershire (ⁱ/ˈwʊstəʃə/ WUUS-tə-shə or /ˈwʊstəʃɪər/ WUUS-tər-sheer; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. Between 1974 and 1998, it was merged with the neighbouring county of Herefordshire as Hereford and Worcester.

The cathedral city of Worcester is the largest settlement and administrative seat in England. Towns in the county include, Redditch, Bromsgrove, Stourport-on-Severn, Droitwich, Evesham, Kidderminster, and Malvern. The north-east of Worcestershire includes part of the industrial West Midlands; the rest of the county is largely rural. The county is divided into six administrive districts: Worcester, Redditch, Wychavon, Malvern Hills, Wyre Forest, and Bromsgrove.

Location

The county borders Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands, Warwickshire, and Gloucestershire. To the west, the county is bordered by the Malvern Hills and the spa town of Malvern. The southern part of the county is bordered by Gloucestershire and the northern edge of the Cotswolds; to the east is Warwickshire. There are two major rivers flowing through the county, the Severn and the Avon.

Worcestershire (UK Parliament constituency)

Worcestershire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented until 1832 by two Members of Parliament traditionally referred to as Knights of the Shire. It was split then into two two-member divisions, for Parliamentary purposes, Worcestershire Eastern and Worcestershire Western constituencies.

Boundaries

Worcestershire was one of the historic counties of England. The constituency comprised the whole county, except for the boroughs of Bewdley, Droitwich, Evesham and Worcester.

Members of Parliament

1294–1478

Source: Treadway Russell Nash.

1479–1552

1553–1649

Source: TR Nash

Commonwealth Parliaments

Source: T. R. Nash, Collections for a History of Worcestershire (1783)

MPs 1660–1832

Elections

The county franchise, from 1430, was held by the owners of freehold land valued at 40 shillings or more. Each voter had as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings, which took place in the county town of Worcester. The expense and difficulty of voting at only one location in the county, together with the lack of a secret ballot contributed to the corruption and intimidation of voters, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system.