Welsh politics 1500 -1800
Last updated: 25 September 2008
Historian John Davies examines the period of Welsh political history from 1500 to 1800.
Wales and parliament
MPs from Wales first attended parliament in 1542. Initially they proved taciturn but, by the late 16th century, they had become adept in defending the interests of Wales.
Few were bent upon a political career. Instead they considered membership of the House of Commons as a way to emphasise their prestige in the local community. They were generally supporters of the crown, and Welsh opinion was broadly royalist when, in 1642, Charles I raised an army to resist the claims of parliament.
The civil wars
During the conflict, there was in Wales some support for parliament, in south Pembrokeshire and the Wrexham area in particular. The description of the country as 'the nursery of the King's infantry' was, however, not without substance. The struggle in Wales was mainly concerned with control of the northern and southern coastal routes.
The first civil war ended with the capture of Harlech Castle by parliamentary forces in March 1647. The second (April-August 1648) began in Pembrokeshire with a revolt of dissident parliamentarians.
The King's readiness to renew hostilities sealed his fate. He was executed in January 1649 and two Welsh MPs were among the signatories of his death warrant.
During the commonwealth period (1649-60), Wales saw significant developments in religion and education but, among the Welsh gentry, the rule of Oliver Cromwell only confirmed their nostalgia for the monarchy.
Post-Restoration politics
The Stuarts were restored in 1660 with the accession of Charles II. Despite the Restoration, parliament had won the upper hand. For a century and more, power in Wales lay with the families, 20 at most, who controlled the country's parliamentary representation.
Elections were decided through private deals between landowners. Between 1660 and 1714, less than 10% of the constituency returns of Wales were decided by the casting of votes.
Political allegiance was determined by attitudes to the Stuart monarchy, with the Whigs supporting both the dethronement of James II in 1688 and the accession of the Hanoverian dynasty in 1714, and the Tories accepting those changes reluctantly.
By the mid-18th century, the failure of Jacobite plots to restore the exiled Stuarts meant party differences had little substance, although landed families still considered themselves as either Whigs or Tories.
