The Chiltern Hundreds is an ancient administrative area in Buckinghamshire, England, composed of three "hundreds" and lying partially within the Chiltern Hills. "Taking the Chiltern Hundreds" refers to one of the legal fictions used to effect resignation from the British House of Commons. Since Members of Parliament are not permitted to resign, they are instead appointed to an "office of profit under the Crown", which requires MPs to vacate their seats. The ancient office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds, having been reduced to a mere sinecure by the 17th century, was first used by John Pitt (of Encombe) in 1751 to vacate his seat in the House of Commons. Other titles were also later used for the same purpose, but only those of the Chiltern Hundreds and the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead are still in use.
A hundred is a traditional division of an English county: the Oxford English Dictionary says that the etymology is "exceedingly obscure". The three Chiltern Hundreds were Stoke Hundred, Desborough Hundred, and Burnham Hundred. The area had been Crown property as early as the 13th century. [1]
Through the Saxon and early Norman periods the area was administered by an elder. But by the late Middle Ages the office holder was elected from among a hundred's notable landholding families. As the area was wild and notorious for outlaws, a steward and bailiff was appointed directly by the Crown (thus as a royal bailiwick it was a legal office answerable to the reigning monarch) to maintain law and order. However, by the end of the 16th century such positions had been overtaken by changes in local and Crown representations and roles – the government of Elizabeth I had established royal representatives (Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs, and Lords Lieutenant) in every county of England and Wales; they ensured that Royal commands and laws were obeyed.[ citation needed ] By the 17th century the office of steward and bailiff had been reduced to just a title with no attached powers or duties. [1]
In the 17th century Members of Parliament (MPs) were often elected against their will.[ citation needed ] On 2 March 1623, a resolution was passed by the House of Commons making it illegal for an MP to quit or wilfully give up his seat. [2] Believing that officers of the Crown could not remain impartial, the House passed a resolution on 30 December 1680 stating that an MP who "shall accept any Office, or Place of Profit, from the Crown, without the Leave of this House ... shall be expelled [from] this House." However, MPs were able to hold Crown Stewardships until 1740, when Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn was deemed to have vacated his Commons seat after becoming Steward of the Lordship and Manor of Bromfield and Yale. [1]
The post of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham remained a nominal office of profit under the Crown, even though it had lost its original significance. It became the first office to be used for resignation when John Pitt was appointed Crown Steward on 25 January 1751. A number of other offices have also been used, but only the Chiltern Hundreds and the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead are still in use. [1]
As a constitutional convention, members of Parliament (MPs) sitting in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom are not formally permitted to resign their seats. To circumvent this prohibition, MPs who wish to step down are instead appointed to an "office of profit under the Crown"; by law, such an appointment disqualifies them from sitting in Parliament. For this purpose, a legal fiction has been maintained where two unpaid sinecures are considered to be offices of profit: Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds, and Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.
Northstead is an area on the North Bay of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. The area near Newlands and Barrowcliff includes Peasholm Park and Scarborough Open Air Theatre.
A sinecure is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval church, where it signified a post without any responsibility for the "cure [care] of souls", the regular liturgical and pastoral functions of a cleric, but came to be applied to any post, secular or ecclesiastical, that involved little or no actual work. Sinecures have historically provided a potent tool for governments or monarchs to distribute patronage, while recipients are able to store up titles and easy salaries.
The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that prohibits certain categories of people from becoming members of the House of Commons. It is an updated version of similar older acts, known collectively by the stock short title House of Commons Disqualification Act.
In the United Kingdom, a Member of Parliament (MP) is an individual elected to serve in the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
An office of profit means a position that brings to the person holding it some financial gain, or advantage, or benefit. It may be an office or place of profit if it carries some remuneration, financial advantage, benefit etc.
Captain William Stephen Sanders was a British Labour Party politician.
Ralph Shuttleworth Allen was a British Conservative Party politician. He was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for East Somerset at the 1868 general election, was re-elected unopposed in 1874, and held his seat in the House of Commons until he resigned on 10 March 1879 by becoming Steward of the Manor of Northstead.
Charles Aaron Moody was a British Conservative Party politician.
James Cowan was a Liberal Party politician in Scotland.
Major James Richard Edwards Harden OBE DSO MC, known as Richard Harden, was a Northern Irish politician. Born in Tandragee, County Armagh and educated at Bedford School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was an Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for Armagh from a by-election in 1948 until he resigned his seat on 5 November 1954 by the procedural device of accepting the nominally-paid position of Steward of the Manor of Northstead.