BEDFORDSHIRE

Bedfordshire was a small county dominated by more than its fair share of major aristocratic families. The St Johns of Bletso, whose head held the earldom of Bolingbroke, had long ranked as the first among equals, although with the 1st earl out of favour at court, it was Thomas Wentworth, 1st earl of Cleveland, who held the lord lieutenancy in 1640. The Russells of Woburn, represented by Francis Russell, 4th earl of Bedford, were far less influential in the county in this period than they had once been and would be again. As yet, the Bruces, earls of Elgin (later Ailesbury), had not emerged as major local players. Among the ranks of the gentry, few equalled the Lukes of Cople. This pattern of influence had been reflected in the results of the parliamentary elections. The practice had long been for the St Johns and the Lukes to divide the two county seats between them.

The first of the 1640 elections was only the second time since 1597 and the first since 1614 that Bedfordshire had failed to return a St John as one of its knights of the shire. Sir Beauchamp St John was, it is true, elected for the borough of Bedford, but that has the appearance of a consolation prize. As Sir Oliver Luke was elected, it was the intervention of Lord Wentworth which broke the traditional St John-Luke duopoly. Cleveland’s eldest son and a future royalist, Wentworth was very different from the godly Sir Oliver and it is reasonable to see the result as representing a split between, on the one hand, those who opposed the king’s policies and who therefore supported Luke and, on the other hand, those who took a more favourable view of royal intentions and who supported Wentworth.

Both Wentworth and Luke stood again that October in the elections for the Long Parliament. This time Wentworth faced a challenge from Sir Roger Burgoyne* who hoped to mobilise the same constituency of godly support as Luke. The return named Wentworth as the victor, but Burgoyne took the matter further, petitioning the Commons to have the result overturned.