living men. Against most of the constituencies two
or three names are placed; Dr. Gairdner suggests
that these are the possible candidates suggested by
Cromwell and to be nominated by the King. But why
is "the King's pleasure" placed opposite only three
vacancies, if the whole twenty-eight were to be
filled on his nomination? The names are probably
those of influential magnates in the neighbourhood
who would naturally have the chief voice in the
election; and thus they would correspond with the
vacancies, _e.g._, Hastings, opposite which is
placed "Not for the Warden of the Cinque Ports,"
and Southwark, for which there is a similar note
for the Duke of Suffolk. It is obvious that the
King could not fill up all the vacancies by
nomination; for opposite Worcester town, where
_both_ members, Dee and Brenning, had died, is
noted, "the King to name _one_". It is curious to
find "the King's pleasure" after Winchester city,
as that was one of the constituencies for which
Gardiner as bishop afterwards said he was wont to
nominate burgesses (Foxe, ed. Townsend, vi., 54).
It must also be remembered that these were
bye-elections and possibly a novelty. In 1536 the
rebels demand that "if a knight or burgess died
during Parliament his room should continue void to
the end of the same" (_L. and P._, xi., 1182
[17]). In the seventeenth century
supplementary members were chosen for the Long
Parliament to fill possible vacancies; there were
no bye-elections.]

[Footnote 899: _L. and P._, vi., 716, 816, 847,
1007, 1056, 1057, 1109 (where by the Bishopric of
"Chester" is meant Coventry and Lichfield, and not
Chichester, as suggested by the editor; the See of
Coventry and Lichfield was often called Chester
before the creation of the latter see), 1239, 1304,