Why was Sir Richard Vernon chosen as Speaker in the ‘Parliament of Bats’ of 1426?

Although the modern Speaker of the House of Commons must remain politically impartial, this was not always the case. But, as Dr Simon Payling of our House of Commons 1461-1504 section explores, the choice of Sir Richard Vernon as Speaker in 1426 may have been due to his perceived neutrality in comparison with his competitors…

The process by which the Speaker was chosen, in the early history of the office, is not entirely clear. From the late-fifteenth century, there can be no doubt that the Speaker was a government nominee, usually a senior lawyer in its service, even though it was still notionally maintained that he was freely elected by his fellow MPs. Yet the fact that the process of ‘election’ eventually came simply to validate the choice made by the Crown does not mean that this was always the case. Evidence is slight, but we know of an election in one early-fifteenth century Parliament. A Bishop’s Lynn MP in the assembly of December 1420 reported back to his constituents that, in the election for the Speakership, Roger Hunt narrowly defeated John Russell by four ‘voices’. There also appears to have been an element of election in the choice of Sir Thomas Charlton as Speaker in February 1454, for he is said to have secured the office by lobbying by one, admittedly hostile, chronicler.

Head of Sir Richard Vernon from his monumental effigy in the church of Tong (Shropshire)

In untroubled political times, the process of ‘election’, whatever it’s precise form, was uncontroversial. In troubled times, however, the choice of Speaker reflected political division and set the tone for the Parliament, such as that of Richard II’s favourite, Sir John Bussy, to preside over the ‘Revenge’ Parliament of September 1397 and of Richard, duke of York’s chamberlain, Sir William Oldhall, over that of 1450. The choice of Sir Richard Vernon of Haddon (Derbyshire) as Speaker in 1426 is difficult to place in this interpretative framework. His ‘election’ must have been politically charged for Parliament met at a moment of crisis. The escalating dispute between the infant King’s uncle, Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, and the chancellor, Henry Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, had necessitated the return from France of Gloucester’s elder brother, John, duke of Bedford. Parliament was summoned as the forum in which Bedford was to bring the dispute to an end.

The choice of Speaker was thus of particular importance, and there is indirect evidence that it proved unusually difficult. The Commons assembled at Leicester, to which they had been summoned to avoid the febrile atmosphere in the capital, on 18 February, and their Speaker, if the accustomed protocols had been followed, would have been formally presented on the following day. That presentation was, however, not made until 28 February. This delay implies some disagreement in the choice, either among the Commons or within the royal council, as does another unusual proceeding. On the same day as the Speaker was presented, the Commons chose not their new Speaker but rather the Speaker of 1420, Roger Hunt, to head a group of MPs sent to discuss matters with Bedford. Hunt was, on the face of it, a much stronger candidate for the speakership than Vernon. He was as near as the late medieval period came to a professional parliamentarian, having already sat in 12 Parliaments, and been Speaker not only in 1420 but was to be again in 1433. Nor was he the only MP very well-qualified for the office, for two other former Speakers also had seats, namely Russell, who Hunt had defeated in the election of 1420, and, more significantly, Thomas Chaucer, who had been Speaker in five Parliaments between 1407 and May 1421.

richard vernon — Head of Sir Richard Vernon from his monumental effigy in the church of Tong (Shropshire)

By contrast, Vernon’s credentials were much less clear cut. Although he was a man of great wealth with some parliamentary experience (he had sat in 1419 and 1422), he lacked the professional administrative background of men like Chaucer and Hunt. He had been knighted in the French campaign of 1417 and thereafter had taken the prominent part in local administration. Most notably, in March 1424 he was appointed to the stewardship of the important duchy of Lancaster lordship of High Peak, in which lay his castle at Haddon. No doubt all this gave him a certain standing in the eyes of his fellow Commons. Even so, it is hard to imagine that this standing alone was enough to explain his election, whether as a nominee of the royal council or as elected by his fellow MPs.

Why then was Vernon chosen? An important reason may lie in what he was not. Although he was extremely well-connected, neither Gloucester nor Beaufort were prominent among his extensive web of connexions. It has been argued that a close connexion with Beaufort probably disqualified Chaucer, the bishop’s maternal first cousin, and Vernon’s perceived neutrality might have been seen as an important qualification to preside over so potentially a divisive assembly. His choice is also to be seen in the context of that of Sir Thomas Waweton in the previous assembly. Waweton’s speakership marked the breaking, or, at least, the interruption, of an established pattern. He was not another lawyer-administrator, in the mould of Chaucer, Hunt and Russell, who had monopolised the office since 1416. Rather, like Vernon, he was, as a member of the greater gentry, a man of more independent influence. It might be speculated that the escalating political tensions and the divisions within the royal council, which culminated in the 1426 Parliament, led to a breakdown in which the government successfully nominated the Speaker. On this reading both Vernon and Waweton were elected by their peers.

SJP

‘The murder of Speaker Tresham’, 27 Oct. 2015

‘Sir John Popham: A Speaker-Elect Makes a Quick Escape from the Parliamentary Turmoil caused by England’s Precipitous Exit from Europe’, 15 Jan. 2019

‘It was the dissimulation of this one man that stirred up that whole plague of evils which followed’: William Catesby, Speaker in the Parliament of 1484, and the accession of Richard III’, 25 Aug. 2021

‘Sir William Oldhall, Speaker in the Parliament of 1450-1’, 12 Apr. 2022

‘A Speakership that never was: Sir Thomas Hungerford and the Parliament of 1378’, 11 Aug. 2022

‘The true beginning of troubles? The Parliament of Bats, 1426’, 18 Feb. 2026