It was this period that saw the practice of returning two knights from the shire counties to Parliaments summoned by writ to meet.

Manchester was granted a town charter in 1301 but had no municipal authority and did not achieve the status of a Parliamentary borough.

The Instrument was an attempt to redistribute seats on a more equitable basis and towns such as Leeds and Manchester gained representation as a result, but this ended following the Restoration.

Lancashire had a total of fourteen Members in the unreformed House of Commons, and this remained the pattern The constituency was split into two two-member divisions, for Parliamentary purposes, in 1832.

The constituency comprised the whole historic county of Lancashire, except for the Parliamentary boroughs of Clitheroe, Lancaster, Liverpool, Newton, Preston and Wigan.

The county franchise, from 1430, was held by the adult male owners of freehold land valued at 40 shillings or more.

The expense and difficulty of voting at only one location in the county, together with the lack of a secret ballot contributed to the corruption and intimidation of electors, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system.