During the whole time from the reign of Edward the Third to the reign of Henry the Sixth the sheriff of Lancashire declined to return the names of any boroughs at all within that county "on account of their poverty." Nor were the representatives themselves more anxious to appear than their boroughs to send them.

The busy country squire and the thrifty trader were equally reluctant to undergo the trouble and expense of a journey to Westminster.

Legal measures were often necessary to ensure their presence.

Writs still exist in abundance such as that by which Walter le Rous is "held to bail in eight oxen and four cart-horses to come before the King on the day specified" for attendance in Parliament.

But in spite of obstacles such as these the presence of representatives from the boroughs may be regarded as continuous from the Parliament of 1295.