- Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)
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Old Sarum Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons 1295–1832 Number of members Two 
Old Sarum in Wiltshire, an uninhabited hill which elected two Members of Parliament. Painting by John Constable, 1829.
Old Sarum was the most infamous of the so-called 'rotten boroughs', a parliamentary constituency of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which was effectively controlled by a single person, until it was abolished under the Reform Act 1832. The constituency was the site of what had been the original settlement of Salisbury, which was known as Old Sarum. The population had moved to nearby New Sarum (now usually called Salisbury) centuries before the abolition of the parliamentary borough.
Contents
History
Old Sarum was unlike other rotten boroughs in that it never had a substantial population. It was invited to send two members to the House of Commons from the reign of Edward II due to the presence of the Bishopric of Old Sarum, but shortly after this the site of the bishopric was moved to New Sarum, together with most of the population. A small hamlet, located alongside the Roman road to the south of the hill fort, remained but with steadily declining population as the houses became uninhabitable.
The borough was organised on a burgage franchise where the inhabitants of designated houses had the right to vote. From at least the 17th century it had no resident voters, but the overall landowner retained the right to nominate tenants for each of the burgages who were not required to live there. For a long time, the borough was owned by the Pitt family and used as their pocket borough (one of the members in the 18th century was William Pitt the Elder). In 1802, the head of the family, Lord Camelford sold the borough to the Earl of Caledon, who owned it until its abolition; the price was reportedly £60,000, even though the land and manorial rights were worth £700 a year at most, an indication of the value of a pair of parliamentary seats. At its last election in 1831, there were eleven voters, all of whom were landowners who lived elsewhere. This made Old Sarum the most notorious of the rotten boroughs. The Reform Act 1832 completely disenfranchised Old Sarum.
Elections in Old Sarum were conducted on a mobile hustings under a specific tree which was located in what was known as the 'Electing acre' (the tree died in 1905). In the last years, the spectacle of the election was enticing enough to draw a small crowd who observed the ritual presentation of the two candidates and the call for any further nominations.
Stooks Smith quotes a contemporary description of the 1802 election.
This election for the borough of Old Sarum was held in a temporary booth erected in a cornfield, under a tree which marked the former boundary of the old town, not a vestige of which has been standing in the memory of man, the several burgages which give the right of voting, being now without a dwelling for a human being. Mr Dean, the bailiff of the borough having read the precept for the election, and caused proclamation thereof, read the bribery act, and gone through all the legal ceremonies, the Rev. Dr Skinner rose and nominated Nicholas Vansittart, and Henry Alexander, Esq. from a thorough conviction that their public conduct would be such as would give satisfaction and do honour to their constituents. The other electors acquiescing in this nomination and no other candidates offering, the proclamation was thrice made for any gentleman disposed to do so, to come forward, the bailiff declared the above two gentlemen to be duly elected. There were five electors present at this election, (beside the bailiff of the borough who lives at Wimborne,) viz., the Rev. Dr. Skinner, of the Close; the Rev. Mr. Burrough, of Abbot's Ann; William Dyke, Esq., of Syrencot; Mr. Massey and Mr. Brunsdon, both occupiers of land within the limits of the borough. The above account is thus particularly given to rectify several prevalent mistakes relative to this celebrated borough, and to show that the election is conducted in a manner every way consonant to the law of the land and the constitution of Parliament.- (History of the General Election of 1802, page, 149.)Members of Parliament
1295-1640
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- 1386: Walter Upton; Bartholomew Avery [1]
- 1388 (Feb): Walter Upton; John Avery I [1]
- 1388 (Sep): Walter Upton; John Avery I [1]
- 1390 (Jan):
- 1390 (Nov):
- 1391:
- 1393:
- 1394: John Avery I; John Chipplegh [1]
- 1395: John Avery I; Robert Page [1]
- 1397 (Jan):
- 1397 (Sep): John Avery I; Robert Page [1]
- 1399:
- 1414 (Apr): Robert Long; William Chesterton [1]
- 1414 (Nov):
- 1415:
- 1416 (Mar):
- 1416 (Oct):
- 1417: John Giles; John Noble [1]
- 1419:
- 1420:
- 1421 (May): Henry Bradley; John Ludwell [1]
- 1421 (Dec): John Fruysthorp; John Ludwell [1]
- 1435: Henry Long
- 1442: Richard Long
- 1510-1523: No names known [2]
- 1529: Thomas Hilton; William Lambert [2]
- 1536: ?
- 1539: ?
- 1542: ?
- 1545: William Hulcote; John Bassett [2]
- 1547: John Young; ? [2]
- by 23 Jan 1552: William Thomas [2]
- 1553 (Mar): James Brande; William Wekys [2]
- 1553 (Oct): Sir Nicholas Throckmorton; John Throckmorton [2]
- 1554 (Apr): Richard Clipper; Edmund Twyneho [2]
- 1554 (Nov): John Tull; Francis Killinghall [2]
- 1555: John Marshe; William Chamber [2]
- 1558: ?Sir Henry John; John Bateman [2]
- 1559 John Harington; Henry Hart [3]
- 1562/3: Edward Herbert; Henry Compton [3]
- 1571: John Young; Edmund Ludlow [3]
- 1572: Hugh Powell; John Frenche [3]
- 1584: Richard Topcliffe; Roger Gifford [3]
- 1586: Edward Berkeley; Richard Topcliffe [3]
- 1588/9: Roger Gifford; Henry Baynton [3]
- 1593: Anthony Ashley; Edmund Fortescue [3]
- 1597: William Blaker; Nicholas Hyde [3]
- 1601 Robert Turner;Henry Hyde [3]
- 1604-1611: William Ravenscroft; Edward Leache
- 1614: William Ravenscroft; William Price
- 1621-1622: George Myne; Thomas Brett
- 1624: Sir Robert Cotton; Sir Arthur Ingram, sat for York, repl. by Michael Oldisworth
- 1625: Michael Oldisworth; Sir Thomas Stradling
- 1626: Michael Oldisworth; Sir Benjamin Rudyerd
- 1628: Michael Oldisworth; Christopher Keightley
- 1629–1640: No Parliaments summoned
1640-1832
Year First member First party Second member Second party November 1640 Hon. Robert Cecil Parliamentarian Edward Herbert Royalist 1641 Sir William Savile Royalist September 1642 Savile disabled from sitting - seat vacant 1646 Roger Kirkham 1647 Sir Richard Lucy December 1648 Cecil not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge 1653 Old Sarum was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate January 1659 Richard Hill William Ludlow May 1659 Old Sarum was not represented in the restored Rump April 1660 Seymour Bowman John Norden 1661 Edward Nicholas John Denham 1669 Sir Eliab Harvey February 1679 Eliab Harvey John Young August 1679 The Lord Coleraine Sir Eliab Harvey 1681 Sir Thomas Mompesson January 1689 John Young Thomas Pitt March 1689 William Harvey John Hawles 1690 Sir Thomas Mompesson 1695 Thomas Pitt 1698 Charles Mompesson 1705 Robert Pitt 1708 William Harvey 1710 Thomas Pitt[4] William Harvey 1713 Robert Pitt 1716 Sir William Strickland, Bt Whig March 1722 Thomas Pitt November 1722 George Morton Pitt 1724 John Pitt 1726 George Pitt 1727 Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc [5] The Earl of Londonderry March 1728 Matthew St Quintin May 1728 Thomas Harrison 1734 Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc [5] Robert Nedham 1735 William Pitt 1741 George Lyttelton [5] 1742 James Grenville May 1747 Edward Willes July 1747 Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc [5] Sir William Irby, Bt December 1747 Earl of Middlesex [6] The Viscount Doneraile January 1751 Paul Jodrell November 1751 Simon Fanshawe 1754 Viscount Pulteney Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc 1755 Sir William Calvert March 1761 Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc Howell Gwynne December 1761 Thomas Pitt (the younger) 1768 William Gerard Hamilton John Crauford 1774 Pinckney Wilkinson Thomas Pitt (the younger) January 1784 The Hon. John Villiers March 1784 George Hardinge 1790 John Sullivan 1796 The Earl of Mornington 1797 Charles Watkin Williams-Wynn 1799 Sir George Yonge 1801 Rev. John Horne Tooke Radical 1802 Nicholas Vansittart Tory Henry Alexander Tory 1806 The Lord Blayney 1807 Josias du Pre Porcher Tory 1812 James Alexander Tory 1818 Arthur Johnston Crawford Tory 1820 Josias du Pre Alexander Tory 1828 Stratford Canning Tory 1830 Josias du Pre Alexander Tory Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/constituencies/old-sarum. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/constituencies/old-sarum. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/constituencies/old-sarum. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
- ^ Pitt's victory in the 1715 general election was the last contested election in Old Sarum.
- ^ a b c d Was also elected for Okehampton, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Old Sarum
- ^ Was also elected for Bodmin, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Old Sarum
Elections
The last reported contested election in Old Sarum occurred at a byelection in November 1751, after the death of Paul Jodrell. The proprietor at the time, Thomas Pitt, had sold the privilege of choosing the Members to the Pelham Government for £2,000 and a pension of £1,000 a year, but the administration's choice of Simon Fanshawe was opposed by James Pitt (younger brother of George Pitt, Member for Dorset) and by John Thorold. The number of votes for each candidate was not recorded.
See also
References
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "O"
- D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
- Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) [1]
- Smith, Henry Stooks (1844–1850) The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847, in 3 Volumes, London: Simpkin & Marshall, republished Craig, F.W.S. (ed.) (1973), Chichester : Political Reference Publications, ISBN 0-900178-13-2
Categories:- Parliamentary constituencies in Wiltshire (historic)
- United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies established in 1295
- United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies disestablished in 1832
- Rotten boroughs
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