Grampound (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 50°17′53″N 4°54′00″W / 50.298°N 4.900°W / 50.298; -4.900

Grampound
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1547–1821
Number of members Two
Replaced by Cornwall

Grampound in Cornwall, was a borough constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1821. It was represented by two Members of Parliament.

History

Grampound's market was on a Saturday and the town had a glove factory. Grampound was created a Borough by a charter of King Edward VI with a Mayor, eight Aldermen, a Recorder, and a Town Clerk. In 1547 it sent members to Parliament for the first time, one of a number of rotten boroughs in Cornwall established during the Tudor period.

Boundaries

The constituency was a Parliamentary borough in Cornwall, covering Grampound, a market town 8 miles from Truro on the River Fal.

Franchise

The franchise for the borough was in the hands of Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and any Freemen created by the council. In 1816, T. H. B. Oldfield wrote that there were 42 voters in all. Given that the borough had 80 houses, this meant that the franchise was extended well into the working class.

While several patrons (including the Earls of Mount Edgcumbe, Lord Eliot, Sir Christopher Hawkins and Basil Cochrane) attempted to exert their influence over the choice of members to serve Grampound, the electors were more interested in the monetary value of their vote. Oldfield wrote "The freemen of this borough have been known to boast of receiving three hundred guineas a man for their votes at one election." So notorious and unmanageable did the borough become that Grampound became a byword for electoral corruption, and Edward Porritt noted its use was continuing in 1903.

Disfranchisement for corruption

Finally, after the return of two members in the 1818 general election was overturned by a petition alleging gross bribery, Lord John Russell moved to disfranchise Grampound and to transfer the two members to a new Parliamentary Borough of Leeds. The usual treatment for a Borough which had perpetual bribery (as practiced in New Shoreham in 1770, Cricklade in 1782, Aylesbury in 1804 and East Retford in 1828) was to expand its boundaries and franchise into an area free of corruption but that was not possible in Grampound where the neighbouring towns were also Parliamentary boroughs and increasing the electorate would simply increase the pool of potential bribed voters.

After a delay caused by the accession of King George IV and the scandal of Queen Caroline's return and the Pains and Penalties Bill, Russell introduced a Bill in January 1821. The suggestion of Leeds as a new borough met with resistance because of the large number of working class voters who would be enfranchised, and when an amendment to raise the qualification was passed, Russell withdrew his Bill; however, the mover of the amendment introduced his own. The House of Lords amended the Bill to give the two members instead to the county of Yorkshire, an amendment accepted and which eventually went into law. Grampound was disfranchised by 1 & 2 Geo. IV, c. 47.

Members of Parliament

1547–1629

ParliamentFirst memberSecond member
Parliament of 1547Henry KnollysPeter Sainthill
First Parliament of 1553Thomas NiccollsEgidius Wilson
Second Parliament of 1553Sir Thomas SmithSir William Smythwick
Parliament of 1554Richard ChappellSir Thomas Cornwallis
Parliament of 1554–1555Robert VaughanGeorge Tedlowe
Parliament of 1555Richard ChappellJohn Harris
Parliament of 1558Thomas HerleRobert Rychers
Parliament of 1559Sir John RadcliffeRalph Couch[1][2]
Parliament of 1562Sir John PollardChristopher Perne
1566Pollard declared lunatic, replaced by John Dodmer
Parliament of 1571Edward ClereJohn Hussey
Parliament of 1572–1581Edmund Slyfield
Parliament of 1584–1585William StoughtonCharles Trevanion
Parliament of 1586–1587Thomas CromwellJohn Herbert
Parliament of 1588–1589Richard Sayer
Parliament of 1593Richard EdgecumbeEdward Jones
Parliament of 1597–1598Sir John LeighRobert Newdigate
Parliament of 1601Sir John GrayJohn Astell
Parliament of 1604–1611William Noy(Sir) Francis Barnham
Addled Parliament (1614)Thomas St Aubyn
Parliament of 1621–1622John HampdenSir Robert Carey
Happy Parliament (1624–1625)John MohunRichard Edgcumbe
Useless Parliament (1625) Sir Samuel Rolle
Parliament of 1625–1626 Edward ThomasThomas St Aubyn
Parliament of 1628–1629Lord CareySir Robert Pye
No Parliament summoned 1629–1640

1640–1821

Election First member[3] First party Second member[3] Second party
April 1640 William Coryton John TrevanionRoyalist
November 1640 James CampbellParliamentarian
1640 Sir John TrevorParliamentarian
December 1648 Campbell excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant
1653 Grampound was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659 Thomas Herle Robert Scawen
May 1659 Sir John Trevor One seat vacant
April 1660 Thomas Herle Hugh Boscawen
October 1660 John Tanner
1661 Charles Trevanion
February 1679 Sir Joseph Tredenham Tory
August 1679 John Tanner Nicholas Herle
1685 Sir Joseph Tredenham Tory Robert Foley
1689 Edward Herle John Tanner
1690 Walter Vincent
1692 John Buller
1695 Hugh Fortescue
1698 Sir William Scawen
1699 Francis Scobell
1702 James Craggs Whig
1708 Thomas Scawen
1710 Thomas Coke
1713 Andrew Quick
1715 Hon. John West Charles Cooke
1721 Richard West
1722 Marquess of Hartington Whig Humphry Morice Whig
1727 Philip Hawkins
1732 Isaac le Heup
1734 Thomas Hales Whig
1739 Thomas Trefusis
1741 Daniel Boone William Banks
1747 Lord George Bentinck Thomas Hawkins
1754 Merrick Burrell[4] Simon Fanshawe
1768 Grey Cooper Charles Wolfran Cornwall
1774 Hon. Sir Joseph Yorke Whig Richard Neville
1780 Sir John Ramsden, Bt Thomas Lucas
1784 Hon. John Somers Cocks Francis Baring Whig
1790 Thomas Wallace Jeremiah Crutchley
1796 Bryan Edwards Robert Sewell
1800 Sir Christopher Hawkins Tory
1802 Benjamin Hobhouse
1806 Henry Fawcett
1807 Hon. Andrew Cochrane-Johnstone Hon. George Cochrane
March 1808[5] Robert Williams John Teed
May 1808 William Holmes Tory Hon. George Cochrane
1812 Hon. Andrew Cochrane-Johnstone[6]
1812 John Teed
1814 Ebenezer Collett
1818 John Innes Alexander Robertson

Elections

As with most boroughs in the unreformed House of Commons, Grampound was uncontested at most elections. The only contested elections after 1660 were:

General Election 1741: Grampound (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±
N/A Daniel Boone 27 27% N/A
N/A William Banks 27 27% N/A
N/A Thomas Hales 23 23% N/A
N/A Thomas Trefusis 23 23% N/A
General Election 1754: Grampound (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±
N/A Merrick Burrell 31 35% N/A
N/A Simon Fanshawe 31 35% N/A
N/A Sir John St Aubyn, Bt 13 15% N/A
N/A Francis Beauchamp 13 15% N/A
General Election 1796: Grampound (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±
N/A Bryan Edwards 12 33% N/A
N/A Robert Sewell 12 33% N/A
N/A Lord Grey of Groby 6 17% N/A
N/A Jeremiah Crutchley 6 17% N/A
General Election 1807: Grampound (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±
N/A Hon. Andrew Cochrane-Johnstone 27 33% N/A
N/A George Frederick Augustus Cochrane 27 33% N/A
N/A Robert Williams 14 17% N/A
N/A Henry Baring 13 16% N/A
By-Election 1808: Grampound
Party Candidate Votes % ±
N/A Robert Williams 14 26% N/A
N/A John Teed 14 26% N/A
N/A George Frederick Augustus Cochrane 13 24% N/A
N/A William Holmes 13 24% N/A
General Election 1812: Grampound (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±
N/A John Teed 55 47% N/A
N/A Hon. Andrew Cochrane-Johnstone 34 29% N/A
N/A Charles Trelawny Brereton 28 24% N/A
N/A William Holmes 0 16% N/A
N/A William Congreve 0 16% N/A
By-Election 1814: Grampound
Party Candidate Votes % ±
N/A Ebenezer Collett 45 90% N/A
N/A George Conway Montagu 5 10% N/A
General Election 1818: Grampound (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±
N/A John Innes 36 34% N/A
N/A Alexander Robertson 36 34% N/A
N/A John Teed 11 10% N/A
N/A Ebenezer Collett 11 10% N/A
N/A Benjamin Shaw 11 10% N/A
N/A William Allen 1 1% N/A

See also

Notes

  1. "Grampound". History of Parliament online. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  2. No members are listed for Grampound in 1559 in the Return of Members, but Browne Willis (who supplemented the returns from other sources) names Pollard and Perne for 1559 as well as 1563
  3. 1 2 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)
  4. Sir Merrick Burrell, Bt, from 1766
  5. The election of 1807, at which Cochrane-Johnstone and Cochrane were returned, was declared void; at the resulting by-election Williams and Teed were initially declared returned, but eventually Cochrane and Holmes were seated, see below
  6. Expelled from the House of Commons, 1814

References

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