Lostwithiel was a rotten borough in Cornwall which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the English and later British Parliament from 1304 to 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
History
The borough consisted of the town of Lostwithiel and part of the neighbouring Lanlivery parish; it was a market town whose trade was mainly dependent on the copper mined nearby.
Unlike many of the most notorious Cornish rotten boroughs, Lostwithiel had been continuously represented since the Middle Ages and was originally of sufficient size to justify its status. However, by the time of the Great Reform Act it had long been a pocket borough, under the complete control of the Earls of Mount Edgcumbe[1] since 1702. The right to vote was vested in the corporation, who numbered 24 in 1816; they made no attempt to defy their patron, who regularly paid the corporation's debts and advanced them money.
In 1831, the borough had a population of 1,047, and 303 houses.
Members of Parliament
1304–1629
- Constituency created (1304)
1640–1832
Notes
- ^ Page 144, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
- ^ a b "HAMELY (HAMYLYN), Sir John (aft.1324-1399), of Wimborne St. Giles, Dorset". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "History of Parliament". Retrieved 11 October 2011.
- ^ a b c "History of Parliament". Retrieved 11 October 2011.
- ^ "Fitzwilliam, William (c.1550–1618), of Dogsthorpe and Milton, Northants., The History of Parliament". Retrieved 4 November 2016.
- ^ Sir George Chudleigh, Reginald Mohun, Sir Henry Vane and Nicholas Kendall were all returned. It is not clear whether the dispute was resolved before the Parliament was dissolved.
- ^ Hartington was re-elected in 1722 but was also elected for Grampound, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Lostwithiel in the 1722 Parliament
- ^ Bridgeman was re-elected in August 1727 but was also elected for Bletchingley, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Lostwithiel in the 1727 Parliament
- ^ St. John was also elected for Newport (Isle of Wight), which he chose to represent, and never sat for Lostwithiel
- ^ Created a baronet as Sir John Sinclair, February 1786
- ^ Valletort was also elected for Fowey, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Lostwithiel
- ^ Dickinson was re-elected in 1806 but had also been elected for Somerset, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Lostwithiel
- ^ Grant was re-elected in June 1826 but was also elected for Aldborough, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Lostwithiel in the 1826 Parliament
References
- Robert Beatson, "A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament" (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
- 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) [2]
- Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
- J Holladay Philbin, "Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
- Henry Stooks Smith, "The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847" (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig – Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
- Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. p. 1.
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 4)
