Steyning (UK Parliament constituency)

Steyning
Steyning
Former borough constituency; for the House of Commons
1467–1832
Seats	Two
Replaced by	New Shoreham

Steyning was a parliamentary borough in Sussex, England, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons sporadically from 1298 and continuously from 1467 until 1832. It was a notorious rotten borough, and was abolished by the Great Reform Act.

History

The borough comprised the small market town of Steyning in Sussex, which consisted of little more than a single long street; yet despite its size it not only elected its own two MPs but contained most of the borough of Bramber, which had two of its own. (Between the 13th and 15th centuries, Bramber and Steyning were a single borough returning MPs to most Parliaments, sometimes called by one name and sometimes by the other, but after 1467 both were separately represented. Until 1792 it was theoretically possible for a house to confer on its occupier a vote in both boroughs.) In 1831, the population of the borough was just over 1,000, and the town contained 218 houses.

At the time of the Reform Act, the right to vote was exercised by the constable and all inhabitant householders paying scot and lot and not receiving alms; this was a liberal franchise for the period, though it amounted to only around 118 voters by the time the borough was abolished. The householders seem historically to have had the right to vote, but the question was the subject of litigation through most of the 18th century. Between 1715 and 1792, the right was instead restricted to occupiers of "ancient houses" and of houses built on the site of ancient houses, in effect a burgage franchise; but the restoration of the householders' rights does not seem to have increased the electorate substantially, suggesting that most of the houses significant enough for their tenants to be rated for scot and lot had the status of burgage tenements.

For most of the borough's existence, the majority of the qualified voters were tenants of one or two landowners, who therefore had considerable influence if not total control of the choice of MP. (Indeed, Steyning was cited by Thomas Oldfield, the contemporary historian of electoral abuses in the unreformed House of Commons, as an example of a borough where tenancies were granted for the sole purpose of ensuring that the electorate consisted of pliable voters.)

The state of the borough in the 18th century was described in a local agent's letter to the former prime minister, the Duke of Newcastle, in 1767:

"There are 102 in number who claim a right of voting, but not more than 90 whose claim will bear a scrutiny. Out of this number Sir John Honywood has 40 tenants who at present are all disposed to stand by him, and about six or seven others who are full as closely attached to him as any of his tenants. This gives him nearly or quite a majority of the 90 real votes. The rest are all a rope of sand and may be had by anybody." - Letter of Thomas Steele to the Duke of Newcastle, 6 February 1767, quoted by Namier & Brooke

As the letter hints, Honywood's control was not quite absolute and he could not always secure both seats for his candidates. The 1792 ruling on the franchise, moving the vote from the burgage holders to all the householders paying scot and lot, shifted the balance of power over to the Duke of Norfolk (who owned most of the properties that were not classed as ancient houses), and he subsequently bought out Honywood's interest. But he was careful to secure his investment by financing many improvements in the town.

Steyning was abolished as a constituency by the Reform Act, being thereafter included in the borough of New Shoreham (which had earlier been expanded to include the whole of the Rape of Bramber as a remedy for corruption).

Members of Parliament

MPs 1467–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1510-1523	No names known ^[1]
1529	Thomas Shirley	John Morris^[1]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	John Bowyer	? ^[1]
1545	?
1547	Robert Rudston	Henry Fauxe^[1]
1553 (Mar)	Sir Richard Blount	William Cordell^[1]
1553 (Oct)	John Southcote II	David Lewis^[1]
1554 (Apr)	Gilbert Gerard^[2]	Edward Stradling^[1]
1554 (Nov)	John Roberts	William Pellatt^[1]
1555	Robert Byng	? ^[1]
1558	Richard Onslow	Robert Colshill^[1]
1559	Edmund Wright	Robert Keilway^[3]
1562–3	Richard Onslow	Robert Harris^[3]
1571	Richard Browne	John Farnham^[3]
1572	John Cowper	Richard Pellatt^[3]
1584	Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 - 1633–4)	Pexall Brocas^[3]
1586	Thomas Bishop	Henry Shelley^[3]
1588	Thomas Crompton	Henry Apsley^[3]
1593	Sir Walter Waller	Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 - 1633–4)^[3]
1597	John Shurley	Thomas Shirley III^[3]
1601	Sir Thomas Shirley (1542–1612)	Robert Bowyer^[3]
1604–1611	Sir Thomas Bishopp	Sir Thomas Shirley (1542–1612)
1614	Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 - 1633–4)	Edward Fraunceys
1621	Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 - 1633–4)	Edward Fraunceys
1624	Sir Thomas Farnfold	Edward Fraunceys
1625	Sir Thomas Farnfold	Edward Fraunceys
1626	Sir Edward Bishopp	Edward Fraunceys
1628	Sir Edward Alford^[4]	Sir Thomas Farnfold
1629–1640	No Parliaments convened

MPs 1640–1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640		Sir John Leedes	Royalist		Sir Thomas Farnefold^[5]	Royalist
Nov 1640		Thomas Leedes	Royalist		Sir Thomas Farnefold	Royalist
November 1642	Leedes disabled from sitting - seat vacant				Sir Thomas Farnefold	Royalist
March 1643	Leedes disabled from sitting - seat vacant			Farnefold died - seat vacant
1645		Edward Apsley			Herbert Board
1648		Edward Apsley		Board died - seat vacant
1653	Steyning was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		Anthony Shirley			Sir John Trevor
May 1659	Steyning was not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Henry Goring			Sir John Fagg
July 1660		John Eversfield
1661		Sir Henry Goring
1679		John Tufton
January 1681		Philip Gell
February 1681		Sir James Morton
March 1685		Sir Henry Goring
June 1685		Sir James Morton
1690		Robert Fagg
1695		Sir Edward Hungerford
March 1701					Sir Robert Fagg^[6]
April 1701					Charles Goring
November 1701		Sir Robert Fagg
1702		Sir Edward Hungerford
1705		William Wallis
1708		Robert Fagg			Viscount Tunbridge	Whig
1709		Robert Fagg			Sir Henry Goring
1710		William Wallis^[7]
1712		The Lord Bellew of Duleek^[8]
April 1713		Robert Leeves
September 1713		William Wallis
1715		Major General John Pepper			Robert Leeves^[9]
1717					William Wallis
1722					John Gumley
1726		Marquess of Carnarvon
April 1727		William Stanhope
August 1727		The Viscount Vane			Thomas Bladen
1734		Sir Robert Fagg, Bt			Marquess of Carnarvon
1740		Hitch Younge			Marquess of Carnarvon
1741					Charles Eversfield
1747					Abraham Hume
1754					Alexander Hume
1759		Frazer Honywood			Alexander Hume
1761		Frazer Honywood			John Thomlinson
1764		Richard Fuller			John Thomlinson
1767		Richard Fuller			Sir John Filmer
1768		Thomas Edwards Freeman I			Sir John Filmer
1774		Thomas Edwards Freeman I			Filmer Honywood^[10]
September 1780		Sir Thomas Skipwith			Filmer Honywood^[10]
November 1780		Sir Thomas Skipwith			Colonel John Bullock
1784		Sir John Honywood			Hon. Richard Howard
1785		Thomas Edwards-Freeman II
1788		Sir John Honywood
1790 ^[11]		James Lloyd	Whig		Henry Thomas Howard	Whig
7 March 1791		Sir John Honywood^[12]	Tory		John Curtis	Tory
24 March 1791		James Lloyd^[13]	Whig
1792		Samuel Whitbread	Tory
1794		Samuel Whitbread	Tory		John Henniker-Major	Whig
1796		James Lloyd	Whig		John Henniker-Major	Whig
1802					Robert Hurst^[14]	Whig
1803					Lord Ossulston	Whig
February 1806		Sir Arthur Leary Piggott	Whig		Lord Ossulston	Whig
October 1806		James Lloyd	Whig		Robert Hurst	Whig
1812		James Lloyd	Whig		Sir John Aubrey	Whig
1818		George Philips	Whig		Sir John Aubrey	Whig
1820		George Richard Philips	Whig		Lord Henry Howard-Molyneux-Howard	Whig
1824					Henry Howard	Whig
1826					Peter du Cane	Whig
1830					Edward Blount	Whig
1832	Constituency abolished

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
^ "Gerard, Sir Gilbert (d.1593), of Ince, Lancs. and Gerrard's Bromley, Staffs.". History of Parliament. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
^ Sources confuse father and son. Father was elected for Colchester and unseated, but by the manner of his speeches was present in the 1628 parliament
^ Lord Buckhurst was initially elected but was also elected for East Grinstead, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Steyning
^ On petition Fagg's election was declared void
^ On petition, Wallis was adjudged not to have been duly elected. Bribery having been proved on both sides, the election was declared void and a by-election was held, but delayed until the next session of Parliament
^ On petition, Bellew's election was declared void (on a technicality, his title having been mis-stated in the return, although there were again allegations of bribery) and another by-election was held
^ On petition, Leeves was adjudged not to have been duly elected, bribery having been proved against him, and his opponent Wallis was declared elected in his place
^ Honywood was re-elected in 1780, but had also been elected for Kent, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Steyning
^ On petition, Lloyd and Howard were adjudged not to have been duly elected and their opponents, Honywood and Curtis were declared elected in their place
^ Honywood was also elected for Canterbury, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Steyning
^ On petition, Lloyd was adjudged not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Whitbread, was declared elected in his place
^ Hurst had also been a candidate at Shaftesbury, where the result of the election was disputed; once the dispute had been settled in his favour he chose to represent Shaftesbury, and did not sit for Steyning in the remainder of the 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]
Lewis Namier & John Brooke, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754-1790 (London: HMSO, 1964)
J. E. Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
T. H. B. Oldfield, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland (London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1816)
J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
Edward Porritt and Annie G Porritt, The Unreformed House of Commons (Cambridge University Press, 1903)
Henry Stooks Smith, "The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847" (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)