From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sussex was a 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 1832. It was represented by two Knights of the Shire , elected by the bloc vote system.
Under the Reform Act 1832 the constituency was split into two two-member divisions, for Parliamentary purposes, at the 1832 general election . The county was then represented by the East Sussex and West Sussex divisions.
Boundaries
The constituency comprised the whole historic county of Sussex. (Although Sussex contained nine boroughs – Arundel , Bramber , Chichester , East Grinstead , Horsham , Lewes , Midhurst , New Shoreham and Steyning – and four Cinque Ports – Hastings , Rye , Seaford and Winchelsea – each of which elected two MPs in their own right, these were not excluded from the county constituency, and owning property within the boroughs or ports could confer a vote at the county election.)
Members of Parliament
Two Members
1290–1660
1640–1832
Year
First member
First party
Second member
Second party
1660
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Sir John Pelham, Bt
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Henry Goring
1661
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John Ashburnham
1667
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Sir William Morley
February 1679
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John Lewknor
August 1679
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Sir Nicholas Pelham
1681
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Sir William Thomas, Bt
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Sir John Fagg, Bt
1685
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Sir Henry Goring, Bt
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Sir Thomas Dyke, Bt
1689
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Sir John Pelham, Bt
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Sir William Thomas, Bt
1698
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Robert Orme
January 1701
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Henry Lumley
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John Miller
December 1701
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Sir William Thomas, Bt
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Sir Henry Peachey
Whig
1702
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Sir Thomas Pelham, Bt
Whig
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Henry Lumley
1705
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John Morley Trevor
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Sir George Parker, Bt
1708
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Sir Henry Peachey, Bt
Whig
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Peter Gott
1710
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Charles Eversfield
Tory
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Sir George Parker, Bt
1713
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Henry Campion
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John Fuller
1715
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James Butler
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Hon. Spencer Compton
Whig
1722
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Hon. Henry Pelham
Whig
1728
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James Butler
Whig
1742
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Earl of Middlesex
1747
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John Butler
1754
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Thomas Pelham
Whig
1767
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Lord George Henry Lennox
Rockingham Whig
1768
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Richard Harcourt
1774
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Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson
1780
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Thomas Pelham
Whig
1790
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Charles Lennox
Tory
1795
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Pittite
1801
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John 'Mad Jack' Fuller
Tory
1807
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Charles William Wyndham
1812
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Sir Godfrey Webster, Bt
Tory
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Walter Burrell
Tory
1820
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Edward Jeremiah Curteis
1830
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Herbert Barrett Curteis
Tory
1831
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Lord John Lennox
Whig
1832
Constituency divided into East and West Sussex .
Elections
The county franchise, from 1430, was held by the adult male owners of freehold land valued at 40 shillings or more. Each elector had as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings , which took place in the county town of Chichester . The expense and difficulty of voting at only one location in the county, together with the lack of a secret ballot contributed to the corruption and intimidation of electors, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system.
The expense, to candidates, of contested elections encouraged the leading families of the county to agree on the candidates to be returned unopposed whenever possible. Contested county elections were therefore unusual.
See also
References
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 1)