Sussex (UK Parliament constituency)

Sussex
Sussex
Former County constituency; for the House of Commons
County	Sussex
1290–1832
Number of members	Two
Replaced by	East Sussex and West Sussex

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.

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 these areas also elected two MPs in their own right and they were not excluded from the county constituency. Owning property within the boroughs or ports could confer a vote at the county election.

Members of Parliament[]

Two Members

1290–1660[]

Parliament	First member	Second member
1334
1344
1351
1353
1356
1361
1366
1373
1377 (Oct)
1378
1380 (Nov)
1381
1382 (May)
1382 (Oct)
1383 (Feb)
1386		Sir Edward Dallingridge^[1]
1388 (Feb)		Sir Edward Dallingridge^[1]
1388 (Sep)		^[1]
1390 (Jan)		^[1]
1390 (Nov)		^[1]
1391		^[1]
1393		John Broke^[1]
1394		^[1]
1395		^[1]
1397 (Jan)		^[1]
1397 (Sep)		^[1]
1399	John Pelham	^[1]
1401	Sir John Pelham	^[1]
1402		^[1]
1404 (Jan)	Sir John Pelham	^[1]
1404 (Oct)		Sir John Pelham^[1]
1406		Sir John Pelham^[1]
1407		Sir John Pelham^[1]
1410
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)		^[1]
1414 (Apr)		^[1]
1414 (Nov)		^[1]
1415	Richard Styuecle	William Weston II^[1]
1416 (Mar)	Richard Styuecle	Sir Roger Fiennes^[1]
1416 (Oct)
1417		Richard Styuecle^[1]
1419		^[1]
1420		^[1]
1421 (May)		^[1]
1421 (Dec)		^[1]
1442	Sir Roger Fiennes
1445	Sir Roger Fiennes
1449	John Wood^[2]
1450	Robert Poynings
1456
1483	John Wood
1491	Sir David Owen ^[3]
1495	Edmund Dudley
1510–1523	No names known^[4]
1529	Sir John Gage	^[4]
1536
1539	Sir John Gage	Sir William Goring^[4]
1542	?Sir John Gage	? ^[4]
1545	?Sir John Gage	? ^[4]
1547	Sir William Goring	^[4]
1553 (Mar)	?Sir Richard Sackville	? ^[4]
1553 (Oct)		John Covert^[4]
1554 (Apr)	Sir Robert Oxenbridge	Sir Thomas Palmer^[4]
1554 (Nov)	John Covert	^[4]
1555	Sir Robert Oxenbridge	^[4]
1558	Sir Nicholas Pelham	Sir Robert Oxenbridge^[4]
1559 (Jan)	Sir Richard Sackville	^[5]
1562–3	Sir Richard Sackville, died and replaced 1566 by	^[5]
1571		^[5]
1572	John Jeffrey, died and replaced Jan 1581 by Walter Covert	Thomas Shirley^[5]
1584	Robert Sackville	Sir Thomas Shirley^[5]
1586	Walter Covert	Thomas Pelham^[5]
1588 (Oct)		Henry Neville^[5]
1593	Robert Sackville	Sir Thomas Shirley^[5]
1597 (Sep)	Robert Sackville	Sir Nicholas Parker^[5]
1601	Robert Sackville	Charles Howard^[5]
1604	Robert Sackville		[
1609	Henry Carey
1614	Sir Walter Covert	Sampson Lennard
1621	Sir Edward Sackville
1624	Algernon Lord Peircy	Thomas Pelham
1625	Sir Thomas Pelham, 2nd Baronet	Sir John Shurley
1626	Sir Walter Covert	Sir Alexander Temple
1628	Sir William Goring, 1st Baronet	Richard Lewknor
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned
1640 (Apr)	Sir Thomas Pelham Bt	Anthony Stapley
1640 (Nov)	Sir Thomas Pelham Bt	Anthony Stapley
1645	Sir Thomas Pelham Bt	Anthony Stapley
1648	Anthony Stapley	One seat only
1653	Anthony Stapley
1654	Herbert Morley	Sir Thomas Pelham, 2nd Baronet Anthony Stapley John Stapley John Fagg William Hay John Pelham Francis Lord Dacres Herbert Springet
1656	Herbert Morley	John Pelham John Fagg John Stapley George Courthope Sir Thomas Rivers, 2nd Baronet Samuel Gott
1659	Herbert Morley	John Fagg

1640–1832[]

Year		First member	First party	Second member	Second party
1660		Sir John Pelham, Bt		Henry Goring
1661				John Ashburnham
1667
February 1679
August 1679				Sir Nicholas Pelham
1681		Sir William Thomas, Bt		Sir John Fagg, Bt
1685		Sir Henry Goring, Bt		Sir Thomas Dyke, Bt
1689		Sir John Pelham, Bt		Sir William Thomas, Bt
1698				Sir William Thomas, Bt
January 1701		Henry Lumley
December 1701		Sir William Thomas, Bt		Sir Henry Peachey	Whig
1702		Sir Thomas Pelham, Bt	Whig	Henry Lumley
1705				Sir George Parker, Bt
1708		Sir Henry Peachey, Bt	Whig	Peter Gott
1710		Charles Eversfield	Tory	Sir George Parker, Bt
1713		Henry Campion		John Fuller
1715		James Butler		Hon. Spencer Compton	Whig
1722		Hon. Henry Pelham	Whig	Hon. Spencer Compton	Whig
1728				James Butler	Whig
1742				Earl of Middlesex
1747
1754		Thomas Pelham	Whig
1767		Thomas Pelham	Whig	Lord George Henry Lennox	Rockingham Whig
1768
1774		Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson
1780		Thomas Pelham	Whig
1790			Whig	Charles Lennox	Tory
1795			Pittite
1801		John 'Mad Jack' Fuller	Tory
1807		John 'Mad Jack' Fuller	Tory	Charles William Wyndham
1812		Sir Godfrey Webster, Bt	Tory	Walter Burrell	Tory
1820
1830		Herbert Barrett Curteis	Tory
1831		Herbert Barrett Curteis	Tory	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.

References[]

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 1)

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab "History of Parliament". Retrieved 16 September 2011.
^ Satchell, Max (2004). "Wood, Sir John, speaker of the House of commons". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29875. Retrieved 1 December 2011. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Cavill. The English Parliaments of Henry VII 1485–1504.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l "History of Parliament". Retrieved 16 September 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "History of Parliament". Retrieved 16 September 2011.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Vacant since 1742 Title last held by King's Lynn	Constituency represented by the Prime Minister 1743–1754	Vacant until 1763 Title next held by Buckingham

[HoP1-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab "History of Parliament". Retrieved 16 September 2011.

[2] Satchell, Max (2004). "Wood, Sir John, speaker of the House of commons". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29875. Retrieved 1 December 2011. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[3] Cavill. The English Parliaments of Henry VII 1485–1504.

[HoP2-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l "History of Parliament". Retrieved 16 September 2011.

[HoP3-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "History of Parliament". Retrieved 16 September 2011.

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