Bossiney (UK Parliament constituency)
{{Short description|Former UK Parliament constituency}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox UK constituency
|name = Bossiney
|type = Borough
|parliament = uk
|year = 1552
|abolished = 1832
|elects_howmany = Two
|previous =
|next = East Cornwall
}}
Bossiney was a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall, one of a number of Cornish rotten boroughs. It returned two members of Parliament to the British House of Commons from 1552 until it was abolished by the Great Reform Act 1832.
History
Bossiney was one of a number of small parliamentary boroughs established in Cornwall during the Tudor period, and was not a town of any importance even when first enfranchised. The borough consisted of the hamlet of Bossiney itself and the nearby village of Trevena, both in the parish of Tintagel on the North Cornwall coast. In 1831, the borough contained only 67 houses, and had a population of 308.
The right to vote was vested in the mayor and freemen of the borough, collectively called the burgesses; the freedom of the borough was hereditary, passing to the eldest son of any burgess possessing freehold property within the borough. The number of burgesses was always small, with only 25 being entitled to vote in 1831. In 1816, Oldfield recorded that there were only nine voters, eight of whom belonged to the same family.
Like most of the tiny boroughs, Bossiney was completely under the control of its "patrons", who had such influence over the voters that they could in practice choose whoever they wanted as MPs. From the middle of the 18th century, the patrons were the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and the Wortley family. Usually they chose one member each and, indeed, a formal agreement to that effect, dated 3 July 1752, survives. In Bossiney, the patrons habitually secured their interests by obtaining for the burgesses lucrative appointments in the customs-house at Padstow. In 1758, there was a dispute between Lord Edgcumbe and Samuel Martin, patron of nearby Camelford, over a commissionership of customs that both wanted for one of their constituents; a Camelford man was appointed, and at the election that followed in 1761, Edgcumbe was unable to secure the election of his candidate.Page 144, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
The abuse of government patronage was considered a scandal even in the 18th century, and the Parliament Act 1782 (22 Geo. 3. c. 41) was passed to disqualify the holders of certain posts, including customs officers, from voting. While the new law was not aimed specifically at Bossiney it had a more dramatic effect there than anywhere else: the borough established an unbeatable record at the general election of 1784, when so many of the burgesses were disqualified that there was only a single qualified voter (the vicar, Arthur Wade) to return the two MPs.
Bossiney was disfranchised by the Great Reform Act 1832.
Members of Parliament
=1553–1640=
- Constituency created (1553 or possibly earlier)Most sources state that Bossiney was first represented in the first parliament of 1553, which some (e.g. Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832, p. 22) refer to as the parliament of 1552–53 since it assembled on 1 March 1553 (New Style)/1 March 1552 Old Style. Peter Dyer suggests that MPs were elected before 1552, naming William Carnsew and John Withypoll as those for 1547. (Dyer, Peter, Tintagel: A Portrait of a Parish. Cambridge: Cambridge Books, 2005. {{ISBN|0-9550097-0-7}}; pp. 500–01).
=1640–1832=
| class="wikitable" | ||||||
| Year | First member | First party | Second member | Second party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1640
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Roundhead}}" | | Parliamentarian
|style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Roundhead}}" | | Parliamentarian | ||||
| November 1640
| Sir John ClotworthyClotworthy was re-elected to serve in the Long Parliament but had also been elected for Maldon, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Bossiney again. | Parliamentarian
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Roundhead}}" | |rowspan="3"| Sir Christopher Yelverton | rowspan="3" |Parliamentarian | ||||
| 1641 (?)
|style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Cavalier}}" | | Royalist | |||||
| September 1642
|colspan="3"|Sydenham disabled from sitting - seat vacant | ||||||
| 1647
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | ||||||
| December 1648
|colspan="3"|Copley excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant | colspan="3"|Yelverton not known to have sat after Pride's Purge | |||||
| 1653
|colspan="6"|Bossiney was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | ||||||
| January 1659
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |
|style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | |||||
| May 1659
|colspan="6"|Not represented in the restored Rump | ||||||
| April 1660
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="2"| Francis Gerard |rowspan="2"| | style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| June 1660
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1661
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="2"| Robert Robartes |rowspan="2"| | style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1673
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| February 1679
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| October 1679
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="2"| Charles Robartes |rowspan="2"| | style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1681
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1685
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1689
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="2"| Sir Peter Colleton |rowspan="2"| | style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1690
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="2"| Samuel Travers |rowspan="2"| | ||||||
| 1694
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1695
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1698
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | |rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="3"| John TregagleTregagle was re-elected in 1700, but following a petition alleging bribery and diversion of Duchy of Cornwall revenues, the election was declared void and a new writ issued. |rowspan="3"| | ||||||
| January 1701
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| March 1701
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| December 1701
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | |rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="3"| John Manley |rowspan="3"| | ||||||
| 1702
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1705
| style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | | Tory | ||||||
| 1708
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| October 1710
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | Francis RobartesRobartes was also elected for Bodmin, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Bossiney in this Parliament. | |rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="3"| John Manley |rowspan="3"| | ||||||
| December 1710
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1713
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="2"| Sir William Pole |rowspan="2"| | ||||||
| 1714
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1715
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1722
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="2"| Robert Corker |rowspan="2"| | style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1727
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="2"| John Hedges |rowspan="2"| | ||||||
| 1731
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1734
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="2"| The Viscount Palmerston |rowspan="2"| | style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1737
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| May 1741
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| December 1741Sabine and Tower won the election of 1741, but on petition they were unseated and their defeated opponents, Liddell and Foster, declared elected in their place.
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1742
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | |rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="2"| Thomas Foster |rowspan="2"| | ||||||
| 1746
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| July 1747
| style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Whigs (British political party)}}" | | Edward WortleyWortley was also elected for Peterborough, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Bossiney. | Whig |rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="2"| Richard Heath |rowspan="2"| | ||||||
| December 1747
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="2"| William Ord |rowspan="2"| | ||||||
| 1752
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1754
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | |rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="3"| Edward Wortley Montagu |rowspan="3"| | ||||||
| 1761
| style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | | Tory | ||||||
| 1766
|rowspan="4" style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | |rowspan="4"| John Stuart |rowspan="4"| Tory | ||||||
| 1768
| style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | | Tory | ||||||
| 1769
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1774
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | |rowspan="2"| Hon. Henry Luttrell |rowspan="2"| Tory | ||||||
| 1776
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="3"| Hon. Charles Stuart |rowspan="3"| | ||||||
| 1784
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1786
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1790
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="2"| Hon. James Archibald StuartStuart adopted the surname Wortley in 1794. |rowspan="2"| |style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| April 1796
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| May 1796
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | |rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | rowspan="2"|John Lubbock | rowspan="2"| | ||||||
| 1797
|rowspan="8" style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | |rowspan="8"| Hon. James Stuart-WortleyWortley was re-elected in 1819, but had also been elected for Yorkshire, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Bossiney. |rowspan="8"| Tory | ||||||
| 1802
| style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | | Tory | ||||||
| 1803
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1806
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | | | ||||||
| 1807
| style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | | Tory | ||||||
| 1808
| style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | | Tory | ||||||
| 1817
| style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | | Tory | ||||||
| 1818
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: white" | |rowspan="3"| Sir Compton Domvile |rowspan="3"| | ||||||
| 1819
| style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | | Tory | ||||||
| 1823
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | |rowspan="2"| John Stuart-Wortley |rowspan="2"| Tory | ||||||
| 1826
|rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | |rowspan="3"| Edward Rose Tunno |rowspan="3"| Tory{{cite web |last1=Fisher |first1=David R. |title=TUNNO, Edward Rose (1794-1863), of Llangennech, nr. Llanelli, Carm.; Boverton Castle, Llantwit Major, Glam., and 19 Upper Brook Street, Mdx. |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/tunno-edward-1794-1863 |website=The History of Parliament |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=3 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303193124/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/tunno-edward-1794-1863 |url-status=live }} | ||||||
| 1830
| style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | | Charles James Stuart-Wortley | Tory{{cite web |last1=Casey |first1=Martin |title=STUART WORTLEY, Hon. Charles James (1802-1844), of Wortley Hall, Yorks. |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/stuart-wortley-hon-charles-1802-1844 |website=The History of Parliament |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=16 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616130912/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/stuart-wortley-hon-charles-1802-1844 |url-status=live }} | ||||||
| 1831
| style="color:inherit;background-color: {{party color|Tories (British political party)}}" | | Tory{{cite web |last1=Fisher |first1=David R. |title=STUART WORTLEY, John (1801-1855), of 15 Curzon Street, Mdx. |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/stuart-wortley-john-1801-1855 |website=The History of Parliament |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=5 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200105074942/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/stuart-wortley-john-1801-1855 |url-status=live }} | ||||||
| 1832
|colspan="6"| Constituency abolished |
Election results
=Elections in the 1830s=
{{Election box begin no change | title=General election, 2 May 1831: Bossiney{{cite web |last1=Jenkins |first1=Terry |title=Bossiney |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/constituencies/bossiney |website=The History of Parliament |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=27 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927180318/http://historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/constituencies/bossiney |url-status=live }}
}}
{{Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link|
|party = Tories (British political party)
|candidate = John Stuart-Wortley
}}
{{Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link|
|party = Tories (British political party)
|candidate = Edward Rose Tunno
}}
{{Election box registered electors no change|
|reg. electors = {{circa|25}}
}}
{{Election box hold with party link no swing|
|winner = Tories (British political party)
}}
{{Election box hold with party link no swing|
|winner = Tories (British political party)
}}
{{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin no change | title=By-election, 16 February 1831: Bossiney
}}
{{Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link|
|party = Tories (British political party)
|candidate = John Stuart-Wortley
}}
{{Election box registered electors no change|
|reg. electors = {{circa|25}}
}}
{{Election box hold with party link no swing|
|winner = Tories (British political party)
}}
{{Election box end}}
- Caused by Stuart-Wortley's resignation
{{Election box begin no change | title=General election, 31 July 1830: Bossiney
}}
{{Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link|
|party = Tories (British political party)
|candidate = Charles Stuart-Wortley
}}
{{Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link|
|party = Tories (British political party)
|candidate = Edward Rose Tunno
}}
{{Election box hold with party link no swing|
|winner = Tories (British political party)
}}
{{Election box hold with party link no swing|
|winner = Tories (British political party)
}}
{{Election box end}}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
- Beatson, Robert (1807) "[https://books.google.com/books?id=Gh2wKY2rkDUC&q=Return+of+Members+of+Parliament A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament]" London: Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme
- Brunton, D.; Pennington, D. H. (1954) Members of the Long Parliament London: George Allen & Unwin.
- Cobbett, William (1808) [https://web.archive.org/web/20150904125310/http://www2.odl.ox.ac.uk/gsdl/cgi-bin/library?e=p-000-00---0modhis06--00-0-0-0prompt-10---4------0-1l--1-en-50---20-about---00001-001-1-1isoZz-8859Zz-1-0&a=d&cl=CL1 Cobbett's Parliamentary History of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803] London: Thomas Hansard
- Dyer, Peter (2005) Tintagel: a portrait of a parish. Cambridge: Cambridge Books. {{ISBN|0-9550097-0-7}} A full list of the MPs is given as an appendix.
- Jansson, Maija (ed.) (1988), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society [https://books.google.com/books?id=L9GqTX0uoT8C&pg=PR9]
- Oldfield, T. H. B. (1816) The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy.
- Philbin, J. Holladay (1965) Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales New Haven: Yale University Press.
- Porritt, Edward; Porritt, Annie G. (1903) The Unreformed House of Commons Cambridge University Press.
- Smith, Henry Stooks (1973) The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847, 2nd ed., edited by F. W. S. Craig. Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications.
- Townshend, Heywood (1680) [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43562 Historical Collections: or, An Exact Account of the Proceedings of the Four Last Parliaments of Q. Elizabeth] (1680)
- {{Cite Notitia Parliamentaria|converted=1|part=2|page=1}}
- {{Rayment-hc|b|4|date=March 2012}}
Category:Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1552
Category:Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1832
Category:Parliamentary constituencies in Cornwall (historic)