Kent (UK Parliament constituency)
| Kent | |
|---|---|
| Former County constituency for the House of Commons | |
| 1290–1832 | |
| Seats | Two |
| Replaced by | Eastern Kent, Western Kent and Greenwich |
Kent was a
History
Boundaries
The constituency consisted of the historic county of Kent. (Although Kent contained eight boroughs, each of which elected two MPs in its own right for part of the period when Kent was a constituency, these were not excluded from the county constituency, and the ownership of property within the borough could confer a vote at the county election. This was even the case for the city of Canterbury, which had the status of a county in itself: unlike those in almost all other counties of cities, Canterbury's freeholders were entitled to vote for Kent's MPs.)
The constituency boundaries may have theoretically encompassed a much larger area and population than would at first appear. After the
Franchise
In medieval times, the custom in Kent, as elsewhere, was for the MPs for the county and those for its boroughs to be elected on the same day at the county court, by the suitors to the court, which meant the tiny handful of the local nobility who were tenants in chief of the Crown. Thus we find it recorded that in the second year of the reign of Henry V, "In the County Court of Kent, held at Rochester, Four Coroners and Eight others present, chose the Knights for the County, and the same person elect two Citizens for Canterbury, and two for Rochester."
From 1430, the
Except during the period of the
Political character
At the time of the
With the villages outvoting the towns by two to one, no particular local interest predominated. By custom, the choice was generally one member from East Kent and one from West Kent. The county's MPs were generally drawn from the leading local families of gentry, but rarely from the nobility, and the voters jealously guarded their independence: although important peers wielded significant influence at times - the
Elections were held at a single polling place, and voters from the rest of the county had to travel to the county town to exercise their franchise. It was normal for voters to expect the candidates for whom they voted to meet their expenses in travelling to the poll, making the cost of fighting an election substantial. Contested elections were therefore rare in most counties, but Kent was something of an exception: voters went to the polls at 14 of the 29 general elections between 1700 and 1832, a total exceeded only by Surrey among the other English counties.
Those elections which were contested seem rarely to have been decided on party lines, and too great an adherence to party loyalty by the MPs was sometimes resented. The voters also expected the solicitous attention of their members. Jupp reprints the resolutions passed by a County meeting of Kent freeholders in 1820:
1. That it is essential to the honour and credit of this County, that it should be represented by two gentlemen constantly resident therein.
2. That it is the opinion of this Meeting that this county was in the last Parliament very inefficiently represented by one of its members, inasmuch as his residence was elsewhere, and the Freeholders were thereby deprived of that easy access and free communication which are essential between the constituent and the representative.
3. That it is the opinion of this meeting that the conduct of a County member in Parliament should be at all times marked by independence, equally free from subserviency to any Administration and unshackled by any Party indiscriminately hostile thereto.
4. That we cannot recognise in Mr Honywood's uniform opposition to every measure recently proposed in Parliament, for the purpose of restraining the career of sedition, blasphemy and crime, the influence of that elevated spirit, which should direct the actions of an independent representative for this great and enlightened County.
These sentiments were clearly not held universally, however, since the apostrophised Mr Honywood was re-elected at that year's election.
Abolition
The constituency was abolished in 1832 by the
Members of Parliament
MPs 1290–1660
 |
- Constituency created (1290)
| Parliament | First member | Second member | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1372 | James Peckham | ||
| 1376–1388 | Sir Thomas Fogg | ||
| 1377 (Oct) | James Peckham | John Freningham | |
| 1378 | Sir Thomas Fogg | ||
| 1380 (Nov) | Sir Thomas Fogg | William Guildford[1] | |
| 1381 | John Freningham | Sir Thomas Fogg | |
| 1383 (Feb) | James Peckham | Sir Thomas Fogg | |
| 1383 (Oct) | Sir Thomas Fogg | ||
| 1384 (Nov) | Sir Thomas Fogg | William Guildford[2] | |
| 1386 | William Bettenham[3] | Geoffrey Chaucer[3] | |
| 1388 (Feb) | Sir Thomas Fogg[3] | James Peckham[3] | |
| 1388 (Sep) | William Bettenham[3] | ||
| 1390 (Jan) | Sir Arnold Savage[3] | John Cobham[3] | |
| 1390 (Nov) | Sir Thomas Cobham[3] | ||
| 1391 | Nicholas Potyn[3] | ||
| 1393 | Sir William Burcester[3] | ||
| 1394 | Sir William Pecche[3] | John Cobham[3] | |
| 1395 | Sir Nicholas Haute[3] | Thomas Brockhill[3] | |
| 1397 (Jan) | Nicholas Potyn[3] | ||
| 1397 (Sep) | Sir William Pecche[3] | John Cobham[3] | |
| 1399 | John Freningham[3] | Thomas Brockhill[3] | |
| 1401 | Sir Arnold Savage[3] | Robert Clifford[3] | |
| 1402 | Thomas Brockhill[3] | ||
| 1404 (Jan) | Sir Reynold Braybrooke[3] | ||
| 1404 (Oct) | Sir Thomas Clinton | Henry Horne[3] | |
| 1406 | Richard Clitheroe[3] | Robert Clifford[3] | |
| 1407 | John Darell[3] | ||
| 1410 | returns lost | ||
| 1411 | Reynold Pympe[3] | William Nutbeam[3] | |
| 1413 (Feb) | returns lost | ||
| 1413 (May) | John Darell[3] | John Butler I[3]
| |
| 1414 (Apr) | Sir Thomas Clinton[3] | ||
| 1414 (Nov) | Sir Arnold Savage II[3] | Robert Clifford[3] | |
| 1415 | returns lost | ||
| 1416 (Mar) | William Cheyne[3] |
John Wilcotes[3] | |
| 1416 (Oct) | returns lost | ||
| 1417 | John Darell[3] | Roger Rye[3] | |
| 1419 | William Haute[3] | Edward Guildford[3] | |
| 1420 | William Rickhill[3] | Thomas Town[3] | |
| 1421 (May) | returns lost | ||
| 1421 (Dec) | Thomas Ellis[3] |
Roger Honyton[3] | |
| 1422 | Geoffrey Lowther | Reginald Lowther | |
| 1426 | Edward Guildford | ||
| 1430 | William Scott | ||
| 1435 | Edward Guildford | ||
| 1445–1446 | Thomas Browne |
||
| 1449 | John Cheyne | ||
| 1450 | William Haute | ||
| 1455 | Gervase Clifton |
Sir Thomas Kyriell[4]
| |
| 1461–1462 | Sir John Fogge |
Sir Thomas Kyriell[4]
| |
| 1463–1465 | Sir John Fogge |
||
| 1467 | Sir John Scott |
||
| 1478 | Sir John Fogge |
||
| 1483 | Sir John Fogge |
||
| 1489-1495 | Sir Richard Guildford (3 times) | [5] | |
| 1510 | No names known[6] | ||
| 1512 | ?Sir Edward Poynings | ? [6] | |
| 1515 | ?Sir Thomas Nevill | ? [6] | |
| 1523 | ? | ||
| 1529 | Sir Sir John Dudley |
Sir Henry Guildford [6] | |
| 1536 | ?Thomas Cromwell | ? [6] | |
| 1539 | Sir Thomas Cheyne |
Gregory Cromwell [6]
| |
| 1542 | Sir Thomas Cheyne |
Sir Thomas Wyatt, died and replaced Jan 1543 by Sir John Guildford [6] | |
| 1545 | Sir Thomas Cheyne |
George Harper [6] | |
| 1547 | Sir Thomas Cheyne |
Sir Thomas Wyatt II [6]
| |
| 1553 (Mar) | Sir Thomas Cheyne |
Sir Henry Sidney [6] | |
| 1553 (Oct) | Sir Thomas Cheyne |
Sir Robert Southwell [6]
| |
| 1554 (Apr) | Sir Thomas Cheyne |
Sir John Baker [6]
| |
| 1554 (Nov) | Sir Thomas Cheyne |
Sir John Baker [6]
| |
| 1555 | Sir John Baker |
Sir Robert Southwell [6]
| |
| 1558 | Sir Thomas Cheyne |
Sir John Baker [6]
| |
| 1558–9 | Sir Anthony St. Leger I | Sir Richard Sackville, sat for Sussex, repl. Feb 1559 by Sir Thomas Kempe[7] | |
| 1562–3 | Sir Henry Sidney | Sir Henry Cheyne[7] | |
| 1571 | Sir Thomas Scott |
Sir Henry Sidney[7] | |
| 1572 | Sir Henry Sidney | Sir Thomas Scott[7]
| |
| 1584 (Nov) | Sir Philip Sidney | Edward Wotton[7] | |
| 1586 (Oct) | Sir Henry Brooke alias Cobham I |
Sir Thomas Scott[7]
| |
| 1588 (Oct) | Henry Brooke alias Cobham II |
Sir Henry Brooke alias Cobham I[7]
| |
| 1593 | Sir Edward Hoby | Moyle Finch[7] | |
| 1597 (Sep) | Sir Robert Sidney | Percival Hart[7]
| |
| 1601 | Francis Fane | Sir Henry Nevill | |
| Parliament of 1604-1611 | Sir John Scott
|
John Leveson | |
| Addled Parliament (1614) | Sir Peter Manwood | Sir Thomas Walsingham
| |
| Parliament of 1621-1622 | Viscount Lisle
|
Sir George Fane | |
Happy Parliament (1624-1625)
|
Nicholas Tufton | Sir Edwin Sandys
| |
| Useless Parliament (1625) | Mildmay Fane | Sir Albertus Morton
| |
| Parliament of 1625-1626 | Sir Edward Hales | Sir Edward Scott | |
| Parliament of 1628-1629 | Thomas Finch | Sir Dudley Diggs | |
| No Parliament summoned 1629-1640 | |||
MPs 1640–1832
Notes
- ^ "GUILDFORD, (D.1448/9), of Halden in Rolvenden, Kent. | History of Parliament Online".
- ^ "GUILDFORD, (D.1448/9), of Halden in Rolvenden, Kent. | History of Parliament Online".
- ^ 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 ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar Woodger, L. S. (1993). "Kent". In Clark, Linda; Rawcliffe, Carole; Roskell, J. S. (eds.). The House of Commons 1386-1421. The History of Parliament Trust.
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50135. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Cavill. The English Parliaments of Henry VII 1485-1504.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "History of Parliament". Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "History of Parliament". Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ Succeeded to baronetcy, June 1684
Election results
|
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)
- John Cannon, Parliamentary Reform 1640-1832 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972)
- 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)
- Peter Jupp, British and Irish Elections 1784-1831 (Newton Abbott: David & Charles, 1973)
- F D MacKinnon, On Circuit (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1940), quoted in Michael Gilbert (ed.), The Oxford Book of Legal Anecdotes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989)
- 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)
- Charles Henry Parry (ed), The Parliaments and Councils of England (London: John Murray, 1839)
- J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
- Robert Walcott, English Politics in the Early Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1956)
- Dictionary of National Biography
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 1)