Newtown (UK Parliament constituency)
| Newtown | |
|---|---|
| Former borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
| County | Isle of Wight |
| Major settlements | Newtown |
| 1584–1832 | |
| Seats | Two |
| Created from | Hampshire |
| Replaced by | Isle of Wight |
Newtown was a
bloc vote
system.
The borough was abolished in the
county constituency of Isle of Wight
.
History
Newtown, located on the large natural harbour on the north-western coast of the
Elizabeth I awarded the town two parliamentary seats
.
Newtown was a
rotten boroughs, no single landowner controlled a majority of the burgages: the reversionary rights in them belonged to three families (Barrington, Holmes and Anderson-Pelham), with none having an overall majority. Elections in the borough consequently required careful management and sometimes considerable expenditure to achieve the desired result. In the 1750s and 1760s, the arrangement was that one of the two seats was considered to be in the gift of the Barrington family, while Thomas Holmes (who also nursed the other two Isle of Wight boroughs, Newport and Yarmouth, for the government[1]
) negotiated the election of the government's nominee for the other, unless he wanted it for a member of the Holmes family.
By 1831, the borough had a population of just 68, and it was disestablished the following year by the Reform Act.
Members of Parliament
1584–1640
| Parliament | First member | Second member |
|---|---|---|
| 1584 | William Meux | Robert Redge[2] |
| 1586 | Richard Huyshe | Richard Dillington[2] |
| 1588 | Richard Huyshe | Richard Sutton[2] |
| 1593 | Thomas Dudley | Richard Browne[2] |
| 1597 | Silvanus Scory |
Thomas Crompton[2] |
| 1601 | Robert Wroth | Robert Cotton[2]
|
| 1604 | Thomas Wilson |
William Meux |
| 1614 (Mar) | George Stoughton (sat for Guildford) and replaced 1614 by William Higford |
Sir Henry Berkeley |
| 1621 (Jan) | John Ferrar (sat for Tamworth) and replaced 1621 by Sir William Harington |
Sir Thomas Barrington |
| 1624 (Jan) | George Garrard | Sir Gilbert Gerard, Bt (sat for Middlesex) |
| 1624 (Mar) | Sir Thomas Barrington | |
| 1625 | Sir Thomas Barrington | Thomas Malet |
| 1626 | Sir Thomas Barrington | Thomas Malet |
| 1628–1629 | Sir Thomas Barrington, 2nd Baronet | Robert Barrington |
| 1629–1640 | No Parliaments summoned | |
1640–1832
Notes
- ^ Page 205, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition, London: Macmillan, 1957)
- ^ a b c d e f "History of Parliament". History of Parliament. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ Created a baronet, December 1641
- ^ At the election of 1727 Worsley and Holmes beat Barrington and Powlett, but on petition the result was reversed as a result of a dispute over the franchise
- ^ Succeeded to a baronetcy as Sir John Barrington in 1792
See also
- Isle of Wight
- Newport (Isle of Wight) (UK Parliament constituency)
- Politics of the Isle of Wight
- Parliamentary representation from Isle of Wight
References
- 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) [1]
- D Englefield, J Seaton & I White, Facts About the British Prime Ministers (London: Mansell, 1995)
- J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
- 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 "N" (part 2)