Sussex (UK Parliament constituency)

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Sussex County constituency
Created:	1290
Abolished:	1832
Type:	House of Commons
Members:	two

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 Members of Parliament until 1832.

The constituency was split into two two-member divisions, for Parliamentary purposes, in 1832. The county was then represented by the East Sussex and West Sussex divisions.

Contents 1 Boundaries 2 Members of Parliament 3 Elections 4 See also 5 References

[edit] 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.)

[edit] Members of Parliament

Two Members

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
1660		Sir John Pelham, Bt			Henry Goring
1661					John Ashburnham
1667					Sir William Morley
February 1679					John Lewknor
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		Robert Orme
January 1701		Henry Lumley			John Miller
December 1701		Sir William Thomas, Bt			Sir Henry Peachey
1702		Sir Thomas Pelham, Bt			Henry Lumley
1705		John Morley Trevor			Sir George Parker, Bt
1708		Sir Henry Peachey			Peter Gott
1710		Charles Eversfield			Sir George Parker, Bt
1713		Henry Campion			John Fuller
1715		James Butler			Spencer Compton
1722		Henry Pelham
1728					James Butler
1742					Earl of Middlesex
1747					John Butler
1754		Thomas Pelham
1767					Lord George Henry Lennox
1768		Richard Harcourt
1774		Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson
1780		Thomas Pelham
1790					Charles Lennox
1801		John 'Mad Jack' Fuller
1807					Charles William Wyndham
1812		Sir Godfrey Webster, Bt			Walter Burrell
1820		Edward Jeremiah Curteis
1830		Herbert Barrett Curteis
1831					Lord John Lennox
1832	Constituency divided into East and West Sussex.

[edit] 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.

[edit] See also

• List of former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies
• Unreformed House of Commons

[edit] References

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by vacant. Last was King's Lynn in 1742	Constituency represented by the Prime Minister 1743 - 1754	Succeeded by vacant. Next was Buckingham in 1763