Grampound (UK Parliament constituency)

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Grampound
Borough constituency
Created: 1553
Abolished: 1821
Type: House of Commons

Grampound in Cornwall, 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 1821. It was represented by two Members of Parliament.

Grampound's market was on a Saturday and the town had a glove factory. Grampound was created a Borough by a charter of King Edward III with a Mayor, eight Aldermen, a Recorder, and a Town Clerk. The franchise for the borough was in the hands of Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and any Freemen created by the council. In 1816, T.H.B. Oldfield wrote that there were 42 voters in all. Given that the borough had 80 houses, this meant that the franchise was extended well into the working class.

While several patrons (including the Earls of Mount Edgcumbe, Lord Eliot, Sir Christopher Hawkins and Basil Cochrane) attempted to exert their influence over the choice of members to serve Grampound, the electors were more interested in the monetary value of their vote. Oldfield wrote "The freemen of this borough have been known to boast of receiving three hundred guineas a man for their votes at one election." So notorious and unmanageable did the borough become that Grampound became a byword for electoral corruption, and Edward Porritt noted its use was continuing in 1903.

Finally, after the return of two members in the 1818 general election was overturned by a petition alleging gross bribery, Lord John Russell moved to disfranchise Grampound and to transfer the two members to a new Parliamentary Borough of Leeds. The usual treatment for a Borough which had perpetual bribery (as practiced in New Shoreham in 1770, Cricklade in 1782, Aylesbury in 1804 and East Retford in 1828) was to expand its boundaries and franchise into an area free of corruption but that was not possible in Grampound where the neighbouring towns were also Parliamentary boroughs and increasing the electorate would simply increase the pool of potential bribed voters.

After a delay caused by the accession of King George IV and the scandal of Queen Caroline's return, Russell introduced a Bill in January 1821. The suggestion of Leeds as a new borough met with resistance because of the large number of working class voters who would be enfranchised, and when an amendment to raise the qualification was passed, Russell withdrew his Bill; however, the mover of the amendment introduced his own. The House of Lords amended the Bill to give the two members instead to the county of Yorkshire, an amendment accepted and which eventually went into law. Grampound was disfranchised by 1 & 2 Geo. IV, c. 47.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency was a Parliamentary borough in Cornwall, covering Grampound, a market town 8 miles from Truro on the River Fal.

[edit] Members of Parliament

Year First member Second member
1553 Thomas Niccolls Egidius Wilson
1553 Sir Thomas Smith William Smithwick
1554 Richard Chapell Thomas Cornwallis
1554 Robert Vaughan George Tedlowe
1555 John Harryk Richard Chapell
1558 Thomas Herle Robert Rythre
1559 No returns found
1563 Sir John Pollard Christopher Perne
1572 Edmund Sheffield John Hussey
1584 William Stoughton Charles Trevanyon
1586 Thomas Cromwell John Harbert
1588 Richard Sayer
1593 Richard Edgcumbe Edward Jones
1597 Sir John Legh Robert Newdigate
1601 Sir John Gray John Astell
1604 William Noye Francis Barnham
1614 No returns found
1621 John Hampden Sir Robert Carey
1624 John Mohun Sir Richard Edgcombe
1625 Sir Samuel Rolle
1626 Edward Thomas Thomas St. Aubyn
1628 Lord Carey Sir Robert Pye
1640 William Coryton John Trevanion
1640 James Campbell
1640 Sir John Trevor
Year First member First party Second member Second party
1659 Thomas Herle Robert Scawen
April 1660 Hugh Boscawen
October 1660 John Tanner
1661 Charles Trevanion
February 1679 Sir Joseph Tredenham Tory
August 1679 John Tanner Nicholas Herle
1685 Sir Joseph Tredenham Tory Robert Foley
1689 Edward Herle John Tanner
1690 Walter Vincent
1692 John Buller
1695 Hugh Fortescue
1698 Sir William Scawen
1699 Francis Scobell
1702 James Craggs Whig
1708 Thomas Scawen
1710 Thomas Coke
1713 Andrew Quick
1715 Hon. John West Charles Cooke
1721 Richard West
1722 Marquess of Hartington Whig Humphry Morrice
1727 Philip Hawkins
1732 Isaac Leheup
1734 Thomas Hales
1739 Thomas Trefusis
1741 Daniel Boone William Banks
1747 Lord George Bentinck Thomas Hawkins
1754 Merrick Burrell Simon Fanshawe
1768 Grey Cooper Charles Wolfran Cornwall
1774 Sir Joseph Yorke Richard Neville
1780 Sir John Ramsden, Bt Thomas Lucas
1784 John Sommers Cocks Francis Baring
1790 Thomas Wallace Jeremiah Crutchley
1796 Bryan Edwards Robert Sewell
1800 Sir Christopher Hawkins, Bt
1802 Benjamin Hobhouse
1806 Henry Fawcett
1807 Andrew James Cochrane-Johnstone George Frederick Augustus Cochrane
1808 William Holmes
1812 Andrew James Cochrane-Johnstone
1812 John Teed
1814 Ebenezer Collett
1818 John Innes Alexander Robertson
  • Constituency disenfranchished for corruption (1821)

[edit] Elections

As with most boroughs in the unreformed House of Commons, Grampound was uncontested at most elections. The only contested elections after 1660 were:

  • 1741: The sitting members, Thomas Hales and Thomas Trefusis, (who were supporters of Robert Walpole) were challenged by Daniel Boone and William Banks. Hales and Trefusis were supported by Richard Edgcumbe who was managing the Cornish Boroughs for the Government and controlled the Grampound corporation, but Boone and Banks arranged for an alternate Mayor to be elected and indemnified the Sheriff of the County against any legal expenses if he delivered the writs for the election to their Mayor and was sued. They secured their election by 27 votes to 23, while an alternative poll by the original Mayor returned Hales and Trefusis with 35 votes to 17 for their opponents. However, Hales and Trefusis declined to press their challenge through an election petition.
General Election 1741: Grampound (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
N/A Daniel Boone 27 27% N/A
N/A William Banks 27 27% N/A
N/A Thomas Hales 23 23% N/A
N/A Thomas Trefusis 23 23% N/A
  • 1754: Sir John St Aubyn, Bt and Francis Beauchamp were proposed as candidates apparently without their knowledge by local malcontent voters who wanted to raise the level of their bribery. They secured 13 votes to 31 for Merrick Burrell and Simon Fanshawe, who were government candidates.
General Election 1754: Grampound (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
N/A Merrick Burrell 31 35% N/A
N/A Simon Fanshawe 31 35% N/A
N/A Sir John St Aubyn, Bt 13 15% N/A
N/A Francis Beauchamp 13 15% N/A
General Election 1796: Grampound (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
N/A Bryan Edwards 12 33% N/A
N/A Robert Sewell 12 33% N/A
N/A Lord Grey of Groby 6 17% N/A
N/A Jeremiah Crutchley 6 17% N/A
General Election 1807: Grampound (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
N/A Andrew James Cochrane-Johnstone 27 33% N/A
N/A George Frederick Augustus Cochrane 27 33% N/A
N/A Robert Williams 14 17% N/A
N/A Henry Baring 13 16% N/A
  • 1808: Robert Williams (senior) and John Teed 14; Hon. George Augustus Frederick Cochrane and William Holmes 13 by first returning officer. Cochrane and Holmes 27; Williams and Teed 14 by second returning officer. Williams and Teed seated on petition, May 10, 1808.
By-Election 1808: Grampound
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
N/A Robert Williams 14 26% N/A
N/A John Teed 14 26% N/A
N/A George Frederick Augustus Cochrane 13 24% N/A
N/A William Holmes 13 24% N/A
General Election 1812: Grampound (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
N/A John Teed 55 47% N/A
N/A Andrew James Cochrane-Johnstone 34 29% N/A
N/A Charles Trelawny Brereton 28 24% N/A
N/A William Holmes 0 16% N/A
N/A William Congreve 0 16% N/A
  • Andrew James Cochrane-Johnstone expelled for committing stock fraud
By-Election 1814: Grampound
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
N/A Ebenezer Collett 45 90% N/A
N/A George Conway Montagu 5 10% N/A
General Election 1818: Grampound (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
N/A John Innes 36 34% N/A
N/A Alexander Robinson 36 34% N/A
N/A John Teed 11 10% N/A
N/A Ebenezer Collett 11 10% N/A
N/A Benjamin Shaw 11 10% N/A
N/A William Allen 1 1% N/A

[edit] References

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