Manor of Northstead

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The Manor of Northstead was once a collection of fields and farms in the parish of Scalby in the North Riding of Yorkshire. By 1600 the manor house had fallen into disrepair and was occupied only by a shepherd. At present the area of the Manor is part of the Barrowcliff area of the town of Scarborough.

The position of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead is now used as a procedural device to effect resignation from the House of Commons, since British MPs are not permitted simply to resign their seat. Under the Act of Settlement, any Member of Parliament accepting an office of profit under the Crown must give up his or her seat. Most references say that it was first used in this way on 20 March 1844 to allow Sir George Henry Rose, Member for Christchurch to resign his seat in Parliament, but the official book containing appointments to the Stewardship (lodged in the Public Record Office under reference E 197/1) indicates that Patrick Chalmers, MP for Montrose Burghs, was appointed to this office on 6 April 1842. The writ for the electing of a replacement was moved as if Chalmers had been appointed to the Chiltern Hundreds. In more recent years the post of Manor of Northstead and The Chiltern Hundreds have alternated between resigning MPs. Tony Blair was the last MP to become the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds upon his resignation. Boris Johnson was the last MP to resign to become the new Crown Steward of the Manor of Northstead on 4 June 2008.^[1]