Sussex (UK Parliament constituency)

Sussex
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Sussex
1290–1832
Number of members	Two
Replaced by	East Sussex and West Sussex

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 Knights of the Shire, elected by the bloc vote system.

Under the Reform Act 1832 the constituency was split into two two-member divisions, for Parliamentary purposes, at the 1832 general election. The county was then represented by the East Sussex and West Sussex divisions.

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.)

Members of Parliament

Two Members

1290–1660

Parliament	First member	Second member
1334	Roger Hussey
1344	Roger Hussey
1351	Andrew Peverell
1353	Andrew Peverell
1356	Andrew Peverell
1361	Andrew Peverell
1366	Andrew Peverell
1373	Andrew Peverell
1377 (Oct)	Nicholas Wilcombe
1378	Sir Edmund FitzHerbert
1380 (Nov)	Sir William Waleys
1381	Sir Edmund FitzHerbert
1382 (May)	Sir Edmund FitzHerbert
1382 (Oct)	Sir William Waleys	Sir Edmund FitzHerbert
1383 (Feb)	Sir William Waleys
1386	Sir Edmund FitzHerbert	Sir Edward Dallingridge [1]
1388 (Feb)	Sir William Waleys	Sir Edward Dallingridge [1]
1388 (Sep)	Nicholas Wilcombe	Robert Ore [1]
1390 (Jan)	Sir William Percy	Thomas Jardyn [1]
1390 (Nov)	Sir William Percy	Sir William Waleys [1]
1391	Sir William Percy	Robert Tauk [1]
1393	Sir William Percy	John Broke [1]
1394	Sir William Percy	Sir Thomas Sackville II [1]
1395	Hugh Quecche	Sir Thomas Sackville [1]
1397 (Jan)	Sir William Percy	John Ashburnham [1]
1397 (Sep)	Sir Thomas Sackville II	John Ashburnham [1]
1399	John Pelham	John Preston [1]
1401	Sir John Pelham	Sir Henry Hussey [1]
1402	Sir John Dallingridge	Sir Henry Hussey [1]
1404 (Jan)	Sir John Pelham	Robert Lewknor [1]
1404 (Oct)	Sir John Dallingridge	Sir John Pelham [1]
1406	Sir John Dallingridge	Sir John Pelham [1]
1407	Sir John Dallingridge	Sir John Pelham [1]
1410
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	Richard Wayville	Richard Wakehurst[1]
1414 (Apr)	William Bramshott	Thomas St. Cler[1]
1414 (Nov)	Richard Wayville	John Babelake[1]
1415	Richard Styuecle	William Weston II[1]
1416 (Mar)	Richard Styuecle	Sir Roger Fiennes[1]
1416 (Oct)
1417	John Halle	Richard Styuecle[1]
1419	Richard Bannebury	Richard Bitterley[1]
1420	William Ryman	Ralph Rademylde[1]
1421 (May)	William Ryman	John Halle[1]
1421 (Dec)	Ralph Rademylde	Richard Bitterley[1]
1442	Sir Roger Fiennes
1445	Sir Roger Fiennes
1449	John Wood [2]
1450	Robert Poynings
1456	Nicholas Hussey
1483	John Wood
1491	Sir David Owen [3]
1495	Edmund Dudley
1510–1523	No names known[4]
1529	Sir John Gage	Sir Richard Shirley [4]
1536
1539	Sir John Gage	Sir William Goring [4]
1542	?Sir John Gage	? [4]
1545	?Sir John Gage	? [4]
1547	Sir William Goring	John Palmer [4]
1553 (Mar)	?Sir Richard Sackville	? [4]
1553 (Oct)	John Caryll	John Covert [4]
1554 (Apr)	Sir Robert Oxenbridge	Sir Thomas Palmer [4]
1554 (Nov)	John Covert	John Ashburnham II [4]
1555	Sir Robert Oxenbridge	John Caryll [4]
1558	Sir Nicholas Pelham	Sir Robert Oxenbridge [4]
1559 (Jan)	Sir Richard Sackville	John Caryll[5]
1562/3	Sir Richard Sackville, died and replaced 1566 by John Apsley	William Dawtrey [5]
1571	John Pelham	Thomas Palmer [5]
1572	John Jeffrey, died and replaced Jan 1581 by Walter Covert	Thomas Shirley [5]
1584	Robert Sackville	Sir Thomas Shirley [5]
1586	Walter Covert	Thomas Pelham [5]
1588 (Oct)	Sir Thomas Palmer	Henry Neville [5]
1593	Robert Sackville	Sir Thomas Shirley [5]
1597 (Sep)	Robert Sackville	Sir Nicholas Parker [5]
1601	Charles Howard	Robert Sackville [5]
1604	Charles Howard	Robert Sackville
1614	Sir Walter Covert	Sampson Lennard
1621	Sir Edward Sackville	Christopher Neville
1624	Algernon Lord Peircy	Thomas Pelham
1625	Sir Thomas Pelham, 2nd Baronet	Sir John Shurley
1626	Sir Walter Covert	Sir Alexander Temple
1628	Sir William Goring, 1st Baronet	Richard Lewknor
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned
1640 (Apr)	Sir Thomas Pelham Bt	Anthony Stapley
1640 (Nov)	Sir Thomas Pelham Bt	Anthony Stapley
1645	Sir Thomas Pelham Bt	Anthony Stapley
1648	Anthony Stapley	One seat only
1653	Anthony Stapley	William Spence Nathaniel Studeley
1654	Herbert Morley	Sir Thomas Pelham, 2nd Baronet Anthony Stapley John Stapley John Fagg William Hay John Pelham Francis Lord Dacres Herbert Springet
1656	Herbert Morley	John Pelham John Fagg John Stapley Anthony Shirley George Courthope Sir Thomas Rivers, 2nd Baronet Sir Thomas Parker Samuel Gott
1659	Herbert Morley	John Fagg

1640–1832

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	Whig		Henry Lumley
1705		John Morley Trevor			Sir George Parker, Bt
1708		Sir Henry Peachey, Bt			Peter Gott
1710		Charles Eversfield			Sir George Parker, Bt
1713		Henry Campion			John Fuller
1715		James Butler			Hon. Spencer Compton	Whig
1722		Hon. Henry Pelham
1728					James Butler
1742					Earl of Middlesex
1747					John Butler
1754		Thomas Pelham	Whig
1767					Lord George Henry Lennox
1768		Richard Harcourt
1774		Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson
1780		Thomas Pelham
1790					Charles Lennox
1801		John 'Mad Jack' Fuller	Tory
1807					Charles William Wyndham
1812		Sir Godfrey Webster, Bt			Walter Burrell	Tory
1820		Edward Jeremiah Curteis
1830		Herbert Barrett Curteis
1831					Lord John Lennox	Whig
1832	Constituency divided into East and West Sussex.

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.

See also

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

References

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 1)

1. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-09-16.
2. "Wood, Sir John, speaker of the House of commons". Oxford DNB. Retrieved 2011-12-01.
3. Cavill. The English Parliaments of Henry VII 1485–1504.
4. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-09-16.
5. "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-09-16.