Callington was a rotten borough

Rotten borough

A "rotten", "decayed" or pocket borough was a parliamentary borough or constituency in the United Kingdom that had a very small electorate and could be used by a patron to gain undue and unrepresentative influence within Parliament....

 in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

 which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 in the English

Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...

 and later British Parliament from 1585 to 1832, when it was abolished by the Reform Act 1832

Reform Act 1832

The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...

.

History

The borough consisted of most of the town of Callington in the East of Cornwall. Callington was the last of the Cornish boroughs

Cornish rotten boroughs

The Cornish rotten boroughs were one of the most striking anomalies of the Unreformed House of Commons in the Parliament that ruled Britain before the Reform Act of 1832...

 to be enfranchised, returning its first members in 1585; like most of the Cornish boroughs enfranchised or re-enfranchised during the Tudor period

Tudor period

The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...

, it was a rotten borough from the start, and was never substantial enough to have a mayor and corporation.

The right to vote in Callington was disputed until a decision of the House of Commons in 1821 settled it as resting with "freeholders of the borough and ... life-tenants of freeholders, resident for 40 days before the election and rated to the poor at 40 shillings or more". This considerably enlarged the electorate, for there had been only 42 voters in the borough in 1816, but the Parliamentary return of 1831 reported that 225 were qualified. In the 18th century the power of the "patron" to influence the voters in Callington was considered absolute; the patronage originally rested with the Rolle family, then passed to the Dowager Lady Orford, mother of The Earl of Orford

George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford

George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford was a British administrator and peer.-Life:Lord Orford was the only child of the 2nd Earl of Orford and his wife Margaret Rolle, Baroness Clinton in her own right. His parents separated shortly after his birth...

. By 1816 it had passed to Lord Clinton , but was no longer as secure as it had been, so that the Coryton family was sufficiently influential to challenge his power on occasion.

In 1831, the borough had a population of 1,082, and 225 houses; the part of the town outside the borough boundaries contained only a further eight houses, leaving no scope to enlarge it. It was disfranchised by the Great Reform Act in 1832.

1585-1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
Parliament of 1584-1585	Thomas Lawton Thomas Lawton Thomas Lawton was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1584 and from 1604 to 1606.Lawton was the third son of John Lawton of Church Lawton and his wife Margaret Dutton, daughter of Fulke Dutton of Chester. He was educated at St Alban Hall, Oxford in 1575 and entered...	Thomas Harris
Parliament of 1586-1587	Edward Aylworth	William Herle
Parliament of 1588-1589	Robert Worsley	Henry Golding
Parliament of 1593	Robert Carey Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth was an English nobleman and courtier. He was the youngest son of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon and Anne Morgan, daughter of Sir Thomas Morgan and Anne Whitney.As a young man he accompanied several diplomatic missions abroad and took part in military expeditions...	Carew Reynolds
Parliament of 1597-1598	Henry Ferrers Henry Ferrers (antiquary) -Life:Ferrers was the son and heir of Edward Ferrers of Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire, by Bridget, daughter and heiress of William, lord Windsor, and was born in that county on 26 January 1549. He became a student at Oxford, probably as a member of Hart Hall, in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's...	John Egerton John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater KB, PC was an English peer and politician.The son of the Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley and Elizabeth Ravenscroft, he was a Member of Parliament for Callington from 1597 to 1598, and for Shropshire in 1601. Knighted on 8 April 1599, he was Baron of the...
Parliament of 1601	Miles Raynesford	John Rolle
Parliament of 1604-1611	Sir Roger Wilbraham Roger Wilbraham Sir Roger Wilbraham was a prominent English lawyer who served as Solicitor-General for Ireland under Elizabeth I and held positions at court under James I, including Master of Requests and surveyor of the Court of Wards and Liveries...	Sir William Rolle
Addled Parliament (1614) Addled Parliament The Addled Parliament was the second Parliament of England of the reign of James I of England , which sat between 5 April and 7 June 1614...	Humphrey Weare	Henry Rolle Henry Rolle Henry Rolle was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench.-Early life and career:Henry Rolle, the second son of Robert Rolle of Heanton Sachville, Devon , by Joan, daughter of Thomas Hele of Fleet in the same county, was born about 1589. John Rolle was his brother...
Parliament of 1621-1622	Lord Wriothesley James Wriothesley, Lord Wriothesley James Wriothesley, Lord Wriothesley was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1622....
Happy Parliament (1624-1625) Happy Parliament The Happy Parliament was the fourth and last Parliament of England of the reign of King James I, sitting from 19 February 1624 to 24 May 1624 and then from 2 November 1624 to 16 February 1625...	Sir Edward Seymour Sir Edward Seymour, 2nd Baronet Sir Edward Seymour, of Berry Pomeroy, 2nd Baronet , MP, was a British gentleman and politician.He was the son of Sir Edward Seymour, 1st Baronet, and wife Elizabeth Champernowne and a descendant of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, in the senior line...
Useless Parliament (1625) Useless Parliament The Useless Parliament was the first Parliament of England of the reign of King Charles I, sitting only from June until August 1625. It gained its name because it transacted no significant business, making it 'useless' from the king's point of view...	Sir Richard Weston Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland, KG , was Chancellor of the Exchequer and later Lord Treasurer of England under James I and Charles I, being one of the most influential figures in the early years of Charles I's Personal Rule and the architect of many of the policies that enabled him to rule...	Thomas Wise Thomas Wise (MP for Devon) Thomas Wise was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England at various times between 1625 and 1641.Wise was the son of Sir Thomas Wise and his wife Margaret Stafford, daughter of Robert Stafford of Stowford, Devon. His father had been an MP and had built houses at Mount...
Parliament of 1625-1626	Sir Clipseus Carew	John Rolle
Parliament of 1628-1629	Sir William Constable
No Parliament summoned 1629-1640

1640-1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
April 1640 Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....		Sir Samuel Rolle Samuel Rolle Sir Samuel Rolle was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England between 1640 and 1647. He supported the parliamentary side in the English Civil War....	Parliamentarian Roundhead "Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...		Thomas Gardiner Thomas Gardiner (Royalist) Thomas Gardiner was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War....	Royalist Cavalier Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
November 1640 Long Parliament The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...		Sir Arthur Ingram Arthur Ingram Sir Arthur Ingram was an English investor, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1624 and 1642. Responsible for the construction, purchase and sale of many manor houses and estates in Yorkshire, the Ingram family are most associated with Temple Newsam which became the...	Parliamentarian Roundhead "Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...		Hon. George Fane George Fane Colonel George Fane DL, JP was the fifth but fourth surviving son of Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland by his wife, Mary , daughter and heir of Sir Anthony Mildmay of Apethorpe, co. Northampton....	Royalist Cavalier Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
August 1642	Ingram died August 1642 - seat vacant
January 1643				Fane disabled from sitting - seat vacant
1646		Lord Clinton Edward Clinton, Baron Clinton Edward Clinton, Baron Clinton was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1646 to 1648.Clinton was the son of Theophilus Clinton, 4th Earl of Lincoln, 12th Baron Clinton and his wife the Hon. Bridget Fiennes, daughter of William Fiennes, Viscount Say and Sele.In 1646 Clinton...			Thomas Dacres Thomas Dacres (younger) Thomas Dacres was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1646 to 1648.Dacres was the son of Sir Thomas Dacres of Cheston, Hertfordshire. He matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford on 16 October 1629 aged 20 and was awarded MA on 12 November 1629 when he was "about to go with...
December 1648	Clinton and Dacres excluded in Pride's Purge Pride's Purge Pride’s Purge is an event in December 1648, during the Second English Civil War, when troops under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed from the Long Parliament all those who were not supporters of the Grandees in the New Model Army and the Independents...  - both seats vacant
1653	Callington was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector...  and the First First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....  and Second Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...  Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659 Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons...		Thomas Carew Thomas Carew (died 1681) Sir Thomas Carew was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1681....			Anthony Buller Anthony Buller Anthony Buller was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1659 and 1660. He fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War....
May 1659 Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....	Not represented in the restored Rump Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....
April 1660		Robert Rolle Robert Rolle Robert Rolle was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1660.Rolle was the son of Sir Samuel Rolle of Heanton Sackville, Petrockstowe and his wife Margaret Wise daughter of Sir Thomas Wise...			Edward Herle Edward Herle Edward Herle was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1660. He fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War....
June 1660					John Coryton
July 1660		Sir Hugh Pollard
May 1661		Allen Brodrick Allen Brodrick Sir Allen Brodrick was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1660 and 1679.Brodrick was the son of Thomas Brodrick, of Wandsworth, then in Surrey. He matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford on 29 November 1639, aged 16...			Sir Cyril Wyche Cyril Wyche Sir Cyril Wyche FRS was an English lawyer and politician.He was born in Constantinople, Turkey, where his father, Sir Peter Wyche, was the English Ambassador. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford with Bachelor of Arts in 1653. He received his Master of Arts in 1655 and his Doctor of Civil...
June 1661		Sir Henry Bennet Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington KG, PC was an English statesman.- Background and early life :He was the son of Sir John Bennet of Dawley, Middlesex, and of Dorothy Crofts. He was the younger brother of John Bennet, 1st Baron Ossulston; his sister was Elizabeth Bennet who married Robert Kerr,...
1665		Samuel Rolle
February 1679					John Coryton
October 1679		Richard Carew			William Trevisa
1681					William Coryton
1685		Sir John Coryton
1689					Jonathan Prideaux
February 1690					Francis Fulford
October 1690		Jonathan Prideaux
1695		Sir William Coryton			Francis Gwyn Francis Gwyn Francis Gwyn PC , was a Welsh politician and official.-Background:Gwyn was the son and heir of Edward Gwyn of Llansannor, Glamorganshire, who married Eleanor, youngest daughter of Sir Francis Popham of Littlecott, Wiltshire; he was born at Combe Florey in Somerset about 1648...
1698					Francis Fulford
January 1701					Robert Rolle Robert Rolle Robert Rolle was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1660.Rolle was the son of Sir Samuel Rolle of Heanton Sackville, Petrockstowe and his wife Margaret Wise daughter of Sir Thomas Wise...
December 1701		Samuel Rolle
1702					John Acland
1703					Sir William Coryton
1712					Henry Manaton Henry Manaton Henry Manaton was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1689 and 1713.Manaton was the son of Henry Manaton of Trecarrell and his second wife Jane Mapowder, daughter of Narcissus Mapowder of Holsworthy Devon...
1713					Sir John Coryton
1719		Thomas Coplestone	Whig
1722					Thomas Lutwyche
1727					Sir John Coryton
1734					Isaac le Heup
1741					Hon. Horatio Walpole Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He is now largely remembered for Strawberry Hill, the home he built in Twickenham, south-west London where he revived the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors,...	Whig
1748		Edward Bacon
1754		Hon. Sewallis Shirley			John Sharpe
1756					Fane William Sharpe
1761		Richard Stevens
1768		Thomas Worsley
1771					William Skrine
1774		John Dyke Acland John Dyke Acland Major John Dyke Acland , son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 7th Baronet, was a British officer who fought in the American War of Independence and, later, a politician....
1778		George Stratton
1780					John Morshead
1784		Sir John Call Sir John Call, 1st Baronet Sir John Call, 1st Baronet was an English engineer and baronet.He was born at Fenny Park, Tiverton, Devon, educated at Blundell's School and went to India at the age of 17 with Benjamin Robins, the chief engineer and captain-general of artillery in the East India Company's settlements...			Paul Orchard
1801		John Inglett-Fortescue
1803		Ambrose St John
1806		William Wickham			William Garrow William Garrow Sir William Garrow KC, PC, FRS was a British barrister, politician and judge known for his indirect reform of the advocacy system, which helped usher in the adversarial court system used in most common law nations today...	Whig
1807		Lord Binning Thomas Hamilton, 9th Earl of Haddington Thomas Hamilton, 9th Earl of Haddington KT PC FRS , known as Lord Binning from 1794 to 1828, was a British Conservative politician and statesman.-Background and education:...	Tory		Thomas Carter
1810					William Stephen Poyntz William Stephen Poyntz William Stephen Poyntz was an English Whig and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1800 and 1837.Poyntz was the son of William Poyntz and his wife Isabella Courtenay...	Whig
1812		Sir John Leman Rogers
1813		Hon. Charles Trefusis Charles Trefusis, 19th Baron Clinton Charles Rudolph Trefusis, 19th Baron Clinton , styled The Honourable Charles Trefusis between 1794 and 1832, was a British peer and Tory politician.-Background and education:...	Tory
1818		Hon. Edward Pyndar Lygon	Tory		Sir Christopher Robinson	Tory
1820		Matthias Attwood	Whig		William Thompson	Whig
1826					Alexander Baring Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton PC was a British politician and financier.-Background:Baring was the second son of Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, and of Harriet, daughter of William Herring...	Whig
1830		William Bingham Baring William Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton PC, FRS, DL was a British businessman and a Whig politician who later became a Tory.-Background and education:...	Whig
1831		Henry Bingham Baring Henry Bingham Baring Henry Bingham Baring was a British Conservative Party politician. He was the half-brother of Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer and a member of the distinguished Baring family....	Tory		Hon. Edward Herbert	Tory
1832 United Kingdom general election, 1832 -Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807....	Constituency abolished

Notes

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