Orford was a constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

 of 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...

. Consisting of the town of Orford

Orford, Suffolk

Orford is a small town in Suffolk, England, within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB.Like many Suffolk coastal towns it was of some importance as a port and fishing village in the Middle Ages. It still has a fine mediaeval castle, built to dominate the River Ore.The main geographical feature of the...

 in Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

, it elected two Members of Parliament (MP)

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 by the bloc vote

Plurality-at-large voting

Plurality-at-large voting is a non-proportional voting system for electing several representatives from a single multimember electoral district using a series of check boxes and tallying votes similar to a plurality election...

 version of the first past the post system of election

Election

An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...

 until it was disenfranchised in 1832.

History

Orford was first represented in the Parliament of England

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...

 in 1298, but did not regularly send members until 1529. The right of election was vested in the Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

, eight portmen, twelve "capital burgesses" and the freemen

Freedom of the City

Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...

 of the borough. In the early days of its representation, Orford had been a prosperous port and its freemen were numerous, but by the 18th century the number of freemen was deliberately kept low to facilitate controlling the elections, and the town had become a pocket borough where most of the qualified voters consisted of the owner's family and retainers.

At one time Orford was owned by Viscount Hereford

Price Devereux, 10th Viscount Hereford

Price Devereux, 10th Viscount Hereford was a British Peer. He was the son of Price Devereux, 9th Viscount Hereford....

, but after his death in 1748 it was bought by the government, and by 1760, Orford was perhaps the most secure of all the "Treasury boroughs" - in other words boroughs where the influence of the Crown was so strong that the government could be sure of securing the election of whichever candidates they chose. As such, it was studied in detail by the historian Lewis Namier.

To secure government control, the Treasury started packing the Corporation with outsiders: Namier quotes a letter from John Roberts (who was managing the borough for the government) to Prime Minister Newcastle

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, KG, PC was a British Whig statesman, whose official life extended throughout the Whig supremacy of the 18th century. He is commonly known as the Duke of Newcastle.A protégé of Sir Robert Walpole, he served...

, urging an immediate decision on who should be nominated to a vacancy as capital burgess because otherwise "we shall be reduced to the necessity of chusing a townsman, the number of which it would be better not to encrease". Maintaining government control of the borough also involved considerable expenditure - £200 a year for rent of houses,and a further £100 for other expenses such as repairs and taxes, all met out of the secret service fund.

However, much of Viscount Hereford's estate had been bought by the Earl of Hertford

Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford

Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford KG, PC, PC was a British courtier and politician.He was born in Chelsea, London the son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Lord Conway and Charlotte Shorter and died in Surrey, England...

, and he together with his brother Henry Seymour Conway

Henry Seymour Conway

Field Marshal Henry Seymour Conway was a British general and statesman. A brother of the 1st Marquess of Hertford, and cousin of Horace Walpole, he began his military career in the War of the Austrian Succession and eventually rose to the rank of Field Marshal .-Family and education:Conway was...

, an influential minister, put pressure on successive Prime Ministers for the control of the borough to be given to him. Eventually in 1766, with the formation of Chatham's

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years' War...

 ministry, this pressure bore fruit, and Orford was transferred to the Earl of Hertford as partial compensation for his having been supplanted as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. From this point it remained under the control of Hertford and his heirs until it lost its representation 66 years later, and all its MPs were either members of the Seymour-Conway family or their friends.

By the time of the Great Reform Act in 1832, the population of the borough was only 1,302, in 246 houses, with about 22 men entitled to vote, and this was too small to justify its existence being retained.

1529–1660

Parliament	First member	Second member
1510-1515	No names known
1523	John Valentine	?
1529	Erasmus Paston	Richard Hunt
1536	?Richard Poty	?John Harman
1539	?Richard Poty	?John Harman
1542	John Cook	?Richard Poty
1545	John Harman	Francis Sone
1547	George Heneage	John Harman
1553 (Mar)	William Honing	Henry Cornwallis
1553 (Oct)	George Jerningham	Thomas Harvey
1554 (Apr)	?
1554 (Nov)	John Harman	Leonard Sandell
1555	Thomas Seckford	Thomas Spicer
1558	Francis Sone	Thomas Seckford
1558/9	Richard Wingfield	Francis Sone
1562/3	Lawrence Meres	William Yaxley
1571 (Mar)	Anthony Wingfield	Anthony Rush
1572	Anthony Wingfield	Anthony Rush
1584 (Nov)	Henry Wingfield	John Cutting
1586 (Oct)	Richard Wingfield	William Downing
1588 (Oct)	Richard Wingfield	George Chittinge
1593	Edward Grimston	John North
1597 (Sep)	Thomas Rivett	William Forthe
1601 (Oct)	Sir John Townshend	Sir Richard Knightley
1621-1622	Sir Lionel Tollemache Sir Lionel Tollemache, 2nd Baronet Sir Lionel Tollemache, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1629....	Sir Roger Townshend Sir Roger Townshend, 1st Baronet Sir Roger Townshend, 1st Baronet , was an English Member of Parliament.Townshend was the son of Sir John Townshend. In 1617 he was created a Baronet, of Rainham in the County of Norfolk. He later sat as Member of Parliament for Orford from 1621 to 1622 and for Norfolk from 1628 to 1629...
1624	Sir Robert Hitcham Robert Hitcham Sir Robert Hitcham was a Member of Parliament and Attorney General.Robert was born of lowly origin and educated at the Free School at Ipswich and later Pembroke College, Cambridge, studying law...	William Glover
1625	Sir Robert Hitcham Robert Hitcham Sir Robert Hitcham was a Member of Parliament and Attorney General.Robert was born of lowly origin and educated at the Free School at Ipswich and later Pembroke College, Cambridge, studying law...	Sir William Whitepole
1626	Sir Robert Hitcham Robert Hitcham Sir Robert Hitcham was a Member of Parliament and Attorney General.Robert was born of lowly origin and educated at the Free School at Ipswich and later Pembroke College, Cambridge, studying law...	Charles Croft
1628	Sir Charles Legross Charles le Grosse Sir Charles Le Grosse was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1628 and 1653.Le Grosse was of Crostwick near Norwich and was knighted on 6 December 1616...	Sir Lionel Tollemache Sir Lionel Tollemache, 2nd Baronet Sir Lionel Tollemache, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1629....
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned
1640 Apr	Sir Charles le Grosse Charles le Grosse Sir Charles Le Grosse was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1628 and 1653.Le Grosse was of Crostwick near Norwich and was knighted on 6 December 1616...	Sir Edward Duke Sir Edward Duke, 1st Baronet Sir Edward Duke, 1st Baronet Sir Edward Duke, 1st Baronet Sir Edward Duke, 1st Baronet ((c1604 - 1671) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England in 1640.Duke was the son of Ambrose Duke of Benhall and his wife Elizabeth Calthrop, daughter of Bartholemew Calthrop of...
1640 Nov	Sir William Playters, 2nd Baronet Sir William Playters, 2nd Baronet Sir William Playters, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1648.Playters was the son of Sir Thomas Playters, 1st Baronet of Sotterley and his wife Anne Swan, daughter of Sir William Swan....	Sir Charles Legross Charles le Grosse Sir Charles Le Grosse was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1628 and 1653.Le Grosse was of Crostwick near Norwich and was knighted on 6 December 1616...
1645	Sir William Playters, 2nd Baronet Sir William Playters, 2nd Baronet Sir William Playters, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1648.Playters was the son of Sir Thomas Playters, 1st Baronet of Sotterley and his wife Anne Swan, daughter of Sir William Swan....	Sir Charles Legross Charles le Grosse Sir Charles Le Grosse was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1628 and 1653.Le Grosse was of Crostwick near Norwich and was knighted on 6 December 1616...
1648–1659	Not represented in Rump, Barebones and First and Second Protectorate Parliaments
1659	Thomas Edger	Jeremy Copping

1660–1832

Year			First member	First party	Second member	Second party
		1660	Walter Devereux Walter Devereux (died 1683) Walter Devereux was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1679.Devereux was the son of Walter Devereux, 5th Viscount Hereford and his second wife Elizabeth Knightley, the daughter of Thomas Knightley of Burgh Hall, Staffordshire...		Sir 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...
		1661	Walter Devereux Walter Devereux (died 1683) Walter Devereux was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1679.Devereux was the son of Walter Devereux, 5th Viscount Hereford and his second wife Elizabeth Knightley, the daughter of Thomas Knightley of Burgh Hall, Staffordshire...		Sir 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...
		Feb. 1679	Lord Huntingtower Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart , styled Lord Huntingtower from 1651 to 1698, was a British Tory Member of Parliament and nobleman....		Sir John Duke Sir John Duke, 2nd Baronet Sir John Duke, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1679 and 1698....
		Sept. 1679	Henry Parker
		1681	Thomas Glemham Thomas Glemham Sir Thomas Glemham was a noted Royalist commander during the First and Second Civil Wars in England.-Early life and career:He was the son of Sir Henry Glemham of Glemham Hall, Little Glemham in Suffolk. After studying at Trinity College, Oxford, he served in armies in Europe from 1610 to 1617...
		1685			Lord Huntingtower Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart , styled Lord Huntingtower from 1651 to 1698, was a British Tory Member of Parliament and nobleman....
		1689			Sir John Duke Sir John Duke, 2nd Baronet Sir John Duke, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1679 and 1698....
		1690			Sir Thomas Felton Sir Thomas Felton, 4th Baronet Sir Thomas Felton, 4th Baronet was an English politician. He was Comptroller of the Household, Page of Honour and Master of the Household. He was Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds 29 Nov 1701 - 22 Nov 1703 and Orford 26 Feb 1690 - 2 Nov 1695. He was one of the Felton Baronets....
		1695	Sir Adam Felton
		1697	Sir John Duke Sir John Duke, 2nd Baronet Sir John Duke, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1679 and 1698....
		1698	Sir Charles Hedges Charles Hedges Sir Charles Hedges , of Compton Bassett, Wiltshire, an English lawyer and politician, was a judge in Admiralty Court who later served as one of Queen Anne's Secretaries of State.-Life:...
		1700	Sir Edmund Bacon Sir Edmund Bacon, 4th Baronet Sir Edmund Bacon, 4th Baronet was an English politician.He was the oldest son of Sir Henry Bacon, 3rd Baronet and his wife Sarah Castleton, daughter of Sir John Castleton, 2nd Baronet. In 1686, he succeeded his father as baronet. He studied at St John's College, Cambridge...		William Johnson
		1701			Sir Edward Turnor
		1708	Clement Corrance
		1709			William Thompson William Thompson (Ipswich MP) Sir William Thompson or Thomson was an English judge and politician, Member of Parliament for Ipswich.-Life:He was second son of Sir William Thompson , serjeant-at-law, and was admitted in 1688 a student at the Middle Temple, where he was called to the bar in 1698...
		1710			Sir Edward Turnor
		1721			Sir Edward Duke
		1722	Dudley North		William Acton William Acton (MP) William Acton was an English politician, elected MP for Suffolk in 1722 and 1729.William Acton was born at Bramford, Suffolk, the son of John Acton. He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge. He was elected MP for Orford in 1722 and 1729, and was High Sheriff of Suffolk in 1739.He died without...
		1727			Hon. Price Devereux Price Devereux, 10th Viscount Hereford Price Devereux, 10th Viscount Hereford was a British Peer. He was the son of Price Devereux, 9th Viscount Hereford....
		1729			William Acton William Acton (MP) William Acton was an English politician, elected MP for Suffolk in 1722 and 1729.William Acton was born at Bramford, Suffolk, the son of John Acton. He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge. He was elected MP for Orford in 1722 and 1729, and was High Sheriff of Suffolk in 1739.He died without...
		1730	Robert Kemp
		1734	Richard Powys		Lewis Barlow
		1738			John Cope
		1741	Viscount Glenorchy John Campbell, 3rd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland John Campbell, 3rd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland KB , styled Lord Glenorchy from 1716 until 1752, was a Scottish nobleman, diplomat and politician.-Background and education:...		Henry Bilson-Legge
		1746	Hon. John Bateman John Bateman, 2nd Viscount Bateman John Bateman, 2nd Viscount Bateman was a British politician.In December 1744 he succeeded as second Viscount Bateman....
		1747	Hon. John Waldegrave John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave was a British politician and soldier.Waldegrave was the youngest son of the 1st Earl Waldegrave. He joined the 1st Regiment of Foot in 1735, rising to the rank of Captain in 1739...
		1754	John Offley	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
		1759			Hon. Charles FitzRoy Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton was a British statesman and soldier.The second son of Lord Augustus FitzRoy and a grandson of the 2nd Duke of Grafton, FitzRoy joined the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards as an ensign in 1752...	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
		1761			Thomas Worsley	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
		1768	Viscount Beauchamp Francis Seymour-Conway, 2nd Marquess of Hertford Francis Ingram-Seymour-Conway, 2nd Marquess of Hertford KG, PC , styled The Honourable Francis Seymour-Conway until 1750, Viscount Beauchamp between 1750 and 1793 and Earl of Yarmouth between 1793 and 1794, was a British peer and politician.-Background and education:A member of the Seymour family...		Edward Colman Edward Colman Edward Colman or Coleman was an English Catholic courtier under Charles II of England. He was hanged, drawn and quartered on a treason charge, having been implicated by Titus Oates in his false accusations concerning a Popish Plot...
		1771			Hon. Robert Seymour-Conway Lord Robert Seymour Lord Robert Seymour was a British politician, the third son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford. He was known as Hon...
		1784			Hon. George Seymour-Conway Lord George Seymour Lord George Seymour-Conway , known as Lord George Seymour, was a British politician.A member of the Seymour family headed by the Duke of Somerset, Seymour was the seventh son and youngest child of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, and Lady Isabella, daughter of Charles FitzRoy, 2nd...
		1790			Hon. William Seymour
		1794	Lord Robert Seymour Lord Robert Seymour Lord Robert Seymour was a British politician, the third son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford. He was known as Hon...	Tory
		1796			Viscount Castlereagh Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, KG, GCH, PC, PC , usually known as Lord CastlereaghThe name Castlereagh derives from the baronies of Castlereagh and Ards, in which the manors of Newtownards and Comber were located...	Tory
		1797			Earl of Yarmouth Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford Francis Charles Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford KG, GCH PC , styled Viscount Beauchamp between 1793 and 1794 and Earl of Yarmouth between 1794 and 1822, was a British Tory politician and art collector....	Tory
		1802			James Trail	Tory
		1806			Lord Henry Moore	Tory
		1807	William Sloane	Tory
		1812	Charles Arbuthnot Charles Arbuthnot Charles Arbuthnot was a British diplomat and Tory politician. He was Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire between 1804 and 1807 and held a number of political offices. He was a good friend of the Duke of Wellington...	Tory	Edmund Alexander Macnaghten	Tory
		1818	John Douglas John Douglas, MP John Douglas was a Tory politician. He was the son of Thomas Douglas of Grantham, a wealthy landowner, and Harriot Lucke.He was the Member of Parliament for Orford 1818 - April 1821 and for Minehead 12 April 1822 - 1826....	Tory
		March 1820			Horace Beauchamp Seymour	Tory
		May 1820			Edmund Alexander Macnaghten	Tory
		1821	The Marquess of Londonderry Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, KG, GCH, PC, PC , usually known as Lord CastlereaghThe name Castlereagh derives from the baronies of Castlereagh and Ards, in which the manors of Newtownards and Comber were located...	Tory
		1822	Charles Ross	Tory
		June 1826	Sir Henry Cooke Henry Frederick Cooke Major General Sir Henry Frederick Cooke C.B., GCH , was a British soldier. His father was John George Cooke from Middlesex...	Tory	Horace Beauchamp Seymour	Tory
		December 1826			Quintin Dick	Tory
		1830			Spencer Kilderbee	Tory
		1832		Constituency abolished