Steyning (UK Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
Steyning was a parliamentary borough
Parliamentary borough
Parliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament...

 in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

, England, which elected two Members of Parliament
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,...

 (MPs) 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...

 sporadically from 1298 and continuously from 1467 until 1832. It was a notorious 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....

, and was abolished by the Great Reform Act.

History

The borough comprised the small market town of Steyning
Steyning
Steyning is a small town and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles north of Shoreham-by-Sea...

 in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

, which consisted of little more than a single long street; yet despite its size it not only elected its own two MPs but contained most of the borough of Bramber
Bramber (UK Parliament constituency)
Bramber was a parliamentary borough in Sussex, one of the most notorious of all the rotten boroughs. It elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in 1295, and again from 1472 until 1832, when the constituency was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-History:The borough consisted of...

, which had two of its own. (Between the 13th and 15th centuries, Bramber and Steyning were a single borough returning MPs to most Parliaments, sometimes called by one name and sometimes by the other, but after 1467 both were separately represented. Until 1792 it was theoretically possible for a house to confer on its occupier a vote in both boroughs.) In 1831, the population of the borough was just over 1,000, and the town contained 218 houses.

At the time of the Reform Act, the right to vote was exercised by the constable and all inhabitant householders paying scot and lot
Scot and lot
Scot and lot is a phrase common in the records of English medieval boroughs, applied to householders who were assessed for a tax paid to the borough for local or national purposes.They were usually members of a merchant guild.Before the Reform Act 1832, those who paid scot and bore...

 and not receiving alms; this was a liberal franchise for the period, though it amounted to only around 118 voters by the time the borough was abolished. The householders seem historically to have had the right to vote, but the question was the subject of litigation through most of the 18th century. Between 1715 and 1792, the right was instead restricted to occupiers of "ancient houses" and of houses built on the site of ancient houses, in effect a burgage
Burgage
Burgage is a medieval land term used in England and Scotland, well established by the 13th century. A burgage was a town rental property , owned by a king or lord. The property usually, and distinctly, consisted of a house on a long and narrow plot of land, with the narrow end facing the street...

 franchise; but the restoration of the householders' rights does not seem to have increased the electorate substantially, suggesting that most of the houses significant enough for their tenants to be rated for scot and lot had the status of burgage tenements.

For most of the borough's existence, the majority of the qualified voters were tenants of one or two landowners, who therefore had considerable influence if not total control of the choice of MP. (Indeed, Steyning was cited by Thomas Oldfield, the contemporary historian of electoral abuses in the unreformed House of Commons, as an example of a borough where tenancies were granted for the sole purpose of ensuring that the electorate consisted of pliable voters.)

The state of the borough in the 18th century was described in a local agent's letter to the former Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

, the Duke of 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...

, in 1767:
"There are 102 in number who claim a right of voting, but not more than 90 whose claim will bear a scrutiny. Out of this number Sir John Honywood has 40 tenants who at present are all disposed to stand by him, and about six or seven others who are full as closely attached to him as any of his tenants. This gives him nearly or quite a majority of the 90 real votes. The rest are all a rope of sand and may be had by anybody." - Letter of Thomas Steele to the Duke of Newcastle, 6 February 1767, quoted by Namier & Brooke


As the letter hints, Honywood's control was not quite absolute and he could not always secure both seats for his candidates. The 1792 ruling on the franchise, moving the vote from the burgage holders to all the householders paying scot and lot, shifted the balance of power over to the Duke of Norfolk
Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk
Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk , styled Earl of Surrey from 1777 to 1786, was a British peer, the son of Charles Howard, 10th Duke of Norfolk and Catherine Brockholes....

 (who owned most of the properties that were not classed as ancient houses), and he subsequently bought out Honywood's interest. But he was careful to secure his investment by financing many improvements in the town.

Steyning was abolished as a constituency by the Reform Act, being thereafter included in the borough of New Shoreham
New Shoreham (UK Parliament constituency)
New Shoreham, sometimes simply called Shoreham, was a parliamentary borough centred on the town of Shoreham-by-Sea in what is now West Sussex...

 (which had earlier been expanded to include the whole of the Rape of Bramber as a remedy for corruption).

MPs 1467–1640

ParliamentFirst memberSecond member
1510-1523 No names known
1529 Thomas Shirley John Morris
1536 ?
1539 ?
1542 John Bowyer ?
1545 ?
1547 Robert Rudston Henry Fauxe
1553 (Mar) Sir Richard Blount William Cordell
1553 (Oct) John Southcote II David Lewis
1554 (Apr) Gilbert Gerard Edward Stradling
1554 (Nov) John Roberts William Pellatt
1555 Robert Byng ?
1558 Richard Onslow Robert Colshill
1559 Edmund Wright Robert Keilway
1562/3 Richard Onslow Robert Harris 
1571 Richard Browne John Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...

 
1572 John Cowper Richard Pellatt
1584 Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 - 1633/4)
Thomas Shirley
Sir Thomas Shirley was an English adventurer.The son of Sir Thomas Shirley and elder brother of Sir Anthony Shirley, he was educated at Hart Hall, Oxford. He served in the English forces in the Low Countries, and was knighted in 1589 while serving in Ireland under Sir William Fitz-William...

Pexall Brocas
1586 Thomas Bishop Henry Shelley
1588 Thomas Crompton Henry Apsley
1593 Sir Walter Waller Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 - 1633/4)
Thomas Shirley
Sir Thomas Shirley was an English adventurer.The son of Sir Thomas Shirley and elder brother of Sir Anthony Shirley, he was educated at Hart Hall, Oxford. He served in the English forces in the Low Countries, and was knighted in 1589 while serving in Ireland under Sir William Fitz-William...

 
1597 John Shurley Thomas Shirley III
1601 Sir Thomas Shirley (1542–1612) Robert Bowyer
Robert Bowyer (died 1634)
Robert Bowyer was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1610.Bowyer was the son of William Bowyer, Keeper of the Records in the Tower. In 1601, he was elected Member of Parliament for Steyning...

 
1604–1611 Sir Thomas Bishopp Sir Thomas Shirley (1542–1612)
1614 Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 - 1633/4)
Thomas Shirley
Sir Thomas Shirley was an English adventurer.The son of Sir Thomas Shirley and elder brother of Sir Anthony Shirley, he was educated at Hart Hall, Oxford. He served in the English forces in the Low Countries, and was knighted in 1589 while serving in Ireland under Sir William Fitz-William...

Edward Fraunceys
Edward Fraunceys
Edward Fraunceys was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1597 and 1626.Fraunceys may be the Edward Francis who was at Shrewsbury School in 1577 and at St John's College, Cambridge in 1582. He was steward to Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland by 1594...

1621 Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 - 1633/4)
Thomas Shirley
Sir Thomas Shirley was an English adventurer.The son of Sir Thomas Shirley and elder brother of Sir Anthony Shirley, he was educated at Hart Hall, Oxford. He served in the English forces in the Low Countries, and was knighted in 1589 while serving in Ireland under Sir William Fitz-William...

Edward Fraunceys
Edward Fraunceys
Edward Fraunceys was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1597 and 1626.Fraunceys may be the Edward Francis who was at Shrewsbury School in 1577 and at St John's College, Cambridge in 1582. He was steward to Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland by 1594...

1624 Sir Thomas Farnfold
Thomas Farnefold
Thomas Farnfold was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1624 and 1643.In 1623 Farnfold was elected Member of Parliament for Steyning, and was re-elected in 1625. He was re-elected in 1628 and held the seat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without...

Edward Fraunceys
Edward Fraunceys
Edward Fraunceys was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1597 and 1626.Fraunceys may be the Edward Francis who was at Shrewsbury School in 1577 and at St John's College, Cambridge in 1582. He was steward to Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland by 1594...

1625 Sir Thomas Farnfold
Thomas Farnefold
Thomas Farnfold was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1624 and 1643.In 1623 Farnfold was elected Member of Parliament for Steyning, and was re-elected in 1625. He was re-elected in 1628 and held the seat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without...

Edward Fraunceys
Edward Fraunceys
Edward Fraunceys was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1597 and 1626.Fraunceys may be the Edward Francis who was at Shrewsbury School in 1577 and at St John's College, Cambridge in 1582. He was steward to Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland by 1594...

1626 Sir Edward Bishopp Edward Fraunceys
Edward Fraunceys
Edward Fraunceys was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1597 and 1626.Fraunceys may be the Edward Francis who was at Shrewsbury School in 1577 and at St John's College, Cambridge in 1582. He was steward to Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland by 1594...

1628 Sir Edward Alford Sir Thomas Farnfold
Thomas Farnefold
Thomas Farnfold was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1624 and 1643.In 1623 Farnfold was elected Member of Parliament for Steyning, and was re-elected in 1625. He was re-elected in 1628 and held the seat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without...

1629–1640 No Parliaments convened

MPs 1640–1832

YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party
April 1640 Thomas Leedes Royalist Sir Thomas Farnefold
Thomas Farnefold
Thomas Farnfold was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1624 and 1643.In 1623 Farnfold was elected Member of Parliament for Steyning, and was re-elected in 1625. He was re-elected in 1628 and held the seat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without...

 
Royalist
Nov 1640 Sir Thomas Farnefold
Thomas Farnefold
Thomas Farnfold was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1624 and 1643.In 1623 Farnfold was elected Member of Parliament for Steyning, and was re-elected in 1625. He was re-elected in 1628 and held the seat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without...

Royalist
November 1642 Leedes disabled from sitting - seat vacant
March 1643 Farnefold died - seat vacant
1645 Edward Apsley Herbert Board
1648 Board died - seat vacant
1653 Steyning 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...

Anthony Shirley
Sir Anthony Shirley, 1st Baronet
Sir Anthony Shirley, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1654 and 1659.Shirley was the son of Thomas Shirley of Preston near Brighton and his wife Elizabeth Stapley, daughter of Drew Stapley of London. He matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford on 14 July...

 
Sir John Trevor
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....

Steyning was 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 Henry Goring
Sir Henry Goring, 2nd Baronet
Sir Henry Goring, 2nd Baronet was an English barrister and politician.Goring was the son of Henry Goring and Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Eversfield, High Sheriff of Sussex. Goring sat as Member of Parliament for Sussex from 1660 to 1661 and for Steyning in 1660 and again from 1661 to 1679...

Sir John Fagg
Sir John Fagg, 1st Baronet
Sir John Fagg, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England variously between 1645 and 1701...

July 1660 John Eversfield
John Eversfield
John Eversfield was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1661.Eversfield was the son of Nicholas Eversfield of The Grove, Hollington. He was educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford and entered Inner Temple in 1641.Eversfield was Member of Parliament for Steyning from 1660...

1661 Sir Henry Goring
Sir Henry Goring, 2nd Baronet
Sir Henry Goring, 2nd Baronet was an English barrister and politician.Goring was the son of Henry Goring and Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Eversfield, High Sheriff of Sussex. Goring sat as Member of Parliament for Sussex from 1660 to 1661 and for Steyning in 1660 and again from 1661 to 1679...

1679 John Tufton
John Tufton, 4th Earl of Thanet
John Tufton, 4th Earl of Thanet , styled The Honourable John Tufton until 1679, was an English politician and nobleman....

January 1681 Philip Gell
February 1681 Sir James Morton
March 1685 Sir Henry Goring
Henry Goring (1646–1685)
Henry Goring was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1673 and 1685.Goring was the son of Sir Henry Goring, 2nd Baronet of the first creation and his wife Diana Bishopp daughter of Sir Edward Bishopp. He was a captain in the Regiment of Foot...

June 1685 Sir James Morton
1690 Robert Fagg
1695 Sir Edward Hungerford
March 1701 Sir Robert Fagg 
April 1701 Charles Goring
November 1701 Sir Robert Fagg
1702 Sir Edward Hungerford
1705 William Wallis
1708 Robert Fagg Viscount Tunbridge
William Nassau de Zuylestein, 2nd Earl of Rochford
William Nassau de Zuylestein, 2nd Earl of Rochford was a British peer and member of the House of Lords, styled Viscount Tunbridge from 1695 to 1709....

Whig
1709 Sir Henry Goring
1710 William Wallis 
1712 The Lord Bellew of Duleek 
April 1713 Robert Leeves
September 1713 William Wallis
1715 Major General John Pepper Robert Leeves
1717 William Wallis
1722 John Gumley
1726 Marquess of Carnarvon
April 1727 William Stanhope
William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington
William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, PC was a British statesman and diplomat.He was a younger son of John Stanhope of Elvaston, Derbyshire, and a brother of Charles Stanhope , an active politician during the reign of George I. His ancestor, Sir John Stanhope , was a half-brother of Philip...

August 1727 The Viscount Vane Thomas Bladen
Thomas Bladen
Sir Thomas Bladen was a politician and colonial governor. He served as the 19th Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1742 to 1747.-Early life and marriage:...

1734 Sir Robert Fagg, Bt Marquess of Carnarvon
Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos
Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos, MP , known from 1727 to 1744 by his courtesy title Marquess of Carnarvon, was the second son of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos PC and his first wife Mary Lake...

1740 Hitch Younge
1741 Charles Eversfield
1747 Abraham Hume
Sir Abraham Hume, 1st Baronet
Sir Abraham Hume, 1st Baronet was a British Member of Parliament for Steyning, 1747–1761, and Tregony, 1761–1768. He was the father of Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet.-References:...

1759 Frazer Honywood
1761 John Thomlinson
1764 Richard Fuller
1767 Sir John Filmer
1768 Thomas Edwards-Freeman
1774 Filmer Honywood
Filmer Honywood
Filmer Honywood was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1774 and 1806.Honywood was the son of Sir John Honywood, 3rd Baronet and his second wife Dorothy Filmer, daughter of Sir Edward Filmer, 3rd Baronet.Honywood was elected Member of Parliament for Steyning in...

 
September 1780 Sir Thomas Skipwith
November 1780 Colonel John Bullock
Colonel John Bullock
Colonel John Bullock of Faulkbourne M.P. was an English landowner and Member of Parliament for 56 years becoming Father of the House. He was appointed High Sheriff of the County of Essex in 1802.-Early Years:...

1784 Sir John Honywood Hon. Richard Howard
Richard Howard, 4th Earl of Effingham
Richard Howard, 4th Earl of Effingham was a British peer and a member of the House of Lords, styled Hon. Richard Howard until 1791....

1785 Thomas Edwards-Freeman
1788 Sir John Honywood
1790 James Lloyd Whig Henry Thomas Howard
Lord Henry Howard-Molyneux-Howard
Lord Henry Thomas Howard-Molyneux-Howard , known as Henry Thomas Howard until 1812 and Henry Thomas Molyneux-Howard until 1817, was a British gentleman who served as Deputy Earl Marshal in the latter part of the reign of George III and early in the reign of George IV.Howard was the son of Henry...

Whig
7 March 1791 Sir John Honywood  Tory John Curtis
John Curtis (died 1813)
John Curtis was a British Member of Parliament. The son of a Bristol merchant, he was MP for Wells in Somerset from 1782 to 1784; in 1784 he stood at Saltash , where he was defeated, but returned the House of Commons as MP for Steyning from 1791 to 1794.- References :* Lewis Namier & John Brooke,...

Tory
24 March 1791 James Lloyd  Whig
1792 Samuel Whitbread
Samuel Whitbread (brewer)
Samuel Whitbread was an English brewer and Member of Parliament. In 1742, he established a brewery that in 1799 became Whitbread & Co Ltd.-Biography:...

Tory
1794 John Henniker-Major
John Henniker-Major, 2nd Baron Henniker
John Henniker-Major, 2nd Baron Henniker was a British peer and Member of Parliament .Henniker was the son of John Henniker, 1st Baron Henniker, and Anne Major. He was elected to the House of Commons for New Romney in 1785, a seat he held until 1790, and then represented Steyning from 1794 to 1802...

Whig
1796 James Lloyd Whig
1802 Robert Hurst
Robert Hurst (1750–1843)
Robert Hurst was an English Whig politician. He was Member of Parliament for boroughs from 1806 to 1829.At the 1802 general election, Hurst was elected to the House of Commons for two constituencies: Shaftesbury and Steyning...

 
Whig
1803 Lord Ossulston
Charles Bennet, 5th Earl of Tankerville
Charles Augustus Bennet, 5th Earl of Tankerville PC, DL , styled Lord Ossulston until 1822, was a British politician...

Whig
February 1806 Sir Arthur Leary Piggott Whig
October 1806 James Lloyd Whig Robert Hurst Whig
1812 Sir John Aubrey
Sir John Aubrey, 6th Baronet
Sir John Aubrey, 6th Baronet was a British politician. In 1786, he succeeded to his father's baronetcy.Baptised in Boarstall in Buckinghamshire on 2 July 1739, he was the son of Sir Thomas Aubrey, 5th Baronet and Martha Carter. Aubrey was educated at Westminster School and at Christ Church,...

Whig
1818 George Philips Whig
1820 George Richard Philips
Sir George Philips, 2nd Baronet
Sir George Philips, 2nd Baronet was a British Whig politician.He was Member of Parliament for Horsham from 1818 to 1820, for Steyning from 1820 to 1824, for Kidderminster from 1835 to 1837, and for Poole from 1841 to 1852.He was the son of Sir George Philips, 1st Baronet.- External links :...

Whig Lord Henry Howard-Molyneux-Howard
Lord Henry Howard-Molyneux-Howard
Lord Henry Thomas Howard-Molyneux-Howard , known as Henry Thomas Howard until 1812 and Henry Thomas Molyneux-Howard until 1817, was a British gentleman who served as Deputy Earl Marshal in the latter part of the reign of George III and early in the reign of George IV.Howard was the son of Henry...

Whig
1824 Henry Howard
Henry Howard (1802-1875)
Henry Howard was a British Member of Parliament, the eldest son of Lord Henry Howard-Molyneux-Howard.Howard inherited Greystoke Castle from his father in 1824...

Whig
1826 Peter du Cane Whig
1830 Edward Blount
Edward Blount (MP)
Edward Blount was a British politician, and activist in the cause of civil rights for Roman Catholics. He was a Whig Member of Parliament for Steyning, Sussex from 1830 till the constituency was abolished in 1832....

Whig
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
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