Tregony 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 was represented in the Model Parliament

Model Parliament

The Model Parliament is the term, attributed to Frederic William Maitland, used for the 1295 Parliament of England of King Edward I. This assembly included members of the clergy and the aristocracy, as well as representatives from the various counties and boroughs. Each county returned two knights,...

 of 1295, and returned two Members of Parliament to 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 continuously from 1562 to 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.

History

The borough consisted of the town of Tregony

Tregony

Tregony is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It lies on the River Fal. In the village there is a post office, shop, and two churches. Tregony has bus links to the nearest town, which is Truro. The village is made up from two parishes namely, Tregony and Cuby...

. Like most 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...

 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 settlement of little importance or wealth even to begin with, and was not incorporated as a municipal borough

Municipal borough

Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...

 until sixty years after it began to return members to Parliament in 1563.

Tregony was a potwalloper

Potwalloper

A potwalloper is an archaic term referring to a borough constituency returning members to the House of Commons of England before 1707, the House of Commons of Great Britain and the Irish House of Commons before 1801, and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom until 1832, when the Reform Act...

 borough, meaning that every (male) householder with a separate fireplace on which a pot could be boiled was entitled to vote. The apparently democratic nature of this arrangement was a delusion in a borough as small and poor as Tregony, where the residents could not afford to defy their landlord and, indeed, regarded their vote as a means of income. Many of the houses in the borough were built purely for political purposes, and the borough itself was bought and sold for its political value on numerous occasions. In the 1760s, Viscount Falmouth (head of the Boscawen family) controlled the nomination to one of the two seats and William Trevanion the other; later the Earl of Darlington controlled both seats, together with others in Cornwall, but by the time of the Great Reform Act the patronage had been transferred again, to James Adam Gordon.

In 1831, the borough had a population of 1,127, and 234 houses. Nevertheless, because of the wide franchise it had a comparatively large electorate for the time, between 260 and 300 voters.

MPs 1559–1629

Parliament	First member	Second member
Parliament of 1558/9	Peter Osborne	Adrian Poynings
Parliament of 1563-1567	Edward Ameredith	Giles Laurence
Parliament of 1571	Sir Edward Hastings	Robert Dormer Robert Dormer, 1st Baron Dormer Robert Dormer, 1st Baron Dormer was an English peer.Dormer was the son of Sir William Dormer and his wife Dorothy .He served as High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire in 1584 and was knighted in 1591...
Parliament of 1572-1581	William Knollys William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury Sir William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury, KG, PC was an English nobleman at the court of Queen Elizabeth I and King James...	Peter Wentworth Peter Wentworth Peter Wentworth was a prominent Puritan leader in the Parliament of England. He was the elder brother of Paul Wentworth, and first entered as member for Barnstaple in 1571. He later sat for the Cornish borough of Tregony in 1572, and for the town of Northampton in the parliaments of 1586–7, 1589,...
Parliament of 1584-1585	Sir John St Leger John St Leger Sir John St Leger , of Annery in Devon, was an English Member of Parliament.He was the grandson of John St Leger and Katherine Neville...	Richard Grafton
Parliament of 1586-1587	Richard Trevanion	Oliver Carminowe
Parliament of 1588-1589	Richard Penkevill	Christopher Walker
Parliament of 1593	John Snowe	Arnold Oldisworth
Parliament of 1597-1598	Sir Edward Denny Sir Edward Denny, Knight Banneret of Bishops Stortford Sir Edward Denny , Knight Banneret of Bishop's Stortford, was a soldier, privateer and adventurer in the reign of Elizabeth I.-Early life:...	Henry Birde
Parliament of 1601	Lewis Darte	Thomas Trevor
Parliament of 1604-1611	Henry Pomeroy	Richard Garveigh
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...	William Hakewill William Hakewill -Life:Born in Exeter, Devon, son of John Hakewill and his wife Thomasine . Educated, according to Anthony Wood at Exeter College, Oxford , he later studied law at Lincoln's Inn....	Thomas Malet Thomas Malet Sir Thomas Malet was a judge, Solicitor general to Queen Henrietta Maria and a politician. His home was in Poyntington, but he inherited lands in Somerset known as St Audries. His wife was Susan Mills....
Parliament of 1621-1622
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...	Peter Specott	Ambrose Manaton Ambrose Manaton Ambrose Manaton was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England in 1624 and 1640. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War....
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 Henry Carey Henry Carey, 2nd Earl of Monmouth Henry Carey, 2nd Earl of Monmouth was an English nobleman and translator born in Bolton, Lancashire, England to Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth and Elizabeth Trevannion. On 6 November 1652 Henry married Martha Cranfield daughter of Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex and Elizabeth Shepard...	Sebastian Goode
Parliament of 1625-1626	Thomas Carey Thomas Carey (died 1634) Thomas Carey was an English Member of Parliament.The second son of Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth, he represented Helston , Tregony and St Mawes . He lived at Sunninghill Park in Berkshire and died in 1634, and was buried in Westminster Abbey...	Sir Robert Killigrew Robert Killigrew Sir Robert Killigrew was an English courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1629. He served as Ambassador the the United Provinces.-Life:...
Parliament of 1628-1629	Francis Rous Francis Rous Francis Rous or Rouse was an English politician and a prominent Puritan. He was also Provost of Eton, and wrote several theological and devotional works.-Early life:...	Sir John Arundell John Arundell (born 1576) Sir John Arundell , nicknamed "Jack for the King", was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1597 and 1640. He was Royalist governor of Pendennis Castle during the English Civil War....
No Parliament summoned 1629-1640

MPs 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....		John St Aubyn John St Aubyn (died 1684) John St Aubyn . was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England in 1640. He served as a colonel in the parliamentary army in the English Civil War....			Sir John Arundell John Arundell (born 1576) Sir John Arundell , nicknamed "Jack for the King", was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1597 and 1640. He was Royalist governor of Pendennis Castle during the English Civil War....
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 Richard Vyvyan Sir Richard Vyvyan, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Vyvyan, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1665...	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...		John Polwhele	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...
January 1644	Vyvyan and Polwhele disabled from sitting - both seats vacant
1647		John Carew John Carew (regicide) John Carew , from Antony, Cornwall, was one of the regicides of King Charles I.Elected MP for Tregony in 1647, he was a prominent member of the Fifth Monarchy Men who saw the overthrow of Charles I as a divine sign of the second coming of Jesus and the establishment of the millennium a thousand...			Sir Thomas Trevor Sir Thomas Trevor, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Trevor, 1st Baronet was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons of England variously between 1640 and 1648.Trevor was the son of Sir Thomas Trevor of Trevalyn Denbighs, Lord Baron of the Exchequer...
December 1648				Trevor 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...  - seat vacant
1653	Tregony 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...		John Thomas			Edward Boscawen Edward Boscawen (MP) Edward Boscawen was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1659 and 1685.Boscawen was the son of Hugh Boscawen of Tregothnan, Cornwall and was baptised on 21 November 1628. He was apprenticed to a merchant with business in Turkey in 1648 and then to John Rolle,...
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		Sir John Temple John Temple (judge) Sir John Temple was an Irish lawyer, courtier and politician who sat in the Irish House of Commons at various times between 1641 and 1677 and in the House of Commons of England from 1646 to 1648...			Edward Boscawen Edward Boscawen (MP) Edward Boscawen was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1659 and 1685.Boscawen was the son of Hugh Boscawen of Tregothnan, Cornwall and was baptised on 21 November 1628. He was apprenticed to a merchant with business in Turkey in 1648 and then to John Rolle,...
October 1660					Sir Peter Courtney Peter Courtney (MP) Sir Peter Courtney was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640 and in 1660. He fought for the Royalist cause in the English Civil War....
1661		Hugh Boscawen Hugh Boscawen Hugh Boscawen was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1646 and 1701.Boscawen was the son of Hugh Boscawen of Tregothnan, Cornwall and was baptised on 21 August 1625....			Thomas Herle Thomas Herle Thomas Herle was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1659 and 1679.Herle was the son of Thomas Herle of Prideaux, Cornwall, and his wife Loveday Glyn, daughter of Nicholas Glyn of Glyn Cornwall.In 1659, Herle was elected Member of Parliament for Grampound in the Third...
February 1679					Robert Boscawen
April 1679					John Tanner
August 1679					Charles Trevanion
1685		Charles Porter Charles Porter (Lord Chancellor of Ireland) Sir Charles Porter , was a flamboyant and somewhat controversial English-born judge who nonetheless had a successful career, being twice Lord Chancellor of Ireland.- Early life :...
January 1689		Charles Boscawen Charles Boscawen Charles Boscawen was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1654 and 1689.Boscawen was the son of Hugh Boscawen of Tregothnan, Cornwall and his wife Margaret Rolle, daughter of Robert Rolle of Heanton Satchville, Devon. He was baptised on 28 October 1627...			Hugh Fortescue Hugh Fortescue Hugh Fortescue was a British politician.He married Bridget Boscawen, the daughter of Hugh Boscawen . Bridget's mother Margaret was the daughter of Theophilus Clinton, 4th Earl of Lincoln, and was one of the coheirs of the Barony of Clinton upon the death of the 5th Earl in 1692...
April 1689		Robert Harley	Whig
1690		Sir John Tremayne John Tremayne (1647–1694) Sir John Tremayne SL was an English lawyer and politician. He became a Serjeant-at-Law and King's Serjeant in 1689, acting as counsel during a number of cases before the House of Lords...	Whig
1694		The Earl of Kildare John FitzGerald, 18th Earl of Kildare John FitzGerald, 18th Earl of Kildare , styled Lord Offaly until 1664, was an Irish peer.-Background:Kildare was the son of Wentworth FitzGerald, 17th Earl of Kildare and Lady Elizabeth, daughter of John Holles, 2nd Earl of Clare...
1695		Francis Robartes Francis Robartes Francis Robartes FRS was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1673 and 1718....			James Montagu James Montagu (judge) Sir James Montagu SL QC was an English barrister, and judge. As a politician, he sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1695 and 1713 and served as Solicitor General and Attorney General.-Life:...
1698					Philip Meadowes
1701					Hugh Fortescue Hugh Fortescue Hugh Fortescue was a British politician.He married Bridget Boscawen, the daughter of Hugh Boscawen . Bridget's mother Margaret was the daughter of Theophilus Clinton, 4th Earl of Lincoln, and was one of the coheirs of the Barony of Clinton upon the death of the 5th Earl in 1692...
1702		Hugh Boscawen Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth was an English Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons for Cornish constituencies from 1702 until 1720 when he was raised to the peerage.-Life:...	Whig		Joseph Sawle
1705		John Trevanion			Sir Philip Meadowes
1708		Anthony Nicoll			Thomas Herne
October 1710		Viscount Rialton Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin, PC was a British politician, styled Viscount Rialton between 1706 and 1712.-Biography:...			John Trevanion
December 1710					George Robinson
April 1713		Edward Southwell
September 1713		Sir Edmund Prideaux			James Craggs James Craggs the Younger James Craggs the Younger , son of James Craggs the Elder, was born at Westminster. Part of his early life was spent abroad, where he made the acquaintance of George Louis, Elector of Hanover, afterwards King George I...
1720		Charles Talbot Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot of Hensol Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot PC was a British lawyer and politician. He was Lord Chancellor of Great Britain from 1733 to 1737....
March 1721					Daniel Pulteney Daniel Pulteney Daniel Pulteney was an English government official and Member of Parliament.Pulteney was the son of John Pulteney , MP for Hastings and Commissioner of Customs, and Lucy Colville. He studied at Christ Church, Oxford, matriculating in 1699.He was one of the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations...	Whig
November 1721					John Merrill
1722		James Cooke
1727		Thomas Smith			John Goddard
1729		Matthew Ducie Moreton
1734		Henry Penton
February 1737					Sir Robert Cowan Robert Cowan Robert Cowan was an Irish colonial administrator and the East India Company's Governor of Bombay from 1729 to 1734. He was a collateral ancestor of the Marquesses of Londonderry through the marriage of his sister, Mary Cowan, to Alexander Stewart, father of Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of...
March 1737					Joseph Gulston
1741					Thomas Watts
1742					George Cooke
1747		William Trevanion			Claudius Amyand
1754					John Fuller
1761					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:...
1767		Thomas Pownall Thomas Pownall Thomas Pownall was a British politician and colonial official. He was governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1758 to 1760, and afterward served in the British Parliament. He traveled widely in the North American colonies prior to the American Revolutionary War, and opposed...
1768					Hon. John Grey John Grey (MP) John Grey was a British politician, the younger son of Harry Grey, 3rd Earl of Stamford. He was the Clerk of the Green Cloth from 1754 until his death, and at the 1754 general election he was elected unopposed as one of the two Members of Parliament for Bridgnorth in Shropshire...
1774		Hon. George Lane Parker			Alexander Leith Sir Alexander Leith, 1st Baronet Sir Alexander Leith, 1st Baronet MC was a British benefactor.Leith was the son of Walter Leith, of Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, and Walmer Court, Kent and was educated at Harrow and Brasenose College, Oxford. He served in World War I and was awarded the Military Cross...
1780		John Stephenson John Stephenson (MP) John Stephenson was a British merchant from Brentford, Middlesex, and a Member of Parliament for various western boroughs from 1754 to 1755 and 1761 until his death in 1794....			John Dawes
1784		Lloyd Kenyon Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon, PC, SL, KC was a British politician and barrister, who served as Attorney General, Master of the Rolls and Lord Chief Justice. Born to a country gentleman, he was initially educated in Hanmer before moving to Ruthin School aged 12...			Robert Kingsmill Sir Robert Kingsmill, 1st Baronet Sir Robert Brice Kingsmill, 1st Baronet was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in a career that spanned nearly 60 years...
1788		Hon. Hugh Seymour Conway
1790		John Stephenson John Stephenson (MP) John Stephenson was a British merchant from Brentford, Middlesex, and a Member of Parliament for various western boroughs from 1754 to 1755 and 1761 until his death in 1794....			Matthew Montagu Matthew Montagu, 4th Baron Rokeby Matthew Montagu was a British Member of Parliament and Peer of the Realm.Montagu was born Matthew Robinson, the son of Morris Robinson of the Six Clerks' Office, Chancery Lane and nephew of Matthew Robinson, 2nd Baron Rokeby...
1794		Hon. Robert Stewart	Whig
1796		Sir Lionel Copley			John Nicholls
1802		Marquess of Blandford George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough FSA , styled Marquess of Blandford until 1817, was a British peer and collector of antiquities and books.-Background and education:...	Tory		Charles Cockerell
1804		George Woodford Thellusson	Tory
1806		Godfrey Wentworth Wentworth	Whig		James O'Callaghan	Whig
1808		William Gore-Langton William Gore-Langton (1760–1847) Colonel William Gore-Langton , known as William Gore until 1783, was a British politician. He sat in the House of Commons for 45 years.-Background:...	Whig
1812		Alexander Cray Grant	Tory		William Holmes William Holmes (1779-1851) William Holmes was a British Tory politician of the early nineteenth century, and an MP for 28 years....	Tory
1818		Viscount Barnard Henry Vane, 2nd Duke of Cleveland General Henry Vane, 2nd Duke of Cleveland, KG was a British peer, politician and army officer.Born The Honourable Henry Vane, he was the eldest son of William Vane, Viscount Barnard and his first wife, Katherine, the second daughter of Harry Powlett, 6th Duke of Bolton...	Whig		James O'Callaghan	Whig
1826		Stephen Lushington Stephen Lushington (judge) Stephen Lushington was a Doctor of Civil Law, a judge, a Member of Parliament and a radical for the abolition of slavery and capital punishment.-Early life and education:...	Whig		James Brougham James Brougham James Brougham was a British Whig politician.-Background:Brougham was the second son of Henry Brougham and his wife Eleanor. She was the daughter of James Syme and the niece of William Robertson...	Whig
1830		James Adam Gordon	Tory		James Mackillop	Tory
1831		Lt Colonel Charles Arbuthnot Charles George James Arbuthnot General Charles George James Arbuthnot, DL was a British general.Arbuthnot was born at sea aboard the frigate Juno and raised at Woodford, Northamptonshire. His father, Charles Arbuthnot, was a prominent Tory politician and confidant of the Duke of Wellington...	Tory
1832		James Adam Gordon	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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