Helston (UK Parliament constituency)

Helston
Helston
	Former Borough constituency; for the House of Commons
County	Cornwall
Major settlements	Helston
1298–1885
Number of members	1298–1832: Two; 1832–1885: One
Replaced by	Truro

Helston, sometimes known as Helleston,[1] was a parliamentary borough centred on the small town of Helston in Cornwall.

Using the block vote system of election, it returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain until 1800, and to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom until the 1832 general election.

The Reform Act 1832 reduced its representation to one member, elected by the first-past-the-post system. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, it was abolished with effect from the 1885 general election.

Members of Parliament

MPs before 1640

Constituency created (1298)

Parliament	First member	Second member
1298	R de Rosemayn	I de Kellyhellan[2]
1318	J Jerveys[3]
1323/24	John Tremayne[4]
1325	David De Autrenon[4]
1332	J Jerveys[3]
1338	J Jerveys[3]
1341/42	John Tremayne[4]
1351/52	Johannes De Tremayn[4][a 1]
1358	John Hamely [5]
1360	T Jerveys[3]
1361	John Hamely [5]
1363	T Jerveys[3]
1384	William Bodrugan[6]
Parliament of 1386	Roger Trewythenick	John Urban
First Parliament of 1388 (Feb)	Thomas Tregadereth	Roger Trewythenick
Second Parliament of 1388 (Sep)	Thomas Bray	John Symon
First Parliament of 1390 (Jan)	Roger Trewythenick	John Urban
Second Parliament of 1390 (Nov)	?	?
Parliament of 1391	Roger Trewythenick	William Glasen
Parliament of 1393	John Trereise	Michael Trereise
Parliament of 1394	?	?
Parliament of 1395	Roger Trewythenick	Roger Skewys
First Parliament of 1397 (Jan)	Thomas Beville	John Urban
Second Parliament of 1397 (Sep)	John Pengersick	John Skewys
Parliament of 1399	Roger Trewythenick	John Pengersick
Parliament of 1401	?	?
Parliament of 1402	Roger Trewythenick	John Masselegh
First Parliament of 1404 (Jan)
Second Parliament of 1404 (Oct)
Parliament of 1406	Walter Badrygy	William Penalewy
Parliament of 1407	John Pengersick	Matthew Skewys
Parliament of 1410	M Jerveys[3]
Parliament of 1411	John Glasen	Thomas Pellour
First Parliament of 1413 (Feb)
Second Parliament of 1413 (May)	Thomas Treffidowe	Thomas Polglas
First Parliament of 1414 (Apr)
Second Parliament of 1414 (Nov)	John Clink	John Baker
Parliament of 1415 or 1416 (Mar)	John Glasen	Robert Treage
Parliament of 1416 (Oct)
Parliament of 1417	John Glasen	Thomas Gurtaboys
Parliament of 1419	Robert Treage	John Cork
Parliament of 1420	William Richard	William Trethake II
First Parliament of 1421 (May)	Thomas Carathyn	John Treffridowe
Second Parliament of 1421 (Dec)	William Penpons	Adam Vivian\
1422	Nicholas Aysshton
1423	Nicholas Aysshton
1425	Nicholas Aysshton
1427	Nicholas Aysshton
1435	Nicholas Aysshton
1491–92	William Antron[4]
Parliament of 1529	Edmund Smith	John Holdiche
Parliament of 1542	William Trewynnard	?
Parliament of 1545	John Arundell	Richard Heywood
Parliament of 1547	Thomas Mildmay	John Trengove
First Parliament of 1553 (Mar)	Thomas Mildmay	Robert Docatt
Second Parliament of 1553 (Oct)	William Bendlowes	Henry Trengove alias Nance
First Parliament of 1554 (Apr)	William St Aubyn	John Kyme
Second Parliament of 1554 (Nov)	Reginald Mohun	William St Aubin
Parliament of 1555	Thomas Mildmay	Edward Neville
Parliament of 1558	Thomas Mildmay	Peter Martyn
Parliament of 1559	John Trendeneck	Francis Goldsmith
Parliament of 1562–1567	William Porter	John Dudley
Parliament of 1571	Sir Edward Bray	John Gayer
Parliament of 1572–1581	William Killigrew	John Vivian (died c.1578)
Parliament of 1584–1585	Humphrey Prideaux	William Lewis
Parliament of 1586–1587	Hannibal Vyvyan	William Godolphin
Parliament of 1588–1589	William Buggin	Christopher Osborne
Parliament of 1593	William Gardiner	Ralph Knevitt
Parliament of 1597–1598	William Cooke	Nicholas Saunders
Parliament of 1601	William Twysden	Hannibal Vyvyan
Parliament of 1604–1611	Sir John Leigh	John Bogans (died) Robert Naunton (from 1606)
Addled Parliament (1614)	Sir Robert Killigrew	Henry Bulstrode
Parliament of 1621–1622	Sir Thomas Stafford	William Noy
Happy Parliament (1624–1625)	Thomas Carey	Francis Carew
Useless Parliament (1625)	Thomas Carey
Parliament of 1625–1626	Francis Godolphin
Parliament of 1628–1629	Sidney Godolphin	William Noy
No Parliament summoned 1629–1640

MPs 1640–1832

Year	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
April 1640		Sidney Godolphin	Royalist		William Godolphin
November 1640		Sidney Godolphin	Royalist		Francis Godolphin	Royalist
February 1643	Sidney Godolphin killed in battle – seat vacant				Francis Godolphin	Royalist
January 1644	Sidney Godolphin killed in battle – seat vacant			Francis Godolphin disabled from sitting – seat vacant
1646		John Penrose			John Thomas
December 1648	Penrose not recorded as having sat after Pride's Purge			Thomas excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant
1653	Unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		Robert Rous			Thomas Juxon
May 1659	Helston was unrepresented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Anthony Rous			Alexander Penhellick
July 1660		Thomas Robinson			(Sir) Francis Godolphin
1661		Thomas Robinson			Sir Peter Killigrew
1665		Sir William Godolphin, Bt			Sir Peter Killigrew
1668					Sidney Godolphin	Tory
Feb 1679					Sir Vyell Vyvyan, Bt
Sep 1679		Sidney Godolphin	Tory		Sir Vyell Vyvyan, Bt
1681		Sidney Godolphin	Tory		Charles Godolphin
1685		Sidney Godolphin
1689		Sir John St Aubyn, Bt
1695		Francis Godolphin
1698		Sidney Godolphin
1701					Francis Godolphin[7]
1708					John Evelyn
Oct 1710					George Granville [8]	Tory
Dec 1710					Robert Child
1713		Henry Campion [9]			Charles Coxe [10]
1714		Thomas Tonkin			Alexander Pendarves	Tory
1715		Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Bt	Whig		Sidney Godolphin
1722		Sir Robert Raymond	Tory		Walter Carey
1724		Sir Clement Wearg	Whig
1726		Exton Sayer
1727		John Evelyn			John Harris
1741		Francis Godolphin			Thomas Walker	Whig
1747		Francis Godolphin			(Sir) John Evelyn [11]
1766		William Windham			(Sir) John Evelyn [11]
1767		William Windham			William Evelyn [12]
1768		The Earl of Clanbrassil			William Evelyn [12]
1774 [13]		Marquess of Carmarthen	Tory		Francis Owen
1775		Francis Cust			Philip Yorke
1780		Jocelyn Deane [14]
March 1781		Richard Barwell
June 1781		Richard Barwell			Lord Hyde	Tory
1784		John Rogers
1786		Roger Wilbraham
1787		Roger Wilbraham			James Burges
1790		Sir Gilbert Elliot, Bt	Whig		Stephen Lushington [15]	Whig
1795		Charles Abbot	Tory [16]		Stephen Lushington [15]	Whig
1796					Richard Richards
1799					Lord Francis Osborne
1802		Viscount Fitzharris			John Penn
1804		Davies Giddy			John Penn
1805		Davies Giddy			Viscount Primrose
April 1806		Sir John Shelley, Bt			Viscount Primrose
November 1806		Nicholas Vansittart [17]	Tory		John Du Ponthieu
January 1807		Thomas Brand	Whig		John Du Ponthieu
May 1807		Sir John St Aubyn, Bt			Richard Richards
July 1807		Sir John St Aubyn, Bt			The Lord Dufferin and Claneboye
1812		William Horne	Whig		Hugh Hammersley
1818		Lord James Townshend	Tory[18]		Harrington Hudson
1826					The Marquess of Carmarthen	Tory[19]
1830					Sir Samuel Brooke-Pechell, Bt	Whig[18]
1831					Sackville Lane-Fox	Tory[18]
1832	Representation reduced to one member

MPs 1832–1885

Election		Member	Party
1832		Representation reduced to one member
	1832	Sackville Lane-Fox	Conservative[18]
	1835	Lord James Townshend	Conservative[18]
	1837	Viscount Cantelupe	Conservative[18]
	1840 by-election	John Basset	Conservative[18]
	1841	Sir Richard Vyvyan, Bt	Conservative[18]
	1857	Charles Trueman	Whig[20]
	1859	John Jope Rogers[21]	Conservative
	1865	Adolphus William Young	Liberal
	1866 by-election[22]	Robert Campbell	Liberal
	1866 by-election[22]	Sir William Brett	Conservative
	1868	Adolphus William Young	Liberal
	1880	William Molesworth-St Aubyn	Conservative
1885		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Helston [23][24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Molesworth-St Aubyn	466	52.1	+5.1
	Liberal	Adolphus William Young	429	47.9	−5.1
Majority			37	4.2	N/A
Turnout			895	84.2	−1.7
Registered electors			1,063
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.1

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Helston [24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Adolphus William Young	473	53.0	−3.9
	Conservative	William Nassau Lees[25]	420	47.0	+3.9
Majority			53	5.0	−7.8
Turnout			893	85.9	+1.5
Registered electors			1,040
	Liberal hold		Swing	−3.9

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Helston [24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Adolphus William Young	494	56.9	+5.2
	Conservative	Thomas Charles Bruce[26]	374	43.1	−5.2
Majority			120	13.8	+10.4
Turnout			868	84.4	−1.2
Registered electors			1,029
	Liberal hold		Swing	+5.2

By-election, 19 February 1868: Helston [24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Brett	Unopposed
	Conservative gain from Liberal

Caused by Brett's appointment as Solicitor General for England and Wales

By-election, 1 May 1866: Helston [24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Brett	153	50.2	+1.9
	Liberal	Robert Campbell	152	49.8	−1.9
Majority			1	0.4	N/A
Turnout			305	87.6	+2.0
Registered electors			348
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+1.9

Caused by the 1865 election being declared void on petition, due to bribery.[27] At the original count for the by-election, both candidates received 153 votes apiece, but Campbell was declared elected after the Returning officer (who was the father of his election agent) cast a vote for him, after consulting a legal textbook which suggested he could make the casting vote. A petition was lodged, and a committee decided the returning officer had no right to cast the vote and should have declared both candidates elected. However, on scrutiny one vote was taken from Campbell's total, leaving Brett elected alone. This election led to Parliament deciding that "according to the law and usage of Parliament, it is the duty of the sheriff or other returning officer in England, in the case of an equal number of votes being polled for two or more candidates at an election, to return all such candidates".[24]

General election 1865: Helston [24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Adolphus William Young	154	51.7	+6.9
	Conservative	Shadwell Morley Grylls	144	48.3	−6.9
Majority			10	3.4	N/A
Turnout			298	85.6	−4.3
Registered electors			348
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.9

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1859: Helston [24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Jope Rogers	158	55.2	*N/A*
	Liberal	Charles Trueman	128	44.8	N/A
Majority			30	10.4	N/A
Turnout			286	89.9	N/A
Registered electors			318
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Helston [24]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Charles Trueman	Unopposed
Registered electors			309
	Whig gain from Conservative

General election 1852: Helston [24]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Richard Vyvyan	Unopposed
Registered electors			317
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1847: Helston [24]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Richard Vyvyan	Unopposed
Registered electors			385
	Conservative hold

General election 1841: Helston [24][18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Vyvyan	159	54.5	−1.6
	Whig	William Revell Vigors[28]	133	45.5	+1.6
Majority			26	9.0	−3.2
Turnout			292	73.4	−4.5
Registered electors			398
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.6

By-election, 12 March 1840: Helston [24][18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Basset	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Caused by West's resignation, by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, in order to contest a by-election at Lewes

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1837: Helston [24][18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George West	160	56.1
	Whig	Arthur William Buller	125	43.9
Majority			35	12.2
Turnout			285	77.9
Registered electors			366
	Conservative hold

General election 1835: Helston [24][18]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	James Townshend	Unopposed
Registered electors			356
	Conservative hold

General election 1832: Helston [24][18]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	Sackville Lane-Fox	Unopposed
Registered electors			341
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Helston[18][29]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	Sackville Lane-Fox	Unopposed
	Tory	James Townshend	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 81
	Tory hold
	Tory gain from Whig

By-election, 1 December 1830: Helston[18][29]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Samuel Pechell	Unopposed
	Whig hold

Caused by Pechell's appointment as a Lord of the Admiralty[30]

General election 1830: Helston[18][29]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	James Townshend	Unopposed
	Whig	Samuel Pechell	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 81
	Tory hold
	Whig gain from Tory

Notes

Also member for Bodmin

References

"No. 19008". The London Gazette. 28 December 1832. p. 2836.
Toy, Henry, Spencer (1912). The Ancient Borough of Helston. Helston: John Lander & Son. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
"The Barton of Bonallack". The Cornishman (324). 2 October 1884. p. 4.
Tremayne, Joy; Chapple, Mandy. Tremayne Family History. p. 4.
"HAMELY (HAMYLYN), Sir John (aft.1324–1399), of Wimborne St. Giles, Dorset". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
"BODRUGAN, William I, of Markwell in St. Erney, Cornw. | History of Parliament Online".
Styled Viscount Rialton from 1706. He was re-elected for Helston in 1708, but had also been elected for Oxfordshire, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Helston
Granville was also elected for Cornwall, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Pontefract
Campion was also elected for Sussex, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Helston
Coxe was also elected for Gloucester, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Helston
Succeeded to a baronetcy, 1763
Major-General from 1770
On petition, Carmarthen and Owen were adjudged not to have been duly elected, and their opponents, Cust and Yorke, were declared to have been duly elected instead
Dean was elected at a disputed election where the returning officer made a double return. Although eventually adjudged to have been duly elected, he never sat as he had died before the case was heard.
Sir Stephen Lushington from 1791
Speaker from 1802
Vansittart was also elected for Old Sarum, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Helston
Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844–1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 39–41. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
Fisher, David R. "OSBORNE, Francis Godolphin D'Arcy, mq. of Carmarthen (1798–1859), of 16 Bruton Street, Mdx". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
"Truro". Royal Cornwall Gazette. 3 April 1857. p. 5. Retrieved 14 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Marchant, E. C. (1897). "Rogers, John (1778–1856), divine, by E. C. Marchant". Dictionary of National Biography Vol. IL. Smith, Elder & Co. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
At the Helston by-election, 1866, both candidates polled exactly the same number of votes. The mayor, as returning officer, gave his casting vote for the Liberal candidate Robert Campbell. As this vote was given after four o'clock, however, an appeal was lodged, and the House of Commons declared that the returning officer had no right to a casting vote, and that he should have returned the names of both tied candidates. On scrutiny of the votes, one vote was struck off Campbell's total, and the Conservative candidate Sir William Baliol Brett declared duly elected.
"Helston". The Cornishman (91). 8 April 1880. p. 5.
Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 148–149. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
"Colonel Lees Before the Helston Electors". Western Morning News. 30 January 1874. p. 6. Retrieved 31 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
"The Representation of Helston". Royal Cornwall Gazette. 27 August 1868. p. 3. Retrieved 17 February 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
"Helston". The Scotsman. 19 April 1866. p. 2. Retrieved 17 February 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
"The Elections". Western Courier, West of England Conservative, Plymouth and Devonport Advertiser. 7 July 1841. p. 1. Retrieved 6 November 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Jenkins, Terry. "Helston". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
Jenkins, Terry. "BROOKE PECHELL, Sir Samuel John, 3rd bt. (1785–1849), of Paglesham, Essex and Aldwick, Suss". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 14 April 2020.