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. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of England from 1295 to 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain until 1800, and finally to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until it was abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, with effect from the 1885 general election.

New Shoreham
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
CountySussex (now West Sussex)
Major settlementsShoreham-by-Sea
1295–1885
Number of membersTwo
Replaced byLewes

A modern constituency called Shoreham existed from 1974 to 1997.

Boundaries, franchise and boundary changes

New Shoreham is a part of Shoreham-by-Sea, located around its port. The borough, in 1800, had about 1,000 electors. The qualification for the vote before 1832, unusually for a borough, was the possession of a 40 shilling freehold which was the normal franchise for a county constituency.

The explanation for the franchise qualification was the result of a disputed by-election in 1770. At that time all the electors qualified by paying scot and lot, a local property tax. Stooks Smith provides two notes on what happened, following a result in which Thomas Rumbold received 87 votes and John Purling had 37 votes (a third candidate, William James, received 4 votes).

The Returning Officer on the ground that nearly all the 87 were bribed declared Mr. Purling elected, but Mr. Rumbold was seated on petition. On the 14th Feb. 1771, Mr. Roberts the Returning Officer was brought to the Bar of the House, and on his knees received a very severe reprimand from the Speaker for having taken upon himself to return Mr. Purling.

However, as a result of Mr. Roberts action there had been an investigation.

The evidence given by the Returning Officer, Mr. Hugh Roberts, before the Committee, was the means of bringing to light a most singular system of wholesale bribery, carried on by a body of Electors, who styled themselves, the "Christian Society", and who had for some time being in the habit of selling seats to the highest bidders. By 11th Geo. III. C. 55, the whole of the members, amounting to 81, were deprived of the right of again voting at any Parliamentary Election, and the old class of voters disfranchised, the right of election being extended to the 40s. freeholders of the Rape of Bramber.

The rapes were traditional subdivisions of Sussex. The six rapes each consisted of a strip of territory from the northern border of the county to its southern coast, so the area involved was considerably larger than that of the normal Parliamentary borough.

As a result of the extension of the boundaries the constituency became more like a county one than a typical borough of the era.

When an electoral register was first compiled, before the 1832 election, the 1,925 electors included 701 freeholders and 189 scot and lot voters. The remaining electors would have qualified under the occupation franchise introduced for all boroughs by the Reform Act 1832, which also preserved the ancient right franchises of the existing electors.

Members of Parliament

1295–1640

ParliamentFirst memberSecond member
1295Roger de BeauchampThomas Pontoyse[1]
1298Godfrey atte CurtRoger le Wake[1]
1300Roger de BeauchampRichard de Bokyngeham[1]
1303Henry de BurneRoger de Beauchamp[1]
1304Richard SerleSimon Iveny[1]
1307Richard MustRichard Serle[1]
1309John VirleyJohn Frewyn[1]
1311John VirleyJohn Frewyn[1]
1313Henry de BourneWilliam de Pevense[1]
1319John LouteJohn Baudefait[1]
1325William VyvyanThomas Moraunt[1]
1327Ralph BovetJohn le Blake[1]
1328Henry de WhiteweiJohn Swele[1]
1328Anselm atte PutteJohn Swele[1]
1328Anselm atte PutteJohn Swele[1]
1329Robert ApetotRobert le Kenne[1]
1331John de BeauchampAnselm ante Putte[1]
1332Anselm atte PutteRichard ?1VIoust[1]
1332Anselm atte PutteJohn atto Grene[1]
1333Anselm atte PutteDavid Fynian[1]
1334John BeauchampGermanus Hobelyt[1]
1335Robert le PuffareJohn Beauchamp[1]
1336John de BeauchampJohn atte Crone[1]
1336Robert Puffer/Simon 1'houtoThomas Fynian[1]
1337John BeauchampJohn Bernard[1]
1339Robert PuffaroJohn Bernard[1]
1339Robert le PuffareJohn Bernard[1]
1340John BeauchampRobert le Puffare[1]
1341John BeauchampHugo de Coumbes[1]
1344John BeauchampRobert Puffero[1]
1346Robert PuffereWilliam L. . .[1]
1348John BeauchampHenry le Puffare[1]
1350John BernardThomas Fynian[1]
1354Walter WoxebruggeThomas Finyan[1]
1355John BernardWalter Bailiff[1]
1357Walter WoxebruggThomas Fynyan[1]
1357Thomas BokynghamWilliam Snellyng[1]
1360John BernardWalter Bailiff[1]
1360John BernardWalter Woxebrugge[1]
1362Thomas FynyanThomas Bokyngham[1]
1363John BernardWilliam Snellyng[1]
1366Ralph IverWilliam Snellyng[1]
1368John BernardJohn Barbour[1]
1369Richard ComboJohn Barbour[1]
1371William Snellyng[1]
1372William SnellyngJohn Barbour[1]
1373William TaillourRalph Frore[1]
1376William TaillourRalph Frere[1]
1377Richard BernardJohn Barbour[1]
1378John BarbourWilliam Taillour[1]
1379John BarbourGregory Fromond[1]
1381Richard BernardSimon Benefeld[1]
1382William ShirfordRichard Bernard[1]
1382John BarbourJohn Skully[1]
1382John LyntonSimon Benefeld[1]
1383John LyntonSimon Benefeld[1]
1384Simon BenefeldJohn Lynton[1]
1384Simon BenefeldRichard Bernard[1]
1385Robert FryeJohn Lenton[1]
1386Richard BernardWilliam Corveysor [2]
1388 (Feb)Richard BernardSimon Benefeld [2]
1388 (Sep)Richard BernardJohn Skully [2]
1390 (Jan)Richard BernardSimon Benefeld [2]
1390 (Nov)
1391Robert FryeJohn Skully [2]
1393Richard BernardJohn Skully [2]
1394
1395Richard BernardSimon Benefeld [2]
1397 (Jan)Robert FryeSimon Benefeld [2]
1397 (Sep)Gregory FromondWilliam Hulle [2]
1399Robert FryeJohn Soper [2]
1401
1402William EdeRoger Farmcombe [2]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406William HokereWilliam Peck [2]
1407John atte GateJohn Skully [2]
1410
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)William EdeJohn Draper [2]
1414 (Apr)
1414 (Nov)William EdeRobert Benefeld [2]
1415
1416 (Mar)William AskewithJohn Draper [2]
1416 (Oct)
1417Richard DammerAdam Feret [2]
1419
1420
1421 (May)
1421 (Dec)John FindonRichard Roger [2]
1423Richard DammerWilliam Langlegh[1]
1426Richard RogerAdam Feret[1]
1427John WrvthereJohn Waleys[1]
1429William SnellyngWilliam Yongge[1]
1430Adam FeretJohn Furly[1]
1432Richard JayRichard Dammer[1]
1433Thomas HilleJohn Ham[1]
1435Richard JayJohn Furly[1]
1436Richard Jay?John Iiempe[1]
1441Richard JayThomas Grevet[1]
1446John VeskeJohn Weston[1]
1448William RedstonJohn Beckwith[1]
1449William BuryJohn Gloucestre[1]
1411Thomas GvnnourEdward Raffe[1]
1452Edward RaffeWilliam Say[1]
1459Hugo TillRichard Awger[1]
1460Robert SpertNicholas Morley[1]
1467Richard LewkenorWilliam Brandon[1]
1472Peter VeskeRichard Farnefold[1]
1477Peter VeskeJohn Cookson[1]
1482–1523No names known[3]
1529John CovertJohn Michell [3]
1536?
1539?
1542?
1545John Gates[4]Henry Gates[3]
1547William FitzwilliamAnthony Bourchier, died
and repl. by Jan 1552 by
Sir Henry Hussey [3]
1553 (Mar)John FowlerThomas Harvey[3]
1553 (Oct)Thomas RoperThomas Elrington[3]
1554 (Apr)Leonard WestWilliam Mody[3]
1554 (Nov)Simon Lowe alias FyfieldWilliam Mody[3]
1555Francis ShirleyThomas Hogan [3]
1558Anthony HusseyRichard Baker [3]
1558/9Richard FulmerstonJohn Hussey [5]
1562/3Henry Knollys[6]Nicholas Mynn [5]
1571William DixJohn Bowles[5]
1572Edward LewknorEdward Fenner[5][7]
1584William NectonThomas Fenner[5][8]
1586William NectonJohn Young[5]
1588William NectonJohn Young[5]
1593William NectonHerbert Morley[5]
1597William NectonJohn Young[5]
1601John MorleyRobert Booth[5]
1604–1611Sir Bernard WhetstonSir Hugh Beeston
1614Lord Howard of EffinghamThomas Shelley
1621Sir John Morley, died 1622Sir John Leedes
1624Anthony StapleyWilliam Marlott
1625Anthony StapleyWilliam Marlott
1626John AlfordWilliam Marlott
1628Robert MorleyWilliam Marlott
1629–1640No Parliaments summoned

1640–1885

Election1st Member1st Party2nd Member2nd Party
April 1640 William MarlottParliamentarian John AlfordParliamentarian
November 1640
1646 Herbert Springet
December 1648 Springet and Alford excluded in Pride's Purge – both seats vacant
1653 New Shoreham was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659 John Whaley Edward Blaker
May 1659 Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660 (Sir) Herbert Springet [9] Edward Blaker
1662 William Quatremaine
1667 John Fagg
1673 Henry Goring
1678 Sir Anthony Deane
February 1679 Robert Fagg John Cheale
August 1679 John Hales
1681 Robert Fagg
1685 Sir Edward Hungerford Sir Richard Haddock
1689 John Monke
1690 John Perry
1695 Henry Priestman
1698 Charles Sergison
1701 Nathaniel Gould
1702 John Perry
1705 John Wicker
May 1708 Anthony Hammond [10] Richard Lloyd
December 1708 Sir Gregory Page
1710 (Sir) Nathaniel Gould
1713 Francis Chamberlayne
1715 Sir Gregory Page
1720 Francis Chamberlayne
1729 Samuel Ongley John Gould
1734 Thomas Frederick John Phillipson
1740 John Frederick
1741 Charles Frederick Thomas Brand
1747 Robert Bristow
1754 Richard Stratton
1758 Sir William Williams
March 1761 The Viscount Midleton
December 1761 The Lord Pollington [11]
1765 Vice-Admiral (Sir) Samuel Cornish [12]
1768 Peregrine Cust
November 1770 John Purling [13]
December 1770 Thomas Rumbold
1774 Charles Goring Whig[14] Sir John Shelley Tory[14]
1780 Sir Cecil Bisshopp Tory[14] John Peachey Tory[14]
1790 Sir Harry Goring Whig[14] John Clater Aldridge Whig[14]
1795 Hon. Charles Wyndham Tory[14]
1796 Sir Cecil Bisshopp Tory[14]
1802 Timothy Shelley Whig[14]
1806 Sir Charles Burrell, Bt Tory[14]
1818 James Lloyd Whig[14]
1826 Henry Howard Whig[14]
1832 Harry Goring [15] Whig[14][16][17]
1834 Conservative[14]
1841 Charles Goring Conservative[14]
1849 Lord Alexander Gordon-Lennox Conservative
1859 Rt Hon. Sir Stephen Cave Conservative
1862 Sir Percy Burrell, Bt Conservative
1876 Sir Walter Burrell, Bt Conservative
1880 Robert Loder Conservative
1885 constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: New Shoreham[14][18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Tory Charles Burrell Unopposed
Whig Henry Howard Unopposed
Tory hold
Whig hold
General election 1831: New Shoreham[14][18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Tory Charles Burrell Unopposed
Whig Henry Howard Unopposed
Registered electors 1,600
Tory hold
Whig hold
General election 1832: New Shoreham[14][19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Tory Charles Burrell 785 39.9
Whig Harry Goring 774 39.4
Tory George Frederick Jones 406 20.7
Turnout 1,154 59.9
Registered electors 1,925
Majority 11 0.5
Tory hold
Majority 368 18.7
Whig hold
General election 1835: New Shoreham[14][19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative Charles Burrell Unopposed
Whig Harry Goring Unopposed
Registered electors 1,910
Conservative hold
Whig hold
General election 1837: New Shoreham[14][19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Whig Harry Goring 850 37.9
Conservative Charles Burrell 773 34.5
Whig David Salomons 619 27.6
Turnout 1,322 68.1
Registered electors 1,940
Majority 77 3.4
Whig hold
Majority 154 6.9
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: New Shoreham[14][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Burrell 959 38.5 +21.3
Conservative Charles Goring 856 34.4 +17.2
Whig Edward Fitzalan-Howard 673 27.0 38.5
Majority 183 7.4 +0.5
Turnout 1,581 (est) 82.4 (est) c.+14.3
Registered electors 1,918
Conservative hold Swing +20.3
Conservative gain from Whig Swing +18.2
General election 1847: New Shoreham[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Burrell Unopposed
Conservative Charles Goring Unopposed
Registered electors 1,864
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Goring's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 28 December 1849: New Shoreham[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Lord Alexander Gordon-Lennox Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: New Shoreham[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Burrell Unopposed
Conservative Lord Alexander Gordon-Lennox Unopposed
Registered electors 1,865
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
General election 1857: New Shoreham[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Burrell 991 43.4 N/A
Conservative Lord Alexander Gordon-Lennox 806 35.3 N/A
Independent Liberal Henry Williams Pemberton[20][21] 487 21.3 New
Majority 319 14.0 N/A
Turnout 1,386 (est) 77.0 (est) N/A
Registered electors 1,800
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A
General election 1859: New Shoreham[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Burrell Unopposed
Conservative Stephen Cave Unopposed
Registered electors 1,843
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

Burrell's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 5 February 1862: New Shoreham[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Percy Burrell Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1865: New Shoreham[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Cave 972 39.6 N/A
Conservative Percy Burrell 891 36.3 N/A
Liberal James Hannen[22] 592 24.1 New
Majority 299 12.2 N/A
Turnout 1,524 (est) 77.0 (est) N/A
Registered electors 1,978
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A

Cave was appointed Vice-President of the Board of Trade, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 14 July 1866: New Shoreham[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Cave Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1868: New Shoreham[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Percy Burrell Unopposed
Conservative Stephen Cave Unopposed
Registered electors 4,774
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: New Shoreham[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Percy Burrell 2,527 43.3 N/A
Conservative Stephen Cave 2,414 41.4 N/A
Liberal William Lyon 896 15.4 New
Majority 1,518 26.0 N/A
Turnout 3,367 (est) 67.4 (est) N/A
Registered electors 4,998
Conservative hold Swing N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A

Cave was appointed Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces and Paymaster General, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 13 Mar 1874: New Shoreham[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Cave Unopposed
Conservative hold

Burrell's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 5 Aug 1876: New Shoreham[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Walter Burrell 2,152 60.7 24.0
Liberal William Egerton Hubbard[23] 1,394 39.3 +23.9
Majority 758 21.4 4.6
Turnout 3,546 69.1 +1.7
Registered electors 5,129
Conservative hold Swing 24.0

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: New Shoreham[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Walter Burrell 2,445 37.6 5.7
Conservative Robert Loder 2,195 33.8 7.6
Liberal William Egerton Hubbard[23] 2,059 31.7 +16.3
Majority 136 2.1 23.9
Turnout 4,379 (est) 79.9 (est) +12.5
Registered electors 5,480
Conservative hold Swing 6.9
Conservative hold Swing 7.9

See also

Notes and references

  1. "The Story of Shoreham" (PDF). Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  2. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  3. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  4. "Gates, Sir John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10448. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  6. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Missing or empty |title= (help) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  7. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Missing or empty |title= (help) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  8. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Missing or empty |title= (help) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  9. Created a baronet, January 1661
  10. In December 1708 Hammond, who was a Commissioner of the Navy, was voted by the House of Commons to be therefore ineligible for election, and a writ for a by-election was immediately issued
  11. Created Earl of Mexborough (in the Peerage of Ireland), February 1766
  12. Created a baronet, February 1766
  13. On petition, Purling was declared not have been duly elected, and his opponent Rumbold was declared to have been elected instead. Furthermore, the House voted that "the most corrupt practices had been used", and an Act of Parliament was passed in 1771 to permanently disqualify the returning officer and 80 other voters from ever voting again in a Parliamentary election, and to extend the right to vote for the Members for New Shoreham to all the 40 shilling freeholders of the Rape of Bramber.
  14. Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 93–95. Retrieved 1 December 2018 via Google Books.
  15. Goring was classified by Craig as a Liberal, although his entry in Dod's Parliamentary Companion (reprinted in Stenton) describes him as "inclined to Conservative principles".
  16. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. p. 102. Retrieved 1 December 2018 via Google Books.
  17. Mosse, Richard Bartholomew (1838). The Parliamentary Guide: a concise history of the Members of both Houses, etc. p. 168. Retrieved 1 December 2018 via Google Books.
  18. Jenkins, Terry; Spencer, Howard. "New Shoreham". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  19. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) |format= requires |url= (help) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 275–276. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  20. "Election for the Borough of New Shoreham and Rape of Braniber". West Sussex Gazette. 2 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 9 July 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. "Dublin Daily Express". 24 March 1857. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 9 July 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. "Representation of Shoreham and Bramber Rape". Sussex Advertiser. 20 June 1865. p. 4. Retrieved 11 March 2018 via British Newspaper Archive.
  23. "Nominations". Belfast Telegraph. 3 April 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 21 December 2017 via British Newspaper Archive.
  • Victoria History of the County of Sussex – south part of the Rape of Bramber
  • Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977)
  • The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) out of copyright
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832–1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
  • D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
  • Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
  • Maija Jansson (ed.), Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988)
  • J E Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 2)

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