Callington was a rotten borough in Cornwall which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the English and later British Parliament from 1585 to 1832, when it was abolished by the Reform Act 1832.
History The borough consisted of most of the town of Callington in the East of Cornwall. Callington was the last of the Cornish rotten boroughs to be enfranchised, returning its first members in 1585; like most of the Cornish boroughs enfranchised or re-enfranchised during the Tudor period, it was a rotten borough from the start, and was never substantial enough to have a mayor and corporation.
The right to vote in Callington was disputed until a decision of the House of Commons in 1821 settled it as resting with "freeholders of the borough and ... life-tenants of freeholders, resident for 40 days before the election and rated to the poor at 40 shillings or more". This considerably enlarged the electorate, for there had been only 42 voters in the borough in 1816, but the Parliamentary return of 1831 reported that 225 were qualified. In the 18th century the power of the "patron" to influence the voters in Callington was considered absolute. In 1831 the borough had a population of 1,082, and 225 houses; the part of the town outside the borough boundaries contained only a further eight houses, leaving no scope to enlarge it. It was disfranchised by the Great Reform Act in 1832.
Patrons of pocket borough The two patrons of the pocket borough of Callington were the Rolle family of Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe, Devon (a junior branch of the Rolle family of Stevenstone and Bicton in Devon) and the Coryton family of the adjacent manor of St. Mellion, Cornwall.Hunneyball, Paul, "Callington Borough", published in History of Parliament: House of Commons 1604-1629, ed. Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris, 2010
Rolle patronage In 1601 Robert Rolle (died 1633) of Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe, Devon (a grandson of George Rolle (d.1552) of Stevenstone, founder of the Rolle family in Devon), purchased the manor of Callington in Cornwall, thereby gaining the pocket borough seat of Callington in Parliament,Hunneyball, Paul, "Callington Borough", published in History of Parliament: House of Commons 1604-1629, ed. Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris, 2010 which in future served to promote the careers of many Rolles and descendants of that family. He nominated to this seat his first cousin once-removedHe was a younger son of John I Rolle of Stevenstone (d.1570), eldest son of the patriarch George Rolle (d.1552), per Vivian, pp.652-3 John Rolle (born 1563)listed in WP article Callington (UK Parliament constituency), and (without date of birth) in History of Parliament overview of constituency in 1601, his brother William Rolle (died 1652) in 1604 and 1614, his son Sir Henry Rolle (1589–1656), of Shapwick, in 1620 and 1624, his son Samuel's father-in-law Thomas Wise (died March 1641) of Sydenham in Devon, in 1625, and another son John Rolle (1598–1648), in 1626 and 1628.Hunneyball, Paul, "Callington Borough", with his relationship to Thomas Wise corrected, per Vivian, 1895, pp.654,791 The manor and borough were later inherited by the Rolle heiress Margaret Rolle (1709-1765), suo jure 15th Baroness Clinton, wife of Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of OrfordPage 145 Note 2, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957) whose son and heir George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford (d.1791) died without progeny. It then passed by inheritance to her cousin George William Trefusis, of Trefusis in Cornwall.Lysons, Daniel & Lysons, Samuel, Magna Britannia, Vol.6, Devonshire, London, 1822, p.387 Robert George William Trefusis (1764–1797) successfully claimed the title (17th) Baron Clinton in 1794.P. W. Montague-Smith, Debrett's Peerage (1968), p.265 & see Baron Clinton By 1816 it had passed to Robert Cotton St John Trefusis, 18th Baron Clinton but was no longer as secure as it had been, so that the Coryton family was sufficiently influential to challenge his power on occasion.
Members of Parliament 1585–1640 ParliamentFirst memberSecond memberParliament of 1584–1585 Thomas LawtonThomas HarrisParliament of 1586–1587Edward AylworthWilliam HerleParliament of 1588–1589Robert WorsleyHenry GoldingParliament of 1593Robert CareyCarew ReynellParliament of 1597–1598Henry FerrersJohn EgertonParliament of 1601Miles RaynesfordJohn RolleParliament of 1604–1611Sir Roger WilbrahamSir William RolleAddled Parliament (1614)Humphrey WereParliament of 1621–1622Lord WriothesleyHenry RolleMaija Jansson in Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) Happy Parliament (1624–1625)Sir Edward SeymourUseless Parliament (1625)Sir Richard WestonThomas WiseParliament of 1625–1626Sir Clipseus CarewJohn RolleParliament of 1628–1629Sir William ConstableConstable was also elected for Scarborough, and probably never sat for CallingtonNo Parliament summoned 1629–1640
1640–1832 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640 Sir Samuel Rolle Parliamentarian Thomas Gardiner RoyalistNovember 1640 Sir Arthur Ingram Parliamentarian Hon. George Fane RoyalistAugust 1642 Ingram died August 1642 - seat vacantJanuary 1643Fane disabled from sitting - seat vacant1646Lord ClintonThomas DacresDecember 1648Clinton and Dacres excluded in Pride's Purge - both seats vacant1653Callington was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659Thomas Carew Anthony BullerMay 1659Not represented in the restored RumpApril 1660 Robert Rolle Edward Herle June 1660 John Coryton July 1660 Sir Hugh Pollard May 1661 Allen Brodrick Sir Cyril Wyche June 1661 Sir Henry Bennet 1665 Samuel Rolle February 1679 John Coryton October 1679 Richard Carew William Trevisa 1681 William Coryton Tory 1685 Sir John Coryton Tory 1689 Jonathan Prideaux February 1690 Francis Fulford ToryOctober 1690 Jonathan Prideaux 1695 Sir William Coryton Tory Francis Gwyn Tory 1698 Francis Fulford ToryJanuary 1701 Robert Rolle ToryDecember 1701 Samuel Rolle Tory 1702 John Acland Tory 1703 Sir William Coryton Tory 1712 Henry Manaton Tory 1713 Sir John Coryton Tory 1719 Thomas Coplestone Whig 1722 Thomas Lutwyche Tory 1727 Sir John Coryton Tory 1734 Isaac le Heup 1741 Hon. Horatio Walpole Whig 1748 Edward Bacon 1754 Hon. Sewallis Shirley John Sharpe 1756 Fane William Sharpe 1761 Richard Stevens 1768 Thomas Worsley 1771 William Skrine 1774 John Dyke Acland 1778 George StrattonStratton's election in 1778 was declared void, but he won the 1779 by-election that resulted 1780 John Morshead 1784 Sir John Call Paul Orchard 1801 John Inglett-Fortescue 1803 Ambrose St JohnThis Ambrose St John was clearly NOT Ambrose St John (1815-1875) 1806 William Wickham William Garrow Whig 1807 Lord BinningThe Earls of Haddington were referred to as "Lord Binning", before succeeding their fathers. Thomas Hamilton became the 9th Earl in 1828. Tory Thomas Carter 1810 William Stephen Poyntz Whig 1812 Sir John Leman Rogers 1813 Hon. Charles Trefusis Tory 1818 Hon. Edward Pyndar Lygon Tory Sir Christopher Robinson Tory 1820Robinson and Lygon were initially declared re-elected in 1820, defeating Attwood and Thompson, but the result was reversed on petition Matthias Attwood Whig William Thompson Whig 1826 Alexander Baring Whig 1830 Bingham Baring Whig 1831 Henry Bingham Baring Tory Hon. Edward Herbert Tory1832 Constituency abolished
Notes
References
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 Holladay Philbin, "Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)