Lostwithiel 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 1304 to 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
History The borough consisted of the town of Lostwithiel and part of the neighbouring Lanlivery parish; it was a market town whose trade was mainly dependent on the copper mined nearby.
Unlike many of the most notorious Cornish rotten boroughs, Lostwithiel had been continuously represented since the Middle Ages and was originally of sufficient size to justify its status. However, by the time of the Great Reform Act it had long been a pocket borough, under the complete control of the Earls of Mount EdgcumbePage 144, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin's Press, 1957) since 1702. The right to vote was vested in the corporation, who numbered 24 in 1816; they made no attempt to defy their patron, who regularly paid the corporation's debts and advanced them money.
In 1831, the borough had a population of 1,047, and 303 houses.
Members of Parliament
1304–1629 Constituency created (1304)
ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1355John Hamely 1358John Hamely 1388 (Feb) Thomas Curteys Pascoe Polruddon 1388 (Sep) Thomas Moyle John Mychel 1390 (Jan) Richard Respryn John Brown 1390 (Nov) 1391Simon Lowys Robert Combe 1393Richard Bloyowe Roger Umfrey 1394 1395John Quint William Scoce 1397 (Jan) Thomas Curteys John Kendale 1397 (Sep) Thomas Curteys John Kendale 1399John Day Richard Hervy 1401 1402Sir Henry Ilcombe Thomas Curteys 1404 (Jan) 1404 (Oct) 1406John Curteys Gregory Aute 1407Sir Henry Ilcombe Robert Kayl 1410Robert Kayl ? 1411John Curteys Thomas Jayet 1413 (Feb) 1413 (May) John Curteys John Clink 1414 (Apr) 1414 (Nov) Robert Kayl John Trebarthe 1415 1416 (Mar) Robert Kayl Thomas West 1416 (Oct) 1417Stephen Kendale Thomas West 1419Tristram Curteys Richard Hervy 1420Thomas Cokayn John Trewint 1421 (May) John Colyn Robert Treage 1421 (Dec) Tristram Curteys John Trewint 1510–1523 No names known 1529John Tredeneck Richard Bryan alias Croker 1536? 1539? 1542? 1545Anthony Browne Walter MildmayParliament of 1547–1552Richard HudsonJohn SouthcoteFirst Parliament of 1553Richard WootonJasper FisherSecond Parliament of 1553John CourtenayChristopher Daunsey or Dauntesey or DaunceParliament of 1554George SouthcoteBrice RookwoodParliament of 1554–1555John SouthcoteJohn CosworthParliament of 1555Brice RookwoodParliament of 1558John HerringJohn CosworthParliament of 1559Thomas MildmayJohn CosworthParliament of 1563–1567Thomas MildmayJohn Killigrew (d.1584), of ArwenackParliament of 1571Robert SnaggeWilliam KendallParliament of 1572–1581John BarkleyParliament of 1584–1585James DaltonJohn ShirleyParliament of 1586–1587John AgmondeshamParliament of 1588–1589William FitzwilliamWilliam GardinerParliament of 1593Sir Francis GodolphinRobert BealeParliament of 1597–1598William CornwallisJohn CookeParliament of 1601Richard CromwellNicholas SaundersParliament of 1604–1611Sir Thomas ChalonerSir William LowerAddled Parliament (1614)Edward LeechSir Henry VaneParliament of 1621–1622 Edward Salter George ChudleighHappy Parliament (1624–1625) John Chichester (d.1669) of Hall Sir John HobartUseless Parliament (1625)Double returnSir George Chudleigh, Reginald Mohun, Sir Henry Vane and Nicholas Kendall were all returned. It is not clear whether the dispute was resolved before the Parliament was dissolved.Parliament of 1625–1626Sir Robert MansellReginald MohunParliament of 1628-1629Sir Robert Carr, also elected for PrestonSir Thomas BadgerJohn ChudleighNo Parliament summoned 1629–1640
1640–1832
YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640 Richard Arundell Royalist Nicholas Kendall November 1640 John Trevanion RoyalistJuly 1643Trevanion killed in action – seat vacantJanuary 1644Arundell disabled from sitting – seat vacant1646 Sir John Maynard Francis Holles December 1648Maynard not recorded as having sat after Pride's PurgeHolles excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant1653Lostwithiel was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659 Walter Moyle John Clayton May 1659Not represented in the restored RumpApril 1660 Walter Moyle John Clayton 1661 Sir Chichester Wrey John Bulteel 1668 Charles Smythe 1670 Silius Titus 1679 Sir John Carew Walter Kendall 1685 Sir Robert Southwell Sir Matthias Vincent 1689 Francis Robartes Walter Kendall 1690 Sir Bevil Granville 1695 Bernard Granville Samuel Travers 1698 George Booth January 1701 Sir John Molesworth Tory John Buller April 1701 George Booth 1702 Russell Robartes 1705 Robert Molesworth Whig 1706 James Kendall 1708 Joseph Addison Whig 1709 Francis Robartes Russell Robartes January 1710 Horatio Walpole October 1710 John Hill Tory Hugh Fortescue 1713 Sir Thomas Clarges Erasmus Lewis 1715 Galfridus Walpole Thomas Liddell 1718 Edward Eliot 1720 John Newsham 1721 Marquess of HartingtonHartington was re-elected in 1722 but was also elected for Grampound, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Lostwithiel in the 1722 Parliament Whig 1722 Lord Stanhope Whig 1724 Sir Orlando BridgemanBridgeman was re-elected in August 1727 but was also elected for Bletchingley, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Lostwithiel in the 1727 Parliament Whig Henry Parsons January 1727 Hon. Sir William Stanhope August 1727 Darell Trelawny 1728 Anthony Cracherode Sir Edward Knatchbull 1730 Edward Walpole 1734 Richard Edgcumbe Whig Philip Lloyd 1735 Matthew Ducie Moreton 1736 Sir John Crosse 1741 Sir Robert Cotton 1747 Richard Edgcumbe Whig James Colleton 1754 Thomas Clarke 1761 George Howard 1766 Viscount Beauchamp Tory 1768 Henry Cavendish Charles Brett 1774 Viscount Fairford 1776 Thomas Potter September 1780 Hon. John St. JohnSt. John was also elected for Newport (Isle of Wight), which he chose to represent, and never sat for Lostwithiel Hon. Thomas de Grey December 1780 Commodore George Johnstone Independent 1781 Viscount Malden 1784 John SinclairCreated a baronet as Sir John Sinclair, February 1786 John Thomas Ellis 1790 Viscount ValletortValletort was also elected for Fowey, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Lostwithiel Reginald Pole-Carew 1791 George Smith 1796 Hans Sloane William Drummond 1802 William DickinsonDickinson was re-elected in 1806 but had also been elected for Somerset, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Lostwithiel 1806 The Viscount Lismore January 1807 Charles Cockerell May 1807 George Peter Holford Ebenezer Maitland 1812 Reginald Pole-Carew John Ashley Warre 1816 Viscount Valletort Tory 1818 Sir Robert Wigram Tory Sir Alexander GrantGrant was re-elected in June 1826 but was also elected for Aldborough, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Lostwithiel in the 1826 Parliament ToryJune 1826 Viscount Valletort ToryDecember 1826 Edward Cust ToryAugust 1830 Hon. William Vesey-Fitzgerald ToryDecember 1830 Viscount Valletort Tory1832 Constituency abolished
Notes
References Robert Beatson, "A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament" (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) 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) Henry Stooks Smith, "The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847" (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig – Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)