Bramber was a parliamentary borough in Sussex, one of the most notorious of all the rotten boroughs. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons in 1295, and again from 1472 until 1832, when the constituency was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
History
The borough consisted of the former market town of Bramber on the River Adur, which by the 19th century had decayed to the size of a small village. Bramber was barely distinguishable from neighbouring Steyning, with which it shared a main street, and for a century and a half after 1295 they formed a single borough collectively returning MPs. From the reign of Edward IV, however, they returned two MPs each, even though one part of Bramber was in the centre of Steyning so that a single property could in theory give rise to a vote in both boroughs. They were never substantial enough towns to deserve enfranchisement on their own merits, and both probably owed their status to a royal desire to gratify the courtiers that owned them with a degree of influence in the House of Commons.
Bramber was a burgage borough – the vote was restricted to inhabitants of ancient houses in the borough, or those built on ancient foundations, who paid scot and lot. In 1816 this amounted to only 20 voters, although as in 1831 the borough contained 35 houses and a population of approximately 170, this was a much higher proportion of the residents than in most burgage boroughs.
Bramber was slightly unusual in that the vote was accorded to the occupier rather than the owner of the burgage tenements, but in practice the owners had total control over the votes of their tenants – by bribery if not by threats – and therefore of elections in the borough. In Tudor times, the Dukes of Norfolk seem to have held sway. By the first half of the 18th century Bramber was wholly owned by Sir Harry Gough, who leased it (and the right to nominate its MPs) to Lord Archer;Page 144 note 1, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin's Press, 1957) Lord Archer sold this right onwards in his turn, apparently being paid £1000 by the government to allow Lord Malpas to be elected in 1754. In 1768 the Duke of Rutland gained control, but Gough later regained power over one of the two seats and it was inherited by his descendants (who held the title Lord Calthorpe). These two families still shared the representation at the time of the Reform Act.
Bramber was abolished as a separate constituency with effect from the 1832 general election. However, the nearby borough of New Shoreham had already been expanded to include the whole of the Rape of Bramber as an antidote to its corruption, and survived the Reform Act with both its MPs intact. Bramber therefore formed part of the New Shoreham constituency from 1832.
Members of Parliament
Before 1640
ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1399 Robert Couk John Farnfold 1510–1523 No names known 1529Henry See William Roper 1536 ? 1539 ? 1542Sir John Clere ?Richard Watkins 1545Sir John Clere John Gilmyn 1547Sir William Sharington John Fylde by 23 Jan 1552 Chidiock Paulet Richard Bunny 1553 (Mar) George Rithe Lawrence Awen 1553 (Oct) Sir John Baker Thomas Timperley 1554 (Apr) Sir Henry Palmer John Story 1554 (Nov) Thomas Elrington John Baker 1555Sir Thomas Knyvet John Baker or Thomas Baker 1558Henry Mynn Nicholas Mynn 1559Sir Henry Gates Robert Buxton 1562/3 William Barker Robert Balam 1571Bartholomew Clerke Robert Wiseman 1572Hugh Hare Henry Clerke 1584Nicholas Beaumont Sampson Lennard 1586 William Towse John Porter 1588 James Altham John Osborne 1593 Samuel Thornhill Edward Michelborne 1597 Nicholas Trott William Comber 1601 Sir Thomas Shirley, sat for Hastings and replaced Nov 1601 by Henry Lok Henry Bowyer 1604 Sir John ShurleySon in law of Sir Thomas Shirley Henry Shelley 1614 Sir John Leedes Henry ShelleySon of Member for 1604 1621 (Sir) Thomas Bowyer Robert Morley 1624 (Sir) Thomas Bowyer Robert Morley 1625 Walter Barttelot (Sir) Thomas Bowyer 1626 Walter Barttelot (Sir) Thomas Bowyer 1628–1629 Sir Sackville Crowe (Sir) Thomas Bowyer 1629–1640 No Parliaments summoned
1640–1832 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640 Sir Edward BishoppSir Thomas BowyerRoyalistNovember 1640Bishopp and Onslow were initially elected but their election was declared void. Bishopp was barred from standing again, but Onslow was re-elected Arthur OnslowParliamentarianDecember 1640 Sir Thomas BowyerRoyalistNovember 1642Bowyer disabled from sitting – seat vacantSeptember 1645 James TempleDecember 1648Onslow excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant1653Bramber was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659John ByneJohn Fagg May 1659James TempleOne seat vacant 1660 John Byne Edward Eversfield 1661 Percy Goring 1662 Sir Cecil Bishopp February 1679 Henry Goring Nicholas Eversfield August 1679 Henry Sidney 1681 Percy Goring 1685 Sir Thomas Bludworth William Bridgeman 1689 John Alford Charles Goring 1690 Nicholas Barbon John Radcliffe 1695 William Stringer 1698 Sir Henry FurneseExpelled from the House of Commons, 1699, for holding an office incompatible with membership William Westbrooke February 1699 John Courthope April 1699 John Asgill January 1701 Thomas Stringer Thomas Owen March 1701 Francis Seymour-Conway 1702 John AsgillExpelled from the House of Commons, 1707, for his controversial writings on religion 1703 John MiddletonOn petition, Middleton's election was declared void following a dispute over the franchise 1704 Samuel Vanacker Sambrooke 1705 The Viscount Windsor 1707 William Shippen 1709 At the general election of 1708, Windsor and Shippen were initially declared re-elected, but on petition the election was declared void William Hale Sir Cleave More October 1710 The Viscount WindsorThe Viscount Windsor was also elected for Monmouthshire, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Bramber Andrews Windsor December 1710 William Shippen 1713 The Lord Hawley January 1715 Sir Richard Gough Sir Thomas StyleOn petition (a dispute over the franchise), Style was found not to have been duly elected, and a by-election was held June 1715 Edward Minshull 1722 William Charles van Huls 1723 David Polhill 1727 Joseph Danvers March 1728 John GumleyOn petition, Gumley was found not to have been duly elected, and a by-election was held April 1728 James Hoste 1734 Sir Harry Gough Harry Gough (senior) 1741 Thomas Archer 1747 Joseph Damer 1751 Henry Pelham Whig 1754 Viscount Malpas Nathaniel Newnham March 1761 Hon. Andrew ArcherArcher was also elected for Coventry, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Bramber William Fitzherbert December 1761 The Lord WintertonThe Earl Winterton from 1766 1762 Hon. George Venables-Vernon 1768 At the election of 1768, Winterton and Lowndes were initially declared elected, but on petition the result was reversed and their opponents Thoroton and Ambler were seated instead Charles Lowndes 1769 Thomas Thoroton Charles Ambler 1774 Sir Henry GoughAdopted the surname Calthorpe in 1788 1782 Hon. Henry Fitzroy Stanhope 1784 Daniel Pulteney 1788 Robert Hobart 1790 Thomas CoxheadSir Thomas Coxhead from 1793 1796 Sir Charles Rouse-Boughton James Adams 1800 John Henry Newbolt 1802 George Manners-Sutton Henry Jodrell 1804 Richard Norman 1806 John Irving 1812 William Wilberforce Independent 1825 Arthur Gough-Calthorpe 1826 Frederick Gough-Calthorpe 1831 William Stratford Dugdale 1832 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) J. E. Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949) T. H. B. Oldfield, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland (London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1816) J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965) Edward Porritt and Annie G Porritt, The Unreformed House of Commons (Cambridge University Press, 1903) Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)