New Romney was a parliamentary constituency in Kent, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1371 until 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.

New Romney was a Cinque Port, which made it of a nominally different status from a parliamentary borough. The constituency consisted of the town of New Romney; it had once been a flourishing port but by the 19th century the harbour had been destroyed and there was no maritime trade, the main economic activity being grazing cattle on Romney Marsh. In 1831, the population of the constituency was 978, and the town contained 165 houses.

The right to vote was reserved to the Mayor and Common Council of the town; however, many of these were customs or excise officers, who were disqualified from voting by the Parliament Act 1782, so that in the early 19th century there were only 8 voters. The high proportion of voters holding paid government posts before this change in the law meant that New Romney was sometimes considered to be a "treasury borough" (that is, a constituency whose seats were in the gift of the government); but in practice the Dering family, local landowners, were even more influential and could sometimes defy government pressure.

The Dering influence in New Romney seems mainly to have been achieved by letting out property to voters and their relatives at easy rents and without leases. In 1761, for example, the despairing Whig MP, Rose Fuller, explained to the prime minister, the Duke of Newcastle, that he had no chance of re-election since Dering had turned against him, because "several of the governing men are graziers and the Deering and Furnese family have together a very great estate in the neighbouring marsh which is very profitable to and easy for tenants". The reduction in the number of voters naturally made this influence easier, or at least cheaper, to exert.

New Romney was abolished as a constituency by the Reform Act 1832, the town being incorporated into the new East Kent county division.

Members of Parliament 1371–1640

ParliamentFirst MemberSecond Member1386 Simon Lunceford John Salerne1388 (February) William Holyngbroke John Salerne1388 (September) William Holyngbroke John Ellis1390 (January) John Ive James Tiece1390 (November) Edmund Huchoun James Tiece1391 John Ellis John Salerne II1393 Andrew Colyn Robert Geffe13941395 John GardenerWilliam Child1397 (January) John YonRobert Geffe1397 (September)1399 John Gardener John Talbot1401 William ClitheroeJohn Gardener1402 John Lunceford John Ive1404 (January)1404 (October)1406 Robert Geffe Thomas Rokeslee1407 John Roger Brice Scherte1410 John Adam John Lunceford1411 William Clitheroe James Lowys1413 (February) William Clitheroe John Adam1413 (May) William Clitheroe James Lowys1414 (April) Richard Clitheroe John Lunceford1414 (November) William Clitheroe John Maffey1415 Richard Clitheroe James Lowys1416 (March) Richard ClitheroeJohn Adam 1416 (October) Stephen Harry Thomas Sparwe1417 William Clitheroe James Tiece1419 Thomas RokesleeThomas Smith1420 Richard Clitheroe Stephen Harry1421 (May) Richard Clitheroe James Lowys1421 (December) Thomas SparwePeter Newene1510 John Holl Thomas Lambard1512 Sir John ScottClement Baker1515 Richard StuppenyClement Baker1523 Robert Parisnot known 1529 Richard Gibson, died and replaced 1535 by John MarshallJohn Bunting1536 John Bunting ?John Marshall1539 William Tadlowe William Garrard1542 William Tadlowe William Asnothe1545 not known1547 John Dering, died and replaced 1552 by William TadlowePeter Hayman1553 (March) Simon Padyham not known1553 (October) William Tadlowe ?Sir John Guildfordby 1553 John Cheseman1554 (April) John Cheseman Richard Bunting1554 (November) Gregory HoltonWilliam Oxendon1555 Richard Baker John Herbert1558 Simon Padyham ?Thomas Randolph1559 John Cheseman William Eppes1562–3 Sir Christopher AlleyneWilliam Eppes1571 William Eppes Edmund Morrante1572 William Wilcocks, died and replaced July 1574 by William Eppes Edward Wilcocks1584 Richard Williams William Southland1586 William SouthlandRobert Thurbarne1588 Reginald Scot William Southland1593 John Mynge Robert Bawle1597 George Coppyn James Thurbarne1601 Thomas LakeJohn Mynge1604-1611 Sir Robert Remington John Plommer1614 Sir Arthur Ingram Robert Wilcock1621-1622 Sir Peter Manwood Francis Fetherston1624 Francis FetherstonRichard Godfrey1625Sir Edmund VerneyRichard Godfrey1626 Richard GodfreyThomas Brett1628 Thomas Godfrey Thomas Brett1629-1640 No Parliaments summoned

1640–1832 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640November 1640 Thomas WebbRoyalist Sir Norton KnatchbullParliamentarian 1641Richard BrowneDecember 1648Browne not recorded as sitting after Pride's PurgeKnatchbull excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant1653New Romney was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659 Lambert Godfrey Sir Robert Honywood May 1659Not represented in the restored RumpApril 1660 Sir Norton Knatchbull John Knatchbull 1661 Sir Charles Berkeley 1665 Hon. Henry Brouncker 1668 Sir Charles Sedley 1679 Paul Barret 1685 Sir William Goulston Thomas Chudleigh 1689 John Brewer James Chadwick 1690 Sir Charles Sedley 1695 Sir William Twysden 1696 Sir Charles Sedley 1701 Edward Goulston 1702 Sir Benjamin Bathurst 1704 Walter Whitfield 1710 Robert Furnese Whig 1713 Viscount Sondes 1722 David Papillon 1727 John Essington April 1728 Sir Robert Austen Sir Robert Furnese WhigMay 1728 David Papillon 1734 Stephen Bisse 1736 Sir Robert Austen 1741 Henry Furnese Sir Francis Dashwood Tory 1756 Rose Fuller Whig 1761 Sir Edward Dering Tory Thomas Knight 1768 Richard Jackson 1770 John Morton Tory 1774 Sir Edward Dering ToryApril 1784 John Smith June 1784 Richard Atkinson 1785 John Henniker 1787 Richard Joseph Sullivan 1790 Sir Elijah Impey 1796 John Fordyce John Willett Willett 1802 Manasseh Lopes 1806 William Windham Whig Sir John Perring, 1st Baronet Whig 1807 Earl of Clonmell Tory Hon. George Ashburnham Tory 1812 Admiral Sir John Duckworth Tory William Mitford Tory 1817 Cholmeley Dering Tory 1818 Andrew Strahan Tory Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor 1819 Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor Whig 1820 George Hay Dawkins-Pennant Tory 1826 George Tapps Tory 1830 Arthur Hill-Trevor Ultra-Tory William Miles Ultra-Tory/ToryMarch 1831 Sir Roger Gresley, Bt ToryApril 1831 Sir Edward Cholmeley Dering Tory1832 Constituency abolished

Notes

References

Sources 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) Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973) Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)