Winchelsea was a parliamentary constituency in Sussex, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1366 until 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
History Boundaries Winchelsea was a Cinque Port, rather than a parliamentary borough, but the difference was purely a nominal one, and it was considered an egregious example of a rotten borough. The constituency consisted of the town and parish of Winchelsea, once a market town and port but by the 19th century much reduced in importance, a mile-and-a-half inland with its harbour destroyed. In 1831, the population of the constituency was estimated at 772, and the town contained 148 houses.
History of corruption The right to vote was exercised by the freemen of the town, of whom by 1831 there were just 11, even though in theory the custom was that every son of a freeman and every freeholder in the town was entitled to his freedom. With so few voters, bribery was the rule rather than the exception, though occasionally it became so blatant that the authorities were able to take steps against it. In 1700 an election at Winchelsea was declared void, an agent of one of the candidates arrested for bribery by order of the House of Commons, and the representation of the borough suspended until the end of the session. At another controversial election in 1712, the Commons committee which investigated was told that voters had been bribed with £30 each to vote for the sitting MPs, and their female connections received additional payments of half a guinea (10s. 6d.) each.
Nor was the expense confined to bribing the voters. Oldfield records that in 1811, with only 11 voters to poll, the Mayor demanded – and received – a fee of £200 for his services as returning officer. However, he presumably carried out his duties more satisfactorily than his predecessor in 1624, who was "brought to the bar [of the House of Commons], and on his knees severely reprimanded, and sentenced to be committed to prison" for threatening some of the voters and corruptly excluding some others from casting their votes.
Almost as troublesome was the election of 1667, when it was alleged that the Mayor had not taken the sacrament – being a communicating member of the Church of England was then a requirement for holding civic office – and that therefore the election he had conducted was void. The committee agreed, and proposed a motion that the MP who had been returned was not duly elected, but the whole House voted it down, and the election was allowed to stand. In 1702, again, the Mayor was taken into custody for corrupt practices, and expelled from all his offices in the Customs by resolution of the Commons, against the opposition of government ministers, in whose interests the corruption had been executed.
Patronage Winchelsea affords an unusual instance of a sitting MP wresting control of a pocket borough from its "patrons", so as to be able to be sure of securing re-election on his own account. In the first half of the 18th century, Winchelsea was a "treasury borough", that is one where the influence of the government was so strong that ministers were able to consider themselves the patrons and were sure of the power to choose both MPs. In 1754, however, one of the government candidates was an Irishman named Arnold Nesbitt. Once elected, Nesbitt began to buy houses in Winchelsea so as to secure influence over the freemen, and was so far successful that by the time of the next election it was accepted that he had the absolute command of one of the seats; indeed, when he stood well with the Treasury he was also allowed to nominate for the other. For the rest of his life he successfully defended his control of Winchelsea from the free-spending of the Treasury's agents; on one occasion, it appears that the town clerk was directing the government campaign and finding himself needing more funds for the purpose than had been provided pawned the town's charters and civic regalia.
However, in 1779 Nesbitt died £100,000 in debt, and the Court of Chancery made a decree to auction his property for the relief of his creditors, but his nephew anticipating this managed to sell the Nesbitt interest in the borough back to the government's supporters (in the person of The Earl of Darlington) for the very considerable sum of £15,000, shortly before the court's decree came into force. Ministers were free once more to consider both seats at the ministry's disposal. However, Oldfield notes that Nesbitt's power in the borough was one of influence rather than of any direct property in the votes (as might have been the case in a burgage borough where the right to vote could literally be bought and sold) – and that whatever the bargain between Nesbitt's nephew and Darlington, the voters themselves were not a party to it and had still to be persuaded to co-operate. Therefore, what was sold, in effect, was the unhindered right to bribe the voters without interference, the customary price by this time being apparently £100 per vote.
Abolition Winchelsea was abolished as a separate constituency by the Reform Act, but the nearby Cinque Port of Rye retained one of its two MPs, and Rye's parliamentary boundaries were extended to include Winchelsea from 1832.
Members of Parliament 1366–1640
ParliamentFirst MemberSecond Member1366 Vincent Fynch (I)1373 Robert Harry I 1377 Robert Arnold 1378 Roger Dover William Skele I1381 William Skele I1382 (May) Robert Harry I1382 (Oct) Henry Sely1383 (Feb) John Pulham William Skele I1383 (Oct) John Pulham 1384 (Apr) William Skele I 1385 John Pulham1386 William Skele I John Pulham1388 (Feb) William Skele I John Pulham or Robert Harry I1388 (Sep) Henry Sely Matthew Goldyve1390 (Jan) William Skele I Roger Dover1390 (Nov) 1391 William Skele I Vincent Ewell1393 Robert Arnold Thomas Bette1394 1395 Vincent Fynch (II) William Skele II1397 (Jan) Vincent Fynch (II) John Helde1397 (Sep) 1399 Roger atte Gate William Skele II1401 1402 Vincent Fynch (II)John Salerne II1403 Walter Young 1404 (Jan)1404 (Oct)1406 Vincent Fynch (III)John Worton1407 John Salerne IIRobert Fishlake1410 Roger atte GateJohn Tunstall1411 1413 (Feb)1413 (May) Roger atte Gate Thomas Young1414 (Apr)1414 (Nov) Roger atte Gate William Catton1415 1416 (Mar) 1416 (Oct)1417 John French William Catton1419 John French John Tamwroth1420 Edward Hopyere Roger atte Gate1421 (May) Thomas Thunder William Catton1421 (Dec) Alexander Beuley Roger atte Gate1425 Thomas Young 1426 Vincent Fynch (III) 1449–1450 John Greenford1495 Richard Barkeley 1497 Richard Barkeley 1510 Thomas Ashburnham Robert Sparrow1512 ?John Ashburnham I ?Robert Sparrow1515 ?John Ashburnham I ?Robert Sparrow1523 Thomas Ashburnham Robert Sparrow1529 Thomas EnsingGeorge Lowys1536 ?Thomas Ensing ?George Lowys1539 not known1542 John Bell Philip Chute1545 Philip Chute Thomas Hynxstend1547 John Rowland John More1553 (Mar) William Egleston Michael Blount1553 (Oct) Sir Henry Crispe William Roper1554 (Apr) Cyriak Petyt Joseph Beverleey1554 (Nov) William EglestonJohn Cheyne II1555 Thomas Smith John Peyton1558 Sir George Howard John Fowler1559 Goddard White Henry Fane1562–3 Richard ChambersHenry Fane1566Henry Cobham replaced ?Chambers, ?deceased 1571 Thomas Wilford Robert Eyre1572 Thomas Wilford Richard Barry1584 Giles Fletcher Herbert Pelham1586 Adam Moyle Thomas Egleston1588–9 Adam Moyle Herbert Morley1593 Adam Ashburnham Ashburnham Pecke1597 Ralph EwensThomas Colepeper1601 Moyle Finch Hugh Beeston1604 Adam White Thomas Unton1614 William Binge Thomas Godfrey1621 Thomas Finch Edward Nicholas1624 John Finch Edward Nicholas 1625 Roger Twysden Sir Ralph Freeman1626 Roger Twysden Sir Nicholas Saunders1628 Sir William TwysdenSir Ralph Freeman1629–1640 No parliaments summoned
MPs 1640–1832
YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640 Nicholas CrispExpelled for being a monopolist, February 1641 Royalist John FinchNovember 1640 John FinchParliamentarian 1641William SmithRoyalistSeptember 1642Finch died – seat left vacantJanuary 1644Smith disabled from sitting – seat vacant1645Henry OxendenSamuel GottDecember 1648Oxenden and Gott excluded in Pride's Purge – both seats vacant1653Winchelsea was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659 John Busbridge Robert Fowle May 1659Not represented in the restored RumpApril 1660 William Howard Samuel Gott 1661 Sir Nicholas Crisp Francis Finch 1666 Robert Austen February 1678 Sir John Banks March 1678 Cresheld Draper 1681 Sir Stephen Lennard 1685 The Earl of Middleton 1689 Robert Austen Samuel Western 1696 Sir George Chute 1698 John Hayes Robert Bristow I January 1701 Thomas Newport November 1701 John Hayes Robert Austen 1702 George Clarke James Hayes 1705 George DodingtonDodington was re-elected in 1708, but had also been elected for Bridgwater, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Winchelsea again May 1708 Sir Francis Dashwood December 1708 Robert Bristow II 1713 George Dodington 1715 George BubbAdopted the surname Dodington around 1720. He was re-elected in 1722, but had also been elected for Bridgwater, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Winchelsea again 1722 Thomas Townshend 1727 John ScropeScrope was also elected for Bristol, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Winchelsea February 1728 Sir Archer CroftCroft was also elected for Bere Alston, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Winchelsea April 1728 Peter Walter 1734 Edmund Hungate Beaghan 1738 Robert Bristow III 1741 The Viscount Doneraile Thomas Orby Hunter 1747 Lieutenant Colonel John Mordaunt 1754 Arnold Nesbitt 1759 Lieutenant Colonel George Gray 1760 Thomas Orby Hunter March 1761 The Earl of Thomond December 1761 (Sir) Thomas SewellKnighted on being appointed Master of the Rolls, 1764 1768 The Earl of Thomond 1770 Arnold NesbittNesbitt was re-elected in 1774, but had also been elected for Cricklade, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Winchelsea again August 1774 William Nedham October 1774 Charles Wolfran Cornwall 1775 William Nedham 1780 John Nesbitt 1784 William Nedham 1790 Viscount Barnard Richard Barwell 1792 Sir Frederick Fletcher-Vane 1794 John Hiley Addington ToryMay 1796 William Currie December 1796 William Devaynes 1802 Robert Ladbroke Whig William Moffat Whig 1806Sir Frederick Fletcher-VaneWhig Calverley Bewicke Whig 1807 Sir Oswald Mosley Whig 1812 William VaneAssumed the surname Powlett by Royal Licence in 1813 Whig 1815 Henry Brougham Whig 1816 Viscount Barnard Whig 1818 George Galway Mills Whig 1820 Lucius Concannon Whig 1823 William Leader Whig 1826 Viscount Howick WhigFebruary 1830 John Williams WhigJuly 1830 Henry Dundas ToryApril 1831 Stephen LushingtonLushington was also elected for Ilchester, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Winchelsea WhigJuly 1831 James Brougham Whig1832 Constituency abolished
Notes
References Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) A Chronological Register of Both Houses of the British Parliament, from the Union in 1708, to the Third Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in 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) titles A-Z 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) Henry Stooks Smith, "The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847" (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig – Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)