Newport was a rotten borough situated in Cornwall. It is now the suburb of Newport within the town of Launceston, which was itself also a parliamentary borough at the same period. It is also referred to as Newport iuxta Launceston, to distinguish it from other constituencies named Newport.
History From 1529 until it was abolished by the Reform Act 1832, Newport returned two Members of Parliament. Until the early 18th century, the right to vote was held by all inhabitants paying scot and lot, but subsequently it was converted to a burgage franchise, meaning that the right to vote was tied to ownership of certain properties within the borough, which could be bought and sold at will. This reduced the number of qualified voters: under the scot and lot qualification around 70 people had had the right to vote, but by 1831 the number was only about 12.
The borough had a population of 595 in 1831. The Lord of the manor, owning extensive property within the borough and with the effective power of choosing both members of parliament, was the Duke of Northumberland.
By the Reform Act 1832, Newport was abolished as a separate borough, but the boundaries of Launceston were extended to include Newport. As Launceston's representation was halved by the same measure, the combined borough was thereafter represented by a single MP whereas previously there had been four members.
Members of Parliament 1529–1629 Constituency created 1529 ParliamentFirst memberSecond member Parliament of 1529Simon Mountford William Harris Parliament of 1536 ? Parliament of 1539 ? Parliament of 1542 ? Parliament of 1545Richard Grenville Walter Skinner Parliament of 1547Reginald Mohun James TrewynnardFirst Parliament of 1553Henry KilligrewFrancis RoscarrockSecond Parliament of 1553William SmithJohn GayerParliament of Apr 1554Roger TavernorThomas PrideauxParliament of Nov 1554Robert MonsonRobert BrowneParliament of 1554/5William StourtonRobert MonsonParliament of 1558Thomas HungateThomas RoperParliament of 1559(Richard) GrenvilleThomas HickesParliament of 1563-1567George BassetAyshton AyleworthParliament of 1571Edward HolteRobert ColshillParliament of 1572-1581George BassetWilliam MarburyParliament of 1584-1585Robert MordauntWalter CovertParliament of 1586-1587John OsborneEdward WinterParliament of 1588-1589William CavendishDaniel RogersParliament of 1593Richard StephensEmanuel ChamondParliament of 1597-1598Morgan ColemanEdward LewknorParliament of 1601Tobie MatthewSir John LeighParliament of 1604-1611Sir Robert KilligrewSir Edward SeymourAddled Parliament (1614)Thomas TrevorSir Thomas CheekParliament of 1621-1622Sir Robert Killigrew Sir Edward BarrettHappy Parliament (1624-1625)Sir John EliotRichard EstcourtUseless Parliament (1625)Ralph SpeccotParliament of 1625-1626Sir Henry HungateThomas Williams, juniorParliament of 1628-1629Piers EdgcumbeSir William KilligrewKilligrew was also elected for Penryn, which he chose to represent, and never sat for NewportNicholas TrefusisNo Parliament summoned 1629-1640
1640–1832 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640Nicholas TrefusisParliamentarianJohn MaynardMaynard was also elected for Totnes, which he chose to represent, and never sat for NewportParliamentarian1640Paul SpeccotNovember 1640 Richard EdgcumbeRoyalistJohn MaynardParliamentarianDecember 1640Seat left vacant after Maynard chose to sit for TotnesJanuary 1644Edgcumbe disabled from sitting - seat vacant1647Sir Philip Perceval (died November 1647)Nicholas Leach (died May 1647)1648William PrynneAlexander PymDecember 1648 Prynne excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant Pym not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge1653Newport was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659Sir John Glanville William Morice May 1659Not represented in the restored RumpApril 1660 Sir Francis Drake William MoriceMorice was also elected for Plymouth, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Newport August 1660 Hon. Laurence Hyde 1661 John Speccot 1662 Piers Edgcumbe 1667 Nicholas Morice 1678 Ambrose Manaton February 1679 John Coryton TorySeptember 1679 William Coryton 1681 William Morice 1685 John Speccot Tory1689 Sir William Morice February 1690 The Viscount Newhaven December 1690 John Morice 1695 The Viscount Newhaven 1698 John Granville 1699 Francis Stratford January 1701 John Prideaux December 1701 William Pole John Spark 1702 Sir Nicholas Morice 1707 Sir John Pole 1708 Sir William Pole 1710 George Courtenay 1713 Humphry Morice WhigApril 1722 Sir William PolePole was also elected for Honiton, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Newport December 1722 John Morice 1726 Thomas Herbert 1727 Sir William Morice 1734 Sir John Molesworth 1740 Nicholas Herbert 1741 Thomas Bury 1754 John Lee Edward Bacon 1756 Richard Bull 1761 William de Grey 1770 Richard Henry Alexander Bennet October 1774 Humphry MoriceMorice was also elected for Launceston, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Newport WhigDecember 1774 John Frederick 1780 Viscount Maitland Whig John CoghillCreated a baronet as Sir John Coghill in March 1781 Tory1784 Sir John Riggs-Miller 1785 William Mitford Tory1790 Viscount Feilding Charles Rainsford 1796 William Northey Tory Joseph Richardson 1803 Edward Morris Whig1812 Jonathan Raine Tory1826 Lord Charles Greatheed Bertie Percy Tory1829 William Vesey-Fitzgerald ToryJuly 1830 John DohertyAppointed judge and resigned, December 1830. Replaced by Sir Henry Hardinge ToryDecember 1830 Sir Henry Hardinge Tory1831 Viscount Grimston Tory 1832 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. E. Neale, The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949) 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 F. W. S. Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
Further reading