Cornwall is a former county constituency covering the county of Cornwall, in the South West of England. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of England then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Knights of the Shire, elected by the bloc vote system.
Under the Reform Act 1832, it was divided between the constituencies of East Cornwall and West Cornwall.
Boundaries and franchise The constituency consisted of the whole of the historic county of Cornwall, the most south-westerly county of England, occupying the part of the South West peninsula to the west of the River Tamar which divides the county from Devon. (Although Cornwall contained a number of parliamentary boroughs, each of which elected two MPs in their own right, these were not excluded from the county constituency, and owning property within a borough could confer a vote at the county election. For a summary of the boroughs represented before 1832 see Parliamentary representation from Cornwall.)
As in other county constituencies the franchise between 1430 and 1832 was defined by the Forty Shilling Freeholder Act, which gave the right to vote to every man who possessed freehold property within the county valued at £2 or more per year for the purposes of land tax; it was not necessary for the freeholder to occupy his land, nor even in later years to be resident in the county at all.
By the time of the Great Reform Act in 1832, the population of Cornwall was about 300,000. Only a tiny fraction of these were entitled to vote. Sedgwick estimated there were about 2,300 electors in this constituency in the 1715–1754 period, and Namier and Brooke suggest this had increased to about 2,500 electors in the 1754–1790 period. At the vigorously contested election of 1790, when a high turnout can be assumed, 4,656 valid votes were cast (each voter being entitled to vote twice). At Cornwall's final election, in 1831, 5,350 votes were cast.
Members of Parliament Constituency created (1290)
1290–1510 ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1298 Thomas PridiasMaclean, Sir John, Parochial and Family History of the Deanery of Trigg Minor, in the County of Cornwall, Vol.2, London, 1876. 1301 Michael Petyt 1307 Henry Bodrugan 1314 Michael Petyt 1324 Otto Bodrugan William Hureward 1336 William Bodrugan Richard Hiwis 1337 William Bodrugan Richard Hiwis 1341 Ralph Speccot"Ranulphus" perVivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.706; "Raph" per Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.381 of Speccot, Merton, Devon 1357 John Hamely 1360 John Hamely 1362 John Hamely 1366 John de TremayneVivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.730, pedigree of Tremayne 1369 Otto Bodrugan Robert TresilianArticle by John L. Leland./John de Tremayne1380 Warin Archdeacon 1382 Warin Archdeacon 1383 (Feb) Michael Archdeacon 1384 Otto Bodrugan 1386Sir Ralph Carminowe John Beville 1388 (Feb) Sir Henry Ilcombe Sir John Reskymer 1388 (Sep) Sir William Lambourne Sir John Reskymer 1390 (Jan) Sir Richard Cergeaux Sir William Lambourne 1390 (Nov) Sir John Reskymer Michael Archdeacon 1391John Colshull John Treverbyn 1393John Trevarthian John Treverbyn 1394John Colshull John Treverbyn 1395Sir Henry Ilcombe John Chenduyt 1397 (Jan)John Arundell of Lanherne John Colshull 1397 (Sep) John Arundell of Lanherne John Trevarthian 1399Sir William Lambourne John Colshull 1401Sir John Trevarthian William Bodrugan 1402Sir William Talbot John Whalesborough 1404 (Jan) Sir John Arundell of Lanherne John Chenduyt 1404 (Oct) Sir John Arundell of Lanherne Sir Ralph Botreaux 1406Sir John Arundell of Lanherne Nicholas Broomford 1407John Chenduyt Richard Trevanion 1410Sir Ralph Botreaux Sir John Herle 1411Sir John Arundell of Lanherne John Urban 1413 (May) John Wybbury John Trelawny 1414 (Apr) Sir John Arundell of Lanherne John Colshull II 1414 (Nov) Sir William Talbot John Colshull II 1416 (Mar) Sir John Arundell of Lanherne William Bodrugan II 1416 (Oct) 1417Sir John Arundell of Lanherne Thomas Arundell 1419John Arundell Sir Thomas Arundell 1420Sir William Bodrugan John Tretherf 1421 (May) Sir John Arundell of Lanherne Sir John Trelawny 1421 (Dec) Sir John Trelawny John Arundell 1422 Sir John Arundell of Lanherne John Arundell 1423 Sir John Arundell of Lanherne 1429 Sir Thomas Arundell 1435 Sir Thomas Arundell1437 Nicholas Aysshton 1439 Nicholas Aysshton 1453–4John Coleshill, of Duloe, CornwallRichardson, Douglas, Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition, p.144 1472 Sir Henry Bodrugan 1478 Sir Thomas Vaughan 1483 John Beaumont alias BodruganJames Tyrrell 1484 John Beaumont alias Bodrugan
1510–1629 As there were sometimes significant gaps between Parliaments held in this period, the dates of first assembly and dissolution are given. Where the name of the member has not yet been ascertained or (before 1558) is not recorded in a surviving document, the entry unknown is entered in the table.
The Roman numerals after some names are those used in The House of Commons 1509–1558 to distinguish a member from another politician of the same name.
In 1529 alternative versions are given of the names for one member. The first comes from the above book on the House of Commons. The second originates from another source.
ElectedAssembledDissolvedFirst MemberSecond Member 1510 21 January 1510 23 February 1510 unknown unknown 1512 4 February 1512 4 March 1514 unknown unknown 1515 5 February 1515 22 December 1515 Sir Peter Edgecombe unknown 1523 15 April 1523 13 August 1523 unknown unknown 1529 3 November 1529 14 April 1536 Sir Peter Edgecombe Richard Grenville 1536 8 June 1536 18 July 1536 unknown unknown 1539 28 April 1539 24 July 1540 Sir John Chamond William Godolphin I 1542 16 January 1542 28 March 1544 Richard Edgcumbe unknown 1545 23 November 1545 31 January 1547 Richard Chamond John Beauchamp 1547 4 November 1547 15 April 1552 (Sir) Richard Edgecumbe John Reskymer 1553 1 March 1553 31 March 1553 (Sir) William Godolphin I Henry Chiverton 1553 5 October 1553 5 December 1553 John Carminowe Richard Roscarrock 1554 2 April 1554 3 May 1554 Sir John Arundell 1554 12 November 1554 16 January 1555 ? Thomas Trefry I Henry Chiverton 1555 21 October 1555 9 December 1555 Richard Chamond 1558 20 January 1558 17 November 1558 John Arundell John Polwhele 1559 23 January 1559 8 May 1559 John TrelawnyRichard Chamond 1562 or 1563 11 January 1563 2 January 1567 Peter Edgcumbe John Trelawny died and repl. 1566 by Richard Chamond 1571 2 April 1571 29 May 1571 Richard Grenville William Mohun 1572 8 May 1572 19 April 1583 Peter Edgcumbe to 1581(Unknown from 1581) Richard Chamond 1584 23 November 1584 14 September 1585 Richard Grenville(Sir) William Mohun 1586 13 October 1586 23 March 1587 Peter Edgcumbe 1588 4 February 1589 29 March 1589 Sir Francis Godolphin 1593 18 February 1593 10 April 1593 William Bevil 1597 24 October 1597 9 February 1598 William Killigrew Jonathan Trelawny 1601 27 October 1601 19 December 1601 Sir Walter Raleigh John Arundell 1604 19 March 1604 9 February 1611 Sir Anthony Rous Sir Jonathan Trelawny died 1604Sir William Godolphin 1614 5 April 1614 7 June 1614 Richard Carew John St Aubyn 1620 or 1621 16 January 1621 8 February 1622 Bevil Grenville John Arundell 1623 or 1624 12 February 1624 27 March 1625 William Coryton 1625 17 May 1625 12 August 1625 Sir Robert KilligrewCharles Trevanion 1626 6 February 1626 15 June 1626 Sir Francis GodolphinWilliam Coryton 1628 17 March 1628 10 March 1629 Sir John Eliot
1640–1832 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640 William Godolphin Richard Buller ParliamentarianNovember 1640 Sir Bevil Grenville Royalist Alexander Carew RoyalistCarew is classified as a Royalist by Brunton and Pennington on the grounds that he was disabled for adhering to the king. However, he began the Civil War as a Parliamentarian and was appointed to the governorship of a crucial stronghold; he attempted to betray this to the Royalists when it seemed that their cause was prospering, but being discovered was arrested, disabled, and later executed as a traitor.September 1642Grenville disabled to sit – seat vacantSeptember 1643Carew expelled – seat vacant1646Hugh Boscawen Nicholas Trefusis December 1648Boscawen not recorded as sitting after Pride's PurgeTrefusis excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant
Representation increased to four seats in Barebones Parliament YearFirst memberSecond memberThird memberFourth member1653Robert BennetFrancis LangdonAnthony RousJohn Bawden
Representation increased to eight seats in First and Second Protectorate Parliaments YearFirst memberSecond memberThird memberFourth memberFifth memberSixth memberSeventh memberEighth member1654Anthony RousAnthony NichollThomas SillyRichard CarterWalter MoyleCharles BoscawenThomas GewenJames Launce1656Francis RousWilliam BraddonJohn St Aubyn
Representation restored to two seats in Third Protectorate Parliament YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyJanuary 1659Hugh Boscawen Francis BullerCornwall not represented in restored Rump April 1660Sir John Carew, Bt Robert Robartes September 1660Hugh Boscawen 1661Jonathan Trelawny Sir John Coryton, Bt 1679Francis Robartes Sir Richard Edgcumbe May 1685Lord Lansdown Viscount Bodmin August 1685Francis Robartes 1689Sir John Carew, Bt Hugh BoscawenThis Hugh Boscawen was NOT Hugh Boscawen, the first Earl of Falmouth, mentioned below. 1690Francis Robartes 1695John Speccot June 1701Richard Edgcumbe Whig December 1701John Granville James Buller 1703Sir Richard Vyvyan, Bt Tory1703Hugh Boscawen Whig1708James Buller 1710George Granville ToryJohn TrevanionThis John Trevanion was NOT John Trevanion, the Civil War hero, who died in 1643. Tory1712Sir Richard Vyvyan, Bt Tory1713Sir William Carew, Bt Tory1722Sir John St Aubyn, Bt ToryApril 1744Sir Coventry Carew, Bt ToryDecember 1744Sir John Molesworth, Bt Tory1748James Buller Tory1761Sir John St Aubyn, Bt 1765Sir John Molesworth, Bt 1772Humphrey Mackworth-Praed 1774Sir William Lemon, Bt Whig1775Edward Eliot 1784Sir William Molesworth, Bt 1790Francis Gregor Tory1806John Hearle Tremayne Tory1825Sir Richard Rawlinson Vyvyan, Bt Tory1826Edward William Wynne Pendarves Whig1831Sir Charles Lemon, Bt Whig Constituency abolished (1832)
Elections
The bloc vote electoral system was used in two seat elections and first past the post for single member by-elections. Each elector had as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings, which were usually held at the county town. The expense and difficulty of voting at only one location in the county, together with the lack of a secret ballot contributed to the corruption and intimidation of electors, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system.
The expense, to candidates and their supporters, of contested elections encouraged the leading families of the county to agree on the candidates to be returned unopposed whenever possible. Contested county elections were therefore unusual.
There were no contested general election polls in Cornwall between 1710 and 1774. Leading Whig politicians, like Sir Robert Walpole, were happy to let Tory squires represent the county; to avoid them interfering with Whig plans in the county's numerous borough constituencies. The related families of Carew, Molesworth, St Aubyn and Buller monopolised the representation for much of the 18th century, until the partners in the Miners' Bank at Truro, Humphrey Mackworth Praed and William Lemon, became involved in elections in the 1770s.