Camelford was a rotten borough in Cornwall which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the English and later British Parliament from 1552 to 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
History The borough consisted of the town of Camelford, a market town in northern Cornwall, and part of the surrounding Lanteglos-by-Camelford parish. Like most of the Cornish boroughs enfranchised or re-enfranchised during the Tudor period, it was a rotten borough from the start.
The right to vote was disputed in the 18th century, but according to a judgment of 1796, belonged to those "free burgesses" who were resident householders paying scot and lot. The number of voters varied as new free burgesses were created, but was estimated to be 31 in 1831. Free burgesses were made only by nomination of the "patron", who owned all the houses in the borough, and the voters always voted in accordance with the patron's instructions.
The patronage, and the borough, changed hands several times. In the 1760s, before the exclusive voting rights of the free burgesses were established, the elections were managed by Charles Phillips for the government,Page 336, Namier, Lewis (1957) The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III, 2nd ed. London: St Martin's Press and Camelford was considered a secure Treasury Borough (one where ministers could nominate the MPs as a form of patronage). Later the power of the patron became more complete, and in 1812 The Duke of Bedford was able to sell it for £32,000, forcing its MP, Henry Brougham, to find a new seat as his radical politics were unacceptable to the new owner. From 1814 until the Great Reform Act, the owner was the Earl of Darlington (later Marquess and Duke of Cleveland).
Cleveland was forced to secure his influence by regular payments to the voters, making Camelford one of the most notorious examples of corruption that were cited at the time of the Reform Act. In 1819, after two successive elections had been declared void and all the candidates disqualified for "treating", the writ was suspended, temporarily depriving the borough of its representation, although this only lasted until a new Parliament was summoned the following year. The Morning Chronicle noted in 1830 that "Everyone has heard of what Camelford cost the Marquess of Cleveland till the arrangement with the Marquess of Hertford. The Members who were returned for the marquess paid the voters in £1 notes enclosed in a deal box marked 'China'."
In 1831, the borough had an estimated population of 597, and 110 houses.
Members of Parliament 1553-1640 ParliamentFirst memberSecond memberFirst Parliament of 1553John HuykeNicholas St JohnSecond Parliament of 1553Francis RoscarockAmbrose GilbesParliament of 1554Thomas ArundellGeorge StaffordParliament of 1554-1555Francis RoscarockClement TyfferdParliament of 1555William CarrylGeorge TadlowParliament of 1558Thomas PrideauxWilliam St AubynParliament of 1559John SmithSir Thomas ChamberlainParliament of 1563-1567William PatridgeDrue DruryParliament of 1571Nicholas PrideauxEdward WilliamsParliament of 1572-1581John GiffordGeorge Grenville, juniorParliament of 1584-1585Richard TrefusisEmanuel ChamondParliament of 1586-1587Geoffrey GatesParliament of 1588-1589Arthur GorgesParliament of 1593Humphrey MitchellRichard LeechParliament of 1597-1598Jerome HorseyHenry CarneseweParliament of 1601William CarnesewAnthony TurpinParliament of 1604-1611John GoodAddled Parliament (1614)George CottonRobert NauntonParliament of 1621-1622Sir Henry CareyEdward CarrHappy Parliament (1624-1625)Sir Francis CottingtonEdward HareUseless Parliament (1625) Sir Henry HungateThomas CoteelParliament of 1625-1626 Edward LyndleySir Thomas MonkParliament of 1628-1629Francis CrossingEvan Edwards No Parliament summoned 1629-1640
1640-1832 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond partyApril 1640 Piers EdgcumbeRoyalist Edward Reade November 1640 William GlanvilleRoyalistJanuary 1644Edgcumbe and Glanville disabled from sitting - both seats vacant1647 William SayGregory Clement (?) Sources differ. Cobbett's Parliamentary History lists Clement as MP for Camelford, and the Dictionary of National Biography agrees; however, Brunton & Pennington state that Clement was elected for Fowey, though they list no alternative name for Camelford.May 1652Clement expelled - his seat left vacant1653Camelford was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659 John Maynard William Bradden May 1659 William Say One seat vacantApril 1660 Peter Killigrew Samuel Trelawny June 1660 Thomas Vivian William Cotton 1661 Thomas Coventry Charles Roscarrock 1665 (Sir) William Godolphin February 1679 Sir James Smyth William Harbord April 1679 Robert Russell April 1685 Humphrey Langford Nicholas Courtney September 1685 Sir Charles Scarborough 1689 Ambrose Manaton Henry Manaton Tory 1695 Robert Molesworth Whig 1696 Sidney Wortley Montagu Whig 1698 Henry Manaton Tory Dennys Glynn 1704 William Pole Tory 1705 Henry Pinnell 1708 Richard Munden John Manley Tory 1710 Bernard Granville Jasper Radcliffe March 1711 Henry Manaton ToryMay 1711 Paul Orchard 1712 Sir Bourchier Wrey Tory 1713 James Nicholls 1715 James Montagu Richard Coffin Whig 1722 The Earl of Drogheda Whig William Sloper 1727 Thomas Hales Whig John Pitt 1734 Sir Thomas Lyttelton James Cholmondeley 1741 The Earl of Inchiquin Charles Montagu 1747 The Earl of Londonderry Samuel Martin 1754 John LadeCreated a baronet as Sir John Lade, March 1758 1759 Bartholomew Burton 1768 Charles Phillips William Wilson 1774 John Amyand Francis Herne 1776 Sir Ralph Payne 1780 John Pardoe James Macpherson April 1784 Jonathan Phillips July 1784 Sir Samuel Hannay, Bt 1791 William Smith WhigMarch 1796 Lord William Bentinck WhigMay 1796 William Joseph Denison John Angerstein Whig 1802 Robert Adair Whig John FonblanqueJohn Anthony (later de Grenier) Fonblanque, elected 1802: see ODNB article, NOT his son, John Samuel Martin Fonblanque. Whig 1806 Viscount Maitland Whig 1807 Lord Henry Petty Whig 1810 Henry Brougham Whig 1812 William Leader Samuel Scott 1818The 1818 election was declared void and a new poll was ordered Mark Milbank Whig John Bushby Maitland Whig 1819The 1819 election was declared void. All the candidates (Stewart, Allsopp, Milbank and Maitland) were barred from sitting for any constituency for the remainder of the Parliament for violating the Treating Act, and Camelford's writ was suspended John Stewart Tory Lewis Allsopp Tory 1819 Camelford's representation suspended 1819-1820 1820 Mark Milbank Whig Earl of Yarmouth Tory 1822 Sheldon Cradock Whig1832 Constituency abolished
Notes
References
Brock, Michael (1973) The Great Reform Act London: Hutchinson Brunton, D. & Pennington, D. H. (1954) Members of the Long Parliament London: George Allen & Unwin Cobbett, William (1808) Cobbett's Parliamentary History of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 London: Thomas Hansard Courtney, William Prideaux (1889) The Parliamentary Representation of Cornwall to 1832. London: Printed for private circulation (75 copies only) Jansson, Maija (ed.) (1988) Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons) Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society Philbin, J. Holladay (1965) Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales New Haven: Yale University Press Smith, Henry Stooks (1973) The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847, 2nd ed., edited by F. W. S. Craig. Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications Townshend, Heywood (comp.) (1680) Historical Collections:: or, An exact account of the proceedings of the four last Parliaments of Q. Elizabeth of famous memory: wherein is contained the complete journals both of the Lords and Commons, taken from the original records of their Houses. ... Together with the most considerable passages of the history of those times London: Printed for T. Basset, W. Crooke, and W. Cademan British History Online - list of speakers in the Parliaments of 1656 and 1658-9
Further reading