Newport (Cornwall) (UK Parliament constituency)

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Newport Borough constituency
Created:	1529
Abolished:	1832
Type:	House of Commons
Members:	two

Newport was a rotten borough situated in Cornwall. It is now within the town of Launceston, which was itself also a parliamentary borough at the same period.

From 1529 until it was abolished by the great reform act of 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, 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.

Contents 1 Members of Parliament 1.1 1529-1660 1.2 1660-1832 2 References

[edit] Members of Parliament

[edit] 1529-1660

• 1571: Sampson Lennard
• 1604-1611: Edward Seymour
• 1626: Christopher Yelverton
• 1628-1629: Christopher Yelverton
• 1628: John Wolstenholme
• 1659: William Morice

[edit] 1660-1832

Year	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
April 1660		Sir Francis Drake			William Morice[1]
August 1660					Hon. Laurence Hyde
1661					John Speccot
1662		Piers Edgcumbe
1667		Nicholas Morice
1678					Ambrose Manaton
February 1679		John Coryton
September 1679		William Coryton
1681		William Morice
1685					John Speccot
1689		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
April 1722					Sir William Pole[2]
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 Bennett
October 1774		Humphry Morice[3]
December 1774		John Frederick
1780		Viscount Maitland			John Coghill[4]
1784		Sir John Riggs-Miller
1785					William Mitford
1790		Viscount Feilding			Charles Rainsford
1796		William Northey	Tory		Joseph Richardson
1803					Edward Morris	Whig
1812					Jonathan Raine	Tory
1826		Charles Bertie Percy	Tory
1829		William Vesey-Fitzgerald	Tory
July 1830		John Doherty	Tory
December 1830		Sir Henry Hardinge	Tory
1831					Viscount Grimston	Tory
1832	constituency abolished

Notes

1. ^ Morice was also elected for Plymouth, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Newport
2. ^ Pole was also elected for Honiton, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Newport
3. ^ Morice was also elected for Launceston, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Newport
4. ^ Created a baronet as Sir John Coghill in March 1781

[edit] References

• 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 FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)

This page incorporates information from Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page.