Surrey was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until 1832.
The constituency was split into two two-member divisions, for Parliamentary purposes, in 1832. The county was then represented by the East Surrey and West Surrey constituencies.
Boundaries
Surrey is one of the historic counties of England, located south of the River Thames, in south east England. The constituency comprised the whole county. (Although Surrey contained eight towns which were boroughs for at least part of the time the county was a constituency - Bletchingley, Farnham, Gatton, Guildford, Haslemere, Kingston upon Thames, Reigate and Southwark - each of which elected two MPs in their own right, these were not excluded from the county constituency, and owning property within the boroughs could confer a vote at the county election.)
Members of Parliament
1290-1640
MPs 1640–1832
| Year | 1st Member | 1st Party | 2nd Member | 2nd Party |
|
| April 1640 |
|
Sir Ambrose Browne | Parliamentarian |
|
Sir Richard Onslow | Parliamentarian |
| November 1640 |
| December 1648 |
Browne and Onslow excluded in Pride's Purge - both seats vacant |
| 1653 |
|
Samuel Highland | |
|
Lawrence March | |
| Surrey's representation was increased to six members in the First and Second parliaments of the Protectorate |
| 1654 |
Sir Richard Onslow, Arthur Onslow, Francis Drake, Major-General John Lambert,[5] Robert Holman, Colonel Robert Wood |
| 1656 |
Sir Richard Onslow, Arthur Onslow, Francis Drake, Lewis Audley, George Duncombe, John Blackwell |
| Representation reverted to two members in the Third Protectorate Parliament |
| January 1659 |
|
Arthur Onslow | |
|
Francis Drake | |
| May 1659 |
Not represented in the restored Rump |
| April 1660 |
|
The Lord Aungier |
|
|
Daniel Harvey |
|
| 1661 |
|
(Sir) Adam Browne [6] |
|
|
Sir Edmund Bowyer |
|
| 1679 |
|
Arthur Onslow |
|
|
George Evelyn |
|
| 1685 |
|
Sir Adam Browne |
|
|
Sir Edward Evelyn |
|
| 1689 |
|
Sir Richard Onslow |
Whig |
|
George Evelyn |
|
| 1690 |
|
Sir Francis Vincent |
|
| 1695 |
|
Denzil Onslow |
Whig |
| 1698 |
|
John Weston |
|
| 1702 |
|
Leonard Wessell |
|
| 1705 |
|
Sir William Scawen |
|
| 1710 |
|
Hon. Heneage Finch [7] |
|
|
Sir Francis Vincent |
|
| 1713 |
|
Sir Richard Onslow |
Whig |
| 1715 by-election |
|
Thomas Onslow |
Whig |
| 1717 by-election |
|
Denzil Onslow |
Whig |
| 1719 by-election |
|
John Walter |
|
| 1721 by-election |
|
Sir William Scawen |
|
| 1722 |
|
Sir Nicholas Carew |
|
| April 1727 by-election |
|
Thomas Scawen |
|
| August 1727 |
|
Arthur Onslow |
|
| 1741 |
|
The Lord Baltimore |
|
| 1751 by-election |
|
Thomas Budgen |
|
| 1761 |
|
George Onslow |
|
|
Sir Francis Vincent |
|
| 1774 |
|
James Scawen |
|
| 1775 by-election |
|
Sir Joseph Mawbey, Bt |
|
| 1780 |
|
Admiral the Hon. Augustus Keppel |
|
| 1782 by-election |
|
Viscount Althorp |
|
| 1783 by-election |
|
Sir Robert Clayton |
|
| 1784 |
|
Hon. William Norton |
|
| 1789 by-election |
|
Lord William Russell |
Whig |
| 1790 |
|
Captain the Hon. William Finch [8] |
|
| 1794 by-election |
|
Sir John Frederick |
Tory |
| 1807 |
|
Samuel Thornton |
Tory |
|
George Holme Sumner |
Tory |
| 1812 |
|
Sir Thomas Sutton |
Tory |
| 1813 by-election |
|
Samuel Thornton |
Tory |
| 1818 |
|
William Joseph Denison |
Whig |
| 1826 |
|
Charles Nicholas Pallmer |
Whig |
| 1830 |
|
John Ivatt Briscoe |
Whig |
| 1832 |
constituency divided |
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-09-17.
- 1 2 "Wood, Sir John, speaker of the House of commons". Oxford DNB. Retrieved 2011-12-01.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-09-17.
- ↑ Sir William Howard was elected in 1597 but before Parliament met his father was elevated to an Earldom and he thus acquired the courtesy title Lord Howard of Effingham. It seems to have been mistakenly supposed that this disqualified him from sitting in the House of Commons, and his younger brother was nominated to replace him. See Neale, op. cit., p 47
- ↑ Lambert was also elected for the West Riding of Yorkshire
- ↑ Succeeded to a baronetcy, August 1661
- ↑ Styled Lord Guernsey from 1714
- ↑ Rear Admiral from 1794
Elections
The county franchise, from 1430, was held by the owners of freehold land valued at 40 shillings or more. Each voter 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 took place in the county town of Guildford. 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 voters, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system.
The expense, to candidates, 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.
Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party vote. Where there was more than one candidate, in one or both successive elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual percentage vote.
Parliament of the United Kingdom 1801-1832
- Note (1806 by-election): (Source: The Times edition of 24 February 1806)
- Note (1806): Poll 2 days. "Although Mr. Thornton had lost his election for Hull, he resigned on the second day in favour of Sir J. Frederick, who was last on the poll". (Source: Stooks Smith)
| General Election 1812: Surrey (2 seats) |
| Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Tory |
George Holme Sumner |
1,924 |
40.66 |
+5.20 |
|
Tory |
Sir Thomas Sutton |
1,791 |
37.85 |
+37.85 |
|
Tory |
Sir Thomas Turton, 1st Baronet |
1,017 |
21.49 |
+21.49 |
- Note (1807): Poll 9 days; 3,296 freeholders cast 4,732 votes. (Source: Stooks Smith)
- Death of Sutton
| By-Election November 1813: Surrey |
| Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
Tory |
Samuel Thornton |
1,133 |
69.04 |
N/A |
|
Tory |
Sir Thomas Turton, 1st Baronet |
508 |
30.96 |
N/A |
| Majority |
625 |
38.09 |
N/A |
|
Tory hold |
Swing |
N/A |
|
- Note (1813 by-election): Poll 4 days; 1,641 freeholders voted. (Source: Stooks Smith)
- Note (1826): Poll 5 days; 3,743 freeholders cast 5,740 votes. (Source: Stooks Smith)
- Note (1830): Poll 3 days; 2,977 freeholders cast 4,898 votes. (Source: Stooks Smith)
- Constituency abolished - county split into two divisions (1832)
See also
References
- Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 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)
- 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, 1st edition published in three volumes (1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) out of copyright
- Frederic A Youngs, jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)