Commons 1715-1754

An independent borough, with a minor government interest from the customs officers at the port, Chichester returned two Whig townsmen at a contested election in 1715. About 1720 the 1st Duke of Richmond bought Goodwood, three miles away. In 1722 his heir, who succeeded to the dukedom in 1723, was returned unopposed, after which it became the custom to pay the Goodwood family the compliment of permitting them to recommend one Member, on condition that the inhabitants of Chichester should be left to choose the other.

At George I’s accession 18 of the 36 Bramber burgages belonged to Sir Richard Gough, a Whig; 13 were owned by Lord Windsor, a Tory; 5 were independent. In 1715 Gough and a Windsor candidate, Style, were returned, but Style was unseated in favour of Minshull, the Gough candidate, who petitioned successfully on the ground of partiality by the returning officer.CJ, xviii. 24. At both the next general elections Gough’s candidates were successful, in 1722 after a contest and in 1727 unopposed.

Till 1747, the chief interest at Arundel was in the Lumleys, earls of Scarborough, who had inherited the estates of the earls of Arundel in the sixteenth century and sat for one of the Arundel seats in every Parliament from 1708 to 1747. The mayor, as returning officer, and the corporation were an important factor, while the government had a certain influence from the customs service at the port. The Duke of Norfolk was lord of the manor and owner of Arundel Castle, but as a Roman Catholic seldom intervened in elections.

The Duke of Newcastle owed his pre-eminence in Sussex to his great estates, to the patronage which he could dispense as a member of the Government, and to his lavish personal expenditure.

Southwark, a populous borough, was a ward of the city of London, the returning officer, the bailiff, being appointed by the lord mayor. Brewing being the major industry, it was usually represented by one and sometimes two brewers, the other Members being London merchants. All the candidates returned were apparently Whigs.

At George I’s accession the representation of Reigate was controlled by Sir John Parsons, a Tory who had bought the Reigate Priory estate in 1681, and Lord Somers, one of the Whig Junto, to whom William III in 1697 had granted the manor of Reigate, carrying with it the appointment of the returning officer. The sitting Members were Parsons himself and Somers’s nephew, James Cocks.

In 1715 both Haslemere seats were won by Whigs after a contest with two Tories. From 1722 they were held by James Oglethorpe, a neighbouring landowner, whose family had often sat for the borough, and Peter Burrell, a wealthy merchant, jointly for 32 years; but there were other rival interests, notably the Molyneuxes of Loseley, who were lords of the manor, and the Onslows of Clandon, who had often been returned for Haslemere. In 1727 there were at one time no less than seven candidates in the field;Alan Brodrick to Ld.

Guildford was dominated by the Onslows of Clandon, two miles from the borough, and always returned at least one member of the family.

Gatton was a pocket borough. Its parliamentary representation was divided between the owners of the manor of Gatton, who appointed the returning officer, and those of Upper Gatton, each nominating one Member. The manor of Gatton was owned by the Newland family till 1751, when it was sold to James Colebrooke for £23,000. Upper Gatton was owned by the Docminiques till 1745, when it passed by inheritance to Paul Humphrey, who left it to his sister, the wife of the Rev. John Tattersall.Manning & Bray, Surr. ii. 232, 237.

In 1715 the chief interests in Bletchingley were those of William Clayton, the lord of the manor, and George Evelyn, who owned the adjacent manor of Godstone. After Evelyn’s death, leaving no issue male, in 1724 his brother was defeated by a government candidate, H. A. Herbert, who was succeeded in 1727 by another, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, both presumably brought in on the Clayton interest. In 1734 Clayton’s son, Kenrick, hitherto under age, was returned with his father, on whose death in 1744 the vacancy was filled by Kenrick’s younger brother.