# Castle Rising (UK Parliament constituency)

Castle Rising was a parliamentary borough in Norfolk, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1558 until it was abolished by the Great Reform Act 1832. Its famous members of Parliament included the future Prime Minister Robert Walpole and the diarist Samuel Pepys.

## History

The borough extended over four parishes - Castle Rising, Roydon, North Wootton and South Wootton, in rural Norfolk to the north-east of King's Lynn. Castle Rising had once been a market town and seaport, but long before the passing of the Reform Act 1832 had declined to little more than a village. In 1831, the population of the borough was 888, and contained 169 houses.
Castle Rising was a burgage borough, meaning that the right to vote was vested in the owners of particular properties ("burgage tenements"), and that consequently the absolute right to nominate both the MPs could be bought and sold. Although it was possible for the landowner to create multiple voters by giving a reliable nominee notional ownership of the tenements – as was done in many other burgage boroughs – in Castle Rising the number of voters was kept as low as possible, and contested elections were almost unknown.
The Lord of the Manor invariably owned a majority of the burgage tenements, though other influential local families were generally allowed to select the second MP. In the seventeenth century the Duke of Norfolk was the dominant interest: it was the Norfolk interest which enabled Samuel Pepys to gain the seat in 1673. At the start of the 18th century, the borough belonged to the Walpole family, and Sir Robert Walpole (Britain's first Prime Minister) began his parliamentary career here. Later in the century the Walpoles still nominated one MP, and the Earl of Suffolk the other. By 1816 the patronage had passed to the Earl of Cholmondeley and Richard Howard.
Castle Rising was abolished as a constituency by the Reform Act 1832.

## Members of Parliament
### 1558–1640

| Year | First member | Second member |
| 1558 | Sir John Radcliffe | Sir Nicholas L'Estrange |
| 1559 | Thomas Steyning | Sir Nicholas L'Estrange |
| 1562–1563 | Sir Nicholas L'Estrange | Francis Carew |
| 1571 | Sir Nicholas L'Estrange | George Dacres |
| 1572 | Nicholas Mynn | Edward Flowerdew, sick and replaced Jan 1581 by Sir William Drury |
| 1584 | Michael Stanhope | Richard Drake |
| 1586 | Philip Wodehouse | Thomas Norris |
| 1588 | Bartholomew Kemp | Richard Stubbe |
| 1593 | John Townshend | Henry Spelman |
| 1597 | Thomas Guybon | Henry Spelman |
| 1601 | John Peyton | Robert Townshend |
| 1604–1611 | Thomas Monson | Sir Robert Townshend |
| 1614 | Sir Robert Wynd | Thomas Binge |
| 1621–1622 | Robert Spiller | John Wilson |
| 1624 | Sir Robert Spiller | Sir Thomas Bancroft |
| 1625 | Sir Hamon le Strange | Sir Thomas Bancroft |
| 1626 | Sir Hamon le Strange | Sir Thomas Bancroft |
| 1628 | Sir Robert Cotton | Sir Thomas Bancroft |
| 1629–1640 | No parliaments summoned | No parliaments summoned |

### 1640–1832

| Year | | First member | First party | | Second member | Second party |
| April 1640 | | Nicholas Harman | | | Thomas Talbot | |
| November 1640 | | Sir Christopher Hatton | Royalist | | Sir John Holland | Parliamentarian |
| 1641 | | Sir Robert Hatton | Royalist | | Sir John Holland | Parliamentarian |
| September 1642 | Hatton disabled from sitting - seat vacant | Hatton disabled from sitting - seat vacant | Hatton disabled from sitting - seat vacant | | | | Sir John Holland | Parliamentarian |
| 1645 | | John Spelman | | | Sir John Holland | Parliamentarian |
| December 1648 | Spelman and Holland excluded in Pride's Purge - both seats vacant | Spelman and Holland excluded in Pride's Purge - both seats vacant | Spelman and Holland excluded in Pride's Purge - both seats vacant | Spelman and Holland excluded in Pride's Purge - both seats vacant | Spelman and Holland excluded in Pride's Purge - both seats vacant | Spelman and Holland excluded in Pride's Purge - both seats vacant |
| 1653 | Castle Rising was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second parliaments of the Protectorate | Castle Rising was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second parliaments of the Protectorate | Castle Rising was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second parliaments of the Protectorate | Castle Rising was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second parliaments of the Protectorate | Castle Rising was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second parliaments of the Protectorate | Castle Rising was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second parliaments of the Protectorate |
| January 1659 | | John Fielder | | | Guybon Goddard | |
| May 1659 | | Not represented in the restored Rump | Not represented in the restored Rump | Not represented in the restored Rump | Not represented in the restored Rump | Not represented in the restored Rump |
| April 1660 | | John Spelman | | | Sir John Holland | Parliamentarian |
| 1661 | | Sir Robert Paston | | | Robert Steward | |
| February 1673 | | Sir Robert Paston | | | Sir John Trevor | Tory |
| November 1673 | | Samuel Pepys | Tory | | Sir John Trevor | Tory |
| 1679 | | Sir Robert Howard | Whig | | James Hoste | |
| 1685 | | Sir Nicholas L'Estrange | Tory | | Thomas Howard | |
| 1689 | | Sir Robert Howard | Whig | | Robert Walpole | Whig |
| 1698 | | Thomas Howard | Whig | | Robert Walpole | Whig |
| January 1701 | | Thomas Howard | Whig | | Robert Walpole | Whig |
| April 1701 | | Robert Cecil | | | Robert Walpole | Whig |
| December 1701 | | The Earl of Ranelagh | | | Robert Walpole | Whig |
| February 1702 | | Marquess of Hartington | Whig | | Robert Walpole | Whig |
| July 1702 | | Sir Thomas Littleton | Whig | | Horatio Walpole, senior | Tory |
| May 1705 | | Sir Robert Clayton | Whig | | Horatio Walpole, senior | Tory |
| November 1705 | | William Feilding | | | Horatio Walpole, senior | Tory |
| October 1710 | | William Feilding | | | Robert Walpole | Whig |
| December 1710 | | William Feilding | | | Horatio Walpole, senior | Tory |
| 1713 | | William Feilding | | | Horatio Walpole, junior | Whig |
| 1715 | | William Feilding | | | Lieutenant-General Charles Churchill | Whig |
| 1724 | | The Earl of Mountrath | | | Lieutenant-General Charles Churchill | Whig |
| 1734 | | Thomas Hanmer | | | Lieutenant-General Charles Churchill | Whig |
| 1737 | | Viscount Andover | | | Lieutenant-General Charles Churchill | Whig |
| 1745 | | Viscount Andover | | | Richard Rigby | Whig |
| 1747 | | Robert Knight, 1st Baron Luxborough | Whig | | Hon. Thomas Howard | |
| 1754 | | Hon. Horace Walpole | Whig | | Hon. Thomas Howard | |
| 1757 | | Charles Boone | | | Hon. Thomas Howard | |
| 1768 | | Thomas Whately | Whig | | Jenison Shafto | |
| 1771 | | Thomas Whately | Whig | | Crisp Molineux | |
| 1772 | | Lord Guernsey | | | Crisp Molineux | |
| 1774 | | Alexander Wedderburn | | | Robert Mackreth | |
| 1775 | | Hon. Charles Finch | | | Robert Mackreth | |
| 1777 | | John Chetwynd Talbot | | | Robert Mackreth | |
| 1782 | | Major Sir James Erskine | | | Robert Mackreth | |
| 1784 | | Charles Boone | | | Walter Sneyd | |
| 1790 | | Charles Boone | | | Henry Drummond | |
| 1794 | | Charles Boone | | | Charles Bagot-Chester | |
| 1796 | | Horatio Churchill | | | Charles Bagot-Chester | |
| 1802 | | Peter Isaac Thellusson | | | Charles Bagot-Chester | |
| 1806 | | Richard Sharp | | | Charles Bagot-Chester | |
| 1807 | | Richard Sharp | | | Charles Bagot | |
| 1808 | | Richard Sharp | | | Fulk Greville Howard | Tory |
| 1812 | | Augustus Cavendish-Bradshaw | Tory | | Fulk Greville Howard | Tory |
| 1817 | | Earl of Rocksavage | Tory | | Fulk Greville Howard | Tory |
| 1822 | | Lord William Cholmondeley | Tory | | Fulk Greville Howard | Tory |
| 1832 | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished |
Notes
* ↑ Pages 145 and 146, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957), The Walpole family are noted as "Earl of Orford".
* ↑ "History of Parliament". Retrieved 11 October 2011.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "History of Parliament". Retrieved 11 October 2011.
* ↑ Hatton was also elected for Higham Ferrers, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Castle Rising.
* ↑ Walpole was also elected for King's Lynn, which he chose to represent, and did not sit again for Castle Rising.
* ↑ Wedderburn was also elected for Okehampton, which he chose to represent, and never sat for Castle Rising.