# Corfe Castle (UK Parliament constituency)

Corfe Castle was a parliamentary borough in Dorset, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1572 until 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.

## History

Corfe Castle was made a borough by Queen Elizabeth I, through the influence of Sir Christopher Hatton, who had been granted the manor. The borough consisted of the town of Corfe Castle on the Isle of Purbeck, once a market town but by the 19th century little more than a village, where the main economic interests were clay and stone quarrying. In 1831, the population of the borough was approximately 960, in 156 houses. (The portion of the town outside the borough contained another 141 houses.)
The right to vote was exercised by all householders (resident or not) paying scot and lot; in 1816 this amounted to only 44 voters, and all but 14 of those were non-resident. The local landowners were able to exercise almost total influence. In the late 18th and early 19th century, the Bankes family (who had owned the castle since 1640) nominated the member for one of the seats and the Bond family for the other.
Corfe Castle was abolished as a separate constituency by the Reform Act; however, the nearby borough of Wareham kept one of its MPs, and Corfe Castle was included within the expanded boundaries of the revised Wareham constituency.

## Members of Parliament
### 1572–1640

| Parliament | First member | Second member |
| Parliament of 1572–1581 | Edmund Uvedale | Charles Mathew |
| Parliament of 1584–1585 | John Clavell | Francis Hawley |
| Parliament of 1586–1587 | Sir William Hatton | Francis Hawley |
| Parliament of 1588–1589 | Sir William Hatton | Francis Hawley |
| Parliament of 1593 | William Tate | Francis Flower |
| Parliament of 1597–1598 | Francis James | John Foyle |
| Parliament of 1601 | John Durning | John Davies |
| Parliament of 1604–1611 | Edward Dackombe | Sir John Hobart |
| Addled Parliament (1614) | John Dackombe | James Whitelocke Chose to sit for Woodstock Elected in his place Sir Thomas Tracie |
| Parliament of 1621–1622 | Sir Thomas Hatton | Sir Thomas Hammond |
| Happy Parliament (1624–1625) | Sir Francis Nethersale | Sir Peter Osborne |
| Useless Parliament (1625) | Sir Francis Nethersale | Sir Peter Osborne |
| Parliament of 1625–1626 | Edward Dackombe | Sir Robert Napier |
| Parliament of 1628–1629 | Sir Francis Nethersale | Giles Green |
| No parliament summoned 1629–1640 |||

### 1640–1832

| Year | | First member | First party | | Second member | Second party |
| April 1640 | | Thomas Jermyn | | | Henry Jermyn | Royalist |
| November 1640 | | Sir Francis Windebank | Royalist | | Giles Green | Parliamentarian |
| 1641 | | John Borlase | Royalist | | Giles Green | Parliamentarian |
| March 1644 | Borlase disabled from sitting – seat vacant | Borlase disabled from sitting – seat vacant | Borlase disabled from sitting – seat vacant | | | | Giles Green | Parliamentarian |
| 1645 | | Francis Chettel | | | Giles Green | Parliamentarian |
| December 1648 | Chettel not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge | Chettel not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge | Chettel not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge | Green excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant | Green excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant | Green excluded in Pride's Purge – seat vacant |
| 1653 | Corfe Castle unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Corfe Castle unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Corfe Castle unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Corfe Castle unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Corfe Castle unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Corfe Castle unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate |
| January 1659 | | Sir Ralph Bankes | | | John Tregonwell | |
| May 1659 | Corfe Castle was not represented in the restored Rump Parliament | Corfe Castle was not represented in the restored Rump Parliament | Corfe Castle was not represented in the restored Rump Parliament | Corfe Castle was not represented in the restored Rump Parliament | Corfe Castle was not represented in the restored Rump Parliament | Corfe Castle was not represented in the restored Rump Parliament |
| April 1660 | | Sir Ralph Bankes | | | John Tregonwell | |
| 1677 | | Viscount Latimer | | | John Tregonwell | |
| February 1679 | | Viscount Osborne | | | John Tregonwell | |
| April 1679 | | Sir Nathaniel Napier | | | John Tregonwell | |
| September 1679 | | Sir Nathaniel Napier | | | Nathaniel Bond | |
| 1681 | | Sir Nathaniel Napier | | | Richard Fownes | |
| 1689 | | William Okeden | | | Richard Fownes | |
| 1690 | | William Culliford | | | Richard Fownes | |
| 1698 | | William Culliford | | | John Bankes | |
| 1699 | | Richard Fownes | | | John Bankes | |
| 1715 | | Denis Bond | | | William Okeden | |
| 1718 | | Denis Bond | | | Joshua Churchill | |
| 1721 | | Denis Bond | | | John Bond | |
| 1722 | | Denis Bond | | | John Bankes | |
| 1727 | | John Bond | | | John Bankes | |
| 1741 | | John Bond | | | Henry Bankes | |
| 1744 | | Thomas Erle Drax | | | Henry Bankes | |
| 1747 | | John Bond | | | Henry Bankes | |
| 1761 | | Viscount Malpas | | | Henry Bankes | |
| 1762 | | Viscount Malpas | | | John Campbell | |
| 1764 | | John Bond | | | John Campbell | |
| 1768 | | John Bond | | | John Jenkinson | |
| 1780 | | John Bond | Whig | | Henry Bankes | Tory |
| 1801 | | Nathaniel Bond | Whig | | Henry Bankes | Tory |
| 1807 | | Peter William Baker | Tory | | Henry Bankes | Tory |
| 1816 | | George Bankes | Tory | | Henry Bankes | Tory |
| 1823 | | John Bond | Tory | | Henry Bankes | Tory |
| 1826 | | John Bond | Tory | | George Bankes | Tory |
| 1828 | | Nathaniel William Peach | Tory | | George Bankes | Tory |
| 1829 | | Philip John Miles | Tory | | George Bankes | Tory |
| 1832 | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished |
Notes
* ↑ "Corfe Castle". Parliamentary representation: Copies of instructions given by the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to parliamentary representation ; likewise Copies of letters or reports in answer to such instructions. Vol. IV. & V. 19 January 1832. p. 290. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
* ↑ Page 146, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
* 1 2 "Corfe Castle | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
* ↑ Browne Willis gives the same names, with only the slightest variation (John Frankland or Frank and Samson or Sampson Hussey), as having been elected for both Wareham and Corfe Castle, which he unsurprisingly queries.
* ↑ Expelled from the House of Commons, December 1641.
* ↑ Created a baronet, May 1642.
* ↑ On petition (in a dispute over the franchise), Osborne was found not to have been duly elected and his opponent, Napier, was declared elected in his place.
* ↑ Following a petition against Culliford's re-election in 1698, he was found by the Commons Committee to have secured his election by illegal practices, and was declared not duly elected. A by-election was held.