# Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)

Old Sarum was from 1295 until 1832 a parliamentary constituency of England, Great Britain (until 1800), and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was a so-called rotten borough, with an extremely small electorate that was consequently vastly over-represented and could be used by a patron in gaining such undue influence. The constituency was on the site of what had been the original settlement of Salisbury, known as Old Sarum. The population and cathedral city had moved in the 14th century to New Sarum, at the foot of the Old Sarum hill. The constituency was abolished under the Reform Act 1832.

## History

In 1295, during the reign of King Edward I, Old Sarum was given the right to send two members to the House of Commons of England even though the site had ceased to be a city with the dissolution of Old Sarum Cathedral in 1226. The seat of the Bishop had moved to New Salisbury – and the location of the new cathedral – in 1217–18. All that remained at Old Sarum was a small hamlet. But that was largely abandoned when Edward II ordered the castle's demolition in 1322. The remains of the old settlement were razed for its materials that were used to construct the new city and Salisbury Cathedral. Evidence of quarrying showed it continued well into the 14th century. Two hundred years later Henry VIII sold the former Royal Castle to Thomas Compton.
Despite having no significant population, the borough was organised with a burgage franchise, meaning that the inhabitants of designated houses (burgage tenements) had the right to vote. From at least the 17th century, Old Sarum had no resident voters, but the landowner retained the right to nominate tenants for each of the burgage plots, and they were not required to live there. For many years, the borough was owned by the Pitt family and was their pocket borough: one of its Members in the late 18th century was William Pitt the Elder. In 1802, the head of the family, Lord Camelford, sold the borough to the Earl of Caledon, who owned it until its abolition; the price was reported as £60,000, even though the land and manorial rights were worth £700 a year at most: an indication of the value of a pair of parliamentary seats. At its final election, in 1831, there were eleven voters, all of whom were landowners who lived elsewhere. This made Old Sarum the most notorious of the rotten boroughs, being described as "a wall with two niches". The Reform Act 1832 subsumed the Old Sarum area into an enlarged borough of Wilton.
In the last years, the spectacle of an Old Sarum election drew a small crowd to observe the ritual presentation of the two candidates and the hollow call for any further nominations. Stooks Smith quotes a contemporary description dating from the 1802 general election:
   This election for the borough of Old Sarum was held in a temporary booth erected in a cornfield, under a tree which marked the former boundary of the old town, not a vestige of which has been standing in the memory of man, the several burgages which give the right of voting, being now without a dwelling for a human being. Mr Dean, the bailiff of the borough having read the precept for the election, and caused proclamation thereof, read the bribery act, and gone through all the legal ceremonies, the Rev. Dr Skinner rose and nominated Nicholas Vansittart, and Henry Alexander, Esq., from a thorough conviction that their public conduct would be such as would give satisfaction and do honour to their constituents. The other electors acquiescing in this nomination and no other candidates offering, the proclamation was thrice made for any gentleman disposed to do so, to come forward, the bailiff declared the above two gentlemen to be duly elected.
   There were five electors present at this election, (beside the bailiff of the borough who lives at Wimborne) viz, the Rev. Dr. Skinner, of the Close; the Rev. Mr. Burrough, of Abbot's Ann; William Dyke, Esq., of Syrencot; Mr. Massey and Mr. Brunsdon, both occupiers of land within the limits of the borough. The above account is thus particularly given to rectify several prevalent mistakes relative to this celebrated borough, and to show that the election is conducted in a manner every way consonant to the law of the land and the constitution of Parliament.

### Place of election

Elections in Old Sarum were conducted on a mobile hustings under a specific tree, which died in 1905, in what was known as the 'electing acre'.

## Members of Parliament
### 1295–1640

| Parliament | First member | Second member |
| 1386 | Walter Upton | Bartholomew Avery |
| 1388 (Feb) | Walter Upton | John Avery I |
| 1388 (Sep) | Walter Upton | John Avery I |
| 1390 (Jan) | | |
| 1390 (Nov) | | |
| 1391 | | |
| 1393 | | |
| 1394 | John Avery I | John Chipplegh |
| 1395 | John Avery I | Robert Page |
| 1397 (Jan) | |
| 1397 (Sep) | John Avery I | Robert Page |
| 1399 | |
| 1414 (Apr) | Robert Long | William Chesterton |
| 1414 (Nov) | | |
| 1415 | | |
| 1416 (Mar) | | |
| 1416 (Oct) | | |
| 1417 | John Giles | John Noble |
| 1419 | | |
| 1420 | | |
| 1421 (May) | Henry Bradley | John Ludwell |
| 1421 (Dec) | John Fruysthorp | John Ludwell |
| 1423 | John Everard | |
| 1435 | Henry Long | |
| 1442 | Richard Long | |
| 1510–1523 | No names known | No names known |
| 1529 | Thomas Hilton | William Lambert |
| 1536 | ? | |
| 1539 | ? | |
| 1542 | ? | |
| 1545 | William Hulcote | John Bassett |
| 1547 | John Young | ? |
| by Jan 1552 | William Thomas | |
| 1553 (Mar) | James Brande | William Wekys |
| 1553 (Oct) | Sir Nicholas Throckmorton | John Throckmorton |
| 1554 (Apr) | Richard Clipper | Edmund Twyneho |
| 1554 (Nov) | John Tull | Francis Killinghall |
| 1555 | John Marshe | William Chamber |
| 1558 | Sir Henry Jones | John Bateman |
| 1559 | John Harington | Henry Hart |
| 1562–3 | Edward Herbert | Henry Compton |
| 1571 | John Young | Edmund Ludlow |
| 1572 | Hugh Powell | John Frenche |
| 1584 | Richard Topcliffe | Roger Gifford |
| 1586 | Edward Berkeley | Richard Topcliffe |
| 1588–9 | Roger Gifford | Henry Baynton I |
| 1593 | Anthony Ashley | Edmund Fortescue |
| 1597 | William Blaker | Nicholas Hyde |
| 1601 | Robert Turner | Henry Hyde |
| 1604–1611 | William Ravenscroft | Edward Leache |
| 1614 | William Ravenscroft | William Price |
| 1621–1622 | George Myne | Thomas Brett |
| 1624 | Sir Robert Cotton | Sir Arthur Ingram, sat for York and repl. by Michael Oldisworth |
| 1625 | Michael Oldisworth | Sir John Stradling |
| 1626 | Michael Oldisworth | Sir Benjamin Rudyerd |
| 1628 | Michael Oldisworth | Christopher Keightley |
| 1629–1640 | No Parliaments summoned | No Parliaments summoned |

### 1640–1832

| Year | | First member | First party | | Second member | Second party |
| April 1640 | | Sir William Howard | | | Edward Herbert | Royalist |
| November 1640 | | Hon. Robert Cecil | Parliamentarian | | Edward Herbert | Royalist |
| 1641 | | Hon. Robert Cecil | Parliamentarian | | Sir William Savile | Royalist |
| September 1642 | | Hon. Robert Cecil | Parliamentarian | Savile disabled from sitting – seat vacant | Savile disabled from sitting – seat vacant | Savile disabled from sitting – seat vacant |
| 1646 | | Hon. Robert Cecil | Parliamentarian | | Roger Kirkham | |
| 1647 | | Hon. Robert Cecil | Parliamentarian | | Sir Richard Lucy | |
| December 1648 | Cecil not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge | Cecil not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge | Cecil not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge | | | | Sir Richard Lucy |
| 1653 | Old Sarum was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Old Sarum was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Old Sarum was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Old Sarum was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Old Sarum was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Old Sarum was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate |
| January 1659 | | Richard Hill | | | William Ludlow | |
| May 1659 | Old Sarum was not represented in the restored Rump | Old Sarum was not represented in the restored Rump | Old Sarum was not represented in the restored Rump | Old Sarum was not represented in the restored Rump | Old Sarum was not represented in the restored Rump | Old Sarum was not represented in the restored Rump |
| April 1660 | | Seymour Bowman | | | John Norden | |
| 1661 | | Edward Nicholas | | | John Denham | |
| 1669 | | Edward Nicholas | | | Sir Eliab Harvey | |
| February 1679 | | Eliab Harvey | | | John Young | |
| August 1679 | | The Lord Coleraine | | | Sir Eliab Harvey | |
| 1681 | | Sir Thomas Mompesson | | | Sir Eliab Harvey | |
| January 1689 | | John Young | | | Thomas Pitt | |
| March 1689 | | William Harvey | | | John Hawles | |
| 1690 | | William Harvey | | | Sir Thomas Mompesson | |
| 1695 | | William Harvey | | | Thomas Pitt | |
| 1698 | | William Harvey | | | Charles Mompesson | |
| 1705 | | Robert Pitt | | | Charles Mompesson | |
| 1708 | | Robert Pitt | | | William Harvey | |
| 1710 | | Thomas Pitt | | | William Harvey | |
| 1713 | | Thomas Pitt | | | Robert Pitt | |
| 1716 | | Sir William Strickland, Bt | Whig | | Robert Pitt | |
| March 1722 | | Thomas Pitt | | | Robert Pitt | |
| November 1722 | | Thomas Pitt | | | George Morton Pitt | |
| 1724 | | Thomas Pitt | | | John Pitt | |
| 1726 | | George Pitt | | | John Pitt | |
| 1727 | | Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc | | | The Earl of Londonderry | |
| March 1728 | | Matthew St Quintin | | | The Earl of Londonderry | |
| May 1728 | | Matthew St Quintin | | | Thomas Harrison | |
| 1734 | | Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc | | | Robert Nedham | |
| 1735 | | William Pitt | | | Robert Nedham | |
| 1741 | | William Pitt | | | George Lyttelton | |
| 1742 | | William Pitt | | | James Grenville | |
| May 1747 | | William Pitt | | | Edward Willes | |
| July 1747 | | Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc | | | Sir William Irby, Bt | |
| December 1747 | | Earl of Middlesex | | | The Viscount Doneraile | |
| January 1751 | | Earl of Middlesex | | | Paul Jodrell | |
| November 1751 | | Earl of Middlesex | | | Simon Fanshawe | |
| 1754 | | Viscount Pulteney | | | Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc | |
| 1755 | | Viscount Pulteney | | | Sir William Calvert | |
| March 1761 | | Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc | | | Howell Gwynne | |
| December 1761 | | Thomas Pitt (the younger) | | | Howell Gwynne | |
| 1768 | | William Gerard Hamilton | | | John Craufurd | |
| 1774 | | Pinckney Wilkinson | | | Thomas Pitt (the younger) | |
| January 1784 | | Pinckney Wilkinson | | | The Hon. John Villiers | |
| March 1784 | | George Hardinge | | | The Hon. John Villiers | |
| 1790 | | George Hardinge | | | John Sullivan | |
| 1796 | | George Hardinge | | | The Earl of Mornington | |
| 1797 | | George Hardinge | | | Charles Williams-Wynn | |
| 1799 | | George Hardinge | | | Sir George Yonge | |
| 1801 | | George Hardinge | | | Rev. John Horne Tooke | Radical |
| 1802 | | Nicholas Vansittart | Tory | | Henry Alexander | Tory |
| 1806 | | Nicholas Vansittart | Tory | | The Lord Blayney | |
| 1807 | | Nicholas Vansittart | Tory | | Josias Porcher | Tory |
| 1812 | | James Alexander | Tory | | Josias Porcher | Tory |
| 1818 | | James Alexander | Tory | | Arthur Johnston Crawford | Tory |
| 1820 | | James Alexander | Tory | | Josias Alexander | Tory |
| 1828 | | James Alexander | Tory | | Stratford Canning | Tory |
| 1830 | | James Alexander | Tory | | Josias Alexander | Tory |

## Elections

The last reported contested election in Old Sarum occurred at a by-election in November 1751, after the death of Paul Jodrell. The proprietor at the time, Thomas Pitt, had sold the privilege of choosing the Members to the Pelham Government for £2,000 and a pension of £1,000 a year, but the administration's choice of Simon Fanshawe was opposed by James Pitt (younger brother of George Pitt, Member for Dorset) and by John Thorold. The number of votes for each candidate was not recorded.