# Steyning (UK Parliament constituency)

Steyning was a parliamentary borough in Sussex, England, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons sporadically from 1298 and continuously from 1467 until 1832. It was a notorious rotten borough, and was abolished by the Great Reform Act.

## History

The borough comprised the small market town of Steyning in Sussex, which consisted of little more than a single long street; yet despite its size it not only elected its own two MPs but contained most of the borough of Bramber, which had two of its own. (Between the 13th and 15th centuries, Bramber and Steyning were a single borough returning MPs to most Parliaments, sometimes called by one name and sometimes by the other, but after 1467 both were separately represented. Until 1792 it was theoretically possible for a house to confer on its occupier a vote in both boroughs.) In 1831, the population of the borough was just over 1,000, and the town contained 218 houses.
At the time of the Reform Act, the right to vote was exercised by the constable and all inhabitant householders paying scot and lot and not receiving alms; this was a liberal franchise for the period, though it amounted to only around 118 voters by the time the borough was abolished. The householders seem historically to have had the right to vote, but the question was the subject of litigation through most of the 18th century. Between 1715 and 1792, the right was instead restricted to occupiers of "ancient houses" and of houses built on the site of ancient houses, in effect a burgage franchise; but the restoration of the householders' rights does not seem to have increased the electorate substantially, suggesting that most of the houses significant enough for their tenants to be rated for scot and lot had the status of burgage tenements.
For most of the borough's existence, the majority of the qualified voters were tenants of one or two landowners, who therefore had considerable influence if not total control of the choice of MP. (Indeed, Steyning was cited by Thomas Oldfield, the contemporary historian of electoral abuses in the unreformed House of Commons, as an example of a borough where tenancies were granted for the sole purpose of ensuring that the electorate consisted of pliable voters.)
The state of the borough in the 18th century was described in a local agent's letter to the former prime minister, the Duke of Newcastle, in 1767:
    "There are 102 in number who claim a right of voting, but not more than 90 whose claim will bear a scrutiny. Out of this number Sir John Honywood has 40 tenants who at present are all disposed to stand by him, and about six or seven others who are full as closely attached to him as any of his tenants. This gives him nearly or quite a majority of the 90 real votes. The rest are all a rope of sand and may be had by anybody." - Letter of Thomas Steele to the Duke of Newcastle, 6 February 1767, quoted by Namier & Brooke
As the letter hints, Honywood's control was not quite absolute and he could not always secure both seats for his candidates. The 1792 ruling on the franchise, moving the vote from the burgage holders to all the householders paying scot and lot, shifted the balance of power over to the Duke of Norfolk (who owned most of the properties that were not classed as ancient houses), and he subsequently bought out Honywood's interest. But he was careful to secure his investment by financing many improvements in the town.
Steyning was abolished as a constituency by the Reform Act, being thereafter included in the borough of New Shoreham (which had earlier been expanded to include the whole of the Rape of Bramber as a remedy for corruption).

## Members of Parliament
### MPs 1467–1640

| Parliament | First member | Second member |
| 1510-1523 | No names known |
| 1529 | Thomas Shirley | John Morris |
| 1536 | ? |
| 1539 | ? |
| 1542 | John Bowyer | ? |
| 1545 | ? |
| 1547 | Robert Rudston | Henry Fauxe |
| 1553 (Mar) | Sir Richard Blount | William Cordell |
| 1553 (Oct) | John Southcote II | David Lewis |
| 1554 (Apr) | Gilbert Gerard | Edward Stradling |
| 1554 (Nov) | John Roberts | William Pellatt |
| 1555 | Robert Byng | ? |
| 1558 | Richard Onslow | Robert Colshill |
| 1559 | Edmund Wright | Robert Keilway |
| 1562–3 | Richard Onslow | Robert Harris |
| 1571 | Richard Browne | John Farnham |
| 1572 | John Cowper | Richard Pellatt |
| 1584 | Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 - 1633–4) | Pexall Brocas |
| 1586 | Thomas Bishop | Henry Shelley |
| 1588 | Thomas Crompton | Henry Apsley |
| 1593 | Sir Walter Waller | Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 - 1633–4) |
| 1597 | John Shurley | Thomas Shirley III |
| 1601 | Sir Thomas Shirley (1542–1612) | Robert Bowyer |
| 1604–1611 | Sir Thomas Bishopp | Sir Thomas Shirley (1542–1612) |
| 1614 | Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 - 1633–4) | Edward Fraunceys |
| 1621 | Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 - 1633–4) | Edward Fraunceys |
| 1624 | Sir Thomas Farnfold | Edward Fraunceys |
| 1625 | Sir Thomas Farnfold | Edward Fraunceys |
| 1626 | Sir Edward Bishopp | Edward Fraunceys |
| 1628 | Sir Edward Alford | Sir Thomas Farnfold |
| 1629–1640 | No Parliaments convened | No Parliaments convened |

### MPs 1640–1832

| Year | | First member | First party | | Second member | Second party |
| April 1640 | | Sir John Leedes | Royalist | | Sir Thomas Farnefold | Royalist |
| Nov 1640 | | Thomas Leedes | Royalist | | Sir Thomas Farnefold | Royalist |
| November 1642 | Leedes disabled from sitting - seat vacant | Leedes disabled from sitting - seat vacant | Leedes disabled from sitting - seat vacant | | | | Sir Thomas Farnefold | Royalist |
| March 1643 | Leedes disabled from sitting - seat vacant | Leedes disabled from sitting - seat vacant | Leedes disabled from sitting - seat vacant | Farnefold died - seat vacant | Farnefold died - seat vacant | Farnefold died - seat vacant |
| 1645 | | Edward Apsley | | | Herbert Board | |
| 1648 | | Edward Apsley | | Board died - seat vacant | Board died - seat vacant | Board died - seat vacant |
| 1653 | Steyning was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Steyning was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Steyning was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Steyning was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Steyning was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate | Steyning was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate |
| January 1659 | | Anthony Shirley | | | Sir John Trevor | |
| May 1659 | Steyning was not represented in the restored Rump | Steyning was not represented in the restored Rump | Steyning was not represented in the restored Rump | Steyning was not represented in the restored Rump | Steyning was not represented in the restored Rump | Steyning was not represented in the restored Rump |
| April 1660 | | Henry Goring | | | Sir John Fagg | |
| July 1660 | | John Eversfield | | | Sir John Fagg | |
| 1661 | | Sir Henry Goring | | | Sir John Fagg | |
| 1679 | | John Tufton | | | Sir John Fagg | |
| January 1681 | | Philip Gell | | | Sir John Fagg | |
| February 1681 | | Sir James Morton | | | Sir John Fagg | |
| March 1685 | | Sir Henry Goring | | | Sir John Fagg | |
| June 1685 | | Sir James Morton | | | Sir John Fagg | |
| 1690 | | Robert Fagg | | | Sir John Fagg | |
| 1695 | | Sir Edward Hungerford | | | Sir John Fagg | |
| March 1701 | | Sir Edward Hungerford | | | Sir Robert Fagg | |
| April 1701 | | Sir Edward Hungerford | | | Charles Goring | |
| November 1701 | | Sir Robert Fagg | | | Charles Goring | |
| 1702 | | Sir Edward Hungerford | | | Charles Goring | |
| 1705 | | William Wallis | | | Charles Goring | |
| 1708 | | Robert Fagg | | | Viscount Tunbridge | Whig |
| 1709 | | Robert Fagg | | | Sir Henry Goring | |
| 1710 | | William Wallis | | | Sir Henry Goring | |
| 1712 | | The Lord Bellew of Duleek | | | Sir Henry Goring | |
| April 1713 | | Robert Leeves | | | Sir Henry Goring | |
| September 1713 | | William Wallis | | | Sir Henry Goring | |
| 1715 | | Major General John Pepper | | | Robert Leeves | |
| 1717 | | Major General John Pepper | | | William Wallis | |
| 1722 | | Major General John Pepper | | | John Gumley | |
| 1726 | | Marquess of Carnarvon | | | John Gumley | |
| April 1727 | | William Stanhope | | | John Gumley | |
| August 1727 | | The Viscount Vane | | | Thomas Bladen | |
| 1734 | | Sir Robert Fagg, Bt | | | Marquess of Carnarvon | |
| 1740 | | Hitch Younge | | | Marquess of Carnarvon | |
| 1741 | | Hitch Younge | | | Charles Eversfield | |
| 1747 | | Hitch Younge | | | Abraham Hume | |
| 1754 | | Hitch Younge | | | Alexander Hume | |
| 1759 | | Frazer Honywood | | | Alexander Hume | |
| 1761 | | Frazer Honywood | | | John Thomlinson | |
| 1764 | | Richard Fuller | | | John Thomlinson | |
| 1767 | | Richard Fuller | | | Sir John Filmer | |
| 1768 | | Thomas Edwards Freeman I | | | Sir John Filmer | |
| 1774 | | Thomas Edwards Freeman I | | | Filmer Honywood | |
| September 1780 | | Sir Thomas Skipwith | | | Filmer Honywood | |
| November 1780 | | Sir Thomas Skipwith | | | Colonel John Bullock | |
| 1784 | | Sir John Honywood | | | Hon. Richard Howard | |
| 1785 | | Thomas Edwards-Freeman II | | | Hon. Richard Howard | |
| 1788 | | Sir John Honywood | | | Hon. Richard Howard | |
| 1790 | | James Lloyd | Whig | | Henry Thomas Howard | Whig |
| 7 March 1791 | | Sir John Honywood | Tory | | John Curtis | Tory |
| 24 March 1791 | | James Lloyd | Whig | | John Curtis | Tory |
| 1792 | | Samuel Whitbread | Tory | | John Curtis | Tory |
| 1794 | | Samuel Whitbread | Tory | | John Henniker-Major | Whig |
| 1796 | | James Lloyd | Whig | | John Henniker-Major | Whig |
| 1802 | | James Lloyd | Whig | | Robert Hurst | Whig |
| 1803 | | James Lloyd | Whig | | Lord Ossulston | Whig |
| February 1806 | | Sir Arthur Leary Piggott | Whig | | Lord Ossulston | Whig |
| October 1806 | | James Lloyd | Whig | | Robert Hurst | Whig |
| 1812 | | James Lloyd | Whig | | Sir John Aubrey | Whig |
| 1818 | | George Philips | Whig | | Sir John Aubrey | Whig |
| 1820 | | George Richard Philips | Whig | | Lord Henry Howard-Molyneux-Howard | Whig |
| 1824 | | George Richard Philips | Whig | | Henry Howard | Whig |
| 1826 | | George Richard Philips | Whig | | Peter du Cane | Whig |
| 1830 | | George Richard Philips | Whig | | Edward Blount | Whig |
| 1832 | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished |