New Romney was a parliamentary constituency in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, which elected two Members of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MPs) to the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 from 1371 until 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.

New Romney was a Cinque Port, which made it technically of different status from a parliamentary borough

Parliamentary borough

Parliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament...

, but the difference was purely a nominal one. The constituency consisted of the town of New Romney

New Romney

New Romney is a small town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marsh, an area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea after the harbour began to be silted up. New Romney was once a sea port, with the harbour adjacent to the church, but is now more than a mile from the sea...

; it had once been a flourishing port but by the 19th century the harbour had been destroyed and there was no maritime trade, the main economic activity being grazing cattle on Romney Marsh

Romney Marsh

Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about 100 mi ² .-Quotations:*“As Egypt was the gift of the Nile, this level tract .....

. In 1831, the population of the constituency was 978, and the town contained 165 houses.

The right to vote was reserved to the Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 and Common Council of the town; however, many of these were customs or excise officers, who were disqualified from voting by a change in the law in 1782, so that in the early 19th century there were only 8 voters. The high proportion of voters holding paid government posts before this change in the law meant that New Romney was sometimes considered to be a "treasury borough" (that is, a constituency whose seats were in the gift of the government); but in practice the Dering family, local landowners, were even more influential and could sometimes defy government pressure.

The Dering influence in New Romney seems mainly to have been achieved by letting out property to voters and their relatives at easy rents and without leases. In 1761, for example, the despairing Whig

British Whig Party

The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...

 MP, Rose Fuller

Rose Fuller

Rose Fuller was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1756 to 1777.Fuller was the son of John Fuller, of Brightling, Sussex, and his wife Elizabeth Rose, daughter of Fulke Rose of Jamaica. He studied medicine at Cambridge University and was also a student at Leyden in the...

, explained to Prime Minister Newcastle

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, KG, PC was a British Whig statesman, whose official life extended throughout the Whig supremacy of the 18th century. He is commonly known as the Duke of Newcastle.A protégé of Sir Robert Walpole, he served...

 that he had no chance of re-election since Dering had turned against him, because "several of the governing men are graziers and the Deering and Furnese family have together a very great estate in the neighbouring marsh which is very profitable to and easy for tenants". The reduction in the number of voters naturally made this influence easier, or at least cheaper, to exert.

New Romney was abolished as a constituency by the Reform Act, the town being incorporated into the new Eastern Kent county division.

1371-1640

Parliament	First Member	Second Member
1386	Simon Lunceford	John Salerne II
1388 (Feb)	William Holyngbroke	John Salerne II
1388 (Sep)	William Holyngbroke	John Ellis I
1390 (Jan)	John Ive I	James Tiece
1390 (Nov)	Edmund Huchoun	James Tiece 1
1391	John Ellis I	John Salerne II
1393	Andrew Colyn	Robert Geffe
1394
1395	John Gardener I	William Child
1397 (Jan)	John Yon	Robert Geffe
1397 (Sep)
1399	John Gardener I	John Talbot
1401	William Clitheroe	John Gardener I
1402	John Lunceford	John Ive I
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	Robert Geffe	Thomas Rokeslee
1407	John Roger II	Brice Scherte
1410	John Adam	John Lunceford
1411	William Clitheroe	James Lowys
1413 (Feb)	William Clitheroe	John Adam
1413 (May)	William Clitheroe	James Lowys
1414 (Apr)	Richard Clitheroe II	John Lunceford
1414 (Nov)	William Clitheroe	John Maffey
1415	Richard Clitheroe II	James Lowys
1416 (Mar)	Richard Clitheroe II	John Adam
1416 (Oct)	Stephen Harry	Thomas Sparwe
1417	William Clitheroe	James Tiece
1419	Thomas Rokeslee	Thomas Smith III
1420	Richard Clitheroe II	Stephen Harry
1421 (May)	Richard Clitheroe II	James Lowys
1421 (Dec)	Thomas Sparwe	Peter Newene
1510	Johm Holl	Thomas Lambard
1512	Sir John Scott	Clement Baker
1515	Richard Stuppeny	Clement Baker
1523	Robert Paris	not known
1529	Richard Gibson, died and replaced 1535 by John Marshall	John Bunting
1536	John Bunting	?John Marshall
1539	William Tadlowe	William Garrard I
1542	William Tadlowe	William Asnothe
1545	not known
1547	John Dering, died and replaced 1552 by William Tadlowe	Peter Hayman
1553 (Mar)	Simon Padyham	not known
1553 (Oct)	William Tadlowe	?Sir John Guildford
by 1553	John Cheseman
1554 (Apr)	John Cheseman	Richard Bunting
1554 (Nov)	Gregory Holton	William Oxendon
1555	Richard Baker	John Herbert
1558	Simon Padyham	?Thomas Randolph
1559	John Cheseman	William Eppes
1562/3	Sir Christopher Alleyne	William Eppes
1571	William Eppes	Edmund Morrante
1572	William Wilcocks, died and replaced July 1574 by William Eppes	Edward Wilcocks
1584	Richard Williams	William Southland
1586	William Southland	Robert Thurbarne
1588	Reginald Scot Reginald Scot Reginald Scot was an English country gentleman and Member of Parliament, now remembered as the author of The Discoverie of Witchcraft, which was published in 1584. It was written against the belief in witches, to show that witchcraft did not exist...	William Southland
1593	John Mynge	Robert Bawle
1597	George Coppyn	James Thurbarne
1601	Thomas Lake	John Mynge
1604-1611	Sir Robert Remington	John Plommer
1614	Sir Arthur Ingram Arthur Ingram Sir Arthur Ingram was an English investor, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1624 and 1642. Responsible for the construction, purchase and sale of many manor houses and estates in Yorkshire, the Ingram family are most associated with Temple Newsam which became the...	Robert Wilcock
1621-1622	Sir Peter Manwood Peter Manwood Sir Peter Manwood was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1589 and 1621.Manwood was the eldest son of Sir Roger Manwood of Hackington and his first wife Dorothy Theobald, daughter of John Theobald of Seal. He was admitted at Inner Temple in November...	Francis Fetherstone
1624-1625	Francis Fetherston	Richard Godfrey
1625	Sir Edmund Verney	Richard Godfrey
1626
1628	Thomas Godfrey	Thomas Brett
1629-1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640-1832

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
November 1640 Long Parliament The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...		Thomas Webb	Royalist		(Sir) Norton Knatchbull Sir Norton Knatchbull, 1st Baronet Sir Norton Knatchbull, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1679....	Parliamentarian
1641		Richard Browne
December 1648	Browne not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge Pride's Purge Pride’s Purge is an event in December 1648, during the Second English Civil War, when troops under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed from the Long Parliament all those who were not supporters of the Grandees in the New Model Army and the Independents...			Knatchbull excluded in Pride's Purge Pride's Purge Pride’s Purge is an event in December 1648, during the Second English Civil War, when troops under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed from the Long Parliament all those who were not supporters of the Grandees in the New Model Army and the Independents...  - seat vacant
1653	New Romney was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector...  and the First First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....  and Second Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...  Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659 Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons...		Lambert Godfrey Lambert Godfrey Lambert Godfrey was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1654 and 1659.Godfrey was the eldest son of Thomas Godfrey, of Sellinge, Kent. He matriculated at Hart Hall, Oxford on 4 May 1627, aged 16 and was awarded BA on 19 February 1628...			Sir Robert Honeywood Robert Honeywood Sir Robert Honeywood was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1659.Honeywood was the son of Robert Honeywood of Charing, Kent. He matriculated at Hart Hall, Oxford on 30 October 1618, aged 17. In 1620 he became a student of Middle Temple. He was knighted on 15 June, 1625...
May 1659 Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....	Not represented in the restored Rump Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....
April 1660		Sir Norton Knatchbull Sir Norton Knatchbull, 1st Baronet Sir Norton Knatchbull, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1679....			John Knatchbull Sir John Knatchbull, 2nd Baronet Sir John Knatchbull, 2nd Baronet was an English politician and baronet.-Background:He was the oldest son of Sir Norton Knatchbull, 1st Baronet and his first wife Dorothy Westrow, daughter of Thomas Westrow. In 1685, he succeeded his father as baronet. Knatchbull was educated at Trinity College,...
1661					Sir Charles Berkeley Charles Berkeley, 1st Earl of Falmouth Charles Berkeley 1st Earl of Falmouth was the son of Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge and his wife Penelope née Godolphin ....
1665					Hon. Henry Brouncker
1668					Sir Charles Sedley
1679		Paul Barret
1685		Sir William Goulston			Thomas Chudleigh
1689		John Brewer			James Chadwick
1690					Sir Charles Sedley
1695					Sir William Twysden Sir William Twysden, 3rd Baronet Sir William Twysden, 3rd Baronet , of Roydon Hall in Kent, was an English landowner and Member of Parliament.He was the eldest son of Sir Roger Twysden, 2nd Baronet, and succeeded to the baronetcy on 27 June 1672....
1696					Sir Charles Sedley
1701					Edward Goulston
1702					Sir Benjamin Bathurst
1704					Walter Whitfield
1710		Robert Furnese Sir Robert Furnese, 2nd Baronet Sir Robert Furnese, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1733.Furnese was the son of Sir Henry Furnese, 1st Baronet, of Gunnersbury House, and his first wife Anne Brough, daughter of Robert Brough.In 1708 Furnese was elected MP for Truro and held the...
1713					Viscount Sondes Edward Watson, Viscount Sondes Edward Watson, Viscount Sondes was a British Member of Parliament.He was the eldest son of Lewis Watson, 1st Earl of Rockingham and his wife Catherine, daughter of George Sondes, 1st Earl of Feversham....
1722					David Papillon
1727		John Essington
April 1728		Sir Robert Austen Sir Robert Austen, 4th Baronet Sir Robert Austen, 4th Baronet of Bexley, Kent , was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1728 and 1741....			Sir Robert Furnese Sir Robert Furnese, 2nd Baronet Sir Robert Furnese, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1733.Furnese was the son of Sir Henry Furnese, 1st Baronet, of Gunnersbury House, and his first wife Anne Brough, daughter of Robert Brough.In 1708 Furnese was elected MP for Truro and held the...
May 1728					David Papillon
1734		Stephen Bisse
1736					Sir Robert Austen Sir Robert Austen, 4th Baronet Sir Robert Austen, 4th Baronet of Bexley, Kent , was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1728 and 1741....
1741		Henry Furnese Henry Furnese Henry Furnese was a British politician.He was a Member of Parliament for Morpeth, Northumberland from 1738 to 1741....			Sir Francis Dashwood Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer was an English rake and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer and founder of the Hellfire Club.-Early life:...	Tory
1756		Rose Fuller Rose Fuller Rose Fuller was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1756 to 1777.Fuller was the son of John Fuller, of Brightling, Sussex, and his wife Elizabeth Rose, daughter of Fulke Rose of Jamaica. He studied medicine at Cambridge University and was also a student at Leyden in the...	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
1761		Sir Edward Dering Sir Edward Dering, 6th Baronet Sir Edward Dering, 6th Baronet , was the British Member of Parliament for New Romney.He was the son of Sir Edward Dering, 5th Baronet and Elizabeth Henshaw....	Tory		Thomas Knight Thomas Knight (MP for Kent) Thomas Knight was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1761 and 1780.Knight was the son of Thomas Knight of Godmersham and his wife Jane Monke....
1768					Richard Jackson Richard Jackson (colonial agent) Richard Jackson, K.C. , nicknamed "Omniscient Jackson", was a British lawyer and politician. A King's Counsel, he acted as official solicitor or counsel of the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, owner of lands in New England, and colonial agent of Connecticut.Jackson was called to the...
1770		John Morton John Morton (MP) John Morton was an English Tory politician.He was appointed Chief Justice of Chester in November 1762.In 1765, a Bill of Regency came before Parliament, to make provisions should George III die unexpectedly...	Tory
1774		Sir Edward Dering Sir Edward Dering, 6th Baronet Sir Edward Dering, 6th Baronet , was the British Member of Parliament for New Romney.He was the son of Sir Edward Dering, 5th Baronet and Elizabeth Henshaw....	Tory
April 1784					John Smith
June 1784					Richard Atkinson
1785					John Henniker John Henniker-Major, 2nd Baron Henniker John Henniker-Major, 2nd Baron Henniker was a British peer and Member of Parliament .Henniker was the son of John Henniker, 1st Baron Henniker, and Anne Major. He was elected to the House of Commons for New Romney in 1785, a seat he held until 1790, and then represented Steyning from 1794 to 1802...
1787		Richard Joseph Sullivan Sir Richard Sullivan, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Joseph Sullivan, 1st Baronet was a British MP and writer.-Biography:He was born the third son of Benjamin Sullivan of Dromeragh, Co. Cork, by his wife Bridget, daughter of Paul Limrick, D.D....
1790					Sir Elijah Impey Elijah Impey Sir Elijah Impey was a British judge, at one time chief justice of Bengal and MP for New Romney.He was born the youngest son of Elijah Impey and his wife Martha, daughter of James Fraser and was educated at Westminster School with Warren Hastings, who was his intimate friend throughout life...
1796		John Fordyce			John Willett Willett
1802		Manasseh Lopes Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes, 1st Baronet Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes, 1st Baronet , of Maristow in Devon, was a British Member of Parliament and borough-monger.-Parliamentary career:...
1806		William Windham William Windham William Windham PC, PC was a British Whig statesman.-Early life:Windham was a member of an ancient Norfolk family and a great-great-grandson of Sir John Wyndham. He was the son of William Windham, Sr. of Felbrigg Hall and his second wife, Sarah Lukin...	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...		John Perring	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
1807		The Earl of Clonmell Thomas Scott, 2nd Earl of Clonmell Thomas Scott, 2nd Earl of Clonmell , styled Lord Earlsfort between 1793 and 1798, was an Irish peer and politician....	Tory		Hon. George Ashburnham George Ashburnham, Viscount St Asaph George Ashburnham, Viscount St Asaph , styled The Honourable George Ashburnham until 1812, was a British politician.-Background and education:...	Tory
1812		Admiral Sir John Duckworth John Thomas Duckworth Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth, 1st Baronet, GCB was a British naval officer, serving during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as the Governor of Newfoundland during the War of 1812, and a member of the British House of Commons during his...	Tory		William Mitford William Mitford William Mitford , English historian, was the elder of the two sons of John Mitford, a barrister and his wife Philadelphia Reveley.-Youth:...	Tory
1817		Cholmeley Dering	Tory
1818		Andrew Strahan	Tory		Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor (1762–1819) Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor , was a British politician.Born Richard Grosvenor and a member of the Grosvenor family now headed by the Duke of Westminster, he was the son of Thomas Grosvenor, second son of Sir Robert Grosvenor, 6th Baronet...
1819					Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor (1797–1828) Richard Edward Erle-Drax-Grosvenor , was a British politician.A member of the Grosvenor family now headed by the Duke of Westminster, he was the son of Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor and Sarah Frances, daughter of Edward Drax, of Charborough House, Dorset...	Whig British Whig Party The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
1820		George Hay Dawkins-Pennant	Tory
1826					George Tapps Sir George Tapps-Gervis, 2nd Baronet Sir George William Tapps-Gervis, 2nd Baronet was a British politician and land developer.After inheriting his father's estate in 1835, Tapps-Gervis commissioned Christchurch architect Benjamin Ferrey to plan and design the development of the seaside village of Bournemouth into a resort similar to...	Tory
1830		Arthur Hill-Trevor	Tory		William Miles Sir William Miles, 1st Baronet Sir William Miles, 1st Baronet was an English politician, agriculturalist and landowner. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford and was created Baronet on April 19, 1859, of Leigh Court, Somerset....	Tory
March 1831		Sir Roger Gresley Sir Roger Gresley, 8th Baronet Sir Roger Gresley, 8th Baronet was an English author and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1835 to 1837....	Tory
April 1831		Sir Edward Cholmeley Dering Sir Edward Dering, 8th Baronet Sir Edward Cholmley Dering, 8th Baronet was a British Liberal Party politician.- External links :...	Tory
1832 United Kingdom general election, 1832 -Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807....	Constituency abolished

Notes

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