Stockbridge (UK Parliament constituency) facts for kids

Stockbridge was a special area in Hampshire, England, that used to elect two people to be Members of Parliament (MPs). These MPs would represent Stockbridge in the House of Commons, which is a big part of the UK government. Stockbridge sent MPs from 1563 until 1832.

In 1832, a new law called the Great Reform Act changed how elections worked. This law got rid of Stockbridge as a place that could elect MPs. Stockbridge was known as a "rotten borough". This meant it was a very small town with very few voters, but it still had the power to elect two MPs. This was unfair because bigger towns had no MPs at all. Stockbridge was one of the first places that people tried to stop from electing MPs because of how corrupt its elections were, but that idea didn't pass at first.

Stockbridge's Voting Story

How Stockbridge Got Its Vote

Stockbridge first got the right to elect MPs during the time of Queen Elizabeth I. It was a small market town in Hampshire, located on a main road. Even back then, it wasn't a very big or important town.

In those days, Stockbridge was under the control of the Duchy of Lancaster, which was a special area owned by the King or Queen. Some people thought Stockbridge was given the right to vote so that the Duchy could choose who its MPs would be. However, early records show that most of the MPs from Stockbridge were local men from Hampshire, not chosen by the Duchy. This suggests that powerful local families had a lot of influence. But as Queen Elizabeth's reign ended, the Chancellor of the Duchy (a high-ranking official) started choosing some of Stockbridge's MPs.

The Big Election Fight of 1614

Things got tricky in the election of 1614. This event became a big deal for the House of Commons, showing how it could stand up for its own rules.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Sir Thomas Parry, tried to force Stockbridge to choose his candidates, Sir Henry Wallop and Sir Walter Cope. He even sent a threatening letter! But the 28 brave voters of Stockbridge didn't listen. They voted for their own choices, Sir Richard Gifford and a Mr. St. John.

However, the local official in charge of the election, called the bailiff, ignored their votes. He announced that Wallop and Cope had won. To make things worse, Sir Thomas Parry was so angry that he had one of the voters arrested and put in jail!

The voters complained to the House of Commons. The House decided that Wallop and Cope's election was unfair and cancelled it. They also kicked Sir Thomas Parry out of his own seat in Parliament for trying to mess with another election. The King even suspended Parry from his important government jobs. This showed that the House of Commons had the power to protect its elections.

Problems with Bribery in the 1600s

It's not clear if the Stockbridge voters in 1614 were fighting for what was right or for something else. But later voters in Stockbridge were definitely easier to bribe. From the late 1600s, about 100 householders who paid local taxes (called scot and lot) could vote.

Bribery was very common, and it often caused scandals. In 1689 and again in 1693, elections in Stockbridge were cancelled because of corruption. After the 1689 election, the winner was banned from running again, and the bailiff and three other townspeople were jailed. There was even a suggestion to take away Stockbridge's right to vote completely and give its two seats to the county instead. But other MPs were worried this might happen to their own areas, so the idea was dropped.

In 1693, the House of Commons went against its own committee's findings. They said the election was corrupt even though the committee thought the winner was properly elected. Instead of holding a new election right away, they thought about a bill to remove Stockbridge's voting rights. This bill almost passed, but it was defeated in the end. A new election was then held.

Bribery wasn't always just about giving money directly for votes. A historian named Thomas Oldfield told a funny story about the writer Richard Steele, who was elected in 1713: Sir Richard Steele won his election by sticking a large apple full of gold coins. He said it would be a prize for the man whose wife had a baby first, nine months after that day. This made the women in the town support him. People say they still remember Sir Richard's generosity today!

Who Controlled Stockbridge's Votes?

Even with all the bribery, Stockbridge usually had a "patron." This was a powerful person who had a lot of influence over who got elected. Without their support, it was very hard to win. Having this control was almost like owning property, similar to how "pocket boroughs" worked, where one person completely controlled the elections.

In 1754, the patron was Robert Henley, who was the Attorney-General. He passed his control to his friend Henry Fox by renting out the voting rights for a few years. Fox hoped to stop the voters from being so easily bribed, but things actually got worse! He probably felt he had wasted his money.

In 1767, Fox's son, Charles James Fox, who was a famous Whig leader, admitted that they could only be sure of winning one seat. The 96 voters had already been bribed with 50 guineas each (a lot of money back then!). If there was a real contest, it would cost a candidate about £2,500 to treat the voters and pay the election official. (In the end, that election wasn't contested, probably because the votes were already bought. But the next four elections were contested.)

By 1774, the younger Fox needed money and couldn't afford to control Stockbridge's elections anymore. He managed to sell his influence to the Luttrell family. This probably meant he promised not to fight against their candidates, which would make votes cheaper for the Luttrells. Even so, the Luttrells still had to bribe voters a lot to win.

When the Luttrells got tired of it, the borough was sold to Joseph Foster Barham, a merchant. He became one of the MPs himself and later kept the second seat for his step-grandson, John Foster Barham. But when he also ran into money problems, he sold the borough to Earl Grosvenor. Grosvenor's chosen candidate, Edward Stanley (who later became a Conservative Prime Minister), was elected. Grosvenor even introduced Stanley to the voters.

By the time of the Reform Act, people accused Grosvenor of using a different kind of corruption. He would get rid of voters who didn't support him by making sure local officials (who he appointed) didn't count them for taxes. He also created new votes by giving fake jobs to unemployed people.

Stockbridge's End as a Voting Area

By the 1800s, Stockbridge was just a small village. It really had no reason to be a separate voting area, even if its elections had been fair. In 1831, the village had 663 people and 188 houses.

The Great Reform Act in 1832 officially ended Stockbridge's role as a separate constituency. After that, it became part of the Northern Division of the county.

Members of Parliament

MPs from 1563 to 1640

MPs from 1640 to 1832

Notes