Surrey was a constituency of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...

then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

until 1832. The constituency was split into two two-member divisions, for Parliamentary purposes, in 1832. The county was then represented by the East Surrey and West Surrey constituencies.

Boundaries

Surrey is one of the

historic counties of England The historic counties of England are areas that were established for administration by the Normans, in many cases based on earlier kingdoms and shires created by the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Celts and others. They are alternatively known as an ...

, located south of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, in south east England. The constituency comprised the whole county but had six towns which were

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

for some of when it was a constituency:

Bletchingley Bletchingley (historically "Blechingley") is a village in Surrey, England. It is on the A25 road to the east of Redhill and to the west of Godstone, has a conservation area with medieval buildings and is mostly on a wide escarpment of the Gr ...

, Gatton, Guildford, Haslemere,

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...

and Southwark - each of which elected two MPs in their own right, these were not excluded from the county constituency, and owning property within the boroughs could confer a vote at the county election.)

Members of Parliament

1290-1640

MPs 1640–1832

Notes

Elections

The county franchise, from 1430, was held by the owners of freehold land valued at 40 shillings or more. Each voter had as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the

hustings A husting originally referred to a native Germanic governing assembly, the thing. By metonymy, the term may now refer to any event (such as debates or speeches) during an election campaign where one or more of the candidates are present. Devel ...

, which took place in the county town of Guildford. The expense and difficulty of voting at only one location in the county, together with the lack of a secret ballot contributed to the corruption and intimidation of voters, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system. The expense, to candidates, of contested elections encouraged the leading families of the county to agree on the candidates to be returned unopposed whenever possible. Contested county elections were therefore unusual. Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party vote. Where there was more than one candidate, in one or both successive elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual percentage vote.

Parliament of the United Kingdom 1801-1832

* ''Seat vacated on appointment of Russell as a

Lord of the Admiralty This is a list of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660). The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of The Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was ...

10 February 1806'' * Note (1806 by-election): (Source:

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

edition of 24 February 1806) * Note (1806): Poll 2 days. "Although Mr. Thornton had lost his election for Hull, he resigned on the second day in favour of Sir J. Frederick, who was last on the poll". (Source: Stooks Smith) * Note (1807): Poll 9 days; 3,296 freeholders cast 4,732 votes. (Source: Stooks Smith) * Death of Sutton * Note (1813 by-election): Poll 4 days; 1,641 freeholders voted. (Source: Stooks Smith) * Note (1826): Poll 5 days; 3,743 freeholders cast 5,740 votes. (Source: Stooks Smith) * Note (1830): Poll 3 days; 2,977 freeholders cast 4,898 votes. (Source: Stooks Smith) * ''Constituency abolished - county split into two divisions (1832)''

References

*Robert Beatson, ''A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament'' (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807

*D Brunton & D H Pennington, ''Members of the Long Parliament'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954) *''Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803'' (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808

* Maija Jansson (ed.), ''Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 (House of Commons)'' (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988

* J E Neale, ''The Elizabethan House of Commons'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949) * J Holladay Philbin, ''Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965) * Henry Stooks Smith, ''The Parliaments of England'', 1st edition published in three volumes (1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) ''out of copyright'' * Frederic A Youngs, jr, ''Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I'' (London:

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

, 1979) * {{Rayment-hc, s, 6, date=March 2012 Parliamentary constituencies in South East England (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1290 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1832 Politics of Surrey History of Surrey