Old Sarum (UK Parliament Constituency) - History

History

Old Sarum was unlike other rotten boroughs in that it never had a substantial population. It was invited to send two members to the House of Commons from the reign of Edward II due to the presence of the Bishopric of Old Sarum, but shortly after this the bishopric moved to New Sarum, together with most of the population. A small hamlet, located alongside the Roman road to the south of the hill fort, remained but with steadily declining population as the houses became uninhabitable.

The borough was organised on a burgage franchise where the inhabitants of designated houses had the right to vote. From at least the 17th century it had no resident voters, but the landowner retained the right to nominate tenants for each of the burgages; they were not required to live there. For a long time, the borough was owned by the Pitt family and was their pocket borough: one of the MPs in the 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 reportedly £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 last 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. The Reform Act 1832 completely disenfranchised Old Sarum.

Elections in Old Sarum were conducted on a mobile hustings under a specific tree which was located in what was known as the 'Electing acre' (the tree died in 1905). In the last years, the spectacle of the election drew a small crowd who observed the ritual presentation of the two candidates and the call for any further nominations.

Stooks Smith quotes a contemporary description of the 1802 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.- (History of the General Election of 1802, page, 149.)