Talk:Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)

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From 1509-1558[edit]

I was able to glean, from reading a limited preview of The House of Commons, 1509-1558, Volume 3 by Stanley Thomas Bindoff the MPs for Old Sarum on these dates:

1529-1536: Thomas Hilton, William Lambert
1539: Unknown
1542: Unknown
1545: William Hulcote
1553 (Mar.): William Wekys
1554 (Nov.)-1555: Francis Killinghall
1555: John Marsh, William Chamber
1558: Henry Jones I (possibly)
1559: John Harrington (Herynton) II

Where I've written unknown or possibly this is in accordance with what the Bindoff wrote; I don't know who sat there in 1547 either (if anybody did) because I couldn't find the information. Is it worth adding this when the information for so many inbetween years, and the identity of second members, is missing?

Origin of the borough[edit]

The bishopric of Salisbury moved from Old Sarum during the reign of Edward II's grandfather under writ from his great-grandfather so, no, that was not the reason that it received representation. Old Sarum Cathedral had already been completely gutted for scrap to build the Salisbury Cathedral at the same time so, no, that's not it either. (As a side point, though, Old Sarum—then known by variants of Sarisbury—had been a major settlement in early Norman England, so it's also dubious to claim it was never populated.)

Had Old Sarum already been returning MPs for a century prior to Ed because of the old bishopric? or was there some other reason Ed gave them the franchise? — $Llywelyn II$ 02:45, 3 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Old Sarum was actually more of a natural fortress than anything else. Its importance as a regional fortress is probably why it received the franchise and a number of other privileges. But as the times became more peaceful, there was less reason for anyone to live there exposed on the hill in a location without good water sources. It was granted the franchise but only used it on two occasions over the next 65 years. Then intermittently after that. But usually by people with direct ties to Old Sarum.

The important date is the early 1400s. At that point, the seats became in a sense extra Wiltshire seats and were no longer represented by anyone connected to Old Sarum. They were also in continuous use. 75.17.127.29 (talk) 22:14, 27 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]