Old Sarum - a very Rotten Borough indeed

BACKGROUND
 

Before the Reform Act of 1832 there was no uniformity in the distribution of English parliamentary constituencies.  Each county had two MPs, regardless of the size of the county.

 

There were two types of MP: 

County MPs had to own land worth £600 p.a. and usually were from the great landed families of the country;   

 

Borough MPs had to own land worth £300 p.a.  Often they were local squires, landed gentry or the sons of the aristocracy. 

 

The Borough Franchises had grown haphazardly, the 203 boroughs having 402 MPs between them.

 

OLD SARUM

There were a number of different types of borough franchises.  Old Sarum was a Burgage borough, of which many became known as 'Pocket Boroughs' because one person would buy the majority of the burgages in the locality. (Expression "He has it in his pocket" = has total control.)

 

In 1691 Thomas Pitt bought the Manor of Stratford and Old Sarum for £1,000 from the Trustees of James Cecil, 4th Earl of Salisbury, and thus obtained control of this nomination/burgage borough of Old Sarum.  Other members of the Pitt family later held the seat,  most notable William Pitt, (the Elder) Lord Chatham, who became Prime Minister of England in 1766.