Queenborough

Queenborough

Queenborough is a small town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England.Queenborough is two miles south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to The Swale where it joins the River Medway...

was a rotten borough

Rotten borough

A "rotten", "decayed" or pocket borough was a parliamentary borough or constituency in the United Kingdom that had a very small electorate and could be used by a patron to gain undue and unrepresentative influence within Parliament....

 situated on the Isle of Sheppey

Isle of Sheppey

The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England in the Thames Estuary, some to the east of London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale...

 in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

.
From 1572 until it was abolished by the great reform act

Reform Act 1832

The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...

 of 1832, it returned two Members of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

. The franchise was vested in the freemen of the town, of whom there were more than 300. Its electorate was therefore one of largest of the 56 boroughs that were abolished. Most freemen, however, were non resident.

A small town in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, which grew as a port near the Thames Estuary

Thames Estuary

The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...

.
Formerly a municipal borough in the Faversham parliamentary division of Kent, is two miles south of Sheerness

Sheerness

Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....

 on the Isle of Sheppey, nearby the westward entrance to the Swale

The Swale

The name The Swale refers to the strip of sea separating North Kent from the Isle of Sheppey.- History :The name "Swale" is Old English in origin, and is believed to mean "swirling, rushing river", or "rushing water"....

, where it joins the River Medway

River Medway

The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....

. It is now in the Sittingbourne and Sheppey parliamentary constituency and governed by Swale Borough Council and Queenborough Town Council.
Queenborough Harbour offers moorings between the Thames and Medway. It is possible to land at Queenborough on any tide and there are boat builders and chandlers in the marina. Admiral Lord Nelson

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...

, is reputed to have learnt much of his seafaring skills in these waters, and also shared a house near the small harbour with his mistress, the Lady Hamilton

Emma, Lady Hamilton

Emma, Lady Hamilton is best remembered as the mistress of Lord Nelson and as the muse of George Romney. She was born Amy Lyon in Ness near Neston, Cheshire, England, the daughter of a blacksmith, Henry Lyon, who died when she was two months old...

.

1572-1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1571	John Brooke alias Cobham	John Parker
1572 (May)	John Brooke alias Cobham	William Butler, died and replaced Dec 1580 by Sir Humphrey Gilbert
1584 (Nov)	John Brooke alias Cobham	William Parry, expelled the House and replaced Feb 1585 by Sir Edward Hoby
1586 (Sep)	Sir Edward Hoby	Michael Sondes
1588	William Boys	Michael Sondes
1593	John Brooke alias Cobham	John Baynham
1597	Sir George Carew George Carew, 1st Earl of Totnes George Carew, 1st Earl of Totnes , known as Sir George Carew between 1586 and 1605 and as The Lord Carew between 1605 and 1626, served under Queen Elizabeth I during the Tudor conquest of Ireland and was appointed President of Munster. -Early career:Carew was the son of Dr...	Michael Sondes
1601	Sir Michael Sondes	Nicholas Troughton
1604	Sir Edward Stafford	Michael Sondes	Richard Wright
1614	Roger Palmer Roger Palmer (MP) Sir Roger Palmer KB was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1644. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War....	Robert Hatton
1621-1622	John Palmer	William Friend
1624	Roger Palmer Roger Palmer (MP) Sir Roger Palmer KB was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1644. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War....	Sir Robert Pooley
1625	Roger Palmer Roger Palmer (MP) Sir Roger Palmer KB was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1644. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War....	Sir Edward Hales Sir Edward Hales, 1st Baronet Sir Edward Hales, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1625 and 1648. He supported the Parliamentarian side in the English Civil War....
1626	Roger Palmer Roger Palmer (MP) Sir Roger Palmer KB was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1644. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War....	Robert Pooley
1628	Roger Palmer Roger Palmer (MP) Sir Roger Palmer KB was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1644. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War....	Sir John Hales
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640-1832

Year	|2nd Member	2nd Party
April 1640 Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....		Sir Edward Hales Sir Edward Hales, 1st Baronet Sir Edward Hales, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1625 and 1648. He supported the Parliamentarian side in the English Civil War....	Parliamentarian		John Wolstenholme Sir John Wolstenholme, 1st Baronet Sir John Wolstenholme, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War.Wolstenholme was the son of Sir John Wolstenholme and his wife Catherine Fanshaw...
November 1640 Long Parliament The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...					William Harrison	Royalist
June 1643				Harrison disabled from sitting - seat vacant
1645					Sir Michael Livesey Michael Livesey Sir Michael Livesey, 1st Baronet was one of the regicides of King Charles I.A Kentish baronet of Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey, Livesey was a zealous Puritan who sided with Parliament during the civil wars. He became active on the Kent county committee and was appointed Sheriff of Kent in 1643...
April 1648	Hales disabled from sitting
1648		Augustine Garland Augustine Garland Augustine Garland was an English lawyer, and one of the Regicides of King Charles I of England.Garland was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Lincoln's Inn. He was M.P. for Queenborough in 1648. He presided over the committee to consider method of the king's trial, and in 1649 signed...
1653	Queenborough was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector...
1654 First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....		Augustine Garland Augustine Garland Augustine Garland was an English lawyer, and one of the Regicides of King Charles I of England.Garland was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Lincoln's Inn. He was M.P. for Queenborough in 1648. He presided over the committee to consider method of the king's trial, and in 1649 signed...		Queenborough had only one seat in the First First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....   and Second Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...  Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656 Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...		Gabriel Livesey
January 1659 Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons...		Thomas Bayles			Hon. James Herbert James Herbert (died 1677) James Herbert was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1645 and 1677.Herbert was the son of Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke and his wife Susan de Vere, daughter of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford...
May 1659 Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....		Augustine Garland Augustine Garland Augustine Garland was an English lawyer, and one of the Regicides of King Charles I of England.Garland was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Lincoln's Inn. He was M.P. for Queenborough in 1648. He presided over the committee to consider method of the king's trial, and in 1649 signed...		One seat vacant
April 1660		Sir William Wheler Sir William Wheler, 1st Baronet Sir William Wheler, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1660.Wheler was the son of John Wheler and his wife Martha Herrick daughter of Robert Herrick of Leicester....			Hon. James Herbert James Herbert (died 1677) James Herbert was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1645 and 1677.Herbert was the son of Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke and his wife Susan de Vere, daughter of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford...
1661		Sir Edward Hales
1677					James Herbert
January 1681					William Glanville
February 1681		Gerard Gore
1685		Sir John Godwin			Caleb Banks Caleb Banks Caleb Banks was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1685 and 1696.Banks was the son of Sir John Banks, 1st Baronet and his wife Elizabeth Dethick, daughter of Sir John Dethick. He was educated at Queens College, Cambridge and admitted at Grey's Inn in February 1675...
1689		Robert Crawford			James Herbert (the younger)
1690					Sir John Banks
1695					Caleb Banks Caleb Banks Caleb Banks was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1685 and 1696.Banks was the son of Sir John Banks, 1st Baronet and his wife Elizabeth Dethick, daughter of Sir John Dethick. He was educated at Queens College, Cambridge and admitted at Grey's Inn in February 1675...
1696					Thomas King
1705		Rear-Admiral Sir John Jennings
1708					Henry Withers
1710		Colonel Thomas King			James Herbert (the third)
1713					Charles Fotherby
1715					Philip Jennings
1722		Vice Admiral James Littleton			Lieutenant Colonel John Cope
1723		Captain Lord Forbes George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard PC was an Anglo-Irish naval commander and diplomat.-Life:He was the son of Arthur Forbes, 2nd Earl of Granard, by his wife Mary, daughter of Sir George Rawdon, 1st Baronet, of Moira, county Down, was born in Ireland 21 October 1685, and was for a time at the...
1727		Sprig Manesty			John Crowley
1728					Captain Sir George Saunders
1729		Richard Evans
1735					Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Archibald Hamilton was a British politician.Hamilton was the youngest son of William Douglas-Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton and Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton. He became a Captain in the Royal Navy and in 1708, was elected as MP for Lanarkshire...
1741					Thomas Newnham
1754		Sir Charles Frederick Charles Frederick Sir Charles Frederick KB was a British Member of Parliament.He was a younger son of Sir Thomas Frederick, sometime Governor of Fort St David, and a younger brother of Sir John Frederick, 4th Baronet....			Captain Sir Peircy Brett Peircy Brett Sir Peircy Brett was an officer in the Royal Navy, who from 1740 to 1744 served on George Anson's voyage around the world. During this voyage he was appointed captain of the . He reached the rank of rear admiral in 1762, and thereafter served on land. In the Admiralty he was lord commissioner ,...
1774					Sir Walter Rawlinson
1784		John Clater Aldridge			Captain George Bowyer Sir George Bowyer, 5th Baronet Admiral Sir George Bowyer, 5th and 1st Baronet was a British naval officer and politician.Bowyer was the third son of Sir William Bowyer, 4th Baronet and born in Denham, Buckinghamshire...
1790		Gibbs Crawfurd			Richard Hopkins
1793		Augustus Rogers	Tory
1794		John Sargent	Tory
1796					Evan Nepean Evan Nepean Sir Evan Nepean, 1st Baronet PC was a British politician and colonial administrator.-Early career:...	Tory
1802		John Prinsep John Prinsep John Prinsep was born the son of a vicar in rural Oxfordshire, England, with limited horizons for advancement. He joined the East India Company as a cadet, travelling to Bombay, and was soon engaged in mercantile pursuits, eventually becoming the earliest British merchant to plant indigo, and...	Whig		George Peter Moore	Whig
March 1806					Sir Samuel Romilly Samuel Romilly Sir Samuel Romilly , was a British legal reformer.-Background and education:Romilly was born in Frith Street, Soho, London, the second son of Peter Romilly, a watchmaker and jeweller...	Whig
October 1806		William Frankland William Frankland William Frankland was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1628 to 1629 and in 1640.Frankland was the son of Ralph Frankland of Carlton, near Thirsk, and his wife Margaret...	Whig
1807		Joseph Hunt	Tory		Hon. John Villiers John Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon John Charles Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon PC , styled The Honourable until 1824, was a British peer and Member of Parliament....	Tory
1810		Richard Wellesley	Tory
January 1812		Sir Robert Moorsom Robert Moorsom Admiral Sir Robert Moorsom KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars...	Tory
October 1812					John Osborn	Tory
1818					Hon. Edmund Phipps	Tory
1820		Hon. John Villiers John Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon John Charles Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon PC , styled The Honourable until 1824, was a British peer and Member of Parliament....	Tory		George Peter Holford	Tory
1824		Lord Frederick Bentinck	Whig
1826		The Lord Downes Ulysses Burgh, 2nd Baron Downes General Ulysses de Burgh, 2nd Baron Downes GCB , was an Irish soldier and Tory politician. A General in the British Army, he served as Surveyor-General of the Ordnance under Lord Liverpool between 1820 and 1827...	Tory		John Capel	Tory
August 1830		William Holmes William Holmes (1779-1851) William Holmes was a British Tory politician of the early nineteenth century, and an MP for 28 years....	Tory		Sir Philip Charles Henderson Durham Philip Charles Durham Admiral Sir Philip Charles Calderwood Henderson Durham, GCB was a Royal Navy officer whose service in the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars was lengthy, distinguished and at times controversial.-Biography:Destined to be one of the luckiest men in the...	Tory
December 1830		John Capel	Tory		Thomas Gladstone Sir Thomas Gladstone, 2nd Baronet Sir Thomas Gladstone, 2nd Baronet was a Tory politician in the United Kingdom.He was Member of Parliament for Queenborough from 1830 to 1831, for Portarlington from 1832 to 1835, for Leicester from 1835 to 1837, and for Ipswich 1842...	Tory
1831					Lt General Sir John Colquhoun Grant Colquhoun Grant (British cavalry general) Lieutenant General Sir John Colquhoun Grant KCB was a British soldier.-Military career:Sir Colquhoun Grant in joined the 36th Regiment as an ensign in 1793, exchanging to the cavalry , with which he served at Seringapatam, but returning to the infantry in 1802 to command the 72nd regiment, which...	Tory
1832 United Kingdom general election, 1832 -Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807....	Constituency abolished