Editing Reform Act 1832 (section)

=== Boroughs ===
{{Anchor|Boroughs|Parliamentary boroughs}}
Parliamentary boroughs in England ranged in size from small hamlets to large cities, partly because they had evolved haphazardly. The earliest boroughs were chosen in the Middle Ages by county sheriffs, and even a village might be deemed a borough.<ref>''Parliamentary Representation of English Boroughs in the Middle Ages'' by May McKisack, 1932.</ref> Many of these early boroughs (such as [[Winchelsea (UK Parliament constituency)|Winchelsea]] and [[Dunwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Dunwich]]) were substantial settlements at the time of their original enfranchisement, but later went into decline, and by the early 19th century some only had a few electors, but still elected two [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MPs]]; they were often known as [[rotten boroughs]]. Of the 70 English boroughs that Tudor monarchs enfranchised, 31 were later [[Disfranchisement|disenfranchised]].<ref>The Elizabethan House of Commons – J. E. Neale 1949 pages 133–134. Grampound was one of the 31 boroughs disenfranchised but was disenfranchised in 1821 prior to the Reform Act 1832.</ref> Finally, the parliamentarians of the 17th century compounded the inconsistencies by re-enfranchising 15 boroughs whose representation had lapsed for centuries, seven of which were later disenfranchised by the Reform Act 1832. After [[Newark (UK Parliament constituency)|Newark]] was enfranchised in 1661, no additional boroughs were enfranchised, and, with the sole exception of Grampound's 1821 disenfranchisement, the system remained unchanged until the Reform Act 1832. Most English boroughs elected two MPs; but five boroughs elected only one MP: [[Abingdon (UK Parliament constituency)|Abingdon]], [[Banbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Banbury]], [[Bewdley (UK Parliament constituency)|Bewdley]], [[Higham Ferrers (UK Parliament constituency)|Higham Ferrers]] and [[Monmouth]]. The [[City of London]] and the joint borough of [[Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (UK Parliament constituency)|Weymouth and Melcombe Regis]] each elected four members. The Welsh boroughs each returned a single member.{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}