A PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY OF HORSHAM, 1295- 1885. By William Albery.
(Longmans. 12s. 6d.)-Horsham borough returned two burgesses to the Parliament of 1295 and continued to have separate representation-with only one member 'after 1832-till it was merged in the county in 1885. Mr. Albery's remarkably able and complete account of Horsham elections and members through' six centuries is of great interest. In particular he describes very clearly the
peculiar franchise by burgage tenure but dependent also on admission to the lord's court-which was customary in Horsham, and he explains the method by which Horsham in the early eighteenth century was transformed into a pocket borough of the Irwin family. The first contested election took place in 1701, when Whigs and Tories were eagerly striving for control of the House of Commons. It was soon after this that the manorial lord by divers legal subtleties increased the number of dependable burgesses, nominally freeholders, and acquired absolute control of elections. The Irwin interest passed to the Duke of Norfolk in 1811 for £91,475, More than half of which represented the market value of the two seats. It may be noted that at the first election after the passing of the Reform Bill the Duke's candidate_was soundly beaten.
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