CORNWALL'S ROTTEN MPS

Before 1832 Cornwall was famous for its 'rotten boroughs' - parliamentary constituencies with few voters, where a seat in parliament could be bought. London with a population of 1.5 million had 6 MPs; Scotland with a population of 2.4 million and 45; Cornwall, with a population of 300,000 had 42; Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester had none.

This was obviously totally undemocratic (but the ruling class at that time thought 'democracy' treasonable) and a splendid opportunity for corruption.

However, one consequence is that the Cornish MPs were not just boring elder sons of county gentry, as was often the case elsewhere. They included men who were, and some still are, famous.

This book includes brief biographies of some of the more interesting Cornish MPs prior to 1832, many of whom, poor chaps, never even visited Cornwall.

Of all Cornwall's rotten boroughs, the rottenest was Bossiney.