Helston, sometimes known as Helleston, was a parliamentary borough centred on the small town of Helston in Cornwall.
Using the bloc vote system of election, it returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then to House of Commons of Great Britain until 1800, and to House of Commons of the United Kingdom until the 1832 general election.
The Reform Act 1832 reduced its representation to one member, elected by the first-past-the-post system. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, it was abolished with effect from the 1885 general election.
Famous quotes containing the word parliament:
“At the ramparts on the cliff near the old Parliament House I counted twenty-four thirty-two-pounders in a row, pointed over the harbor, with their balls piled pyramid-wise between them,—there are said to be in all about one hundred and eighty guns mounted at Quebec,—all which were faithfully kept dusted by officials, in accordance with the motto, “In time of peace prepare for war”; but I saw no preparations for peace: she was plainly an uninvited guest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)