To the Editor of the Hampshire Chronicle
Hampshire in Olden Times
SIR,—In searching lately amongst the great repository of literature—the British Museum—I came across a scarce book published in the year 1750 . The title-page is too long to transcribe in full, but the following portion will be sufficient to explain the object with which it was published:—
‟Notitia Parliamentaria: containing an Account of the First Returns and Incorporations of the Cities, Towns, and Boroughs in England and Wales that Send Members to Parliament; their Returning Officers, Number of Electors, and Coats of Arms; also, an Account of the Disused Boroughs, and Names of the Members they Returned to Parliament; to which is subjoined an Account of all the Speakers, and which places they served for, from the reign of Edward III, to the present time; and. as an Appendage to the Journals of the House of Commons, here is likewise exhibited a series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation, 1541, to the Restoration, 1660.”
…
Petersfield.—This having sent anno 35 Edward I, made no other return till Edward VI’s time. The right of electing the members is with the Freeholders of the Borough, in number about 154; and the returning officer is the titular Mayor. Here are about 182 houses, though this is no Corporation. I find there are arms assigned to it,—A Rose surmounted by an escutcheon, thereon five amulets.
Extract from Notitia Parliamentaria
