 From its foundation in the 14th century until 1832, the borough consisted of part of the parish of Midhurst, a small market town in Sussex.Much of the town as it existed by the 19th century was outside this ancient boundary, but the boundary was in any case academic since the townsfolk had no votes.As a contemporary, writer, Sir George Trevelyan explained in writing about the general election of 1768,
"the right of election rested in a few small holdings, on which no human being resided, distinguished among the pastures and the stubble that surrounded them by a large stone set up on end in the middle of each portion."