Orford

At the election of 1768 Orford became a pocket borough of Francis Seymour Conway, 1st Earl of Hertford, created a marquess in 1793. He, and from 1794 his heir the 2nd Marquess, remained in unquestioned control throughout this period. The corporation of 12 and the eight portmen, if they chose to create them, were non-resident relatives and friends of the patron. The inhabitants had no say and elections passed ‘without trouble or expense’.PP (1835), xxvi. 2510; Oldfield, Boroughs, ii. 534. The Hertfords returned members of the family or reliable friends as a rule, but in 1812 and 1818 the 2nd Marquess complimented his friend the Prince Regent with one seat and offered the other seat to government if they provided for MacNaghten, whom he had brought over from Antrim to accommodate his son there. Moreover, he had contemplated giving the premier Pitt a nomination in 1804, in preference to one of his nephews, had a vacancy arisen then,Egerton 3260, f. 119. and in 1818 did not return his own heir.