Borough

The chief interest at Corfe Castle lay with John Bankes, whose family had owned the manor since 1635 and usually controlled one seat. The other had been held since 1681 by Richard Fownes, a Dorset landowner and High Tory. In 1690 Bankes, who had only recently succeeded his father, declined to stand, being unwilling immediately to embark on a political career. This gave an opportunity to William Culliford, a local placeman in the customs service with a longstanding association with the borough.

There was no controlling interest at Bridport although some influence was exercised by the Strangways family of Melbury Sampford, strong Tories in whom the high stewardship of the borough was virtually hereditary. Thomas Strangways I sat for the county throughout the period until his death in 1713, and his son (Thomas II) was not of age until the 1705 election. Consequently the Strangways took little part in Bridport elections during William’s reign.

Totnes was ‘Sir Edward Seymour’s town’, according to Defoe, ‘though he has not one foot of land nor a house in the town’. The family had sold off property in the borough to pay fines during the Interregnum, but had retained their residence at nearby Berry Pomeroy. This, together with Seymour’s status as one of the leading west-country Tories, gave him a strong natural interest. His nominees, Sir John Fowell, 3rd Bt., and Henry Seymour, were returned without opposition in 1690.

Tiverton was one of the larger industrial centres in the south-west, and was notable for the manufacture of serge and kersey. Although the town possessed a population of over 8,500 by the late 17th century, its electorate was restricted to the 25 members of the corporation. The preoccupations of this merchant oligarchy were clearly reflected in a petition of 26 Feb. 1707:

The chief interest at Tavistock was that of the Russells, earls and (after 1694) dukes of Bedford, the lords of the manor. The returning officer was the portreeve, who was chosen at a court leet by 24 freeholders selected by the lord’s steward. The Russells enjoyed the support of fellow Whigs such as Sir Francis Drake, 3rd Bt., who owned nearby Buckland Abbey and property in the borough itself. On the Tory side the leading interest was that of the Manatons of Kilworthy (just over a mile from Tavistock), who were trustees of the parish lands. In 1690 Hon.

‘Plympton’, reported Defoe in 1705, was ‘a little town, all Low Church and very well united, but a poor place’. The recorder, Sir George Treby, possessed such a strong interest that Defoe described the borough as ‘Treby’s town’. Property in the borough, castle and manor was subdivided, however, between several individuals, including Treby, George Parker and John Pollexfen. There were also other prominent local families such as the Strodes, Heles, Drakes and Fortescues.HMC Portland, iv. 270; Willis, Not. Parl. ii. 333–6; J. B. Rowe, Hist. Plympton, 177.

Plymouth was described by Defoe as ‘a town of consideration and of great importance to the public’, and its dual importance, both as a naval and military base and a trading port, were closely reflected in its electoral politics. The corporation was only able to exert partial control over the allocation of its parliamentary seats while at the same time, certainly in the 1690s, their difficulties were complicated by party struggles.

There was no decisive proprietorial interest in Okehampton during this period, although the influence of several local families enabled them to command its parliamentary seats over two or more elections without the trouble of a contest. In 1690 the Members elected to the Convention were returned again. They were William Cary of Clovelly, a Court Tory whose elder brother Sir George† had forged strong connexions with the borough in the 1680s and served as recorder until his death in 1685, and Henry Northleigh, another Tory who owned property in the borough.

Celia Fiennes found Honiton ‘a pretty large place, a good market, near it a good church’ and ‘a very large meeting of Dissenters’, its principal industry being the making of ‘fine bonelace in imitation of the Antwerp and Flanders lace’. The representation was shared between Sir Walter Yonge, 3rd Bt., a Whig and a Dissenter, who had much property in and nearby the borough and Sir William Drake, 4th Bt., Yonge’s Tory relation, who owned one of the local manors. They were unopposed at the first three elections of King William’s reign.Journeys of Celia Fiennes ed. Morris, 214; A.

With its population of some 13,000 in 1689 and its prominence in trade and woollen manufacture, Exeter was one of the four or five leading cities in the kingdom. Politically, it occupied a key position in the south-west. As Lord Poulett, a sometime lord lieutenant of Devon, commented in 1705, ‘the spirit of that city does not only in a great degree influence Devonshire, but Cornwall also’. There was a strong tradition of Whiggish politics in the city, dating back to the Civil War and underpinned by the influence of the powerful Presbyterian minority who provided in the region of 500 votes.