Borough

Hull had a large and unruly electorate, and was difficult to classify or control; political questions did not count for much. Government had some influence which, combined with that of the corporation and Trinity House, could usually ensure the return of one Member. Lord Robert Manners, originally a stranger at Hull, held his seat with Government backing for 35 years. A number of local families had an interest: the Crowles, the Thorntons, William Wilberforce, and Sir Henry Etherington.

About 1750 Knaresborough was controlled by Lord Burlington and Sir Henry Slingsby. Burlington died on 3 Dec. 1753, and his interest in the borough passed to his widow. Their daughter and heir, Charlotte, had married William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire; who wrote to Lady Burlington on 13 Mar. 1756, soon after succeeding to the title:Devonshire mss.

Aldborough and Boroughbridge were neighbouring boroughs, under the same owner and under joint management. The Duke of Newcastle used to refer to them as ‘my own two boroughs’. He owned most of the houses in Aldborough and a majority of the burgages at Boroughbridge. The Wilkinson family also owned property in both boroughs; they managed them on Newcastle’s behalf and were able to assert a claim to one seat. Still Newcastle, when offering a seat at Boroughbridge to Sir Cecil Bisshopp in 1755, could write:Add. 32852, f.

In 1754 the dominant interest at Hedon was in Lord Anson, first lord of the Admiralty, M.P. for Hedon 1744-7. On Anson’s death in 1762, his place as patron of the borough was taken by his friend, Sir Charles Saunders, Member since 1754. Saunders strengthened his interest by acquiring property in Hedon, and in 1768 and 1774 carried both seats without a contest.

See BOROUGHBRIDGE (1754-90 Section)

There was no predominant interest at Beverley, and contests were frequent. In the second half of the eighteenth century its Members were invariably country gentlemen.

The main power in Worcester politics was the corporation, working in close association with the bishop, the cathedral chapter, and the lord lieutenant of Worcestershire. To maintain its ascendancy the corporation made full use of its right to create nonresident freemen, who formed a large proportion of the voters and considerably increased the cost of elections. There was also an anti-corporation or independent party, supported by the Dissenters, and until political issues began to appear in the early seventies the two sides divided on a Church and Dissent basis.

In the first half of the 18th century the representation of Droitwich was usually divided between the Foleys and the Winningtons; from 1750 to 1777 the Foleys controlled both seats; and from 1777 again divided the borough with the Winningtons.

‘A profusion of trouble and expense has for more than half a century past ... marked a seat in Parliament for the borough of Evesham’, wrote Mark Beaufoy to Sir John Rushout on 1 Sept. 1767.G. Beaufoy, Leaves from a Beech Tree, 112. The strongest interest was that of the Rushouts of Northwick Park, who held one seat without a break from 1722 to 1796. A long way behind came that of the Rudge family, who first sat for the borough in 1680.

The corporation consisted of the bailiff (the returning officer), the recorder, and twelve freemen. Since it had the power to create any number of honorary freemen, control of the corporation was essential for electoral purposes. In the second half of the eighteenth century the borough was contested between the Lyttelton and Winnington families.