Shaftesbury, wrote Lord Ilchester to Newcastle on 13 Aug. 1754, was a ‘troublesome, expensive, and corrupt’ borough. For some time Ilchester had disputed its control with Lord Shaftesbury, but in 1747 they agreed each to nominate one Member; and by 1754 were ‘very good friends and upon good terms’.Add. 32736, f. 235.
An historian of Shaftesbury writes about this agreement:J. Rutter, ‘Hist. Shaftesbury’, t/s in Shaftesbury Mus.
There was no dominant interest, but a number of local landowners had influence: the Earl of Shaftesbury, high steward 1757-71; Lord Milton, high steward 1771-98; the Earl of Cholmondeley; and the Pitts of Encombe. There was also an independent vote. In 1754 John Pitt, one of the sitting Members, concluded a compromise with Lord Milton. Lord Malpas, defeated at Dorchester in 1752, who had intended to stand again, was persuaded by Henry Pelham to support the compromise. William Templeman, of a family of local attorneys much concerned in Dorset borough elections, wrote to Malpas, 23 Mar.
John Scrope, Walpole’s secretary to the Treasury, represented Lyme Regis from 1734 till his death in 1752. By the judicious use of Government patronage, and by reducing the number of freemen and introducing non-residents into the corporation, he built up an interest in the borough which passed at his death to his nephew, Francis Fane. The Fanes continued to manage the borough, as Scrope had done, with the help of Government; and in 1758 they were given £100 per annum from secret service funds for Lyme.
Throughout this period Corfe Castle was invariably represented by members or nominees of the families of Bankes and Bond, without a single contest carried to a poll. The two families worked together in the closest association. John Bankes wrote to John Bond on 29 Oct. 1757:Bond mss at Creech Grange, Dorset.
In the second half of the eighteenth century Bridport was a seaport with a thriving West Indian trade. The Pinneys, West Indian planters, with considerable property near Bridport, possessed an interest in the borough. So did other families, but no one interest was predominant. That of Lord Coventry, whose family had represented the borough for several generations, was described by Rockingham in 1765 as ‘very good’, and Thomas Coventry held one seat 1754-80.
A great deal depended at Totnes upon control of the corporation. The Duke of Bolton, the Duke of Somerset, and a number of smaller men had influence, and they competed against each other for Government support. Government could only bring its influence to bear through alliance with a local interest, and the electoral scene was always shifting.
Tiverton was the centre of the Devon cloth making industry; in 1754 it had a population of about 8,000, many of them Dissenters. In the first half of the eighteenth century Sir William Yonge had the principal interest. Dudley Ryder, a prominent Government lawyer who rose to be lord chief justice of the King’s bench, was first elected for Tiverton in 1734. Ryder had no property or natural influence there, but with the help of Government patronage he built up an interest which supplanted that of Yonge.
Tavistock was a complete pocket borough of the Duke of Bedford. Richard Rigby, thanking the Duke for his election, wrote on as Apr. 1754:
At Tavistock ... I saw more warmth and affection for you than you can imagine. There does not seem to be a single negative to your will in the whole town, nor would it be very safe in any one to offer it.
The same holds good throughout the period.
The power of creating new freemen was in the corporation, which in effect controlled the borough. The corporation was under the influence of two families, the Edgcumbes and the Trebys, who each nominated to one seat. The Edgcumbe seat was (except in 1768) always sold to Administration, the Treby seat when not wanted by the family themselves; and Lord Edgcumbe acted as intermediary with Government.
In 1754 Lord Barrington was put up for Plymouth while still a lord of the Admiralty, but by the time he was elected he had been appointed master of the great wardrobe. ‘It will make no variation to our sentiments’, wrote to him one of the chief men in the corporation, ‘as the borough is truly loyal, and from our knowledge of your Lordship, as well as the interest we have always espoused of the Admiralty.’Barrington mss. Barrington represented Plymouth for the next 24 years without ever having to fight an election.
