Shropshire

The Whitmore family of Apley, recorders of Bridgnorth continuously since 1747, who had, as Pitt was informed in 1795, ‘represented the borough from the strongest natural interest for many generations’, returned one Member throughout this period; and both in 1820, not for the first time. Isaac Hawkins Browne, who had headed the poll in the contest of 1784, was a neighbouring country gentleman connected with the Birmingham industrial interest, whom the Whitmores accepted readily as their colleague. In 1790 a joint address was issued, ‘to preclude even the shadow of an opposition’.

Bishop’s Castle was the only pocket borough in Shropshire where the patron’s hold was effectively challenged and, briefly, undermined in this period. Since 1768 it had been in the pocket of the Clive family, the principal proprietors in the borough; and the Treasury classed it as a ‘close’ borough in 1795 (though not in 1788). In 1790 Edward, Lord Clive again returned his uncle and former mentor, William Clive of Styche, with Henry Strachey, another old friend and connexion of the family.

In 1715 the chief interests at Wenlock were in Sir William Forester, who had represented it 1679-81, and 1689-1715, and in his first cousin, the 2nd Earl of Bradford, the head of the Shropshire Whigs, whose brother held the second seat. These two families continued jointly to control the representation of the borough till the death of the 3rd Earl of Bradford in 1734, when that interest fell into abeyance, leaving the Foresters in control of both seats. The 2nd Lord Egmont noted in his electoral survey, c.1749-50, that Wenlock was ‘in Forester’.

Shrewsbury elections were contested on party lines by much the same families as those of the county. The corporation was dominated by the Whigs, who thus had control of the admission of freemen, but before 1723, owing to the size of the electorate, this advantage was not decisive. The Whigs had the support of the Dissenters and of the most powerful local landowner, Lord Bradford, whilst the Tory strength lay mainly in the suburbs and liberties, which extended over a wide area of countryside.

In spite of the relatively large electorate, Bridgnorth was dominated by the Whitmores of Apley, Whigs, who owned a large part of the town, appointed most of the local lay and ecclesiastical officials and maintained a close control on the corporation, headed by two annually elected bailiffs, who acted as returning officers.J. F. A. Mason, Borough of Bridgnorth 1157-1957, pp. 32-34. Their chief rivals were the Tory Actons of Aldenham, who were supported by a Jacobite element in the town.

The chief interest in Shrewsbury was in the corporation, consisting of 24 aldermen and 48 common councilmen. The mayor, who acted as returning officer, was chosen annually from the aldermen. The corporation controlled the roll of freemen and hence the franchise. As usual the freedom could be obtained by birth, service, or purchase; counting only the first, there were said to be over a thousand freemen living in or near the borough. The inclusion of suburban liberties gave several country gentlemen estates within the borough boundaries.

The leading territorial interests in Wenlock were the Lawleys, who owned the Priory, the Welds of Willey, and the Foresters, as lords of Little Wenlock manor. In 1660 the Welds were disqualified as Cavaliers, and the Foresters were politically inactive until William Forester came of age. Thus Sir Francis Lawley was accompanied in the Convention by Thomas Whitmore, the recorder, a passive Royalist who had represented the borough with him in 1659.

Ludlow was the seat of the council in the marches of Wales, revived in 1661 and finally suppressed after the Revolution. Consequently the little town, with only 1,376 adult inhabitants in 1676, swarmed with lawyers, and even the sons of the local land-owning families were usually educated for that profession. All the candidates in this period except Sir Josiah Child came from the immediate neighbourhood, and all except Child, Somerset Fox, and Francis Herbert were barristers. No less than six of them became judges, probably a unique record.

The dominant interests in Bridgnorth at the Restoration were the Whitmores and Actons, both seated within three miles of the borough and related by marriage. Their politics were in agreement in 1660, and, probably by arrangement, Sir William Whitmore stood for the county while John Bennet, his brother-in-law and Sir Walter Acton were returned for Bridgnorth.

The chief interest in Bishop’s Castle lay in the corporation. The 15 common councilmen controlled the electoral roll, and annually elected a bailiff, who acted as returning officer. Between 1572 and 1690 this post was monopolized by four local families, the Oakeleys, the Warings, the Mores and the Masons. The lords of the manor do not seem to have exercised their interest during this period.