In 1715 the chief interests at Scarborough were in John Hungerford, a Tory lawyer, and William Thompson, a Whig country gentleman, who shared the representation of the borough without opposition from 1702 to 1722. The Government had a considerable influence from the customs and the ordnance.
At George I’s accession the sitting Members for Ripon were John Aislabie of Studley Royal, Whig, and his relation by marriage, John Sharpe, son of the Archbishop of York, a Tory, who had shared the representation without opposition since 1705. In 1715 Aislabie owned about 40 burgages, having spent over £5000 on purchases, while Sharpe owned 11 out of some 180. At the general election that year Sharpe was defeated by Lord Castlecomer, a neighbouring Whig landowner, supported by Aislabie, who headed the poll.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century the chief interests in Richmond were those of Lord Wharton and the Yorkes of Richmond, who shared the representation. After Wharton’s death, Lord Holdernesse, the head of the Whig interest in the North Riding, put up his brother, Conyers Darcy, with a promise from Lord Sunderland ‘to procure a thousand pounds as an inducement to Mr. Yorke to come into our interest’.Conyers Darcy to Newcastle, 29 May 1721, Sunderland (Blenheim) mss. On 21 Oct. 1721 Holdernesse reported to Sunderland:
Under George I about half the Pontefract burgages were owned by a few local families, of whom the chief were the Lowthers of Swillington (60), the Moncktons (10), and the Winns (10), Whig; the Blands (40), the Dawnays (20), and the Franks (20), Tory. In 1715 the former Members, John Dawnay and Robert Frank, were re-elected, but on petition the seats were awarded to Sir William Lowther and his friend, Hugh Bethell, on the ground that the mayor, Frank’s uncle, had as returning officer wrongfully rejected a number of their votes.
Northallerton was controlled by two neighbouring Whig families, the Peirses and the Smelts, who owned most of the burgages. Each returned one Member till 1745, when the Smelts were bought out by Henry Lascelles, who thenceforth shared the borough with the Peirses.
Malton, like Higham Ferrers, was controlled by Thomas Wentworth, who in 1713 bought the manor of Malton, comprising most of the town and surrounding country, and carrying with it the appointment of the returning officer.E. A. Smith, ‘Earl Fitzwilliam and Malton’, EHR, lxxx.
The chief interests at Knaresborough were in two neighbouring landowners, Lord Burlington of Bolton Abbey, hereditary constable of Knaresborough castle, a Whig, who in 1715 appointed the steward of Knaresborough,T. Lawson-Tancred, Recs. of a Yorks. Manor 245. and Sir Henry Slingsby of Scriven, a Tory, whose family had frequently sat for the borough. In 1715 Slingsby, having been returned at a by-election in 1714, stood unsuccessfully with another Tory against two Whigs, Henry Coote and Robert Hitch.
At George I’s accession, the chief interests at Hull were in the sitting Whig Members, Sir William St. Quintin, an East Riding baronet, and William Maister, a Hull merchant, who had shared the representation continuously since the reign of William III. They were supported by the Government, who had an interest based on the officers of the garrison, the customs, and Trinity House, and by the corporation, who could influence elections through the mayor as returning officer and the power of creating freemen.
Hedon, a venal borough, was controlled for many years by William Pulteney, who had inherited the interest there of Henry Guy, M.P. Hedon 1679-95 and 1702-5. His nominees were unopposed till 1741, when two Walpole Whigs, Luke Robinson and Francis Chute, captured both seats, which Pulteney recovered on an undefended petition for bribery after Walpole’s fall.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century two rival local families, the Wilkinsons and the Stapyltons, owned most of the burgages at Boroughbridge. Its neighbour, Aldborough, was controlled by John Holles, Duke of Newcastle, who bought the manor of Aldborough in 1701. After the Duke’s death in 1711 his heir, Thomas Pelham, bought some Boroughbridge burgages and allied himself with the Wilkinsons to gain joint control of that borough. In 1715 the combined Pelham-Wilkinson interests won both seats, ousting the Stapyltons, who gave up the struggle after a further defeat in 1718.
