Bridport defied management. Charles Sturt, whose family interest enabled him to return himself and a fellow Whig in 1784, had to cede one seat in 1790, although it was thought he might ‘by a little exertion recover the whole’. The new Member, Watson the recorder, was the champion of the dissenting majority on the corporation, at that time well disposed to Pitt’s ministry.
In 1715 to the Christchurch corporation returned the former Tory Members, Sir Peter Mews, lord of the manor of Christchurch, and William Ettrick, who had represented the borough since the Revolution. On Ettrick’s death in 1716 he was succeeded unopposed by another Tory, Francis Gwyn, who had represented Christchurch in the previous reign. Re-elected with Mews in 1722 but choosing to sit for Wells, Gwynn was succeeded by his son, also a Tory, against Joseph Hinxman, a local Whig landowner.
The Government had a major interest at Weymouth and Melcombe Regis from the local customs service and the quarries at Portland. Under Walpole, George Bubb Dodington made use of his official position at the Treasury to strengthen his private interest in the borough.Sir Dudley Ryder’s diary, 9 Aug. 1740, Harrowby mss. Another important interest was that of the Tuckers, a Weymouth family, who for many years held the post of supervisor of the Portland quarries, carrying considerable electoral influence.
The Tory interest at Wareham was headed by the Pitts of Strathfieldsaye and Shroton, who were patrons of the living and owned the site of the priory. The lord of the manor in 1715 was General Thomas Erle, Whig, whose interest passed by marriage to his son-in-law, Sir Edward Ernle, in 1720 and to the latter’s son-in-law, Henry Drax, in 1729. Both seats were usually held by members of these families but from 1722 to 1734 the Pitts were ousted by strangers, apparently returned through Walpole’s interest with the corporation.
In 1738 Shaftesbury was described by Hutchins, the Dorset historian, as ‘a mercenary and ungrateful borough’. Lord Ilchester, who had represented it as Stephen Fox, wrote of it in 1747, as ‘more unwieldy than Hindon, made up of complicated interests with a sort of gentry that are troublesome’; and, in 1753, as ‘very troublesome and expensive’. Although the right of voting lay in the inhabitants, control of the 12-man corporation was important. Shortly before the general election of 1747 Ilchester wrote:
The ancient seaport and borough of Poole had a long and close connexion with the Newfoundland and later the American trade. Its representation was controlled by the corporation through the right of creating freemen, resident and non-resident. The corporation itself was dominated by a merchant oligarchy, who usually returned local landowners and merchants, all from 1715 government supporters. There was also a government interest represented in 1752 by 15 officials.John Masters to Joseph Gulston, 19 Nov.
Lyme Regis was an ancient but decaying port, where the Government had an interest through the local customs officers. There was a long-standing dispute between the corporation and the freeholders as to the right of election. In the 18th century it was generally considered that the right lay in the freemen, many of them non-resident, who were elected by the corporation. This was not, however, finally established till 1785; and at contested elections those freeholders who were not freemen were usually canvassed and polled, though on a separate list.
The principal Tory interest lay in the Brownes of Frampton, of whom Robert Browne succeeded his father as high steward in 1734, and John Browne, the recorder from 1747 to 1750, held one of the seats for 23 years. The Whig interest was supported by the Duke of Newcastle, who in 1711 had inherited the site of the priory and the manor of Frome Whitfield, within the borough, from his uncle Duke John,Hutchins, Dorset, ii. 366, 412. the high steward from 1701. The Damer family also developed a strong interest and there was an independent vote.
Corfe Castle was dominated by the Bonds of Creech Grange, three miles distant, Whigs, and the Bankeses of Kingston Lacy, lords of the manor and castle of Corfe, Tories. In 1715 the Bonds were able to capture both seats, probably through William Ockeden who owned a small property in the borough, out of which he granted 35 leases. A petition alleging ‘that multitudes of pretended votes [presumably these leaseholders] were allowed by the mayor’ as returning officer, was withdrawn.
There was no predominant interest at Bridport, a small sea port,Travels of Dr. Pococke (Cam. Soc. n.s. xlii), i. 96. though three generations of the Strangways family of Melbury and Abbotsbury held the office of high steward till 1727.
