Ludlow

Ludlow was entirely under the patronage of Henry Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis, till about 1770 when he sold to Lord Clive his estate of Oakley Park, adjoining the borough. But the two families closely co-operated, and on 7 May 1784, the 2nd Lord Clive married the sister of the 2nd Lord Powis, whose estate she inherited on his death in 1801. Their joint interest in the borough was challenged in 1780 by Thomas Beale (probably of Heath House, Salop, some seven miles from Ludlow): that the threat was treated as serious is evidenced by the correspondence extant in the Powis mss. But a few days before the poll, Beale declined ‘being any longer a candidate’.1J. Congreve to John Probert (Clive’s agent), 12 Sept. 1780, and joint address of Clive and F. Cornewall after their election, Powis mss. Lord Clive and Richard Payne Knight, returned unopposed in 1784, voted with the Opposition; and the Rev. A. Blackburne Rudd, claiming that Ludlow was zealous in support of Pitt, wrote to him, 30 May 1789:2Chatham mss.

A strong party amongst us wishes to emancipate themselves from the iron sway with which they have long been ruled. ... That we can turn out Clive, I am confident, and Mr. Knight will I believe feel his seat in the saddle a little uneasy.

But Ludlow remained a Clive borough, even after 1832.3Namier, Structure, 244-5.