Malton

<p>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.<a class='fnlink' id='t1' href='#fn1'>1<span>E. A. Smith, ‘Earl Fitzwilliam and Malton’, <em>EHR</em>, lxxx. 51-70.</span></a> In 1715 he returned himself and his son, defeating a former Whig Member, who petitioned, along with some of the electors, on the ground that the returning officer had polled persons without a right to vote, including some ‘living without the borough, pretending to be freeholders [?freemen] within the said borough’.<a class='fnlink' id='t2' href='#fn2'>2<span><em>CJ</em>, xviii. 33-34.</span></a> The petitions were withdrawn. Thenceforth Wentworth nominees were returned unopposed.</p>