Hythe

Hythe was controlled by the Duke of Dorset, lord warden of the Cinque Ports, who used the patronage of that office and of the Treasury to support his private interest.1Namier & Brooke, i. 447. His son, the second Duke, wrote of Hythe to the Duke of Grafton in 1767:

My father for many years contested it while parties ran high, with the Tories of that place; he by degree established his interest in it, and the Whigs prevailed.2Germain mss.

The Tories in question were Sir Philip Boteler of Barham Court, M.P. Hythe 1690-1708, his brother, John Boteler, M.P. Hythe 1701-15, and his brother-in-law, Jacob des Bouverie, M.P. Hythe 1695-1700 and 1713-22. In 1715 Bouverie was re-elected after a contest, but John Boteler was ousted by a government candidate, Sir Samuel Lennard. Thereafter all Members returned were ministerialists, from 1728 without opposition. In the 2nd Lord Egmont’s electoral survey, c.1749-50, Hythe is described as ‘in the Crown’.