in the freemen
Qualified electors: no more than 20
| Date | Candidate | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 21 June 1790 | FRANCIS SEYMOUR CONWAY, Visct. Beauchamp | |
| HON. WILLIAM SEYMOUR CONWAY | ||
| 7 July 1794 | LORD ROBERT SEYMOUR vice Beauchamp (Earl of Yarmouth), called to the Upper House | |
| 26 May 1796 | LORD ROBERT SEYMOUR | |
| HON. ROBERT STEWART | ||
| 31 July 1797 | FRANCIS CHARLES SEYMOUR CONWAY, Earl of Yarmouth, Earl of Yarmouth, vice Stewart (Visct. Castlereagh), vacated his seat | |
| 7 July 1802 | LORD ROBERT SEYMOUR | |
| JAMES TRAIL | ||
| 1 Nov. 1806 | LORD ROBERT SEYMOUR | |
| LORD HENRY SEYMOUR MOORE | ||
| 6 May 1807 | LORD ROBERT SEYMOUR | |
| LORD HENRY SEYMOUR MOORE | ||
| 27 July 1807 | WILLIAM SLOANE vice Seymour, chose to sit for Carmarthenshire | |
| 22 Feb. 1808 | MOORE re-elected after appointment to office | |
| 7 Oct. 1812 | CHARLES ARBUTHNOT | |
| EDMOND ALEXANDER MACNAGHTEN | ||
| 24 Apr. 1813 | MACNAGHTEN re-elected after appointment to office | |
| 18 June 1818 | EDMOND ALEXANDER MACNAGHTEN | |
| JOHN DOUGLAS | ||
| 29 Mar. 1819 | MACNAGHTEN re-elected after appointment to office |
At the election of 1768 Orford became a pocket borough of Francis Seymour Conway, 1st Earl of Hertford, created a marquess in 1793. He, and from 1794 his heir the 2nd Marquess, remained in unquestioned control throughout this period. The corporation of 12 and the eight portmen, if they chose to create them, were non-resident relatives and friends of the patron. The inhabitants had no say and elections passed ‘without trouble or expense’.1PP (1835), xxvi. 2510; Oldfield, Boroughs, ii. 534. The Hertfords returned members of the family or reliable friends as a rule, but in 1812 and 1818 the 2nd Marquess complimented his friend the Prince Regent with one seat and offered the other seat to government if they provided for MacNaghten, whom he had brought over from Antrim to accommodate his son there. Moreover, he had contemplated giving the premier Pitt a nomination in 1804, in preference to one of his nephews, had a vacancy arisen then,2Egerton 3260, f. 119. and in 1818 did not return his own heir.