In the 1715 Parliament one seat was held by Sir Richard Child, later Lord Castlemaine, a Tory who went over to the Whigs, the other successively by two Whigs, Midleton and Honywood. From 1722 the representation was divided between a Whig and a Tory till 1734, when two Tories were returned after a contest with Castlemaine’s son, standing as a Whig. At the county meeting before the 1741 election Martin Bladen reported, 17 July 1740:
The Tories ... started their old Members, Abdy and Bramston, to which the Whigs demurred, in hopes of finding two others, to put up on the opposite side. But where to find them yet remains a difficulty.
No Whig candidates materializing, two Tories were returned unopposed in 1741 and 1747.
Number of voters: about 6000