The eight boroughs were controlled by four Tory patrons, as lords of the respective manors: Swansea and Loughor by the dukes of Beaufort; Neath and Aberavon by the Mackworths of Gnoll; Kenfig by the Mansels of Margam; and Cardiff, Cowbridge and Llantrisant by the Windsors of Cardiff Castle. The dominant interest was Lord Windsor’s, but until his son, Herbert, came of age, and took the seat in 1734, he acquiesced in the nominations of the Mansels, who since 1689 had controlled the representation, with the consent of the other patrons.Ll. B. John, ‘Parl. Rep. Glam. 1536-1832’ (Univ.

Until 1734 Glamorgan was controlled by an alliance of three Tory peers, the Duke of Beaufort, Lord Windsor, and Lord Mansel. The Mansels represented it uninterruptedly from 1670 to 1712, when, in the absence of a Mansel candidate the alliance secured the unopposed election of a local Tory squire, Robert Jones, and on his death of another, Sir Charles Kemys. On the death of Kemys, Bussy Mansel, the then Lord Mansel’s uncle, was defeated by a Whig candidate, William Talbot, son of the lord chancellor, whose wife had inherited an estate in the county.

In 1715 Sir John Conway was returned unopposed for Flint Boroughs under an agreement made by the leading Tory families of the county.See FLINTSHIRE. On his death in 1721 he was succeeded by another Tory, Thomas Eyton, who was unsuccessfully opposed by a Whig in 1722.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century the representation of Flintshire was shared by the heads of its leading Tory families, Sir Thomas Hanmer, Sir John Conway and Sir Roger Mostyn, under agreements ratified at county meetings.

In the early eighteenth century Ruthin was dominated by the Myddeltons of Chirk Castle, Tories, and Holt by the Cottons of Lleweni, Whigs. These two families contended for supremacy in Denbigh till 1715, when it passed under the control of the Myddeltons, whose candidate defeated the sitting Member John Wynne of Melai, previously returned on the Cotton interest.

At George I’s accession the predominant interest in Denbighshire was that of the Myddeltons of Chirk Castle, Tories, whose head, Sir Richard Myddelton, represented the county from 1685 till his death in 1716. At the ensuing by-election the seat was wrested from them by Watkin Williams, later Williams Wynn, a Jacobite, who was again successful after a contest in 1722, and unopposed in 1727.

For over a century the representation of Carmarthen was almost monopolized by the Vaughans of Golden Grove, Whigs, whose family represented it in most Parliaments from 1621. This hegemony came to an end with the death in 1724 of Richard Vaughan, who had held the seat since 1685. He was succeeded by James Phillips, the son of a local alderman, who was defeated in 1727 by Arthur Bevan, recorder of the borough.

During the seventeenth century both the shire and borough of Carmarthen were dominated by the Vaughans of Golden Grove. In 1713 the male line of the main branch of the family ended with the death of the 3rd Earl of Carbery. His only daughter and heiress married the Marquess of Winchester, who was returned as a Whig in 1715. He vacated his seat on being summoned to the House of Lords in 1717, thus clearing the way for other local families to assert old or new claims to a share in the county representation.

The chief interest in Cardigan Boroughs was that of the Pryses of Gogerddan, Tories, who controlled Cardigan and Aberystwyth; Tregaron was controlled by the Powells of Nanteos, also Tories; and Lampeter by the Lloyds of Peterswell, Whigs. Up to 1729 Tories were returned without a contest except in 1725, when Thomas Pryse of Dol unsuccessfully attempted to take advantage of a minority in the Gogerddan family to secure his own return by arranging for a mass admission of freemen at Aberystwyth.W. Powell to Mr.

The Cardiganshire Whigs were headed by the Lisburnes of Crosswood and Thomas Johnes of Llanfair; the Tories by the Pryses of Gogerddan and the Powells of Nanteos. In 1715 Lewis Pryse defeated the sitting Member, Johnes, but was expelled for contempt in 1716. At the ensuing by-election and in 1722 Tories were returned with the support of the Gogerddan and Nanteos interests.Lewis Pryse to Wm. Powell, 30 Oct. 1714; O. Brigstocke to Wm. Powell, 6 Jan. 1717; F. Cornwallis to Wm. Powell, 7 Apr. and 23 Nov.