The chief interests in Nottingham were, on the Whig side, those of the Duke of Newcastle, who succeeded the Duke of Kingston as recorder of the borough in 1726, of the corporation, a close body, and of the Dissenters; on the Tory side, those of Lord Middleton, whose estate of Wollaton was close to the town, and of a number of neighbouring country gentlemen.
In 1715 the Whigs at Newark were headed by the Duke of Newcastle, the lord of the manor of Newark; the Tories by Robert Sutton, the last Lord Lexington, who owned the neighbouring estate of Kelham, and Sir Thomas Willoughby, 1st Lord Middleton, who had recently purchased the local property of Sir Matthew Jenison, formerly M.P. for the borough. On Lord Lexington’s death in 1723 his interest passed to his son-in-law, the 3rd Duke of Rutland, whose wife inherited Kelham. After 1736 the vicar of Newark, Dr.
The chief interests at Retford in 1715 were those of the Duke of Newcastle, whose estates surrounded the borough, and of four country gentlemen: two Whigs, Thomas White and John Thornhagh; and two Tories, William Levinz and John Digby. ‘I found Levinz and Jack Digby in possession of it’, Newcastle wrote over half a century later. ‘I soon got in Jack White’s father and have, by degrees, totally got the better of Levinz and Digby’.Newcastle to Rockingham, 17 Nov. 1767, Add. 32987, f. 14. With Newcastle’s support White and his son, John, held one seat continuously from 1715 to 1768.
A large independent trading town, Newcastle always returned members of local merchant families, such as the Blacketts, who held one seat in every Parliament from 1673 to 1777, except in 1705-10, when the head of the family was a minor. From 1715 until 1747 every election was contested, Tories winning both seats, except in 1722, when William Carr, a Whig, was returned with Sir William Blackett. Defeated in 1727 by Blackett and another Tory, Nicholas Fenwick, Carr petitioned on the ground of the partiality of the returning officer. His petition was heard at the bar of the House on 26 Mar.
The patrons of Morpeth were the earls of Carlisle who, as lords of the manor, could restrict the admission of new freemen, reward their supporters by leasing farms to them on favourable terms, and punish recalcitrants by denying them access for their cattle to Cottingwood common, a tract of common land. From 1715 the 3rd Earl was always able to nominate one Member, his son, Lord Morpeth, ‘without expense’. When Morpeth as 4th Earl intimated that he expected the same treatment for Robert Ord, his agent replied:
Apart from the corporation, the chief interest at Berwick was in the Government, derived from the local revenue officers, the garrison and the ordnance. In 1715, 1722 and 1727 the Government carried both seats, but on 24 Nov. 1732 one of the sitting Members, George Liddell, reported to Walpole, that ‘my corporation have named several candidates for a third man, to make some sport, as they call it’.
Under George I the chief interest at Peterborough was in its Whig custos rotulorum, the 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam [I] of Milton, 3½ miles from the city, which he represented from 1710 till his death in 1728. During this period the other seat was held by Charles Parker, of a Tory town family, till 1722, when he was defeated by Sidney Wortley, formerly Montagu, a wealthy Whig coal owner, M.P. Peterborough 1698-1710. The dean and chapter, a pro-government body, appointed the returning officer.
Northampton politics were dominated by two neighbouring families, the Montagus of Horton, earls of Halifax, and the Comptons of Castle Ashby, earls of Northampton. The corporation were an important factor from the power of the mayor and bailiffs as returning officers. In 1715 their patron was the Earl of Halifax, whose family held one seat in every Parliament from 1705 to 1734. The other seat was held by a Tory, William Wykes. In 1722 Wykes was ousted by William Wilmer, a Whig sponsored by Halifax, who rejected a Tory suggestion that he should ‘let his brother and Mr.
Brackley, a town of about 250 houses, was controlled by the dukes of Bridgwater, the lords of the manor, which their family acquired by marriage in 1597. The franchise was vested in the corporation, consisting of the mayor, 6 aldermen and 26 capital burgesses. The mayor, who was the returning officer, was nominated by the lord’s steward out of the aldermen. Vacancies among the aldermen were filled by the corporation out of two capital burgesses nominated respectively by the steward and the mayor.Bridges, Northants. i.
The representation of Thetford was controlled by the owner of the adjoining estate of Euston. In 1715 Euston belonged to the dowager Duchess of Grafton, whose second husband, Sir Thomas Hanmer, nominated two Tories at that election. From 1722 both Members were Whigs, nominated by her son, the 2nd Duke of Grafton, to whom the estate passed on her death in 1723.
