Borough

For most of the period control of Brackley was disputed between the proprietary interests of the Egertons and Wenmans, on the one hand, and the natural interests of the Crews and the Lisles on the other. The Egertons had been lords of the manor since 1592, and the 2nd Earl of Bridgwater was much offended when he learnt on 13 Mar. 1660 that all but six of the corporation had already promised their votes without reference to him. His steward pointed out that the Earl did more than anyone else to ‘support your magistracy’ and that his estate paid the highest rates.

The franchise at Thetford was enjoyed by the corporation, consisting under the Elizabethan charter of the mayor, who acted as returning officer, ten ‘burgesses’ or aldermen, and 20 common councilmen. To the great inconvenience of most of the county it was an assize town; and the proximity of the sporting delights of Newmarket and Thetford Chase ensured a strong gentry interest in a town that was otherwise little more than a posting station and a cluster of medieval ruins on the Norwich road.

A large, open constituency, Norwich appears to have shared the moderate political and religious views of its most celebrated resident, Sir Thomas Browne, and his friend and neighbour Augustine Briggs, whose only handicap as a candidate was his reluctance to ‘ride’ in the procession which local custom required before as well as after the election.

The flourishing port of Lynn served as regional capital for the conservative Marshland of West Norfolk. Its confidence and prosperity in this period are attested by such buildings as the Exchange (now the Custom House) and the Duke’s Head, and further by the return of at least one townsman at every election after the dissolution of the Cavalier Parliament. The town had suffered severely at the hands of the parliamentary forces in 1643, and the franchise had been restricted to the purged corporation under the Protectorate.

‘The multitude’ at Yarmouth had shown unmistakable royalist sympathies during the second Civil War, and, though the freeman roll did not rise above 600 in a population of many thousands, it was thought wise during the Protectorate to restrict the franchise to the corporation, which under the guidance of the recorder Miles Corbet (the regicide) was purged of all except Independents.

Castle Rising was a pocket borough of the Howard family, though they were usually content to nominate to a single seat. The dukes of Norfolk were lords of the manor, and most of the burgages which carried the franchise were held by their dependants and nominees. The 5th duke was a lunatic, and until 1679 the family interest was exercised by his brother Henry Howard, a Roman Catholic. On 19 Apr. 1660 it was reported that his distant cousin Charles Howard of Naworth had been elected to the Convention for Rising with the Presbyterian Royalist John Spelman.

Monmouth itself was regarded as dependent on the Raglan Castle interest, but the contributory boroughs were less subservient, though their rights were disputable. No return survives for 1660, when Sir Trevor Williams, subsequently a leading opponent of the Somersets, was elected. His interest was strongest in Usk, and in 1661 Sir George Probert was returned by the mayor, bailiffs and ‘burgesses’ of the county town alone.

The city of Westminster, as the administrative capital of the kingdom, the principal residence of the sovereign, and the usual venue of Parliament, enjoyed a peculiar status. The dean of Westminster appointed a high steward, who for most of the period was the loyal Duke of Ormonde, and together they nominated the corporation, consisting of 12 ‘burgesses’ and 12 assistants, and the high bailiff, who acted as returning officer. The high steward also appointed a deputy for judicial purposes.

The principal interest at Stamford lay with the Cecil earls of Exeter, whose vast Elizabethan mansion at Burleigh dominated the town. They owned much property in the borough, including the feefarm rent and the advowsons of five parish churches. Their tenure of the recordership was interrupted by the Interregnum, but normally gave them considerable influence over the corporation, which in turn controlled the freeman roll.

Under a charter of 1628 the corporation of Lincoln consisted of the mayor, 12 aldermen, two sheriffs (who acted as returning officers) and between 25 and 30 common councilmen. The freedom of the city appears to have been liberally granted at times of political excitement, and was doubtless a factor in the long domination of Sir Thomas Meres and the Monson family from the Restoration to the Revolution.