County

The predominant interests in the county of Gloucester were those of the Beaufort and Berkeley families. The natural rivalry which existed between them was sharpened by the fact that the Beauforts had a Tory tradition and the Berkeleys a Whig. There was also a curious parallel. The fourth Earl of Berkeley died in 1755, leaving a son aged 10; the fourth Duke of Beaufort died a year later, leaving a son aged 12. The rivalry between these sons dictated the pattern of Gloucestershire politics for a generation.

There was no dominant aristocratic influence in the county; not one son of a peer is to be found among the Essex knights of the shire 1754-90; eight country gentlemen represented the county during that period; and not one of them is known to have spoken in the House.

The two most powerful electoral interests in the county were those of Lord Darlington and the bishop of Durham. One seat was readily conceded by the county to the Vane family, but when on the death of George Bowes, 17 Sept. 1760, Darlington tried to recommend also to the other seat, he met with strong opposition from Lord Ravensworth and many other influential families in the county. Before Bowes had died, Darlington wrote on 7 Sept.

There was no contest for the county of Dorset during this period, and Members were sure of a long tenure. At the dissolution of 1754 the Members were George Pitt and George Chaffin. Pitt, first returned in 1747, succeeded in establishing his family’s claim to one seat, and it was held in turn by his son and cousin until 1826. Chaffin, the other Member, was 65 years of age, and there was doubt whether he would stand again. Two other candidates came forward.

Devon was completely controlled by the country gentlemen. The size of the county discouraged contests, and there were none during this period. Once elected, Members were sure of an uninterrupted tenure: of the six Members for the county 1754-90, three sat until they died, the other three until they were given peerages.

One seat was always held by a Cavendish, the other usually by a country gentleman. The only contest of this period, that of 1768, was between two country gentlemen—the Cavendish seat was not in dispute, and the family were neutral. Lord Frederick wrote to the young Duke of Devonshire (who was on his grand tour) on 17 Nov. 1767:Devonshire mss.

Sir James Lowther, 5th Bt., was the largest landowner in Cumberland and its chief political figure; the Earl of Carlisle, the Duke of Portland, and the Earl of Egremont were next in extent of territorial influence; and there was a number of gentry families whose co-operation in election matters was important. Before 1754 contests were rarer in Cumberland than in most other counties, and the practice of holding a county meeting to select candidates fell into disuse.

The last election before 1772 to go to the poll was in 1710. Both Sir Robert Walpole and Henry Pelham discouraged giving any opposition to the Tory country gentlemen in the choice of knights of the shire for fear of their retaliating in the boroughs; and the representation of the county remained uncontested in the inter-married Tory families of Carew, Molesworth, St. Aubyn and Buller. An attempt to break through their quasi-monopoly was made in 1753 when Admiral Edward Boscawen promoted a third Tory candidate, Robert Hoblyn, who, however, was soon withdrawn.See BOSCAWEN, Hon.

Cheshire contained only one borough which sent Members to Parliament, and the county representation was monopolized by the country gentlemen.

Cambridgeshire was dominated by the aristocratic families of Yorke and Manners. ‘I know of no county in England’, wrote the Bishop of Ely, ‘where there is so great a scarcity of gentlemen fit to represent a county as in Cambridgeshire.’Add. 35680, f. 250. The sitting Members at the dissolution in 1754 were Philip Yorke (subsequently Viscount Royston), and Soame Jenyns, a client of the Yorkes. But when Lord Granby, heir to the dukedom of Rutland, declared himself a candidate, Jenyns withdrew, and Yorke and Granby were returned unopposed, as also at the general election of 1761.