Aldeburgh was virtually a pocket borough of Sir Henry Johnson, the Tory shipbuilder of Blackwall. He owned the manor of Aldeburgh with other estates nearby and was able to return himself and his younger brother William (who himself enjoyed an estate at nearby Sternfield) at every election in this period. The most serious challenge came in 1690, from Sir Edward Turnor*, another Tory, who had put up the previous year but had then withdrawn before the poll.
‘As open as the day and night too’, wrote John Robinson about Sudbury in 1783.Laprade, 77. Every election 1754-90 went to the poll, and the borough had a well-deserved reputation for venality. Though there appears to have been a large Dissenting element in the town, neither religious nor political issues had much weight in its elections.
There were two parties in the borough, the Blues and the Yellows, though what these stood for is not always easy to say. In 1754 Admiral Edward Vernon, who was in opposition to the Pelhams, stood on the Yellow interest; Samuel Kent and Sir Richard Lloyd, supporters of Administration, on the Blue. Newcastle’s electoral survey noted against Ipswich: ‘A strong contest between Lloyd and Vernon—success doubtful.’ But Lloyd declined before the poll.
From 1754 to 1766 Orford was a safe Treasury borough: the number of freemen was deliberately restricted, and the majority of the corporation were absentee placemen. (In 1764 only six out of 21 were resident in Orford, and 18 held places under Government.) Its expenses were paid from secret service funds: £200 a year for the rent of houses which the Crown sub-let to voters, and £100 a year for ‘repairs, taxes, and the expenses of the mayor’s feast’. All the Members from 1754 to 1768 were Treasury nominees.
In 1754 Dunwich was a pocket borough of Sir Jacob Garrard Downing. The number of freemen was restricted and Downing allowed them to live rent-free, but before taking up their freedom compelled them to sign a bond as a guarantee of loyalty. Elections were uncontested and the candidates did not bother to make an appearance.
Eye was a pocket borough of the Cornwallis family, seated at Brome Hall, two miles away. Yet it required careful nursing, and Lord Cornwallis, when in residence, had to keep open house at Brome Hall. He wrote to a friend on 19 Sept. 1784: ‘I am now in the middle of the hurry and bustle of my month at Brome, which is not the pleasantest in the year.’ Though there were no contests during this period, Cornwallis’s control of the borough was by no means secure.
Aldeburgh was a pocket borough of the Fonnereau family; after Thomas Fonnereau’s death in 1779 it seems to have come under the control of his brother-in-law Philip Champion Crespigny. Chauncy Townsend nibbled at the borough in 1768,
Three families, all seated within a few miles of Bury St. Edmunds, contended for the representation of the borough: the Fitzroys, Dukes of Grafton; the Herveys, Earls of Bristol; and the Davers of Rushbrooke. Between 1754 and 1790 the Fitzroys held one seat for 31 years, the Herveys one seat for 17 years and both seats for four years, and the Davers family one seat for 16 years.
Sudbury had defied long-term management by a patron, despite repeated attempts to bring it under control. Since 1747 the borough had been contested at every opportunity and had acquired a reputation for venality.
At the election of 1768 Orford became a pocket borough of Francis Seymour Conway, 1st Earl of Hertford, created a marquess in 1793. He, and from 1794 his heir the 2nd Marquess, remained in unquestioned control throughout this period. The corporation of 12 and the eight portmen, if they chose to create them, were non-resident relatives and friends of the patron. The inhabitants had no say and elections passed ‘without trouble or expense’.PP (1835), xxvi. 2510; Oldfield, Boroughs, ii.