Cumberland

<p>Since 1761 the main theme of Carlisle politics had been the bid of James Lowther, Earl of Lonsdale, to monopolize the representation through control of the corporation. He was opposed in turn by the Duke of Portland, by the Earl of Carlisle and by the Duke of Norfolk, who relied on the independent local gentry opposed to the Lowther interest and the lower order of voters, ever eager for a contest.

<p>At the accession of George I the chief interests in Cockermouth were in the Duke of Somerset, Lord Wharton, and the Lawsons of Isel, each of whom owned estates near the borough. The Duke of Somerset, as lord of the manor, controlled the appointment of the returning officer.</p><p>In 1715 the sitting Members, James Stanhope and Nicholas Lechmere, nominated respectively by Somerset and Wharton, were returned unopposed.

<p>Carlisle lay between the estates of two Whig families, the Howards, earls of Carlisle, who traditionally recommended one Member, and the Lowthers, Viscounts Lonsdale, who normally refrained under George I and George II from competing with the Howards in Carlisle, for fear of reprisals in county elections. The frequent contests arose from the rival claims of three lesser families, the Stanwixes, the Aglionbys, and the Musgraves, to the other seat.</p><p>In 1715 Lord Carlisle recommended William Strickland in conjunction with Thomas Stanwix,<fn>R. S.

<p>The returning officer for Cockermouth was the bailiff, who was appointed in the court leet. Hence from the restoration of the borough in 1641 one of the seats was usually reserved for the nominee of the lords of the manor, the Percy earls of Northumberland and their heirs, who also held many of the burgages.

<p>By the 17th century the corporation of Carlisle, consisting of 12 aldermen (from whom the mayor was elected) and a common council of 20, had come to control the freeman roll, and hence the franchise. The city retained a substantial garrison throughout the period, and the governor often exercised a decisive influence. The cathedral interest cannot have been negligible, especially under Dean (subsequently Bishop) Smith (1672-84), the step-father of <a href="/landingpage/55671" title="Sir George Fletcher" class="link">Sir George Fletcher</a>.

<p>According to an ordinance issued by the ‘commons’ of Carlisle in 1445 and confirmed by the charter of 1566, the city government was vested in the mayor and 11 other ‘worshipful persons’, who should choose 24 ‘able persons’ to join them in electing the mayor.</p><p>As a garrison town and the administrative centre of the west march, Carlisle had a small complement of wardenry officials, under the authority of the warden of the march, who himself resided in the castle there and exercised considerable influence over the town’s affairs.

<p>Carlisle was the military and administrative centre of the west marches and the seat of a bishopric. Leading military engineers were consulted when Henry VIII undertook to re-fortify the city and its eastern counterpart Berwick-upon-Tweed. The area within the walls was largely unoccupied and derelict, and although the city provided a local market its economy rested on the furnishing of the garrison and of the forces assembled there from time to time. The dissolution of the Augustinian priory and the two friaries deprived the citizens of a minor source of income.

<p>Although originally a Roman settlement, Carlisle was not continuously occupied throughout the Dark Ages. It was William Rufus who, in 1092, repaired the fortifications and placed a substantial garrison in the city for defence against the Scots. With the exception of a few years at the beginning of the next century, Carlisle remained directly under the control of the Crown; and its position as a border stronghold moulded its political and economic history for the rest of the Middle Ages and early modern period.

<p>Carlisle, situated on the river Eden about six miles from the north-west coast, had long served as a strategic point on the border with Scotland, as the administrative centre of the West March, and as a port of trade with Ireland. The city&#8217;s governing body, established by an ordinance of 1445 and confirmed on 1 May 1604, consisted of a mayor, 11 other &#8216;worshipful persons&#8217; or aldermen, and 24 councillors.<fn><em>Royal Charters of Carlisle</em> ed. R.S.