Higham Ferrers was, to quote Oldfield, ‘under the sole influence and at the entire disposal of Earl Fitzwilliam; on which account a contest for the representation never happens’.Oldfield, Boroughs, i. 434. There was no contest between 1724 and 1832, when the borough was disfranchised.
No attempt was made in this period to seduce the corporation of Brackley from their patron Francis, 3rd Duke of Bridgwater, whose family the Egertons had been associated with the borough for nearly two centuries. The duke returned his cousin and coheir John William Egerton, and Samuel Haynes, the latter’s father-in-law, again in 1790: like him they were supporters of Pitt’s administration. Haynes retired late in 1802 in favour of the duke’s canal agent Bradshaw.
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 nomination of the returning officer for Peterborough was in dispute between the Earl of Exeter, as lord of the hundred of Nassaburgh, and the dean and chapter, as lords of the city. The latter interest was replaced during the Interregnum by those of the St. John and Orme families, who occupied most of the property in the soke and the city, respectively. At the general election of 1660 Humphrey Orme was returned unopposed, but for the other seat there was a double return of Lord le Despenser, heir to the principal landowner in the eastern division of Northamptonshire, and Francis St.
Few constituencies had a more turbulent history than Northampton, at least in the opening years of this period. This was partly due to the existence of an ‘obstinate and numerous’ body of sectaries in the town, partly to the efforts of the corporation to retain the exclusive franchise which they had arrogated to themselves early in the 16th century. This body fluctuated somewhat in number, but in 1674 consisted of 13 aldermen, 26 bailiffs and 48 ‘burgesses’.
All the candidates for Higham Ferrers in this period were resident within the county, except Dacres and Rudd, and they owned property in the town. Under the charter of 1556, the franchise was granted to the mayor, aldermen and ‘burgesses’ but whether this was limited to the ‘select burgesses’, i.e. the corporation, was subject to interpretation. Both candidates in 1660 had previously been elected for the borough, Dacres as long ago as 1626, Harby as a recruiter.
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.
Higham Ferrers, a small market town incorporated in 1556, was part of the duchy of Lancaster. During this period, the town was governed by the mayor, seven aldermen and 13 capital burgesses. There was also a steward of the borough, a duchy official, who among other duties, heard each new mayor’s oath of office. The borough had the right to send one burgess to each Parliament.