Commons 1820-1832

Carmarthenshire was comprised of eight hundreds (Carnwallon, Carthinog, Cayo, Derllys, Elvet, Iskennen, Kidwelly and Perfedd) and the chief towns were the county town and borough of Carmarthen, Llandovery, Kidwelly, Llandeilo, Llanelli, Llandybie, Newcastle Emlyn and St. Clears. Parl. Gazetteer of England and Wales (1844), i. 379. Areas rich in coal, iron and lead had undergone substantial industrialization in the eighteenth century, but by 1830 the population in many districts was in decline. L.J.

In 1832 the boundary commissioners reported that Petersfield had ‘but little trade, and any consequence which it possesses arises entirely from its lying on the high road from London to Portsmouth, and from its returning at present two Members of Parliament’. Ibid. (1831-2), xl. 211-3. This privilege had for many years been monopolized by the family of Hylton Jolliffe of Merstham, Surrey, the borough’s patron since 1802.

The Border county of Dumfriesshire was mostly given over to arable agriculture, but it had significant coal and mineral deposits and there was extensive and varied textile manufacturing. In addition to the royal burghs of Dumfries, Annan, Lochmaben and Sanquhar, the principal settlements were Ecclefechan, Langholm, Lockerbie, Moffat, Moniave and Thornhill.Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1895), ii. 397-400. The most powerful interest was that of the dukes of Buccleuch of Drumlanrig Castle, near Thornhill.

Mallow, a market town and watering place on the north bank of the River Blackwater, had a ‘lucrative trade’ in the manufacture of candles, soap, blankets and flannel. A corporation of a provost, 12 free burgesses and commonalty had been established by charter in 1612, but had quickly fallen ‘into disuse’, leaving the seneschal of the manor to govern the town.

The thriving university and market town of Oxford, whose freeman electorate, reflecting a rapidly growing population, increased by about half in this period, was contested at nine of 13 elections between 1790 and 1831. From 1819 to 1831 there were 1,035 new admissions: 348 (34 per cent) by apprenticeship, 522 (50) by birth, and 155 (16) by purchase. In the election years of 1820, 1826 and 1830 there were 171, 127 and 283 admissions respectively; while in 1825, when the office of town clerk was contested, there were 237. In non-election years, the average number of admissions was 24.

Warwick was dominated physically by its Castle overlooking the River Avon and politically and proprietarily by its lord, the anti-Catholic Tory and placeman Henry Richard Greville, 3rd earl of Warwick, borough recorder since 1816 and from 1822 the county lord lieutenant. HP Commons, 1790-1820, iv.

Ironically, since it was to be the scene of his triumph in the famous Clare by-election, Daniel O’Connell* found Ennis, which lay in the parish of Drumcliff, unwelcoming and depressing on his visits as a barrister at the assizes.O’Connell Corresp. i. 152. Reckoned to be one of the most dismal county towns in Ireland, it was reported by the Scot Robert Graham of Redgorton in 1835 to consist mainly ‘of a string of wretched looking cabins on both sides of the entries to the town’.

The county town and Tayside port of Perth, whose population (burgh only) rose from 19,068 in 1821 to 20,016 in 1831, served an important agricultural and textile manufacturing district and was known for its salmon fishing, distilleries, ginghams, shawls and muslins. The council of 26 was dominated by its 14 guildry men, whose collective votes under the so-called ‘beautiful order’ required them to comply with the wishes of their majority, so giving them an automatic majority over the 12 trades councillors.

Newcastle-under-Lyme, long ‘famous for the manufacture of hats’ under an incorporated company of felt makers, had a flourishing clothing industry employing some 1,587 families, but the ‘welfare or adversity’ of the surrounding Potteries also affected its ‘trade and prosperity’. Staffs. Dir. (1834), 652; Oldfield, Rep. Hist. (1816), iv. 508; PP (1833), xxxvii. 600; Pigot’s Commercial Dir.