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The Making of a Pocket Borough: Cockermouth 1722-1756

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2014

J.V. Beckett
J.V. Beckett*
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
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Extract

In the last week of September 1756, Sir James Lowther of Lowther, the famous eighteenth-century boroughmonger, spent more than 58,000 pounds securing 134 burgages in the parliamentary borough of Cockermouth. When added to the twenty-four he already possessed this gave him more than half the total. As a result, he was recognized thereafter as being able to return both members for the borough. The Earl of Egremont, whose family had held the strongest interest since the borough was restored in 1641 to the ancient privilege of returning two members to parliament, was completely eclipsed. His younger brother, Percy Wyndham O'Brien, who had been returned with his support in 1754, retreated to Minehead at the 1761 election. Cockermouth was not contested again before the 1832 Reform Act, and its two members were counted among Lowther's famous ninepins.

Pocket boroughs were one result of the oligarchic structure that came to characterize English political life by the middle of the eighteenth century. The vigorous party struggles of Queen Anne's reign had melted away following the eclipse of the Tories and the passing in 1716 of the Septennial Act. In its place came the long Whig ascendancy, a period of political torpor that rendered burgage boroughs, in the words of Sir Lewis Namier, “predestined to become pocket boroughs.” Longer parliaments pushed up the cost of election contests, which in consequence became less frequent. If one did take place and the result was close, the inflated cost of canvassing was likely to be compounded by the near certainty of a petition.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of British Studies , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , Fall 1980 , pp. 140 - 157
Copyright
Copyright © North American Conference of British Studies 1980

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References

I should like to thank Dr. Paul Langford for his helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.

1 Two members were returned in 1295. Bean, W.W., The Parliamentary Representation of the Six Northern Counties of England (Hull, 1890), p. 63Google Scholar.

2 SirNamier, Lewis, The Structure of Politics, 2nd ed. (London, 1957), pp. 75–76Google Scholar.

3 This type of franchise was vulnerable to abuse, with burgages being subdivided as a means of enlarging the voting roll. At Cockermouth, 184 voters were “qualified” in 1701, but by 1745 the number had risen to “about 300 votes … of which between thirty and forty are generally under incapacity of voting as being minors or in trust &, so that there remains about 260.” In 1756 the number was put at 277. Subdivision raised the question of whether a vote was “good,” because “no particular method of authenticating the votes” was practiced. On occasion, the returning officer is known to have allowed some dubious votes in order to secure the Duke of Somerset's interest. Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle (hereafter C.R.O.), John Spedding to Sir James Lowther, March 22,1745, Lonsdale MSS (D/Lons/W). (This collection of letters is cited hereafter as “Lowther to Spedding” or vice versa.) Cockermouth Castle MSS (Leconfield Papers), Thomas Simpson to the Earl of Egremont, August 9,1753, September 27,1756, Box 170. (All later citations to this collection of documents are made by their call mark of D/Lec.)

4 Namier, L. and Brooke, J. (eds.), The House of Commons 1754-1790 (hereafter Commons 1754-1790) (London, 1964), I, pp. 33–34Google Scholar.

5 Sedgwick, R. (ed.), The House of Commons 1715-1754 (hereafter Commons 1715-1754) (London, 1970)Google Scholar. Commons 1754-1790.

6 Commons 1715-1754, I, pp. 222–23Google Scholar. Commons 1754-1790, I, pp. 247–48Google Scholar.

7 Bonsall, B., Sir James Lowther and Cumberland and Westmorland Elections 1754-1775 (hereafter Cumberland and Westmorland Elections) (Manchester, 1960), pp. 37–43Google Scholar.

8 Commons 1754-1790, I, p. 396Google Scholar. This assertion is based on a survey of entries in the History of Parliament volumes relating to burgage boroughs.

9 Carswell, John, The Old Cause (London, 1954), pp. 28–127Google Scholar. For an account of Cockermouth elections in the early years of the eighteenth century, see Hopkinson, R., “The Electorate of Cumberland and Westmorland in the Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries,” Northern History, XV (1979), pp. 96–116CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 C.R.O. Additional Accounts, July 22-August 19, 1721, Lonsdale MSS (D/Lons/L). D/Lec/27/94. Henry, third Viscount Lonsdale (1694-1751), had the foremost political influence in Cumberland and Westmorland at this time.

11 Sir Wilfrid Lawson (1697-1737) owned property at Isel, near Cockermouth, and represented Boroughbridge, Yorkshire, 1718-1722. From 1727 he was one of the leading opposition Whigs, and he spoke frequently in the House of Commons. Commons, 1715-1754, II, pp. 200–201Google Scholar.

12 The election results were as follows:

.

13 Sir James Lowther (1673-1755) was member for Carlisle 1694-1702, Cumberland 1708-1722, 1727-1755, and Appleby 1723-1727. From 1734 he and his distant cousin Lord Lonsdale virtually decided the Cumberland nomination between them. Lowther was a distant cousin of Sir James Lowther of Lowther (1736-1802) who was to inherit his estates and buy up Cockermouth in 1756.

14 Lowther to Spedding, October 30, 1744.

15 Commons 1754-1790, I, p. 31Google Scholar. I have extracted the electorate sizes from individual constituency entries in the History of Parliament volumes.

16 Spedding to Lowther, February 22, 1745.

17 Commons 1715-1754, I, pp. 335, 363Google Scholar.

18 C.R.O. James Lowther to William Gilpin, June 8, 1710, Lonsdale MSS (D/Lons/W).

19 C.R.O. James Lowther to William Gilpin, April 10, 1711, Lonsdale MSS (D/Lons/W).

20 D/Lec/27/76. H.M.C., Lonsdale MSS, pp. 246–47Google Scholar. Tickell, R.E., Thomas Tickell and the Eighteenth-Century Poets 1685-1740 (London, 1931), p. 86Google Scholar.

21 D/Lec/271. Spedding to Lowther, December 2, 1722.

22 J. Christian to T. Elder, January 20, 1724, D/Lec/170.

23 Spedding to Lowther, April 28, 1727.

24 C.R.O. “1737 Isel Deeds,” Lawson MSS. Lawson was in financial difficulties from the time of the South Sea Bubble in 1720. Lowther described him after his death as “indebted to everybody he could squeeze money from,” and attributed the trouble to “vanity and elections,” (to Spedding, November 3, 1737). Some years later he warned that “there will always be folks like Sir Wilfrid Lawson wanting to be in parliament to raise great fortunes, though most of them find themselves deceived,” (to Spedding, April 13, 1751).

25 Lowther to Spedding, December 14, 1727; December 19, 1734.

26 Lowther to Spedding, November 9, 1752; August 10, 1723. C.R.O. Estate Ledger 1723-1737, f. 212, Lonsdale MSS (D/Lons/W).

27 B.L. Lord Lonsdale to the Duke of Newcastle, July 26, 1733, Add. MS 32, 688, f. 34.

28 ? to T. Elder, October 23, 1733, D/Lec/107.

29 C.R.O. Sir James Lowther to Richard Baynes, November 22, 1733, D/Ben/ Strays.

30 Lowther to Spedding, January 3, 1734; December 11, 18, 22, 1733.

31 D/Lec/26/6. C.R.O. Estate Ledger 1723-1737, f. 196, Lonsdale MSS (D/Lons/W).

32 Lowther to Spedding, May 8, 1736.

33 Lowther to Spedding, April 19, 1737.

34 Lowther to Spedding, November 3, 1737. Mordaunt sat from 1761 until 1768 by courtesy of Sir James Lowther of Lowther. The Lawsons were never a political force in Cockermouth again. Sir Wilfrid was succeeded by his two sons, Wilfrid and Mordaunt, in turn. Neither achieved majority and on the death of the latter in 1743 the estate passed to Gilfrid Lawson of Brayton, who had represented Cumberland in 1700, 1702, and 1708-1734. On his death in 1749 the baronetcy passed to his brother Alfred (d. 1752), and then to Alfred's son Wilfrid (d. 1762). The baronetcy thus passed through five different hands in the fifteen years after Sir Wilfrid's death in 1737. G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, IV, 1665–1707, pp. 147–48Google Scholar. John Mordaunt (1697-1780) entered the army in 1721, and rose to become lieutenant colonel in 1731, colonel in 1741, brigadier general in 1745, major general in 1747, lieutenant general in 1754, and finally general in 1770. He was court-martialed in 1757 after the unsuccessful expedition to Rochefort, but was acquitted. D.N.B.

35 J. Christian to T. Elder, March 28, 1745, D/Lec/170. Lowther to Spedding, June 7, 1744; October 11, 1739. Spedding to Lowther, July 15, 1744.

36 Spedding to Lowther, April 15, 1744. Lowther to Spedding, July 30, 1737, January 15, 1743, March 20, May 24, July 24, 1744.

37 Mr. Webb to the Duke of Somerset, June 20, 1738, D/Lec/170. Spedding to Lowther, October 22, 1740, August 24, October 10, 1744. Kaye, J.W., “Governor's House, Keswick,” Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 2nd series, LXVI (1966), pp. 339–46Google Scholar.

38 Lowther to Spedding, October 30, 1744.

39 Spedding to Lowther, October 24, 1744, February 10, 1745. Lowther's burgage transactions are recorded in the 1754 Estate Account, C.R.O. Lonsdale MSS (D/Lons/W).

40 Spedding to Lowther, March 6, 22, April 3, May 19, June 16, 21, 1745.

41 C.R.O. Canvass Book, 1746, Lonsdale MSS (D/Lons/W). No Lowther correspondence has survived for the period June 1745 through March 1746.

42 J. Christian to T. Elder, March 28, 1745, D/Lec/170.

43 T. Simpson to T. Elder, June 7, 1746, D/Lec/170.

44 T. Simpson to T. Elder, June 26, 1746, D/Lec/170.

45 T. Simpson to T. Elder, July 10, 1746, D/Lec/170. Simpson put the number of Fletcher's votes at 25, but the poll book shows 26.

46 T. Simpson to T. Elder, October 9, 25, 1746, D/Lec/170.

47 Lowther to Spedding, November 27, December 18, 1746.

48 T. Simpson to T. Elder, September 22, 1746, D/Lec/170.

49 T. Simpson to T. Elder, October 9, 1746, D/Lec/170.

50 T. Simpson to T. Elder, January 22, February 26, 1747.

51 D/Lec/26/29.

52 Commons 1715-1754, II, p. 226Google Scholar. Speck, W.A., Stability and Strife (London, 1977), pp. 251–52Google Scholar. C.R.O. Catherine Orfeur to John Spedding, March 22, 1747, Lonsdale MSS (D/Lons/W), Misc. Corresp., bundle 42.

53 T. Elder to T. Simpson, June 19, 1747, D/Lec/170.

54 R. Baynes to T. Elder, June 25, 1747, D/Lec/170.

55 Lowther to Spedding, June 22, 1747.

56 Lowther to Spedding, June 27, 1747.

57 E. Christian to T. Elder, June 29, 1747, D/Lec/170.

58 Lowther to Spedding, June 30, 1747.

59 H.M.C. Lonsdale MSS, p. 127Google Scholar.

60 John Christian to T. Elder, July 18, 1747.

61 C.R.O. Catherine Orfeur to John Spedding, July 5, 1747, Lonsdale MSS (D/Lons/W), Misc. Corresp., bundle 42.

62 J. Stevenson to T. Elder, December 15, 1747, D/Lec/170.

63 D/Lec/26/29.

64 T. Simpson to T. Elder, December 9, 1747, D/Lec/170.

65 Lowther to Spedding, December 8, 1747.

66 The eighteen burgages presumably included the seven that Somerset is known to have purchased between 1732 and 1741 (D/Lec/27/109, 26/14, 20, 24), although Wyndham, H.A., A Family History 1688-1837 (hereafter A Family History) (London, 1950), p. 120Google Scholar, implies that the sixth duke had inherited all eighteen.

67 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, XII, pt. 1, p. 81Google Scholar.

68 Lowther to Spedding, May 14, 1752.

69 Lowther to Spedding, April 14, May 26, September 29, 1750.

70 Lowther to Spedding, October 9, 1750.

71 According to A Family History, p. 120, the duke bought eight burgages for 685 pounds between 1744 and 1747. The Leconfield accounts show only five purchases for that amount, two in November 1744, one in February 1747, and two in April 1747. The mistake is an important one because it leads Wyndham to conclude that the seventy purchases between 1752 and 1754 produced a total of seventy-eight burgages, whereas Simpson stated (to Elder, September 27, 1756) that Egremont had only seventy-five.

72 Lowther to Spedding, April 9, 1751. P. How to T. Elder, November 8, 1751, D/Lec/170.

73 Lowther to Spedding, April 6, 1751.

74 Lowther to Spedding, May 14, 1752.

75 Rev. T. Jefferson to T. Elder, October 22, 1752, D/Lec/170.

76 Lowther to Spedding, January 23, 1753.

77 Lowther to Spedding, November 8, 10, December 15, 1753. T. Simpson to T. Elder, February 14, 1754, to the Earl of Egremont, August 2, 9, October 6, 1753, D/Lec/170. Cumberland and Westmorland Elections, pp. 13-14.

78 Lowther to Spedding, November 3, 1753.

79 Lowther to Spedding, November 29, 1753.

80 Lowther to Spedding, January 3, 1754.

81 Lowther to Spedding, December 15, 1753.

82 Lowther to Spedding, March 16, 1754.

83 Lowther to Spedding, February 28, March 26, November 30, 1754. Commons 1754-1790, I, p. 247Google Scholar.

84 T. Simpson to T. Elder, January 10, 1756, D/Lec/170. Cumberland and Westmorland Elections, pp. 37-38.

85 J. Christian to the Earl of Egremont, November 20, 1755. T. Simpson to T. Elder, October 2, 1756, D/Lec/170. There is a copy of Sir William's will among the papers of Mr. and Mrs. O.R. Bagot at Levens Hall, near Kendal, Cumbria (reference 13/73). C.R.O. Katherine Lowther to Sir James Lowther, July 12, 27, 1756, Lonsdale MSS (D/Lons/L) Check List 32.

86 There is a copy of the “Address” among the Leconfield papers. T. Simpson to T. Elder, May 24, June 26, 1756, D/Lec/170.

87 W. Clementson to the Earl of Egremont, September 18, 1756, D/Lec/170.

88 T. Simpson to the Earl of Egremont, September 22, 1756, D/Lec/170.

89 T. Simpson to the Earl of Egremont, September 25, 1756, T. Elder to T. Simpson, November 29, 1758, D/Lec/170.

90 This account is compiled from the letters of Simpson, Clementson, and Baynes to Elder and Egremont in September and October 1756, D/Lec/170.

91 C.R.O. Sir James Lowther to Katherine Lowther, October 27, 1756, Lonsdale MSS (D/Lons/L) Check List 32.

92 T. Simpson to T. Elder, October 4, 1756, D/Lec/170.

93 Commons 1754-1790, I, pp. 405–06Google Scholar. Appleby had been divided between Lowther's predecessors and the Earl of Thanet. The latter broke the agreement in 1754, which resulted in an expensive election. Petitions followed, with a compromise eventually being hammered out in February 1756. An extended account of the issue is given in Cumberland and Westmorland Elections, chap. II.

94 Commons 1715-1754, I, pp. 335, 361Google Scholar. Commons 1754-1790, pp. 384-85. Cumberland and Westmorland Elections, p. 34.

95 T. Simpson to T. Elder, October 1, 1756, D/Lec/170.