Boroughbridge

Borough

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Background Information

Right of Election:

in burgage holders

Number of voters:

64

Elections

DateCandidate
2 Feb. 1715RICHARD STEELE
 THOMAS WILKINSON
 Sir Bryan Stapylton
31 Jan. 1718SIR WILFRID LAWSON vice Wilkinson, appointed to office
 John Stapylton
18 June 1720LAWSON re-elected after appointment to office
26 Mar. 1722CONYERS DARCY
 JAMES TYRRELL
24 Oct. 1722JOSEPH DANVERS vice Darcy, chose to sit for Richmond
19 Aug. 1727JAMES TYRRELL
 GEORGE GREGORY
29 Apr. 1734JAMES TYRRELL
 GEORGE GREGORY
7 May 1741JAMES TYRRELL
 GEORGE GREGORY
29 Nov. 1742WILLIAM MURRAY vice Tyrrell, deceased
22 Apr. 1746FRANCIS SCOTT, Earl of Dalkeith, vice Gregory, deceased
1 July 1747FRANCIS SCOTT, Earl of Dalkeith
 WILLIAM MURRAY
23 Apr. 1750LEWIS WATSON vice Dalkeith, deceased
15 Feb. 1754WATSON re-elected after appointment to office

Main Article

At the beginning of the eighteenth century two rival local families, the Wilkinsons and the Stapyltons, owned most of the burgages at Boroughbridge. Its neighbour, Aldborough, was controlled by John Holles, Duke of Newcastle, who bought the manor of Aldborough in 1701. After the Duke’s death in 1711 his heir, Thomas Pelham, bought some Boroughbridge burgages and allied himself with the Wilkinsons to gain joint control of that borough. In 1715 the combined Pelham-Wilkinson interests won both seats, ousting the Stapyltons, who gave up the struggle after a further defeat in 1718. Thenceforth Pelham, since 1715 Duke of Newcastle, became the predominant partner, nominating both Members at Boroughbridge as well as at Aldborough, and acquiring the Stapylton burgages in 1739.1

Author: Romney R. Sedgwick

Notes

  • 1. Based on Recs. of a Yorks. Manor, by T. Lawson-Tancred.