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Wenlock
Borough
Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
Available from Boydell and Brewer
Available from Boydell and Brewer
Background Information
Right of Election:
in the freemen
Number of voters:
about 500
Elections
Date | Candidate | Votes |
---|---|---|
1 Feb. 1715 | THOMAS NEWPORT | |
WILLIAM FORESTER | ||
5 Nov. 1715 | NEWPORT re-elected after appointment to office | |
13 July 1716 | SIR HUMPHREY BRIGGS vice Newport, called to the Upper House | |
27 Mar. 1722 | SAMUEL EDWARDS | 393 |
SIR HUMPHREY BRIGGS | 384 | |
Sir Thomas Lawley | 80 | |
Edward Cresset | 60 | |
28 Aug. 1727 | JOHN SAMBROOKE | |
SAMUEL EDWARDS | ||
27 Apr. 1734 | WILLIAM FORESTER | |
SAMUEL EDWARDS | ||
14 Feb. 1739 | BROOKE FORESTER vice Edwards, deceased | |
5 May 1741 | SIR BRYAN BROUGHTON DELVES | |
BROOKE FORESTER | ||
7 Dec. 1744 | ISAAC HAWKINS BROWNE vice Broughton Delves, deceased | |
29 June 1747 | BROOKE FORESTER | |
ISAAC HAWKINS BROWNE |
Main Article
In 1715 the chief interests at Wenlock were in Sir William Forester, who had represented it 1679-81, and 1689-1715, and in his first cousin, the 2nd Earl of Bradford, the head of the Shropshire Whigs, whose brother held the second seat. These two families continued jointly to control the representation of the borough till the death of the 3rd Earl of Bradford in 1734, when that interest fell into abeyance, leaving the Foresters in control of both seats. The 2nd Lord Egmont noted in his electoral survey, c.1749-50, that Wenlock was ‘in Forester’.