In 1715 Higham Ferrers, consisting of about 250 houses, was controlled by Thomas Wentworth, a Whig, who had bought the manor, including most of the town, from the last Earl of Feversham. On his death in 1723 the borough passed to his son, Thomas Wentworth, created Marquess of Rockingham in 1746, whose nominee at the ensuing by-election was unsuccessfully opposed by Thomas Dacres, the owner of some former church lands in the town.1 Thenceforth Wentworth nominees were returned unopposed.