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Whitchurch
Double Member Borough
Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964
Available from Boydell and Brewer
Available from Boydell and Brewer
Constituency Detail
Related Resources
Background Information
Right of Election:
in burgage holders
Number of voters:
about 70
Elections
| Date | Candidate |
|---|---|
| 17 Apr. 1754 | William Powlett |
| Thomas Townshend | |
| 8 Mar. 1757 | George Jennings vice Powlett, deceased |
| 31 Mar. 1761 | Thomas Townshend |
| George Jennings | |
| 23 Dec. 1765 | Townshend re-elected after appointment to office |
| 4 Dec. 1767 | Townshend re-elected after appointment to office |
| 19 Mar. 1768 | Thomas Townshend |
| Henry Wallop | |
| 10 Oct. 1774 | Thomas Townshend |
| George Brodrick, Visct. Midleton | |
| 9 Sept. 1780 | Thomas Townshend |
| George Brodrick, Visct. Midleton | |
| 3 Apr. 1782 | Townshend re-elected after appointment to office |
| 18 July 1782 | Townshend re-elected after appointment to office |
| 17 Mar. 1783 | William Selwyn vice Townshend, called to the Upper House |
| 2 Apr. 1784 | George Brodrick, Visct. Midleton |
| William Selwyn |
Main Article
Whitchurch was a proprietary borough, but its proprietors changed. About 1750 its patrons were Lord Portsmouth and John Selwyn. On Selwyn’s death in 1751 his interest passed to his son-in-law, Thomas Townshend; and from 1754 to 1774 one Member was chosen by Townshend and the other by Portsmouth. In 1774 and 1780 Thomas Townshend jun. (later Lord Sidney) and his nephew Lord Midleton were returned and Midleton held his seat after 1784, although by then he and Sidney were politically opposed.
