Droitwich

Borough

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Background Information

Right of Election:

in the corporation of the salt springs

Number of voters:

between 14 and 40

Population:

(1801): 1,845

Elections

DateCandidate
19 June 1790HON. ANDREW FOLEY
 EDWARD WINNINGTON
27 May 1796HON. ANDREW FOLEY
 (SIR) EDWARD WINNINGTON, Bt.
7 July 1802HON. ANDREW FOLEY
 (SIR) EDWARD WINNINGTON, Bt.
30 Jan. 1805 THOMAS FOLEY vice Winnington, deceased
3 Nov. 1806HON. ANDREW FOLEY
 THOMAS FOLEY
7 May 1807HON. ANDREW FOLEY
 SIR THOMAS EDWARD WINNINGTON, Bt.
8 Oct. 1812HON. ANDREW FOLEY
 SIR THOMAS EDWARD WINNINGTON, Bt.
2 Apr. 1816 WILLIAM PHILIP MOLYNEUX, Earl of Sefton [I], vice Winnington, vacated his seat
19 June 1818WILLIAM PHILIP MOLYNEUX, Earl of Sefton [I]
 HON. ANDREW FOLEY
16 Feb. 1819 THOMAS FOLEY vice Foley, deceased

Main Article

Droitwich was a close borough which never gave any trouble to its patrons. There had been no contest since 1747 when the Foleys, who had long shared the nominations with the Winningtons, contrived to take both seats. Their intermarriage in 1776 led to another era of sharing. Thomas Foley, 2nd Baron Foley (d.1793) returned his brother Andrew and brother-in-law Winnington. On the latter’s death in 1805, Andrew Foley was joined by his son until 1807, when Winnington’s heir came in. The latter made way in 1816 for Lord Sefton, the 3rd Baron Foley’s first cousin and a Whig, like the Foleys and Winningtons.

Author: M. J. Williams

Notes