Aspects of the English electoral system 1800-50, with special reference to Yorkshire. Volume I of 2 Mark Pack Submitted for the degree of DPhil York University History Department June 1995 Abstract Since the Whig orthodoxy was dethroned the historiography of the English electoral system in the first half of the nineteenth century has been somewhat confused, with three main problems. First, opinions differ over the impact of the reform acts of 1832. Second, it is unclear whether the system was opening up or closing down. This goes deeper than disagreementsover 1832: different methodologies point in conflicting directions; for example, electorate statistics suggest a system opening up, whilst applications of post-modem critical theory suggest the opposite. Third, the determinants of electoral behaviour are unclear, as epitomised by the debate over DC Moore's deference theories. This diversity of opinion has been fostered by the absenceof a clear national framework: local studies have usually been preferred to the construction of national statistics. This thesis, though, uses Yorkshire not as another case study, but to create and inform a national framework, used to examine the electoral system's vitality. The thesis first examines the electorate in 1800-50; its size and levels of turnout in particular. Following 1832 participation increased greatly, but with falling turnout and much non-registration. Vitality was significantly enhanced by conflict within electoral elites, which raised registration and turnout. Then deference and corruption are considered, with an emphasis on the complexities of the behaviour involved and the limitations on their impact. Next MPs and candidates are considered. Many MPs did little and were immune to electoral pressure. There was more to being an MP than Parliamentary activity. The picture is of a system possessingvitality, much of it driven by conflicts between electoral elites. But at the same time wider forces were working to close the system down. Within this, 1832's impact was mixed. It provided great opportunities for increased vitality, but these were often not fully exploited. 2 Contents List of tables 6 List of graphs 7 Accompanying material 9 Acknowledgements 10 A note on citations 10 1. Introduction 11 1.1 Historiographical background 11 1.2 Period and place 14 13 Structure of the thesis 17 2. The Electorate c.1800-SO 19 2.1 Introduction 19 2.2 Size of the electorate 1800-32 21 2.3 Freemen 25 2.4 The reformed system 27 2.4.1 Introduction 27 2.4.2 Multiple entries and multiple electors 27 2.4.3 Administrativedifficulties 28 2.4.4 Compounding 31 2.4.5 Costsof registering 34 2.4.6 Review 35 2.5 Conclusion 75 3. Turnout 77 3.1 Introduction 77 3.2 Turnout 1800-32 78 3.3 Turnout 1832-50: what is already known? 79 3.4 Improving Craig 89 3.5 Political science's contribution 93 3.5.1 Introduction 93 3.5.2 Correlation of turnout and closeness 98 3.6 Yorkshire's evidence 99 3.6.1 The overall picture 99 3.6.2 An administrative mirage? 102 3.6.3 Counting the deadwood 105 3.7 The overall picture and the impact of 1832 107 3.8 Conclusion 109 4. Deference 110 4.1 Introduction 110 4.2 Interactions of patrons and electors 111 4.3 Publication of poll books 125 4.4 Canvassing 128 4.5 Urban penetration and county boroughs 131 4.5.1 Urban penetration 131 4.5.2 County boroughsbefore 1832 132 4.5.3 The 1832legislation 132 4.5.4 FurtherProblems 142 4.5.5 Conclusion 145 4.6 Conclusion 146 S. Bribery, corruption and secret voting 148 5.1 Introduction 148 5.2 What is wrong with bribery? 149 5.3 Hull 153 5.4 Different standards 154 5.5 Curbing corruption 156 5.6 Electoral legislation 164 5.7 Use of the secret ballot and similar voting systems 166 5.8 Who was to blame for bribery? 173 5.9 Conclusion 175 6. MPs and candidates 178 6.1 Introduction 178 6.2 Qualifications 178 6.3 Background of candidates and MPs 182 6.3.1 Introduction 182 6.3.2 Age and length of service 183 6.3.3 Socialbackground 185 6.3.4 Continuity 186 6.4 Motivations of candidates and MPs 191 6.4.1 Introduction 191 6.4.2 More inactivity 193 6.4.3 Pairing 195 6.4.4 Other explanations 197 6.4.5 Motivational explanations 200 6.4.6 Political science explanations 203 6.4.7 Problems with Hansard 213 6.5 MPs' majorities 214 6.6 Finding candidates 217 6.7 Local links 218 6.8 Conclusion 225 7. Conclusion 230 Appendix 1: Borough classifications 237 Appendix 2: Property valuations 249 Appendix 3: Turnout in English boroughs 1800-31 255 Appendix 4: Turnout in Yorkshire constituencies 1832-50 258 Appendix S: County boroughs 261 Appendix 6: Second reading of the Reform Bill 263 Appendix 7: Fate of Yorkshire MPs 1800-50_ 277 Appendix 8: Electoral legislation 1800-67 286 Appendix 9: Yorkshire electoral data 1800-50 292 Bibliography 355 List of tables Table 1.1: Distribution of borough constituencies 1804-21 16 Table 2.1: The English electorate 1800-66 64 Table 2.2: Number of freemen registered qua freemen 1836-9 75 Table 3.1: Nossiter's turnout figures for the six northern counties 1832-47 86 Table 3.2: O'Gorman's turnout sample 1832-47 87 Table 3.3: Turnout at English general elections 1832-47 88 Table 3.4: Craig's turnout figures adjusted 1832-47 93 Table 3.5: Correlations between turnout and year 1832-SO 99 Table 3.6: Differences between turnout and the mean 1832-50 101 Table 3.7: Proportion of Yorkshire registers taken up by multiple entries 104 Table 3.8: English turnout 1800-47 108 Table 3.9: English candidates and contests 1832-47 108 Table 3.10: More English electoral statistics 1826-4 7 109 Table 4.1: Publication of poll books 127 Table 4.2: Urban penetration and county borough clauses 134 Table S.1: Successful English petitions 1832-SO 159 Table 5.2: Yorkshire petitions 1800-50 163 Table 6.1: Average age of MPs on first election 1734-1831 183 Table 6.2: Fate of Yorkshire constituencies 1800-50 189 Table 6.3: Fate of Yorkshire MPs 1800-50 190 Table 6.4: MPs and the Reform Bill's second reading 191 Table 6.S. - Number of MPs in Hansard 1820-53 204 Table 6.6: MPs' participation in voting 1836 & 1850 204 Table 6.7: Frequency of speaking amongst all MPs 209 Table 6.8: Frequency of voting amongst all MPs 209 Table A2.1: Difference betweengross estimated rental and actual rental in Yorkshire c.1860 2S4 6 List of graphs Graph 2.1: Aldborough's electorate 39 Graph 2.2: Beverley's electorate 40 Graph 2.3: Boroughbridge's electorate 41 Graph 2.4: Bradford's electorate 42 Graph 2.5: Halifax's electorate 43 Graph 2.6: Hedon's electorate 44 Graph 2.7: Huddersfield's electorate 45 Graph 2.8: Hull's electorate 46 Graph 2.9: Knaresborough's electorate 47 Graph 2.10: Leeds' electorate 48 Graph 2.11: Malton 's electorate 49 Graph 2.12: Northallerton's electorate 50 Graph 2.13: Pontefract's electorate 51 Graph 2.14: Richmond's electorate 52 Graph 2.15: Ripon's electorate 53 Graph 2.16: Scarborough's electorate 54 Graph 2.17: Sheffield's electorate SS Graph 2.18: Thirsk's electorate 56 Graph 2.19: Wakefield's electorate 57 Graph 2.20: Whitby's elecrtorate 58 Graph 2.21: York's electorate 59 Graph 2.22: North Riding's electorate 60 Graph 2.23: East Riding's electorate 61 Graph 2.24: WestRiding's electorate 62 Graph 2.25: Change in constituencies' electorates 1832-47 69 Graph 2.26: Number of days sat by revising barristers 1832-41 70 Graph 3.1: Scot and lot borough turnout 1800-31 80 Graph 3.2: Freemen borough turnout 1800-31 81. Graph 3.3: Burgage borough turnout 1800-31 82 Graph 3.4: Corporatoion borough turnout 1800-31 83 Graph 3.5: Householder borough turnout 1800-31 84 Graph 3.6: County turnout 1800-31 85 Graph 3.7: Plumping in three-candidate polls 91 Graph 3.8: Plumping in four-candidate polls 92 Crap!: 3.9: English turnout 1832-47 100 Graph 6.1: Number of new MPs elected at general elections 1802-47 187 Graph 6.2: Speechesand majorities 1800-31 207 Graph 6.3: Speechesand majorities 1832-50 208 Graph 6.4: Yorkshire MPs' majorities 1800-31 215 Graph 6.5: Yorkshire MPs' majorities 1832-50 216 Accompanying material Enclosed at the back of Volume 2 is a PC formatted computer disk, which contains some of the statistics files used in this thesis. Wherever there is a reference to a data file in a footnote, the file will be found on this disk. The data is saved in Minitab portable format. Each data file has an accompanying explanatory plain text file. Acknowledgements I am grateful to the Arthur McDougall Library, Beverley Central Library, Bradford Archives, British Library, Brynmor Jones Library (Hull), Colindale Newspaper Library, Cumbria Record Office, Daniel Hay Library (Whitehaven), Doncaster Archives, Halifax Archives, Halifax Central Library, House of Commons Public Information Office, House of Lords Records Office, Huddersfield Central Library, Huddersfield Archives, Hull Central Library, Institute for Historical Research,J. B. Morell Library (York), Leeds Archives, North Yorkshire County Record Office, Portsmouth City Records Office, Public Record Office, Royal Historical Manuscripts Commission, Sheffield Archives, Sheffield City Library, West Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Wilberforce House (Hull), Wisbech and Fenland Museum, York Central Library and York City Records Office for allowing me to consult their holdings, and for their valuable assistance.