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Seaford
Borough
Available from Boydell and Brewer
Background Information
Right of Election:
'in the populacy', which in 1761 was held to mean in inhabitants paying scot and lot
Number of voters:
51 in 1722; 72 in 1747
Elections
Date | Candidate | Votes |
---|---|---|
29 Jan. 1715 | GEORGE NAYLOR | |
SIR WILLIAM ASHBURNHAM | ||
28 Feb. 1717 | HENRY PELHAM vice Ashburnham, appointed to office | |
7 June 1720 | PELHAM re-elected after appointment to office | |
10 Apr. 1721 | PELHAM re-elected after appointment to office | |
20 Mar. 1722 | SIR WILLIAM GAGE | |
SIR PHILIP YORKE | ||
5 Feb. 1724 | YORKE re-elected after appointment to office | |
19 Aug. 1727 | SIR WILLIAM GAGE | |
SIR PHILIP YORKE | ||
25 Jan. 1734 | WILLIAM HAY vice Yorke, appointed to office | |
1 May 1734 | SIR WILLIAM GAGE | |
WILLIAM HAY | ||
22 May 1738 | HAY re-elected after appointment to office | |
11 May 1741 | SIR WILLIAM GAGE | |
WILLIAM HAY | ||
9 May 1744 | WILLIAM HALL GAGE vice Sir William Gage, deceased | |
29 June 1747 | WILLIAM PITT | 49 |
WILLIAM HAY | 49 | |
William Hall Gage | 23 | |
Charles Sackville, Earl of Middlesex | 19 |
Main Article
In practice the right of election at Seaford, a decayed port, was confined to inhabitants paying scot and lot,1 though this was not confirmed by the House of Commons till 1761. From 1715 Members were returned on the recommendation of the Duke of Newcastle, whose estate of Bishopstone adjoined the town and who controlled the local Treasury patronage. In 1722 the voters, numbering 51, signed a letter to Sir William Gage and Sir Philip Yorke, stating that:
We, the bailiff, jurats, freemen, and inhabitants of the corporation and borough of Seaford, at the request of the Duke of Newcastle, do assure you that we do unanimously agree to choose you for our representatives at the ensuing Parliament in case you offer your services.2
From 1722 to 1747 one of the seats was filled by members of the Gage family, who had a natural interest in Seaford from their neighbouring estate of Firle. But in 1747 Newcastle refused to recommend William Gage,3 who since his election in 1744 had followed the Prince of Wales into opposition. At the only contested election of the period Gage and Lord Middlesex, standing jointly with the Prince’s support, were defeated by Newcastle’s candidates, William Pitt and William Hay, on whose behalf Newcastle personally intervened, canvassing the voters and sitting next to the returning officer at the poll. A petition, based on Newcastle’s contravention of the standing House of Commons resolution against interference by peers in elections, was rejected by 247 to 96.