Since 1774 this close borough had been controlled solely by Sir Harry Burrard^†, 1st Bt., of Walhampton. On his death in 1791, control passed to the sitting Members, his nephew and heir Harry (known from 1795 as Sir Harry Neale) and to his other nephew and namesake. The latter then vacated his seat and resumed it only as a stopgap in 1802. The cousins disposed of that seat to guests, and Neale of his own seat when he did not wish to sit. On Burrard’s death in 1813, his interest devolved on Neale’s brother George. There was no trace of opposition to the patrons, but a petition for reform presented to the House by Lord Cochrane was rejected for its disrespectful language, 11 Feb. 1817.

S. Burrard, Annals of Walhampton, 120, 126.