Anglesey was divided for administrative purposes into six deaneries or hundreds: Llifon, Malltraeth, Menai, Talybolion, Twrcelyn and Tyndaethwy. The chief settlements were the county town and borough of Beaumaris; Aberffraw, the former seat of the Welsh princes; Amlwch in the north-east near the Parys Mountain copper mine; Holyhead (Caergybi) in the north-west, where the harbour served the packet ships of the royal Irish mail to Dublin, and the small market towns of Llanagefni, Llanerchymedd and Newborough.2 It was a county of relatively large estates and had since 1784 been represented by a member of the Paget family of Plas Newydd near Llanfair (P.G.), subject to an arrangement with the county’s premier landowner, Lord Bulkeley of Baron Hill. He retained control of Beaumaris and used the Pagets’ interests in Caernarvonshire and its boroughs to maintain his family’s supremacy there.3 Bulkeley’s half-brother, the Member for Caernarvonshire Sir Robert Williams, lived at Friars, near Beaumaris, and was related by marriage to William Hughes* and Owen Williams*, who had subsidiary estates in Anglesey and shares in the Parys and Mona Mining Companies’ mines near Amlwch, where the Pagets were the principal landlords. Thomas Assheton Smith I* of Vaynol, Caernarvonshire, and Sir John Thomas Stanley† of Alderley, Cheshire, also had Anglesey estates. Stanley’s at Penrhos made his the premier interest in the town and port of Holyhead, on which £150,000 of government money was spent, 1810-24. Henry William Paget† (created marquess of Anglesey in 1815) had succeeded to Plas Newydd and the county lord lieutenancy in 1812, when it had been agreed that his son and heir Lord Uxbridge would replace his brother Berkeley Paget* as county Member at the first election after his coming of age. In 1818 he had been three weeks too young.4 A suggestion that the assizes should be heard in Caernarvon to save the judges a journey across the Menai Straits was then a major issue and plans were laid for bridging them.5 Anglesey petitioned for protective duties on domestic agricultural produce in 1819, but there had been no mass disturbances since the Amlwch riots of 1817, when violence was directed mainly against farmers, corn merchants and shippers.6 Despite the co-operation of Sir Robert Williams and Baron Hill, Uxbridge’s succession without a contest in 1820 could only be assured after consultation with Hughes, Stanley, Owen Williams and the squires of Bodelwyddan, Bodorgan, Carreglwyd, Henblas, Llanidan, Llwydiarth, Plas Coch and Plas Gwyn.7 The 1819 freeholders lists had been forwarded to John Sanderson, the marquess’s agent, with the observation:

As W. Panton, W. Williams of Tregarnedd and W. Joseph Goddard hold places under government and Mr. Lloyd of Llwydiarth is sheriff, I imagine it would not be correct to summon them on the committee, which is to be lamented. I suppose you would have the immediate neighbours, viz. Sir William Hughes, W. Rowlands, Colonel Peacocke, W. Williams and Mr. Joseph Williams of Treffos, and I should think Mr. Jones of Treiorwerth and Major Hampton would be useful members. In case the countess of Uxbridge should come down, my sister thinks that on the duration of her stay will depend whether or not there will be any formal visiting by the ladies of the county. I conceive an address to the freeholders from Mr. Paget and the new candidate, to be inserted in the newspapers, will be a proper proceeding.8

Plas Newydd agents drafted the addresses and consulted the sheriff about the writ.9 Anglesey, seconded by Paul Panton of Plas Gwyn, moved addresses of condolence and congratulation to George IV at a meeting chaired by Sir Robert Williams at Beaumaris, 3 Mar. As a peer, Anglesey stayed away from proceedings on the 16th when Uxbridge was returned, proposed by Sir Robert Williams and seconded by Sir William Bulkeley Hughes of Plas Coch. Berkeley Paget and other family members attended and the countess of Uxbridge was reported to be overwhelmed by the demonstrations of support for her husband. One-hundred-and-eighty dined afterwards at Beaumaris. In his address of thanks Uxbridge promised that it would be ‘my constant study to deserve of your confidence by a faithful discharge of my public duties and a zealous attention to your local interests’.10 Before Parliament assembled, the county met at Beaumaris, 18 May 1820, and forwarded to Uxbridge for presentation a petition, proposed by John Hampton Hampton of Henllys and the Rev. Hugh Wynne Jones of Treiorweth, against the coastwise coal duties.11

Plas Newydd supported government over the Queen Caroline affair, and a county meeting, 8 Nov. 1820, passed a loyal address to the king, which was forwarded to Anglesey and Uxbridge.12 The coronation was celebrated countywide, and when the king stayed at Plas Newydd on his way to Ireland in August 1821, the county organized a deputation to greet him and present a loyal address.13 Work continued at Southstack lighthouse and Holyhead harbour to accommodate the steam packet service and commenced on Telford’s suspension bridge over the Straits, which were spanned amid great celebrations in September 1825, the bridge opening in January 1826. Dublin merchants’ petitions bemoaned the inefficiency of the packets and ‘the most dangerous and hilly mail coach road in Great Britain’, while local farmers resisted moves to make the county assume responsibility for the latter’s upkeep.14 As previously, Berkeley Paget, now Member for Milborne Port, dealt with much of the county’s parliamentary business and, with Owen Williams and Sir Robert Williams, represented Anglesey interests on the 1820 and 1822 select committees on the Holyhead roads.15 Anglesey was an early stronghold of Methodism, and the county petitioned the Commons in May 1824 for inquiry into the case of the Methodist missionary John Smith, convicted for inciting slaves to riot in Demerara.16 That August the Anti-Slavery Society was advised to concentrate its campaign on Amlwch, Holyhead and Llanerchymedd, but no petitions from the county against colonial slavery were presented before 1830.17

Uxbridge’s lack of involvement in county business, despite his election promise, caused great offence, particularly when he failed to steward a county race meeting at Llangefni in August 1825, as advertised.18 It encouraged William Hughes and the Stanleys of Alderley and Penrhos, whose twin sons Edward John Stanley* and William Owen Stanley† had come of age in 1823, to instigate a campaign to oust him at the next election. This proved particularly dangerous and inconvenient to Plas Newydd as it coincided with strong opposition to their ally, the pro-Catholic Whig Sir Robert Williams, in Caernarvonshire, where the Tory lord lieutenant Assheton Smith backed the young Lord Newborough* of Glynllifon.19 Bulkeley had died in 1822, leaving Baron Hill in trust for Sir Robert’s eldest son Richard, who assumed the Bulkeley family name. Reports that George Irby of Llanidan, the 3rd Lord Boston’s son, might stand proved false, and were never believed by the marquess, who had also been informed that there was little to fear from Plas Newydd’s former adversary, Meyrick of Bodorgan, despite ‘Mrs. Fuller [Meyrick]’s ... circuit of calls in all directions’ after her son Owen John Augustus Fuller Meyrick came of age in July 1825. Nevertheless it was a tense period, requiring careful negotiations, and it seemed for a while that Plas Newydd would have to field new candidates in Anglesey as well as Caernarvon Boroughs, where Sir Charles Paget decided to stand down. Lists of Anglesey freeholders were prepared and Plas Newydd agents strove to ensure the loyalty of Owen Williams and others.20 On 3 Oct. 1825 Sanderson wrote to Sir Charles Paget:

As to Anglesey, report is various. Lord Uxbridge has not ingratiated himself with the youth of the county and his non-attendance at a pony race was made the pretext for hissing when his name was given at the dinner as steward of the races. It was the first time in the county annals of such a demonstration as this appearing towards a branch of the noble family of Paget. However, a better spirit was shown when Lord Uxbridge’s health was proposed as Member.21

Berkeley Paget remained popular in North Wales, and was made to accompany Uxbridge and his brother Lord William Paget*, whom the marquess intended bringing in for Caernarvon Boroughs, to Beaumaris for the November hunt week to try to repair the damage. Berkeley Paget remained Plas Newydd’s reserve candidate for both constituencies.22 Hostility to Uxbridge had waned by the election in June 1826, when Williams was obliged to stand down in Caernarvonshire and come in for Beaumaris rather than face a ruinously expensive contest and possible defeat.23 Having presented Anglesey’s petition against the usury laws repeal bill, 14 Apr. 1826, Uxbridge obeyed Sanderson’s summons, took leave early from his regiment, signed circulars to the gentry and bishop of Bangor, and arrived in Plas Newydd with Berkeley Paget in time to dine at Friars, 10 June.24 Much was made during the canvass of his anti-Catholic vote on 10 May 1825 and he was returned unopposed, proposed by Sir Robert Williams and Hugh Evans of Henblas. About £388 was spent on entertainments.25 True to his election day promise, Uxbridge returned to Anglesey for the races in August; and at the November 1826 hunt he was deputy comptroller to Richard Bulkeley Williams Bulkeley* of Baron Hill, who, at 25, had come into his inheritance.26

The county’s Welsh Calvinistic Methodists petitioned and Uxbridge voted against Catholic relief in March 1827, and in June the Commons received petitions for repeal of the Test Acts from Aberffraw, Holyhead and Llanerchymedd.27 Both Houses received similar petitions for Test Act repeal from chapels in Amlwch, Holyhead and Llanfechell in 1828, when Uxbridge voted against it, 26 Feb. The county’s petition for repeal of the 1827 Malt Act was also brought up, 25 Feb. 1828.28 The by-election necessitated by Uxbridge’s appointment as state steward during his father’s lord lieutenancy of Ireland was held on 3 Apr. 1828, after the spring great sessions at Beaumaris. Letters to the North Wales Chronicle made much of Uxbridge’s presence at the 1827 hunt week, and his canvass letters and addresses made no statement of policy. After re-electing him, the county adopted an address congratulating Anglesey on his appointment. The £223 10s. 3d. bill for entertainments remained unpaid until July 1829.29 In November 1828, Llangeinwen, Llangaffo and Newborough, parishes relatively free of gentry influence, assembled and adopted a petition against Catholic emancipation, which the Lords received with those from Llanddaniel-fab, Llanidan and Holyhead, 10 Feb. 1829, and the Commons on the 16th, with the county and other Anglesey petitions.30 About 400 freeholders attended the county meeting at Beaumaris, 6 Jan., when the Methodists were well represented and speeches made in English and Welsh. Sir Robert Williams pointed to the inconsistency and ingratitude of the Dissenters present who had lobbied hard for repeal of the Test Acts, but he could muster only nine votes for his amendment to delay petitioning until details of the government’s measures were known. His supporters stressed the absence of Anglesey, Sir Richard Bulkeley, William Hughes, Owen Williams and other gentry - a point subsequently developed in the correspondence columns of the Globe and the North Wales Chronicle. The petition, signed at Aberffraw, Amlwch, Beaumaris, Bodedern, Holyhead, Llanerchymedd and Llangefni, 8-17 Jan., was entrusted to Fuller Meyrick, Jones Panton, Hampton, John Price, William Prichard Lloyd of Llwydiarth and the Rev. Hugh Wynne Jones, and forwarded to Anglesey and Uxbridge for presentation. Hampton reassured the meeting that Anglesey, who had been recalled from Ireland, could be trusted to represent their views despite his support for emancipation, and he did so, 13 Feb.31 A petition adopted by the Holyhead vestry, 29 Jan., and received by the Lords, 10 Feb., called specifically for suppression of the activities of the Catholic Association in Ireland and maintenance of the Protestant ascendancy. Holyhead’s Dissenters petitioned separately, 26 Mar. 1829.32 Writing to Hampton about Sir Robert Williams, whose efforts to enclose Beaumaris Green now encountered much hostility, Owen Williams observed:

Is it allowed for one individual to disturb a whole county with his own private political notions? I have all my life entertained certain Whig opinions. Should I have been justified in pestering society by attempting to make a party against our Ultra Tory Member? No, no. We are much too small a circle to have our comfort destroyed by any such division, which after all only plays into the hands of the designing few.33

The press praised Uxbridge for being ‘true to his pledge’, and despite the lack of support from the new sheriff, Holland Griffiths of Carreglwyd, the county met at Beaumaris ‘in a last effort’, 13 Apr. 1829, and adopted an address proposed by Panton and Price, calling on the king to ‘withhold his sanction from the Catholic emancipation bill’. Only four voted for an amendment to adjourn proceedings because the bill might already have received royal assent, but it was agreed that the decision whether (or not) to present the petition should be delegated and entrusted collectively to Price, Jones Panton and William Wynne Sparrow of Red House. At Hampton and Sparrow’s instigation, the meeting carried a vote of thanks to Uxbridge ‘for the manly and uncompromising spirit with which he opposed, through every stage, the bill for Roman Catholic emancipation’.34

The county had also been concerned since 1828 about the line to be followed by the new road from Menai Bridge to Beaumaris,35 and the future of the Welsh court of great sessions (and Beaumaris assizes), which had been referred for consideration to a judicial commission. Successful lobbying had led to the removal of a clause transferring the Beaumaris assizes to the mainland from John Jones’s remedial bill to enlarge and extend the powers of the judges of great sessions, prior to its enactment in 1824; but in 1828 Plas Newydd agents forwarded a circular from the earl of Cawdor’s Llandeilo agent R.B. Williams calling for pro-abolition memorials to the chairman of the quarter sessions.36 Anglesey, as chancellor and chamberlain of North Wales, wrote: ‘From what I have heard and remarked ... I should think the measure of union with that of England will not meet with much opposition’. However, the North Wales circuit judge William Kenrick† warned that the investigating commissioners posed ‘vague ill-formed questions’, and reminded the marquess of Beaumaris’s opposition to similar proposals from Cawdor in 1822. Kenrick added:

Before I consent to have my house pulled down, in which I have lived all my life with tolerable comfort, in order that a new one may be built up for me, I should require to be laid before me not only the general plan and the dimensions of the intended building but the rooms and closets and various circumstances connected with it, that the old and the intended new conveniences and inconveniences might be compared together.37

The resident magistrates met at Llangefni, 2 Dec. 1828, when their chairman, John Williams, carried a declaration against change and forwarded it to the commissioners in London and Lord Anglesey in Dublin.38 It stressed the ‘trifling costs’ of justice in Wales and suggested that Welsh judges should change circuits regularly among themselves and be appointed solely on professional rather than political merit, adding:

We are attached to our judicature as the only national privilege that has been left to us as Welshmen; and as one of the ancient institutions of the country, we think that its defects ought to be amended rather than the whole demolished, unless far stronger reasons can be adduced for it than any that we are aware of. We adopt the language of the grand jury of Caernarvon in their resolution at the summer assizes of 1822. ‘We are anxious for the continuation of our local judicature, subject to such improvements as the wisdom of Parliament may think proper to adopt’.39

The commissioners’ 1829 report recommended abolishing the great sessions and increasing the size of the Welsh assize districts for incorporation into the English system. Anglesey, Caernarvonshire and some Denbighshire business would be dealt with in Bangor.40 The Anglesey bench and Chester and North Wales circuits opposed the proposals and a county meeting at Beaumaris, 27 Mar. 1830, joined them in resisting the change. Their petitions received strong support from Baron Hill and were presented to the Commons, 4, 14 May, by Uxbridge. The administration of justice bill by which the Welsh courts were abolished was rushed through Parliament before the dissolution following George IV’s death, after a late government amendment spared Beaumaris and the other county towns their assizes. Compensation to Lord Anglesey for his loss of income as chancellor was not agreed until 1831.41 Turbulent electioneering in Caernarvonshire and its boroughs had little impact on the 1830 general election in Anglesey, where Uxbridge, whose representations on behalf of the county in the select committee on the Holyhead roads, 5 May, was appreciated, was returned unopposed.42

A branch of the Anti-Slavery Society had been established at Holyhead in 1828, and in November 1830 they led the countywide petitioning for the abolition of colonial slavery; but it was the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists and Wesleyan Methodists who orchestrated a late surge in petitions to both Houses in April 1831.43 The Beaumaris by-election caused by Sir Robert Williams’s death brought Sir Richard Bulkleley into Parliament shortly before the details of the Grey ministry’s reform bill were announced. Ending Beaumaris’s monopoly of Anglesey’s borough representation, it proposed making Holyhead a contributory borough, and a petition from Amlwch requesting similar status was soon considered favourably.44 Uxbridge and Bulkeley divided for the bill at its second reading, 22 Mar., and against Gascoyne’s wrecking amendment, 19 Apr. 1831. Uxbridge was ‘quite safe’, and on arriving in North Wales for the general election that month he campaigned strenuously for his uncle Sir Charles Paget in Caernarvon Boroughs, where their success was attributed to out-voters, especially the Amlwch miners who owed their livelihoods and votes to Plas Newydd.45 Uxbridge had been informed in confidence that he would be made a peer in order to strengthen the ministry in the Lords; and negotiations with Bulkeley concerning the future representation of Anglesey were already under way when he was returned unopposed, nominated by Lloyd of Llwydiarth and Evans of Henblas, who complimented him on his attention to local and national interests.46 The marquess did ‘not like the idea of relinquishing Anglesey’ and, as Lord Holland observed, 4 May 1831, ‘it would have been more convenient that ... [Uxbridge] should have been retired at the general election than advertised and been returned for a county with a prospect of vacating it so soon afterwards’.47 Bulkeley wanted the county seat, but without the cost of frequent elections. In astute negotiations with Uxbridge, Sanderson and the marquess over the next eighteen months, he profited from his continued strength in Beaumaris, the absence of a Paget of rank to succeed Uxbridge in the county, and the support of William Hughes (now Lord Dinorben). However, manoeuvring by Bodorgan and Penrhos cut both ways.48 Although Llanerchymedd, Bodedern and Newborough’s claims to share in the boroughs representation had been disregarded, the addition of Llangefni to the group was controversial, and some, like Lord Boston (of Llanidan), would have preferred to see the franchise at Beaumaris ‘sluiced’ by the hundred of Menai.49 Sir John Stanley, who in view of his Holyhead interest had considered offering his son William, informed Bulkeley, 23 Nov. 1832:

Llangefni having been added to the number of our contributory boroughs almost thereby making a mockery of the reform intended for us in our borough representation I hope you will excuse my pausing before I take any decided step which may contribute to place both the representation of the county and of the boroughs of Anglesey in the hands of one family.50

Non-residence and the youth of Anglesey’s sons from his second marriage now proved detrimental to the political prospects of the Pagets, who, at the first post-reform election in December 1832, had to acquiesce in an arrangement whereby Williams Bulkeley was returned for the county in exchange for Baron Hill’s support for Lord Anglesey’s nephew Frederick Paget in the new Beaumaris District (Beaumaris, Amlwch, Holyhead and Llangefni).51

If Wager’s estimate of the size of the pre-reform electorate is correct, it almost doubled at registration in November 1832 to 1,187. About half of them were tenants and leaseholders.52 Despite the precautions taken, gentry suspicions of a pact were not allayed and the Tories canvassed regularly and complained of non-representation.53 The county remained Liberal, 1832-85. It was contested three times and ‘plunged into civil war’ in 1847, when Bulkeley took back the seat he had ceded to William Stanley a decade previously.54