At the beginning of the eighteenth century two rival local families, the Wilkinsons and the Stapyltons, owned most of the burgages at Boroughbridge. Its neighbour, Aldborough, was controlled by John Holles, Duke of Newcastle, who bought the manor of Aldborough in 1701. After the Duke’s death in 1711 his heir, Thomas Pelham, bought some Boroughbridge burgages and allied himself with the Wilkinsons to gain joint control of that borough. In 1715 the combined Pelham-Wilkinson interests won both seats, ousting the Stapyltons, who gave up the struggle after a further defeat in 1718. Thenceforth Pelham, since 1715 Duke of Newcastle, became the predominant partner, nominating both Members at Boroughbridge as well as at Aldborough, and acquiring the Stapylton burgages in 1739.1