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Tavistock
Double Member Borough
Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964
Available from Boydell and Brewer
Available from Boydell and Brewer
Constituency Detail
Related Resources
Background Information
Right of Election:
in the freeholders
Number of voters:
about 100
Elections
| Date | Candidate |
|---|---|
| 24 Apr. 1754 | Richard Rigby |
| Jeffrey French | |
| 10 Dec. 1754 | Richard Vernon vice French, deceased |
| 30 Dec. 1755 | Rigby re-elected after appointment to office |
| 1 Jan. 1760 | Rigby re-elected after appointment to office |
| 28 Mar. 1761 | Richard Rigby |
| Richard Neville Aldworth | |
| 23 Dec. 1762 | Rigby re-elected after appointment to office |
| 22 Nov. 1763 | Richard Neville Neville (formerly Aldworth) re-elected after appointment to office |
| 28 Jan. 1768 | Rigby re-elected after appointment to office |
| 21 Mar. 1768 | Richard Rigby |
| Richard Neville Neville | |
| 11 July 1768 | Rigby re-elected after appointment to office |
| 8 Oct. 1774 | Richard Rigby |
| Richard Fitzpatrick | |
| 9 Sept. 1780 | Richard Rigby |
| Richard Fitzpatrick | |
| 18 Apr. 1783 | Fitzpatrick re-elected after appointment to office |
| 3 Apr. 1784 | Richard Rigby |
| Richard Fitzpatrick | |
| 24 Apr. 1788 | Lord John Russell vice Rigby, deceased |
Main Article
Tavistock was a complete pocket borough of the Duke of Bedford. Richard Rigby, thanking the Duke for his election, wrote on as Apr. 1754:1
At Tavistock ... I saw more warmth and affection for you than you can imagine. There does not seem to be a single negative to your will in the whole town, nor would it be very safe in any one to offer it.
The same holds good throughout the period.
Author: Sir Lewis Namier
Notes
- 1. Bedford mss 30, f. y38.
