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Newcastle Elections

The Sutherland Papers include a great variety of documents relating to local elections in Newcastle-under-Lyme during the early 1790s. The Newcastle elections of the late eighteenth century are central events in Newcastle’s local history, with popular public excitement escalating into heated and riotous contest. Insightful and entertaining, documents such as the election accounts for the 1790 election campaign bring these colourful public events to life for the modern reader.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Elections in the 1790s

The Leveson-Gower family and their Trentham interest controlled a number of Staffordshire constituencies in the late eighteenth century, including Newcastle. John Briggs notes that by the late eighteenth century the Newcastle Corporation had become ‘principally an agency for manipulating the electorate for the purpose of electing the two borough MPs in the interests of the Gowers of Trentham’. Documents relating to the Newcastle Elections of the early 1790s tell us what happened as a result of such manipulation, culminating in an electoral contest and an enormous bill for alcohol.

The 1790 Election

In the Newcastle election of 1790 Thomas Fletcher and Clement Kynnersley stood as independent candidates opposing the election of the Marquis of Stafford’s brother, Admiral John Leveson Gower as MP for Newcastle.

Many reports refer to corruption in the election with both parties bringing in voters from far afield and spending huge amounts of money rallying support by treating voters in the local alehouses. The election campaign created great ‘popular political excitement’ bordering on public disorder. The election was a huge public event, and although the Leveson-Gowers proved victorious, Lord Stafford was left with an enormous bill for canvassing expenses. The size of the bill, over seven thousand pounds, prompted the Marquis to appeal for an investigation into the amount spent.

The 1792 Election

Following the 1790 election, Admiral John Leveson Gower was elected MP for Newcastle. However, he died shortly after in 1792 which led to another hotly debated electoral contest. Thomas Fletcher again stood as the independent party candidate against the Trentham candidate William Egerton. The excitement of the election led to uproar and chaos in Newcastle. Hannah Barker and David Vincent report that the poll broke out into a mass riot requiring military force before order could be restored. Although it appeared that Fletcher was victorious, Egerton called for a scrutiny of the votes and it transpired that he had infact won the election.

Click here to see Newcastle Elections documents in the Sutherland Papers
Click here to see a list of further reading on the English political system, Staffordshire elections and politics