b'Poll Lists and Elections, 1741-1868Kate PrattT wo different types of documents, Poll bookshad a deputy to put the usual questions and a Poll and Registers of Electors, exist for differentClerk to record the votes & in every booth each years in this period, 1741-1868, and it was not untilof the Candidates was allowed to have, in addition to I had done a bit more research that I was able tohis Cheque Clerk, an Agent to object to the doubtful understand the reason for this variation. In 1741,Votes, and a Messenger to conduct the Voters 1807, 1837 and 1868 there is a full account of theobjected to into Court, either to the Assessors, or to Poll, listing the eligible voters, and the way they eachthe Commissioners for administering the oaths.cast their vote; for certain intervening years - 1834,The poll was daily open from 9 in the morning to 1845, 1852 and 1867there is simply a list of the5 in the eveningOn the 15th day, about 2 hours electors and their qualification to vote. The distinctionafter the close of the poll, the High Sheriff declared is that the Parliamentary Candidates for this areaWilliam Wilberforce Esq & Rt Hon Lord Milton to be stood unopposed at certain elections, and therefore,duly elected.although the electors were registered, no poll wasA total of 15 voters is listed for Wilton Bishop, actually held 1 .all freeholders, although the land that they owned The lists of eligible voters are interesting inwas not all here, but also in Foggathorpe, Beeford, themselves, augmenting the information fromMeltonby and Pocklington. (The qualification to vote the Census Returns which we have from 1841was linked to the ownership of property, which led to onwards. Obviously most of the voters are farmers,the possibility of voting more than once, in different and occasionally the name of their farm is given.constituencies.) All 15 voted for Wilberforce, 9 for Fuller addresses are given for landowners who liveLascelles and only 3 for Viscount Milton. Lascelles, elsewhere, such as the man who receives the Fee2nd Earl of Harewood, only narrowly lost his seat. Farm rent out of the Manor of Bishop Wilton, HughIn 1834 there is only a Register of electors, Parker, who lives in Woodthorpe, and Matthewwith no election needing to be held as only 2 Alexander Easton Wilkinson, owner of Belthorpecandidates stood for the 2 positionsRichard Bethell in 1866/7, whose address is given as Greenheys,(Conservative) and Paul Bielby Thompson (Whig Manchester. All this provides extra crumbs of detail. or Liberal)for the newly created constituency of In the 1741 election only 2 residents of Bishopthe East Riding of Yorkshire. 19 voters are listed for Wilton were eligible to vote, Richard Darley Esq andBishop Wilton, the qualification still being linked to John Hessay. Both of them voted for the Tory, Georgecopyhold or freehold land, to the value of 50 per Fox, who lost to Cholmley Turner Esq, a ministerialannum.Whig. The qualification for voting at that time wasIn 1837 an election was held, with 3 candidates being a freeholder of property to the minimum value Richard Bethell (Cons), Henry Broadley (Cons) and of 40 shillings (2), which meant that only 2% of thePaul Beilby Lawley Thompson (Whig). The electorate population was eligible 2 .for Bishop Wilton consisted of 29 voters, some of In 1807 there was a General Election, the firstwhom also owned land in the neighbourhoodcontested election in Yorkshire since 1741. The 3Belthorpe, Garrowby and Bugthorpeand further candidates - William Wilberforce Esq, Rt Hon CharlesafieldStamford Bridge, Huggate and Ampleforth. William Wentworth Fitzwilliam (Viscount Milton) & HonCharles Wood is shown as living at Hickleton, with Henry Lascellesspent a huge amount of money,land at Bugthorpe as well as Bishop Wilton. The nearly 250,000, between them on their campaign.pattern of voting was predominantly to select the two Traditionally this money was spent bribing theTory candidates (who did both win the seats), with electorate! The poll was taken in York over 15 days,18 out of 29 doing so. Five people voted across the by spoken declaration, in public; a description of it isparties, voting for Thompson and either Bethell or given in the Poll Book: Broadley. Six out of the 29 voters chose to vote only The poll was taken in the Castle Yard, at 13for Paul Thompson, the Whig candidate. This act of booths, amongst which the Wapentakes werecasting only a single vote instead of the two permitted apportionedIn the different booths, the Sheriffwas called plumping (and is the derivation of the 1The Poll Books are available in the Reference Library, Beverleyand the Registers of Electors at theTreasure House, Beverley.2The Poll Book also lists, under Wilton, William Baker and John Gibson of Thornton as voters forCholmley Turner, but I have concluded that this listing is for Wilton in the North Riding, not BishopWilton.391'