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County Down elections 1783–1831

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2016

Peter Jupp
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Extract

If the major themes in Irish history during these years were the progressive decline of the protestant ascendancy, the rise of a catholic middle class, the growth of agrarian and urban popular politics and the social and economic consequences of a swelling population, then it would be generally assumed that parliamentary electioneering—at least until the passage of catholic emancipation in 1829—had very little to do with them. Supporters of such an assumption would argue that elections were largely the preserve of an élite—the protestant ascendancy—and that despite catholic enfranchisement in 1793 and the pruning of the most notorious close and rotten boroughs by the act of union, electioneering in Ireland was largely confined to wearisome bargaining between landlords, excessive drilling of freeholders both genuine and fictitious, unbecoming scrambles for Castle patronage and the almost indecent disposal of such ill-gotten gains amongst squads of dependents. Furthermore they might add as a confirmatory postscript, that the disfranchisement of the 40s.

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Irish Historical Studies , Volume 18 , Issue 70 , September 1972 , pp. 177 - 206
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 1972

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References

1 Anon, ., The ancient and present state of the county of Down (Dublin, 1744; hereafter referred to as Ancient and present state), p. in ; Wakefield, Account of Ire., 2, 630.Google Scholar

2 Ancient and present state, pp 107–8.

3 Wakefield, i, 20.

4 A survey of Down freeholders, 11 Jan. 1812 (P.R.O. N.I., Down-shire MS D.654/A3/1D, ff 93–4. All MSS are located in the P.RO. N.T., unless otherwise stated).

5 Ancient and present state, p. 111.

6 The parliamentary gazetteer of Ireland (London, 1849), ii, 56, 58.

7 The Irish county electorate in 1820 was c. 200,000, and although it probably fell by 1828 there is no reason to suppose it was halved to ‘a little over 100,000’ as is claimed by Reynolds, J. H. in The catholic emancipation crisis in Ireland, 1823–29 (New Haven, Conn., 1954), p. 168 Google Scholar. Prof. Reynolds was right to assume that the number registered to vote was often not the same as the number qualified to vote but, as the figures for Down and elsewhere suggest, the difference was not as great as he assumes. The county electorate of England and Wales in 1831 was c. 247,000.

8 Commons’ Jr., lviii, 1105–16; and lxx, 1058–63.

9 Belfast News Letter, 16 Aug. 1805. References for the other figures appear elsewhere in the text.

10 Smith, E. A., ‘The Yorkshire elections of 1806 and 1807 a study in electoral management’, Northern History, 2, 62–4.Google Scholar

11 ‘Relative interests of the landed proprietors in 1830’ (T. 761 /19).

12 Musgrave to Lord Normanton, 6 Mar. 1809 (Normanton MSS, Hants. Record Office).

13 Downshire MSS, D671/L1/10 and D654/A3/1B (Drumnahare).

14 In Ireland as in Britain before the reform acts of 1832, polls do not give an accurate picture of the number of contests. In the six general elections between 1801 and 1820 there were 37 polls in Irish county elections and 43 contests that did not proceed to a poll.

15 Anon, ., An historical account of the late election … for the county of Down (Dublin, 1784), p. 7.Google Scholar

16 Ibid., pp 3–4.

17 Ibid., pp 7–8.

18 Ibid., pp 12–13; Lord Hillsborough to Lady Clanwilliam, Oct. 1783 (Downshire MS D6o7/484a). The result was Kilwarlin, 2,831; Ward, 2,071; Stewart, 1,957.

19 N.L.I., Rev. Edward Berwick (ed.), Down county election, 1790; an excellent account of this election can be found in Hyde, H. M., The rise of Castlereagh (London, 1933), pp 55–65 Google Scholar. The result was: Hillsborough, 3,534; Stewart, 3,114; Ward, 2,958; Matthews, 2,223.

20 Lord Hillsborough to Lady Clanwilliam, Oct. 1793 (Downshire MS, D6o7/484a).

21 Thomas Lane to Downshire, 21 July 1797 (Downshire MS, D607/1032).

22 Downshire was replaced as county governor by Lord Londonderry and his agents Col. Matthews and John Reilly (1745–1804) dismissed their respective posts of colonel of the Down miilitia and commissioner of Accounts.

23 W. Wickham to Lord Hardwicke, 12 Mar. 1802 and reply 18 Mar., Lady Downshire to Lord Hardwicke, 5 Apr. 1802, Castlereagh to Hardwicke, 14 Apr. 1802 (B.M. Add. MS 35713, f. 26, 35771, f. 203, 35734, ff 23, 97); Lady Downshire to Addington, 4 July 1802 (Sidmouth MSS Devon Record Office). Reilly q.v- tried to claim that his influence had led to this conclusion, see Reilly to Marsden, 9, 24 July (S.P.O., MS 520/131/9).

24 Lady Downshire’s memorandum, 23 July 1805 (W D. Adams MSS, P.R.O., London).

25 Anon, ., County of Down election (London, 1805) passim but esp. PP l3, 31Google Scholar, Joy, Francis (ed.), Miscellaneous productions on the occasion of the late election in the county of Down (Belfast, 1805) passimGoogle Scholar. The result was Meade, 1,973, Castlereagh, 1,481. According to Lord Stair Lady Downshire spent £30,000 on this election; B.M. Add. MS 51826, fT 165–6. Castlereagh reckoned on spending £40,000, see the Duke of Devonshire to Lord Hartington, 22 July 1805, Chatsworth MSS at Chatsworth, Derbyshire.

26 Downshire to Grenville, 16 Oct. 1806 (Fortescue MSS in the British Museum).

27 Wakefield, ii, 304; R. Musgrave to Lord Normanton, 6 Mar. 1809 (Normanton MSS, Hants. Record Office); Robert Ward to Lady Arabella Ward, 22 Aug. 1811 (Castleward MS D2092/1/10 No. 98); squib by Rev Mark Cassidy (Gassidy MS D1088/9).

28 Eldred Pottinger to W. S. Nicholson (Ballow MS D1405/36).

29 G. Matthews to Downshire, 23 July 1811 (Downshire MS D671/ C.32).

30 Belfast News Letter, 30 May, 2 June 1812; Belfast Commercial Chronicle, 20, 23 May 1812; N.L.I. Richmond MS p. 1,044. The result of the general election of 1812 was Castlereagh 55; Meade 52; Pottinger 13.

31 Squib by Rev. Mark Gassidy (Cassidy MS D1088/10).

32 Anon., Narrative of the proceedings of the contested election . . in 1830 (Belfast, 1830), p. 11 (hereafter cited as Narrative ’ 1830). The result in 1826 was Hill 667; Castlereagh 665; John Stewart 16.

33 Ibid., passim.

34 Ibid., p. 42; the result in 1830 was Castlereagh, 930, Hill, 837; Forde, 766.

35 Anon, ., The Down squib book (Belfast, 1831), passim but esp. PP 69–71 Google Scholar; the result was Hill, 1,671; Castlereagh, 1,067; Crawford, 917.

36 More than one castle official commented that the government had little patronage in Down.

37 Hamilton (1729–1805); John Crawford and his son-in-law, William Sharman Crawford (1780–1861); Montgomery (c. 1782-1831). See appendix A.

38 Cleland Corrs D714/3/30.

39 Anon, ., Narrative 1830 (Belfast, 1830), p. 157.Google Scholar

40 Needham to Sir A. Wellesley, 5 Apr., 1, 3 May 1807 (Wellington MSS at Apsley House).

41 Maguire, W. A., The Downshire estates … 1801–45 (Ph.D. Thesis, Queen’s Un’iv Lib.), p. 1.Google Scholar

42 The Stewart rental was consistently reckoned to be about half that of the Hills, see MacDougal, , Sketches of Irish political character (Dublin, 1799), PP 299–300 Google Scholar and Wakefield, i, 255.

43 45 Geo. 3 c. 59.

44 Thomas Parry to Downshire, 13 May 1830 (Downshire MS D671/ c 195).

45 Downshire MS D654/A3/1B f. 27

46 Maguire, as above, p. 148.

47 Abercorn MS mic. 18/2/I.K.)19.

48 See p. 185.

49 Belfast News Letter, 26 May 1807

50 William Haigh to Earl Fitzwilliam, 23 Mar. 1815 (Fitzwilliam MSS F82C, Sheffield City Library).

51 See Appendices B and C.

52 Ibid.

53 See Appendix A.

54 Hertford to Hon. E. Ward, 17 Apr. 1790 (Castle Ward MS D2092/1/9/P. 59).

55 See p. 184, county patronage was traditionally dispensed by the government with the advice of government supporters.

56 Cassidy MS D1088/45.

57 Whyte MSS in the possession of Dr J H. Whyte of the department of political science, Queen’s Univ., Belfast, to whom I am indebted for this reference.

58 Downshire MS D654/A3/ID, ff 93–4.

59 Anon, ., Narrative … 1830 (Belfast, 1830), pp 42, 77.Google Scholar

60 Tuam to Lord Bangor, 3 Apr. 1790 (Castle Ward MS D2092/1/ 9/34).

61 Anon, ., Narrative … 1830, pp 24–5.Google Scholar

62 Downshire MS D607/333, 336, ff 1–26; of 33 votes canvassed by Brett, 17 voted as predicted, 13 did not vote at all and 3 voted in the alternative interest.

63 Chart, D. A. (ed.), The Drennan Letters (Belfast, 1931), p. 15 Google Scholar; see also E. Tighe to Ward, 30 Oct. 1783 (Castle Ward MS D2092/1/9/44).

64 See Appendix A; Anon, ., Narrative … 1830, pp 44–5.Google Scholar

65 N.L.I., Rev. Berwick, Edward (ed.), Down county election, 1790 passim but partie, f. 112.Google Scholar

66 Mrs McTier to Dr Drennan, 19 Jan. 1776 (Drennan MS D591 /ia).

67 See pp 188–9.

68 Downshire MS D654/A3/1A.

69 T. 761/19.

70 See Appendices B and C.

71 Stewart to Moira, 21 July 1790 (Castlereagh MSS at Mouritstewart, f. xxxiii).

72 Rev. McMichen to A. McGuire, 29 June 1793 (Downshire MS D607/471).

73 Cleland to James Cleland, 16 Apr. 1794 (Cleland MS D714/1/2).

74 Maguire, as above, pp 95–6.

75 Anon, ., An historical account of the late election for the county of Down (Dublin, 1784), pp 126–7.Google Scholar

76 Thomas Lane to Hillsborough, 26 May 1796 (Downshire MS D607/658).

77 It was estimated that in 1798 there were c. 28,500 United Irishmen in Down; in 1824 there were 144 Orange Lodges. I am indebted to Mr A. McClelland of the Ulster Folk Museum for this last statistic.