Dec
1739
Bristol
Contested
BY ELECTION
In the by-election of Dec 1739, 4848 people voted. There were 2 candidates, with Edward Southwell elected.
Poll book data from:
Citation: The poll book. Being a list of the freeholders and freemen… (Bristol: Felix Farley, [1739])
Source: John Sims (ed.), A Handlist of British Parliamentary Poll Books (Leicester, 1984); Jeremy Gibson and Colin Rogers (eds.), Poll Books, 1696–1872: A Directory of Holdings in Great Britain (4th edn., Bury, 2008).
Timeline & Key Statistics
Contexts & Remarks
Date: Wednesday 12 Dec. 1739.
Poll book reference: The poll book. Being a list of the freeholders and freemen... (Bristol: Felix Farley, [1739]).
The poll book is prefaced by 17 pages of election literature.
By-election triggered by the death of Tory Thomas Coster.
Candidates: Edward Southwell (Whig); and Henry Combe (Whig).
Edward Southwell came from an Anglo-Irish family, whose father served as MP for Dublin and King's Weston.
Henry Combe was a successful local merchant, warden, and treasurer of the Society of Merchant Venturers.
Edward Southwell was returned in the by-election.
Cultural Artefacts
Poll Book
Below is a digitised version of the poll book for this election:
