June
1826
Cambridge University
Contested
GENERAL ELECTION
Poll book data from:
Citation: The poll for the election… by Henry Gunning (Cambridge: J. Smith, 1826)
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); L. W. L. Edwards (ed.), Catalogue of Directories and Poll Books in the Possession of the Society of Genealogists (4th edn., 1984).
Timeline & Key Statistics
Contexts & Remarks
Dates: Tuesday 13 June-Friday 16 June 1826.
Poll book reference: The poll for the election... by Henry Gunning (Cambridge: J. Smith, 1826).
Candidates: Sir John Singleton Copley (Tory); Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston (Tory); William John Bankes (Tory); and Henry Goulburn (Tory).
Sir John Singleton Copley had previously served as MP for Yarmouth, Isle of Wight and Ashburton before standing for the University of Cambridge. He was affiliated with Trinity College.
Viscount Palmerston was the son of Lord Palmerston and had affiliations with St John's College. He had been repeatedly elected for the university since 1811.
Educated at Trinity College, William Bankes spent the 1810s travelling around Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East before returning to campaign for the university. He had been elected for the constituency since 1822.
Connected to Trinity College, Henry Goulburn was described as saintly, sober, and 'cockeyed'.
The general election returned Copley and Palmerston as MPs for the university.
Cultural Artefacts
Poll Book
Below is a digitised version of the poll book for this election:
