Feb
1715
bedfordshire
Contested
GENERAL ELECTION
Poll book data from:
Citation: A copy of the poll… (London, 1715)
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
Transcription completed and kindly shared by James Collett-White, in How Bedfordshire Voted, 1685-1735: The Evidence of Local Poll Books (2 vols., Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2006-2008), I, 160-229.
Date: Wednesday 16 Feb. 1714/15.
Poll book reference: A copy of the poll... (London, 1715).
Candidates: John Harvey (Tory); William Hillersden (Whig); John Cater (Whig); and Sir Pynsent Chernock (Tory).
John Harvey of Ickwell Bury ran in harness with Sir Pynsent Chernock in the 1713 general election. Sir Pynsent Chernock was a burgess of Bedford, the son of a Tory squire and an incumbent as well as a former Knight of the Shire for Bedfordshire. The Tory candidates supported local causes to generate support for their campaigns, one of which included funding the purchase of an organ for St Paul's Bedford (How Bedfordshire Voted, 1685-1735, I, 155).
Whig William Hillesden was both the former MP for Bedford (1707-1710) and the son of a former MP for Bedford in the 1690s. He ran in harness with fellow Whig, John Cater.
Tory John Harvey and Whig William Hillersden were elected, but Harvey's election was challenged and Whig John Cater was seated on petition.
Poll Book
Below is a digitised version of the poll book for this election:
