1722

Transcription completed for the Bristol Historical Resource CD-ROM, created in 2000 by the UWE Regional History Centre, and kindly shared by Steve Poole and Peter Wardley.

Dates: Wednesday 28 Mar.-Tuesday 3 Apr. 1722.

Poll book reference: The list of the votes... (Bristol: Joseph Penn, 1722).

Joseph Penn, the printer, included an 'Apology to the Reader', noting that misspellings of names and places may occur, 'it being take in a Hurry, during the Election' (p. 29).

Candidates: Joseph Earle (Whig); Sir Abraham Elton (Whig); and William Hart (Tory).

Joseph Earle, a merchant with connections to the trade in enslaved peoples, had been elected to represent Bristol in 1710. His father, Sir Thomas Earle, had served as MP and Mayor for Bristol in the 1680s.

Sir Abraham Elton, a Dissenter elevated to the baronetage for his services during the 1715 Jacobite uprising, had previously served as Mayor for Bristol in 1710. He was described as 'a pioneer of its brass foundries and iron foundries, and ... owner of its principal weaving industry, as well as of its glass and pottery works, besides largely contributing to the shipping of the port'. His business ventures were also linked with the trade in enslaved peoples, as the Annals Of The Elton Family recounted that, 'His profits ... from making up shipments of those goods most attractive on the Gold Coast [of Africa] in return for slaves ... were enormous'.

Earle and Elton narrowly surpassed the William Hart in the polls.