1812

Dates: Tuesday 6 Oct.-Friday 16 Oct. 1812.

Poll book reference: The Bristol poll book... (Bristol: J. Mills, 1818).

The poll book is prefaced by a 'sketch of the proceedings prior to and during the contest'.

By-election triggered by Charles Bragge Bathurst's appointment as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in June 1812.

Candidates: Richard Hart Davis (Tory) and Henry Hunt (Radical).

Richard Hart Davis was a Bristolian banker and merchant who traded to the West Indies and a member of the Society of Merchant Venturers. He had served as MP for Colchester from 1807 and was supported in his campaign by Bristol ministerialists of the White Lion Party, formerly known as the Steadfast Society.

Henry Hunt was a Bristol radical who had owned an unsuccessful brewery. In 1809, he had been incarcerated in King's Bench Prison for assaulting a gamekeeper. A follower of fellow radical Sir Francis Burdett, Hunt was later known as 'best mob orator of the day', advocating for the freedom of elections.

The poll was open for fourteen days and featured significant violence. Richard Hart Davis's house was damaged, and troops had to be called in. The Bristol Mirror reported that 'a guard of soldiers was present at the taking of the poll' (Bristol Mirror, 4 July 1812).

The election cost Davis and the ministerialists over £14,000 (with Richard Hart Davis paying £10,000 himself).

Richard Hunt Davis was elected, though Henry Hunt petitioned, accusing Davis of bribery, employing threatening thugs to intimidate voters, calling in the army, and closing the poll early. Fifteen days after the election, Parliament was dissolved, dismissing Hunt's petition.