Apr
1784
cambridge university
Contested
GENERAL ELECTION
Poll book data from:
Citation: The poll for the election... by John Beverley (Cambridge: Francis Hodson, [1784])
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
Date: Saturday 3 Apr. 1784.
Poll book reference: The poll for the election... by John Beverley (Cambridge: Francis Hodson, [1784]).
The poll book gives the total electorate as 735, of which 147 did not vote (80 per cent turnout).
Candidates: William Pitt (Tory); George Henry Fitzroy, earl of Euston (Tory); John Townshend (Opposition Whig); and James Mansfield (Whig).
The younger son of the former Prime Minister, Lord Chatham, William Pitt the Younger had previously served as MP for Appleby from 1781 to 1784 before trying again for the University of Cambridge. His campaign was supported by the duke of Grafton.
Lord Euston was the eldest son of the university's chancellor, the 3rd duke of Grafton.
The two incumbent candidates campaigned to retain their seats in 1784. Connected to King's College, James Mansfield was a lawyer who had recently been elected for the university during the 1779 by-election. John Townshend was a Whig and close friend of Charles James Fox and the son of the 1st Marquess Townshend, who was connected to St John's College, Cambridge.
The election returned Pitt and Euston as MPs for the University of Cambridge.
Poll Book
Below is a digitised version of the poll book for this election:
