Features

about Eighteenth-Century Political
Participation & Electoral Culture

The short articles here offer introductions to some of the main features of eighteenth-century elections, and data-driven analysis of particular aspects of electoral history.

Georgian Elections: the Basics

An introduction to what happened at a typical eighteenth-century English election [15-minute read] ...

Who could vote?

A beginner’s guide: would you have the vote in the 18th century? [10-minute interactive]...

Electoral Artefacts an Introduction

...

Contested Elections

Explore how many elections took place, and how many were contested [15-minute interactive]...

Slavery, Abolition & Black Voters

Slavery and abolition could be contentious platform issues in 18th-century England [15-minute read] ...

Electorates and Turnout

An introduction to how many people could, and did, vote in the eighteenth century [5-minute read]...

Controverted Elections

Disputed results were common, often taking months of legal wrangling to resolve [10-minute read] ...

Rotten Boroughs

Rotten boroughs became synonymous with the England’s unreformed electoral system [15-minute read] ...

Child Voters

‘Minors’, under 21 years old, were not allowed to vote. But did they? [15-minute read] ...

Wootton Bassett 1808

An engraving of a parade reveals much about electoral participation [10-minute interactive]...

Canvassing

The canvass aimed to get the vote out, but also linked candidates to communities [25-minute read] ...

What is a Poll Book?

A short introduction to poll books, and how they have survived [5-minute read] ...

Poll books as historical evidence

What information do poll books contain, and what can historians do with the data? [5-minute read] ...

Poll Books and the Reading Public

Why were poll books printed, and how were they used? [10-minute read] ...

Poll Books: a History

Edmund Green gives the definitive guide to their varieties, formats and contexts [40-minute read] ...

Westminster 1784

This famous election was a tense showdown between Government and Opposition [20-minute interactive]...

Yorkshire 1807

The 1807 Yorkshire election was the most expensive prior to the 1832 Reform Act [25-minute read] ...

Bedford 1830

The Bedford election of 1830 provides an example of both riot and respectability [20-minute read] ...

Fashion and Faction

Learn how dress and decoration, made and worn by women, was part of campaigning [20-minute read] ...

Bribery

Although technically illegal, bribery was rife in eighteenth-century elections. [15-minute read] ...

Violence and Riot

Disorder was endemic in 18th-century elections, among voters and non-voters alike [15-minute read] ...

Election Balls

Find out how dancing was used to mobilize voters and their families. [5-minute read] ...

Mock Elections

One of the most curious and ludic phenomena of 18th-century popular politics [5-minute read] ...

Women as participants in elections

Though excluded from the franchise, women found many ways to influence the vote [20-minute read] ...

Kisses for Votes

Tracing the history of the kiss as symbolic gesture and campaign strategy [10-minute read] ...

Challenging votes

Electors often had their entitlement to vote challenged, so had to prove their case [10-minute read]...

Squib Books

Following an election, collections of printed ephemera were sometimes published [20-minute read] ...

Expenses of an Election

Standing as an MP was an expensive undertaking. Success often needed to be bought [15-minute read] ...

Processions & Pageantry

Candidates’ processions before and after elections were colourful and noisy events [15-minute read...

Chairing and Chair-Breaking

Steve Poole looks at the theatre and occasional violence of chairing ceremonies [20-minute read] ...

How contests came about

Robin Eagles asks why certain elections were contested, while others were not [20-minute read] In...

Electoral Corruption in the Long Eighteenth Century

Mark Knights discusses attitudes to bribery and patronage in 18th-century elections [30-minute read]...

The Reform of Voting

Jon Rosebank argues that very few wanted to replace the unreformed electoral system [15-minute read]...

The Concept of Voting

Jon Rosebank explains why proceeding to a vote could be seen as something to avoid [15-minute read] ...

Petitioning

Henry Miller argues that petitioning could often engage more people than elections [15-minute read] ...

Towards Democracy

Penelope J. Corfield charts the steps on Britain’s long road to democracy [20-minute read] ...