1741 Poll Book

The Poll

for

a Representative in Parliament

for the

County of York

In the room of the

Right Honourable Henry, Lord Visc. Morpeth,

Deceas’d ;

Begun at the Castle of York

on Wednesday 13th of January 1741

Candidates:

George Fox, Esq.

Cholmley Turner, Esq.

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George Fox (1697-1773) was the Tory MP for the Yorkshire Borough of Hedon from 1734-1741, then MP for the City of York from 1742-1761. He lived at Bramham Park, Yorkshire and in 1751changed his name to George Fox-Lane by Act of Parliament. He was created 1st Baron Bingley in1762, but had no surviving issue to carry on the title.

Cholmley Turner of Kirkleaham, was a Whig (Liberal) MP who served Yorkshire from 1727-1741.

Voting took place in the city of York and lasted 8 days. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings. Turner, defending his seat for the third time, won by a very small margin, though the results below show that he wasn’t the popular choice of candidate in Malhamdale.

For Mr Turner (Whig)	8,005 Votes
For Mr Fox (Tory)	7,049 Votes
Majority for Turner	956 Votes

1741 Yorkshire Election – Malhamdale Entries

Abode	Freeholder	Freehold	Candidate
Malham	Armistead Richard		Fox
Grunsigill	Armistead Richard	Airton	Fox
Airton	Armitage George		Fox
Malham	Atkinson John		Fox
Malham	Atkinson Richard	Hellifield	Fox
Malham	Atkinson Robert	Kirby-Malham-Dale	Fox
Malham	Atkinson Thomas		Fox
Malham	Atkinson Thomas	Kirby-Malham-Dale	Fox
Malham	Baleson Thomas		Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Banks John		Fox
Hanlith	Blackburn Robert		Fox
Hetton cum Boardley	Blackburne Richard		Fox
Malham	Blakey Thomas	Hanlyth	Turner
Malham	Blakey William		Turner
Malham	Brayshaw John		Fox
Malham	Brayshaw Thomas		Fox
Malham	Broughton William	Grassington	Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Brown John		Fox
Malham	Brown Marmaduke	Garsdale	Fox
Hetton cum Boardley	Carlisle Thomas		Fox
Malham	Charnock Henry	Hanlyth	Fox
Tanfield	Cowper Christo.	Kirby-Malham-Dale	Fox
Hetton cum Boardley	Ellis John		Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Ellison Thomas		Fox
Scostrop	Hall Hugh		Fox
Hanlith	Hall John		Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Hardacre Henry		Fox
Malham	Herd William		Fox
Winterburne	Hill Henry		Fox
Malham	Hill Richard – Hanlyth.	Hanlyth	Turner
Malham	Hird Thomas		Turner
Malham	Hodgson Richard		Turner
Malham	Holme Anto.		Fox
Malham	Hurtley William		Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Husband Henry		Fox
Eccleshall	John Wilcock	Malham	Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	King Henry		Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	King Robert		Fox
Airton	King Thomas		Fox
Rigton	Knightson Christo.	Kirby-Malham-Dale	Fox
Rigton	Knightson Edmond	Kirby-Malham-Dale	Fox
Hanlith	Knowles Henry		Fox
Malham	Knowles Marmaduke		Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Knowles Miles		Fox
Hanlith	Knowles Richard		Fox
Hetton cum Boardley	Knowles Thomas		Fox
Malham	Knowles William		Fox
Malham	Lawson John		Fox
Malham	Lund William		Fox
Otterburne	Lunn Thomas		Fox
Conistone Cold	Malham John		Fox
Giggleswick	Mathew Knowles	Malham Moor	Fox
Hetton cum Boardley	Moorhouse Henry		Fox
Hetton cum Boardley	Morris Richard		Fox
Conistone Cold	Myers Henry		Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Parker John		Fox
Hetton cum Boardley	Parkinson James		Fox
Otterburne	Parkinson John		Fox
Winterburne	Parkinson John	Malham	Fox
Hetton cum Boardley	Parkinson Stephen		Fox
Otterburne	Parkinson Thomas		Fox
Airton	Petty Francis		Fox
Otterburne	Preston Job		Fox
Scostrop	Preston Thomas		Fox
Hetton cum Boardley	Procter Thomas		Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Rennington Anto.	Scosthrop	Fox
Scostrop	Rimmington John		Fox
Scostrop	Rimmington John		Fox
Conistone Cold	Ryecroft Thomas		Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Serjeantson Richard		Fox
Hanlith	Serjeantson Roger		Fox
Otterburne	Settle William	Scosthrop	Fox
Malham	Shackleton Richard		Fox
Malham	Shackleton William		Fox
Malham	Smith Stephen		Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Tatham William		Fox
Airton	Tennant Richard	Scosthrop	Fox
Hetton cum Boardley	Thompson Edward		Fox
Malham	Thompson William	Kirby-Malham-Dale	Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Thompson William		Fox
Winterburne	Through Matthew	Hetton	Fox
Conistone Cold	Toward Richard	Settle	Fox
Winterburne	Walker William		Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Weatherhead Robert		Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Wetheral Richard		Fox
Airton	Wetherall Robert		Fox
Kirby-Malham-Dale	Wetherall Thomas		Fox
Conistone Cold	Whitaker Christoph.		Fox
Black-Bank	Wilkinson John	Hetton cum Boardley	Fox
Eshton	Wilson Matth. Esq;		Fox
Netherthong	Woodhead Benja.	Hanlyth	Fox
Langerhouse	Yates Richard	Boardley	Turner

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Who could Vote?

Prior to the Reform Act 1832, the franchise to vote for a County MP was only held by the owners of freehold land valued at 40 shillings or more, a situation which had persisted since 1430. The expense and difficulty of voting at only one location in the (very large) county, together with the lack of a secret ballot contributed to the corruption and intimidation of voters, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system. Contested county elections were unusual due to the expense and the leading families of the county would agree on the candidates to be returned unopposed whenever possible. In the 100 years before the Reform Act there were 20 general elections, but in Yorkshire the 1741 election was one of only 4 that actually went to a ballot.

Yorkshire was the largest of the historic counties and the constituency comprised the whole county, represented at this time by two MPs. Yorkshire also contained several boroughs which each returned two members to Parliament, these included; Aldborough, Beverley, Boroughbridge, Hedon, Kingston-upon-Hull, Knaresborough, Malton, Northallerton, Pontefract, Richmond, Ripon, Scarborough, Thirsk and York..