1807 Poll Book
County of York
The Poll
for
Knights of the Shire
Taken at the Castle of York before
Richard Fountayne
Wilson
Hig Sherriff of the said County
Candidates:
William Wilberforce, Esq.
The Honourable Henry Lascelles
The Right Honorouble Charles Wentworth Fitzwilliam
(commonly called Viscount Milton)
This was the first time Yorkshire had seen a contested election since 1741 and it is the most famous from the pre-reform eradue to the amount of money spent contesting it. The three candidates spent nearly £250,000 between them, making it the most costly election of any before 1832.
Voting took place in the city of York between May 20 and June 5, 1807 and Wilberforce won with 11,808 votes, whilst Viscount Milton gained the second seat with 11,177 votes, only 187 more votes than Lascelles, who came third with 10,990. Viscount Middleton failed to gain much favour with the voters of Malhamdale.
A total of 23,007
persons voted; 13,830 from the West Riding, 5,621 from the North Riding and 3,556 from the East Riding.
1807 Yorkshire Election – Malhamdale Entries
| Residence | Name | Description | Freehold | W | L | M |
| Airton | William Clough | Farmer | Coniston | 1 | 1 | |
| Airton | Richard Petty | Farmer | Malham | 1 | 1 | |
| Airton | Francis Petty | Farmer | Airton | 1 | ||
| Airton | Richard Shackleton | Farmer | Rathmell | 1 | 1 | |
| Airton | John Taylor | Yeoman | Airton | 1 | ||
| Airton | Anthony Taylor | Farmer | Airton | 1 | ||
| Airton | Joseph Watkinson | Farmer | Bradley | 1 | 1 | |
| Airton | Thomas Walker | Farmer | Airton | 1 | 1 | |
| Airton | William Weatherill | Farmer | Airton | 1 | 1 | |
| Bradford | William Pulleyn | Butcher | Malham | 1 | 1 | |
| Calton | John Brown | Farmer | Calton | 1 | 1 | |
| Calton | Robert Mount | Farmer | Scosthrop | 1 | 1 | |
| Eshton | Thomas Johnson | Gent | Arncliffe | 1 | 1 | |
| Frierhead | Thomas Metcalfe | Farmer | Bank Newton | 1 | 1 | |
| Giggleswick, Stackhouse | John Lund | Gent | Malham | 1 | 1 | |
| Kirkby Malham | Robert Hind | Farmer | Kirkby Malham | 1 | ||
| Kirkby Malham | Hamer Hargraves | Yeoman | Essington | 1 | 1 | |
| Kirkby Malham | Thomas Hornby | Farmer | Stainforth | 1 | 1 | |
| Kirkby Malham | John Preston | Farmer | Malham | 1 | ||
| Kirkby Malham | John Robinson | Clerk | Low Bentham | 1 | 1 | |
| Kirkby Malham | John Sayner | Tailor | Kirkby Malham | 1 | ||
| Kirkby Malham | James Titterington | Yeoman | Kirkby Malham | 1 | 1 | |
| Kirkby Malham | William Walker | Joiner | Kirkby Malham | 1 | ||
| Kirkby Malham | James Walker | Weaver | Kirkby Malham | 1 | 1 | |
| Kirkby Malham | Stephen Harper | Mason | Kirkby Malham | 1 | 1 | |
| London, Inner Temple | Thomas Chippindale | Esq. | Winterburn | 1 | 1 | |
| London, Westminster | Richard Brayshaw | Esq. | Malham | 1 | ||
| Malham | John Brayshay | Farmer | Malham | 1 | ||
| Malham | William Brayshay | Farmer | Malham | 1 | 1 | |
| Malham | Thomas Hammerton | Carpenter | Malham | 1 | ||
| Malham | Thomas Hurtley | Schoolmaster | Malham | 1 | ||
| Malham | John Lawson | Farmer | Malham | 1 | 1 | |
| Malham | Henry Lund | Yeoman | Malham | 1 | 1 | |
| Malham | Thomas Procter | Farmer | Kirkby Malham | 1 | 1 | |
| Malham | Christopher Smith | Gent | Malham | 1 | ||
| Malham | John Shackleton | Yeoman | Malham | 1 | ||
| Malham | Robert Sedgwick | Farmer | Malham | 1 | ||
| Malham | John Tennant | Husbandman | Malham | 1 | ||
| Malham (Moor) | William Cockett | Farmer | Malham | 1 | 1 | |
| Otterburn | John Gill sen. | Farmer | Otterburn | 1 | 1 | |
| Otterburn | John Parkinson | Gent | Otterburn | 1 | 1 | |
| Sawley | William Hartley | Farmer | Kirkby Malham | 1 | ||
| Scosthrop | Thomas Preston | Gent | Kirkby Malham | 1 | ||
| Scosthrop | Josia Rimmington | Gent | Scosthrop | 1 | ||
| Scosthrop | John Settle | Farmer | Scosthrop | 1 | 1 | |
| Silsden | Joseph Willock | Yeoman | Malham Moor | 1 | ||
| Skipton | William Alcock | Esq. | Kirkby Malham | 1 | 1 | |
| Thornton in Lonsdale | Robert Bateson | Farmer | Malham | 1 | 1 |
Henry Lascelles
(1767 – 1841), later the 2nd Earl of Harewood, known as Viscount Lascelles from 1814 to 1820, was was elected to the House of Commons for Yorkshire in 1796, a seat he held until the 1807 Yorkshire election and again from 1812 to 1818, and also represented Westbury from 1807 to 1812 and Northallerton from 1818 to 1820. The latter year he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords. Between 1819 and 1841 he also served as Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Viscount Milton (1786 – 1857) son of the 5th Earl Fitzwilliam also an outspoken politician and supporter of reform. Viscount Milton was elected five times as the MP for York and was also MP for Northampton in 1831.
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..
Malhamdale Local History Group 