Paterson, Neil Alasdair

483 Pages·2017·3.42 MB·English

by  Christine Middleton

Politics in Leicestershire, c1677 to c1716

Neil Paterson

Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

December 2007
Politics in Leicestershire c1677 to c1716

Politics in Leicestershire, c1677-c1716
N. A. Paterson
University of Nottingham thesis
Abstract
This study has two principal aims. The first is to identify the
characteristic features of Leicestershire’s politics at a time of turbulence in
English political history and the second to examine the relationship between
political activity at a local level and nationally. For the purpose of this study
‘politics’ is defined as the way individuals manoeuvred, intrigued and competed
with rivals to maintain their personal position and secure political objectives. The
focus therefore is on the way men behaved politically in a variety of formal and
informal contexts. Five settings are used to examine this behaviour: the role
played by the leading aristocrats and gentry, the appointment of local governors,
the established church and non-conformity, parliamentary elections and the
borough of Leicester.

The opening chapters set the national and local context for the research
findings that follow. Inter alia the study looks at the local impact of Charles II
and James II’s policies of re-modelling local offices to ensure that the militia, the
commission of the peace and the corporation were composed of men who would
support royal policy and also at the course of parliamentary elections throughout
the four decades with particular reference to those during 1678-81, 1701-2 and
1710-15. These elections show the divisions which existed within the political
community, the extent to which they were influenced by differences over religion
and the way that they were exploited for partisan advantage. Although focussed
on local politics, this study is predicated on the assumption that local politics can
only be fully understood when the national context is taken into account.
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Politics in Leicestershire c1677 to c1716

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Professor Marilyn Palmer, Dr David Wykes and Professor
Emeritus Aubrey Newman and their colleagues at Leicester University who
supported me in my return to academic studies after an interval of forty years and
especially to Professor Newman for encouraging me to pursue this present study.
I also wish to thank Professor John Beckett of Nottingham University for
agreeing to act as my supervisor and for the patient support and sound advice he
has given me throughout this research, and to Professor David Hayton of
Queen’s University, Belfast and Dr. Richard Gaunt of Nottingham University for
agreeing to act as my examiners. My thanks to all the librarians and archivists
who have given me every assistance and in particular those at the Hallward
Library in Nottingham, the University Library in Leicester, the Pilkington
Library at Loughborough, the Leicestershire Record Office, the British Library
and the National Archives. Finally I want to express my deep appreciation to my
wife, Susan, for her forbearance, patience, constant support and encouragement.

Notes on dates and text
All dates are given in the Old Style (unless specified otherwise), though the year
is taken to have begun on 1 January.

Modern spellings and punctuation are used in all quotations except where the
meaning will be lost by not retaining the original.
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Politics in Leicestershire c1677 to c1716

Politics in Leicestershire c1677-c1716
Pages.
Abbreviations, notes on style and acknowledgements i-vi

INTRODUCTION 1-12

CHAPTER 1 English politics, c1677-c1716; a review
of the literature 13-91

CHAPTER 2 The local context. 92-128

CHAPTER 3 Politics in Leicestershire, 1677-1681. 129-161

CHAPTER 4 Leicestershire governors, the borough
charter and the 1685 election. 162-208

CHAPTER 5 Change in government strategy, 1686-88. 209-248

CHAPTER 6 Politics in Leicestershire, 1689-98 249-281

CHAPTER 7 The aristocracy, the gentry and politics in
Leicestershire, 1698-1708. 282-344

CHAPTER 8 Tory control and whig recovery, 345-391
1708-1716.

CHAPTER 9 CONCLUSION 392-405

FIGURES, APPENDICES and TABLES

Figure 1 Outline map of Leicestershire 92

Appendix 1 Lords Lieutenant and Custodes Rotulorum, 406
Appendix 2 Leicester: admission of Freemen, 1696-1713 407
Appendix 3 Responses to Three Questions, 1688 408-409
Appendix 4 Analysis of 1707 poll book 410

Table 1 Justices of the Peace, 1680-1700 411-417
Table 2 Deputy Lieutenants and Sheriffs, 1680-1720 418-424
Table 3 Occupations of Mayors 1680-1715 425
Table 4 Leicester Corporation, 1680-1689 426-433
Table 5 Justices of the Peace, 1700-1719 434-440

BIBLIOGRAPHY 441-472

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Politics in Leicestershire c1677 to c1716

Principal abbreviations

Place of publication, London unless stated otherwise.

u/d –undated/no date; m/f – microfilm

Amer. Hist. Rev. American History Review
Add. MSS. Additional Manuscripts, British Library
Braye MSS Braye Mss., in Record Office for Leicestershire,
Leicester and Rutland.
B.I.H.R. Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research
B.L. British Library
C.J. Commons Journals
C.S.P.D. Calendar of State Papers Domestic
Cobbett, Parl. Hist. W. Cobbett (ed.), The Parliamentary History of
England, 36 vols. (1806-20)
Chinnery, R. B. L G. A. Chinnery (ed.), Records of the Borough of
Leicester vol. V, 1689-1835 (Leicester, 1923)
D.W.L. Dr. Williams’ Library
E.E.B.O. Early English Books Online
Econ.H.R. Economic History Review
E.H.R. English Historical Review
Hall Books/Papers The Hall Books and Papers for the Corporation of
Leicester in the Record Office for Leicestershire,
Leicester and Rutland.
Hastings, m/f The Hastings Collection of MSS.on m/f from the
Huntington Library, California; The Aristocracy, the
State and the Local Community. (Brighton 1986)
Hatton, Correspondence E. M. Thompson (ed.), Correspondence of the Family
of Hatton … 1604-1704, Camden Soc. Ns 22-3, 1878
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Hist. Res. Historical Research
H.o.P. 1660-90 B. D. Henning (ed.), History of Parliament: House
of Commons, 1660-1690 3 vols. (1983)
H.o.P. 1690-1715 E. Cruickshanks, S. N. Handley and D. W. Hayton
(eds.), History of Parliament: House of Commons,
1690-1715 5 vols. (Cambridge, 2002),
H.o.P. 1715-54 R. R. Sedgwick (ed.), History of Parliament:
House of Commons, 1715-1754 2 vols. (1970)
H.J. Historical Journal
H.L. / H.L.R.O. House of Lords / House of Lords Record Office
H.M.C. Historical Manuscripts Commission [followed by name
of collection, e. g. H.M.C. Rutland]
H.L.C. Huntington Library, California
H.L.Q. Huntington Library Quarterly
J.B.S. Journal of British Studies
J.M.H. Journal of Modern History
L.J. Lords Journals
Luttrell, Brief Relation N Luttrell, A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs,
6 vols. (Oxford. 1859)
Nichols, Hist. Leics. J. Nichols, History of the Families and Antiquities of
the County of Leicestershire (London 1795-1814)
North. Hist. Northern History
Oxf. D.N.B. H. C. G. Matthew and B. Harrison (eds.), Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography 60 vols.
(Oxford, 2004)
Parl. Hist. Parliamentary History
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P. and P. Past and Present
P.R.O. National Archives (formerly Public Record Office)
R.O.L.L.R Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland
Stocks, R.B L. H. Stocks (ed.), Records of the Borough of Leicester
vol. IV, 1603-1689 (Cambridge, 1923)
T.L.A.H.S. Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and
Historical Society
T.R.H.S. Transactions of the Royal Historical Society
Verney Letters M. Verney (ed.), Verney Letters of the Eighteenth
Century, 2 vols. (1930)
V.C.H. Victoria County History of the Counties of England:
followed by county name and vol. no.

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Introduction: Politics in Leicestershire, c1677 to c1716

The four decades which this study covers were a period of turbulence in
English politics. There was a strong perception that the kingdom was threatened
by enemies from outside and within, intent on undermining the established order
in Church and State. Recurrent domestic political crises added to this general
feeling of insecurity. In this febrile atmosphere, a series of intractable and
interrelated issues related to religion, war and the succession generated violent
passions and conflict. Heated debates in parliament and the use of the pulpit and
the press to disseminate partisan propaganda indicated the depth of divisions in
the political community in an age characterised as ‘the rage of party’. 1

Yet it was also, according to Holmes, one ‘of the great periods of
fermentation in English history’.2 The concordat reached by William and the
Convention committed the country to a major realignment in foreign policy. This
would involve the country in almost twenty-five years of continuous war against
France. To maintain this conflict the government had to raise unprecedented
levels of taxation, manpower and material resources. In the process, the
monarchy and parliament worked out a new constitutional relationship but not
without pain. Paradoxically, meeting the demands of war strengthened central
administration and extended the reach of the state. These four decades witnessed
a remarkable expansion in both internal trade and external commerce with
significant implications for the prosperity and future economy of the country.

1 J. H. Plumb, The Growth of Political Stability in England, 1675 -1725 (1967), p.129 and n.1,
where he refers to Viscount Bolingbroke’s use of the term in his Memoirs (1752), p.280.
2 G. S. Holmes, Politics, Religion and Society in England, 1672-1742 (1986), p.182.
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Politics in Leicestershire c1677 to c1716

The effects of this were already apparent in the continuing growth of London and
its increasing importance as a commercial, financial, political, legal and social
centre.3

During the last fifty years, the politics of this period have been the focus
of substantial reappraisal. This research and its outcomes are examined in detail
in chapter 1 but it is appropriate here to refer to the salient features.4 Initially the
emphasis was on politics at a national level. It focussed inter alia on issues such
as the authority, responsibilities and accountability of the monarchy, the role of
parliament and its development and the partisan nature of politics driven by
fundamentally and often diametrically opposed views about a range of issues
covering both policy and practice. This early research showed how regular
elections, a politicised Church and a liberated press helped to spread partisan
politics beyond Westminster. Religion was recognised as an important factor in
secular politics, especially the virulent hostility towards Catholicism, but recent
studies have argued that greater weight should be given to personal belief (and its
associated moral, ethical and cultural assumptions) and in particular the effect
this had on relationships within the Protestant confession.5 The literature review
also refers to complementary studies on England’s changing alliances in Europe,
the impact of lengthy periods of war on public finance, government

3 E. A. Wrigley, ‘A simple model of London’s importance in changing English society and
economy, 1650-1750’, in idem (ed.) People, Cities and Wealth: the transformation of traditional
society (Oxford, 1988), pp.133-56; idem, ‘Urban growth and economic change: England and the
continent in the early modern period’, in P. Borsay (ed.), The Eighteenth Century Town: A
Reader, 1688-1820 (1990), pp.39-82; J. M. Rosenheim, The Emergence of a Ruling Order
(1998), pp.215-52; S. E. Whyman, Sociability and Power in Late-Stuart England (Oxford,
1999), pp.4 and 87-109.
4 See below, ch. 1 passim; and for an overview, G. Holmes, The Making of a Great Power: Late
Stuart and Early Georgian Britain, 1660-1722 (1993); T. Harris, Politics under the later Stuarts
(1993); J. Hoppit, Land of Liberty? England 1689-1727 (Oxford, 2000); T. Harris, Restoration;
Charles II and his Kingdoms (2005) and idem, Revolution (2006).
5 See below, pp.19-20.
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administration and the economy and the effect that war had on the country’s
standing in Europe and overseas. These studies have contributed to a fuller
understanding of the context in which politics operated.

While these initial studies drew on local evidence, generally it was used
to illustrate developments at the centre.6 For some time scholars working on the
earlier part of the seventeenth century had recognised the value of taking the
locality as a focus for studying social and economic change and its effect on
political developments.7 There was a time lag before similar local studies were
published on the latter part of the century but this gap has begun to be filled in
the last twenty-five years. In some of these studies the emphasis has been on
social and economic structures: in others it has been on the political processes
and in particular the interaction between the localities and the centre.8 This
current study belongs to this latter category.

It has been designed to achieve three outcomes. The first is to establish
who was in political control in the county and the borough, what matters
engaged their attention, how successful they were in achieving their objectives
and what opposition they faced. The second is to identify the causes of political
conflict in the county and the borough and examine how such conflicts were

6 For example, W. A. Speck, Tory and Whig: the Struggle in the Constituencies (1970).
7 R. C. Richardson, The Debate on the English Revolution (Manchester, 1999), pp.162-83.
8 For examples of the former see, P. Jenkins, The Making of a Ruling Class: the Glamorgan
Gentry, 1640-1790 (Cambridge, 1983); P. Roebuck, Yorkshire Baronets, 1640-1760: families,
estates and fortunes (Oxford, 1980); A. M. Mimardiere, ‘The Warwickshire Gentry, 1660-1730’
(Univ. of Birmingham, M. A. thesis, 1963): and, of the latter, studies by C. Holmes, Seventeenth-
century Lincolnshire (Lincoln, 1988), P. R. Brindle, ‘Politics and Society in Northants, 1649-
1714 (Univ. of Leicester, Ph. D thesis, 1983) and M. J. Short, ‘The Political Relationship
between central government and the local administration in Yorkshire, 1678-1690’ (Univ. of
Leeds, Ph. D. thesis, 1999).
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