Bribery, corruption, intrigue, rotten boroughs and riots …oh
dear, that will be Wiltshire’s parliamentary elections in
eighteenth and nineteenth century! Present events always give us
an opportunity to take the long-view and here at the History
Centre we have a range of resources on the political history of
the county and borough, from excellent accounts published in the
Victoria County History for Wiltshire to election squibs, poll
books and original documents. Wiltshire’s early claim to
political fame was the impressive size of its parliamentary
representation. Until 1832 it elected two Knights of the Shire
(representing the whole county), two MPs for Salisbury, and two
burgesses for each of its 15 boroughs, a grand total of 34
seats. Only Cornwall had higher. This was especially impressive
given that many of the boroughs were the size of a village, and
few of their residents could vote. The most notable, of course,
was Old Sarum, which retuned two MPs and in 1768, it is claimed,
had an electorate of, er…on