County Westmeath

CO. WESTMEATH – 86%, [70,350] c. 1,120, 2,700 (1806), [c. 3,000 (1815)]
BOROUGH	TYPE	PATRON	ELECTORATE
Athlone	Corporation	Sir Richard St George (1 seat)	Burgesses and 400–500 freemen (71 in 1832)
		Dean Handcock (1 seat)
Fore	Corporation	Earl of Westmeath	13 burgesses
Kilbeggan	Corporation	Charles Lambart	13 burgesses
Mullingar	Manor	Earl of Granard	Freeholders (12 voted in 1783)

Co. Westmeath -Constituency

The interests in Co. Westmeath were fairly stable throughout the century; the most consistently represented interest was that of the Rochforts. Other major interests were those of the Nugents, Earls of Westmeath, and the Malones, who in Anthony Malone produced one of the foremost legal and political figures of the mid-eighteenth century. The county had about six disputed elections between 1723 and 1791, the most famous of which was probably the 1723 dispute over the by-election that followed the death of William Handcock (0957).

George Rochfort complained of the undue election and return of Richard Levinge; the Sheriff was Walter Nugent (1550). An attempt was obviously made to ‘arrange’ the poll in favour of Levinge, first of all by getting Malone’s freeholders to vote for him. Then, when the voters assembled in a field at Mullingar, the Sheriff in his capacity as Returning Officer declared for Levinge on a ‘view’ of the voters.

Rochfort demanded a poll and the election lasted four days, upon which the Sheriff declared himself insulted; when asked by whom he said that someone in court had declared that he did not do justice. The poll was then adjourned while he pondered the gravity of the offence. After three hours’ deliberation he returned and declared the offence so serious that he had closed the books and declared Levinge elected.

Rochfort petitioned against an undue election and the matter came before the Committee on Privileges and Elections, where the evidence turned on the qualifications of the voters. The committee declared for Levinge, and the House of Commons sustained its decision by one vote – 89 to 88. This was part of the trial of strength between Speaker Conolly (0460), who supported Levinge, and Lord Chancellor Midleton (0237), who supported Rochfort. Such an even result really favoured neither side.

In 1727 William Handcock (0958) lodged a petition against George Rochfort and Anthony Malone but then withdrew it. The following election returns for 1761, 1768 and 1776 are taken from the Dublin Journal and indicate the Rochfort interest; the 1768 return shows the popularity of Anthony Malone. The Malones, along with the Nugents, were representatives of the Catholic interest. At the 1761 election the returns were: Lord Belfield (1800) 452, Hon. Richard Rochfort (1805) 343, George Rochfort (1801) 259, Gustavus Lambart (1193) 2.

The Sheriff, Thomas Adderley (0009), declared Lord Belfield and Captain (Richard) Rochfort duly elected. At the 1768 election the returns were: Lord Belfield 475, Col. Rochfort-Mervyn 387, Anthony Malone 469 (of which 377 were single votes).

Lord Belfield and Malone were declared duly elected. At the 1776 election Robert Rochfort polled 523 votes, Benjamin Chapman 350, Mr Mason 250. The electorate was probably about 1,120 in 1768; it rose to about 3,000 in 1815.

In 1783 William Smyth, who was supported by Lord Westmeath, petitioned successfully against Richard Malone. In 1785 it was reported that ‘This County was contested against the present Members by Lord Sunderlin (1341) and Sir B. Chapman, against Mr Rochfort and Mr Smyth. The conduct of the County is however peaceable. Lord Belvidere (1800) and Lord Westmeath have interests in this County. Mr Rochfort is returned upon the former and would support on terms. Mr Smyth was elected on the popular interest.’ In 1790 Smyth again successfully petitioned, this time against the return of William Handcock (0960).

In 1790 it was stated of Co. Westmeath that:

Circumstance seems to evince a determined predilection in the electors of Westmeath for cultivated abilities, in preference to the inert weight of sluggish property, yet they have shown that abilities alone cannot ensure their attachment and command success for even the justly celebrated Anthony Malone, who united the most eloquent of tongues to the clearest of heads, was more than once disappointed in his endeavours to represent this County.

The truth is, the great number of gentlemen of large fortunes and independent circumstances here resident, forms an aristocracy of independence, before which the power of the Rochfort family, who have long aimed at the dominion of this district, as well as every family compact, has insensibly diminished and must be forever overpowered.

After the Union, while the Rochfort and the Nugent interests continued, others began to express an interest in the representation.

ID	County	Year	Type	Ref. No.	Name
1	Co. Westmeath	1692	Election	1691	Dillon Pollard
2	Co. Westmeath	1692	Election	1806	Robert Rochfort
3	Co. Westmeath	1695	Election	1674	George Peyton
4	Co. Westmeath	1695	Election	1806	Robert Rochfort
5	Co. Westmeath	1703	Election	955	William Handcock
6	Co. Westmeath	1703	Election	1806	Robert Rochfort
7	Co. Westmeath	1707	By Election	469	John Cooke
8	Co. Westmeath	1707	By Election	1799	George Rochfort
9	Co. Westmeath	1713	Election	1617	Edward Pakenham
10	Co. Westmeath	1713	Election	1799	George Rochfort
11	Co. Westmeath	1715	Election	1617	Edward Pakenham
12	Co. Westmeath	1715	Election	2252	John Wood
13	Co. Westmeath	1721	By Election	957	William Handcock
14	Co. Westmeath	1723	By Election	1231	Richard Levinge
15	Co. Westmeath	1727	Election	1336	Anthony Malone
16	Co. Westmeath	1727	Election	1799	George Rochfort
17	Co. Westmeath	1731	By Election	1807	Robert Rochfort
18	Co. Westmeath	1738	By Election	1798	Arthur Rochfort
19	Co. Westmeath	1761	Election	1805	Richard Rochfort(-Mervyn)
20	Co. Westmeath	1761	Election	1800	George Rochfort (Lord Belfield)
21	Co. Westmeath	1768	Election	1336	Anthony Malone
22	Co. Westmeath	1768	Election	1800	George Rochfort (Lord Belfield)
23	Co. Westmeath	1775	By Election	1801	George Rochfort
24	Co. Westmeath	1776	Election	388	Sir Benjamin Chapman
25	Co. Westmeath	1776	Election	1808	Robert Rochfort
26	Co. Westmeath	1783	Election	1953	(Richard Malone (1341) n.d.e.) William Smyth
27	Co. Westmeath	1783	Election	1808	Robert Rochfort
28	Co. Westmeath	1790	Election	1953	(William Handcock (0960) n.d.e.) William Smyth
29	Co. Westmeath	1790	Election	1808	Robert Rochfort
30	Co. Westmeath	1797	Election	1953	William Smyth
31	Co. Westmeath	1797	Election	1808	Robert Rochfort
32	Co. Westmeath	1798	By Election	1802	Gustavus Hume Rochfort
33	Co. Westmeath	1801	UK	1953	William Smyth
34	Co. Westmeath	1801	UK	1802	Gustavus Hume Rochfort
35	Co. Westmeath	1802	Election	1953	William Smyth
36	Co. Westmeath	1802	Election	1802	Gustavus Hume Rochfort

Co. Westmeath - Boroughs

Athlone was enfranchised by a 1607 charter, 4 James I; it also had a charter of James II. Its corporation consisted of a sovereign, two bailiffs and 13 burgesses (including the constable of the castle), a recorder, town clerk, serjeant-at-mace and billet master. There was a select body called the common council. The Municipal Commissioners found no instance of a sovereign holding office for more than a year at a time, but there is considerable evidence of the sovereign and vice-sovereign alternating and both being members of the Handcock family.

In 1783 Athlone had ‘Sovereign, Burgesses and Freemen between 400 or 500. 2,000 inhabitants. Patrons, Sir Richard St George and Dean Handcock. Property various. A large town.’ In 1790 its history was explained as follows: ‘Formerly under the influence of the Dillon family, it has, since the Revolution, been uniformly represented by the united families of Handcock and St George who govern here with uncontrolled authority and whose recommendations never fail of success.’

Two elections – those of 1761 and 1768 – illustrate their dominance. In 1761 the voting was as follows: William Handcock (0959) 236, Henry St George (1841) 219, Wentworth Thewles 140. The high turn-out may be due to the excitement at the first election following the long parliament of George II, and possibly a degree of uncertainty as to the real state of affairs. Certainly, while the result was the same, the numbers were much smaller in July 1768, when the voting was: Sir Richard St George (1846) 82, Gilbert Holmes 17, William Handcock 96.

In 1793 it was considered a very Catholic town, so many of its voters may have been imported. Athlone retained a seat at the Union and William Handcock bought out Sir Richard Bligh St George (1848), who was hostile to the Union. Handcock thus became its sole proprietor after 1800.

Fore appears to have been a borough by prescription: the Rolls Office issued a negative certificate to the Commissioners for Union Compensation. In 1783 it was said to comprise ‘13 Burgesses, non-resident. Not more than 50 inhabitants. Patron and proprietor, Lord Westmeath.’ In 1790 it was described as follows:

This close Borough has invariably been under the dominion of the family of the Earls of Westmeath. Its electors consist but of twelve Burgesses, whom the Earl nominates and consequently appoints its representatives. Unless when honoured with the representation of Lord Viscount Delvin, his eldest son, it is a saleable commodity and increases the income, if not the political consequence, of this noble head of the ancient family of Nugent.

In 1798 the Marquess of Downshire bought Fore from the financially straitened Earls of Westmeath for £14,000 (this was said to be the pricecertainly he bought Fore and half of Carlingford for £21,000). Thomas Burgh (0284), who sat for Fore from February to August 1800, attempted to claim compensation for loss of his seat. This was evidently not allowed; the full compensation of £15,000 was paid to the Marquess of Downshire.

Kilbeggan was incorporated by a 1612/3 charter of 10 James I. Its corporation comprised a portreeve, 12 burgesses, two serjeants-at-mace, a recorder, a town clerk and a seneschal. Its history as related in 1790 was that:

At the Restoration, the then Earl of Cavan wrested this Borough from various contending Roman Catholics and it remains at this day under the absolute influence of Mr Lambart, descended from a younger Branch of the Earl’s family. This gentleman having been, for some time, a constant absentee, it is generally brought to market and proves a sure resource for those pests of the community, parliamentary adventurers.

The Lambart family represented the borough themselves for most of the century, with a break between 1783 and 1797 which, it was said, was caused by a dishonest clerk who had embezzled a large sum of money which obliged Charles Lambart (1192) to sell both seats in 1783; his heir, Gustavus Lambart (1194), was a minor in 1790. Kilbeggan was a village of 500–600 inhabitants. It was ‘a close Borough, whose sole electors are the twelve Burgesses and a very few Freemen appointed to save appearances, not to encourage independence’. It was disfranchised at the Act of Union; the £15,000 compensation was paid to Gustavus Lambart.

Mullingar was a curious borough. It was a manor set up by royal letters of 1583, 25 Eliz. I. There was also a 1676 charter of 27 Chas II but this was a grant to Sir Arthur Forbes, his heirs and assigns, ‘to grant any of the lands of the Manor of Mullingar as he shall think fit’; the freeholders were to return two members to parliament. From then until the Union Sir Arthur Forbes and his descendants, Earls of Granard, controlled the return of the MPs for Mullingar. In 1790 it was explained that:

The constitution of this manor is peculiarly singular. It was created at the Revolution, in favour of the Earl of Granard, in exclusion of the families of Pettit and Dalton, who had before a commanding influence in the ancient Borough and the Crown, to mark its sense of his eminent services, irrevocably fixed the absolute power of election in the Earl, by a most remarkable clause in the charter, directing that none should enjoy the right of suffrage or franchise in the manor, except Freeholders immediately created by the Earl, and his successors.

Mullingar was an important market town and in 1783 it was said that the electorate consisted of ‘Sovereign and Freeholders of the Manor, about 12 in number. But one elector in the town. 2,000 inhabitants, 100 Protestants. Patron, Lord Granard. A large town.’ Various members of the family sat for it, particularly in the middle of the century (1749–68). It was disfranchised in 1800; the £15,000 compensation was paid to George, Earl of Granard.

Constituencies and Elections

County Westmeath

Co. Westmeath -Constituency

Co. Westmeath - Boroughs