Partisan Politics

Linked to new research on 18th-century middle orders, this book looks deep into small-town society. It finds these to be places difficult to govern, split by economic structure and divided by religion. Each was forced to seek consensus and realignment. This work presents a radical new approach to the study of early modern politics and towns.

New understandings of the middle order and of the post-1688 English Parliament have shifted the focus from Westminster to the constituencies in the study of eighteenth-century politics. It was the towns, and especially the smaller parliamentary boroughs, that set much of the legislative agenda and which defined partisanship. This is also where religious tension was most intense and enduring. Yet there has never been a thoroughgoing comparative study of small-town economy, religion, government and politics. Deep in the archives, the history of a clutch of towns in south-west England in the early years of the eighteenth century offers revelatory insights. Their diverse economic structure and religious divisions made these towns extraordinarily difficult to govern, while late Augustan partisanship spread into the streets and taverns, threatening urban order. This precipitated heady local realignments, with three or even four factions in each place cutting across Whig and Tory lines in the pursuit of consensus. In this intensely urban politics, government patronage was peripheral; area gentry were drawn in but had little control. The impact of this many-sided partisanship on national politics was profound. Building a clearer picture of significant change around the time of the Hanoverian accession, this book proposes a fresh approach both to the study of early modern politics and of towns far beyond its immediate region. It will be an important asset to scholars and students of both.

Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Chapter 1: Introduction-a new understanding of towns and their politics The perspective of the middling sort Local government Resistance to interference Partisanship Religion and party In search of stability The research deficit in smaller towns PART 1: THE URBAN COMMUNITY Chapter 2: Economy and community- the key contexts The major industries: shipping The major industries: textiles Beyond the major industries The distribution of wealth Other solidarities The relationship between economy, society and politics Chapter 3: The significance of the Church The structure of dissent Dissent and local government The Established Church The challenge to order Chapter 4: Town government The structure of town government Who served? Was town government effective? The threat to good government PART 2: THE POLITICAL PROCESS Chapter 5: Government patronage The Excise service The Customs service Land Tax, Post Office, Army The Admiralty The patronage process Chapter 6: The politics of leading townsmen and the gentry Bridgwater: the humiliation of the Duke of Chandos Plymouth: consensus and the failure of Sir John Rogers Totnes: Amyites, Buckleyites and George Treby Dartmouth: Holdsworth and Treby-amicitia perpetua Tavistock: the third force Taunton: the feud between council and meeting houses Tiverton: the role of the Church party Partisan politics Chapter 7: The politics of the wider society Taunton: mobs and voters Bridgwater: popular Jacobitism Totnes and Dartmouth: 'Confidents and Intimados' at the Hole in the Wall Tavistock: fringe voters Plymouth: the role of the freemen Tiverton: playing with popular feeling The broken cheese beam Chapter 8: Wider contexts Regions The longer period Where next? Bibliography Manuscript sources Printed sources Contemporary Modern works Index,

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

Chapter 1: Introduction—a new

understanding of towns and their politics

The perspective of the middling sort

Local government

Resistance to interference

Partisanship

Religion and party

In search of stability

The research deficit in smaller towns

PART 1: THE URBAN COMMUNITY

Chapter 2: Economy and community— the key contexts

The major industries: shipping

The major industries: textiles

Beyond the major industries

The distribution of wealth

Other solidarities

The relationship between economy, society and politics

Chapter 3: The significance of the Church

The structure of dissent

Dissent and local government

The Established Church

The challenge to order

Chapter 4: Town government

The structure of town government

Who served?

Was town government effective?

The threat to good government

PART 2: THE POLITICAL PROCESS

Chapter 5: Government patronage

The Excise service

The Customs service

Land Tax, Post Office, Army

The Admiralty

The patronage process

Chapter 6: The politics of leading townsmen and the gentry

Bridgwater: the humiliation of the Duke of Chandos

Plymouth: consensus and the failure of Sir John Rogers

Totnes: Amyites, Buckleyites and George Treby

Dartmouth: Holdsworth and Treby—amicitia perpetua

Tavistock: the third force

Taunton: the feud between council and meeting houses

Tiverton: the role of the Church party

Partisan politics

Chapter 7: The politics of the wider society

Taunton: mobs and voters

Bridgwater: popular Jacobitism

Totnes and Dartmouth: ‘Confidents and Intimados’ at the Hole in the Wall
Tavistock: fringe voters

Plymouth: the role of the freemen

Tiverton: playing with popular feeling

The broken cheese beam

Chapter 8: Wider contexts

Regions

The longer period

Where next?

Bibliography

Manuscript sources

Printed sources

Contemporary

Modern works

Index

Jon Rosebank took the top first in Modern History at Oxford, becoming Fellow of New College. He then wrote, produced and directed history documentaries for BBC and Channel 4, combining filmmaking with teaching and becoming Executive Producer, BBC TV. He is now a writer and history podcaster.

• By (author) Jon Rosebank

"Dr Rosebank's painstaking research adds significantly to the literature on eighteenth-century towns, and on the relationship between 'the people' and the political institutions by which they were governed." D.W. Hayton, Parliaments, Estates and Representation "... written with exceptional clarity and verve, such that it makes its academic points in a very accessible way" Jonathan Barry, Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History at Exeter University
—

Dr Rosebank's painstaking research adds significantly to the literature on eighteenth-century towns, and on the relationship between ‘the people’ and the political institutions by which they were governed.

— D.W. Hayton

This is local history used to excellent effect, built upon comprehensive and thorough archival research, and conveyed with admirable lucidity.

— James Harris

… an interesting study, rooted in a detailed study of archival material, which configures the interplay between the forces at play in urban politics well.

— William Gibson, Somerset Archaeology and Natural History