From:  http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/

HERE, Jeff Beedham, a regular contributor to Bygones, tell us of past polling days in Grimsby.

"Today, with a General Election imminent, we accept everyone over the age of 18, irrespective of gender, can vote for an ever-increasing choice of political parties. But during the 18th century the process was more selective and open to corruption.

"In Grimsby, only the Freemen voted, having not one, but two votes. There was a choice of just two political parties, the Tories (the Reds) and the Liberals (the Blues).

"Between 1790 and 1832, the electorate mainly had the choice between two local families, the Pelhams (Liberals) and the Tennysons (Tories). These two families often championed a candidate who promised to look after their interests.

"In captain RH Gronow's Guide To Life In London And Paris 1794-1865, he mentions the Earl of Yarborough offered to make him a member of Parliament for just 200 guineas. The captain declined his generous offer and was defeated in the 1831 election, polling 187 votes.

"Grimsby's public houses and shops were also strictly divided into these two political factions. In 1790, Dudley North and John Harrison were both elected with just 140 votes each. The two runners-up received just 135 votes each, so each vote was crucial.

"To guarantee these precious votes, many accepted the incentives that were on offer. On election day, potential voters would be treated to free food and drink ("treatin"). Sometimes they were offered cash incentives or their rates paid for a year if they voted for a particular candidate.

"If this failed, then intimidation was used. Often, potential voters were kidnapped on polling day and hidden in a remote spot such as Bradley Woods or on a ship in the river until the results were announced. This was known as "cooping".

"The Tories, led by the duke of Wellington, were opposed to virtually everything, including the railways. Under Sir Robert Peel they reinvented themselves as the Conservatives.

"However, due to public pressure, mainly from the chartist movement, the first of three reform acts was passed by parliament in 1832. This act ensured the vote or franchise was extended to householders living in property with a rateable value of ten pounds per annum. The number of voters in Grimsby substantially increased.

"In 1848, with the arrival of the railway in Grimsby that required acts of parliament to expand its network, a new type of MP, employed by the MS and LR, would start to challenge the local landowners.

"In 1852, Lord Annesley, a director of the MS and LR, defeated local landowner Edward Heneage by 61 votes. In 1862, Mr John Chapman, manager of the MS and LR, also challenged Edward Heneage, who, in 1837, 1841 and 1847, had been elected unopposed as MP for Grimsby.

"Chapman's supporters, mostly drunk on free beer, heard that two voters from Liverpool, who were sympathetic to Heneage, had been brought in by rail to vote for him and were staying at the Yarborough Hotel as his guests.

"The news started to circulate and a riot erupted at the Yarborough Hotel. Doors, windows and furniture were smashed and extra police had to be brought in by rail to deal with the mob.

"In 1867 the second reform act was passed, doubling the electorate and for the first time introducing the secret ballot for the electorate.

"In 1874, this time at the Royal Hotel, another riot erupted when it was announced the MS and LR's candidate, Alfred Mellor Watkin, the lacklustre son of its mercurial manager, Edward William Watkin, had won with 1,600 votes.

"Alfred was not particularly bright or interested in politics, working in a minor management post created by his father, who required someone in parliament to further the company's interests. Alfred was the ideal man for the job as he was directly answerable to his father's wishes.

"The final reform act was passed in 1884, almost tripling the electorate and giving a vote to most of the poor agricultural labourers.

"In 1918, an act of Parliament gave all men over 21 years and all women over 30 years the vote, but it would be the 1928 act that gave all women over 21 years the vote.

"Today, voting is seen as a right, not as a privilege for the chosen few, as it was in the 18th century."
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Added: 17-August-2012