In our latest Georgian Lords blog, in keeping with our general focus for the month on the county of Northumberland, Dr Charles Littleton considers the case of the pocket borough of Morpeth and its uneasy relations with the earls of Carlisle.
The Northumbrian borough of Morpeth had returned representatives to Parliament since 1553. From 1601 the Howards of Naworth were lords of the manor, and in 1661 Charles Howard was created earl of Carlisle. He and his descendants controlled Morpeth so thoroughly that in the mid-eighteenth century the selection of MPs was considered to be ‘totally in Lord Carlisle’. Morpeth would appear to be a textbook example of a ‘pocket borough’. However even this personal fiefdom needed careful management, and on occasion the townsmen could resist the earls’ domination.
The franchise lay in those admitted to the freedom of the borough. This provided the earls with a means to control…
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