Collection of 23 letters and notes to Sir Gilbert Ireland [manuscript], [1670].
Items
Details
Title
Collection of 23 letters and notes to Sir Gilbert Ireland [manuscript], [1670].
Description
23 letters
Note
This is a PRELIMINARY RECORD. It may contain incorrect information. Please email catalog@folger.edu for assistance.
Genre/form
Manuscripts (documents)
Place of creation/publication
Great Britain -- England.
Item Details
Call number
FAST ACC 271826 (flat)
Folger-specific note
From dealer's description: "LIVERPOOL ELECTION. A Collection of 23 letters and notes relating to the by-election in Liverpool in 1670. Primarily letters to Sir Gilbert Ireland. This archive is a rare survival, recording the machinations behind a seventeenth-century contested election. ΒΆ Liverpool was a two member seat, Sir Gilbert Ireland being one of them. The other M.P died causing the election discussed in these letters. Sir George Lane was a candidate, Ireland one of his backers, but eventually it was decided that Lane's chances were weak and he withdrew. Ireland, in his letter to Bradshaigh, correctly forecasts a win for Bucknell, a candidate apparently backed by the King and the Duke of Monmouth, but threatens to concoct a story to appeal to the Courts of Law in the hope of a re-run. In another letter to Shakerley, bitter at the perceived bribery and perfidy of the Mayor of Liverpool, he seeks a second candidate because if Bucknell is returned unopposed, there will be no possibility of having the election declared void." From dealer's description: "9th September. Edward Dobson. A fulsome letter to the Mayor of Liverpool, written in the hope of being elected as one of the two M.P.'s for Liverpool. 7th October. Henry Ashurst, a letter to Sir Gilbert Ireland, noting that there is pressure on him to desist as a candidate in the election. He withdrew two days before the poll. 12th October. Thomas Johnson, Mayor of Liverpool to Sir Gilbert Ireland, MP for Liverpool, regarding tactics for the selection of a candidate for a second M.P. following the death of his fellow member. 'Bad news never wants wings ...' 26th October. Thomas Greenhalgh [a prominent Royalist in the Civil War], to Sir Gilbert Ireland, MP for Liverpool, regarding tactics for the selection of a candidate for a second M.P. following the death of his fellow member. 29th October. A copy letter 'to the Mayor and Alderman of Liverpool concerning the election of Bucknall to be their Burgess'. 1st November. Sir Gilbert Ireland. A letter to Lord Derby. 'I heartily wish a worthy successor to your noble brother who may be every way fit to serve the town, the country, the kingdom and your Lordship ...' 1st November. The Earl of Ancram. A flattering letter to Sir Gilbert Ireland in the hope that Ireland would support the candidacy of his friend Sir George Lane in the forthcoming bye election. 4th November. Lady Frances Southampton. Contemporary office copy of a letter to Sir Gilbert Ireland. 'I am solicited by the Duke of Monmouth to use that interest that I have with you & other friends in Lancashire for the procuring the place for a friend of his one Mr Ross that had been his tutor from a child.' Ross was subsequently replaced by Sir William Bucknell who won the election. 4th November. Richard Percival. A letter to Sir Gilbert Ireland - gossip on the bye election. 5th November. Roger Bradshaigh. A letter to Gilbert Ireland canvassing for Sir George Lane as a candidate. 15th November. Roger Bradshaigh. A letter to Sir Gilbert Ireland canvassing for Sir George Lane as a candidate. 19th November. Edward Dobson. A letter to Sir Gilbert Ireland requesting consideration to be appointed as the replacement candidate in the forthcoming election, following the death of Mr Stanley. 28th November. Sir Gilbert Ireland. 'Gentlemen, I pray go immediately with this letter to the Mayor. It is from his Royal Highness the Duke of York ... who well knowing you to be a maritime town had commanded this letter to be delivered to you .. make me not wholly an insignificant fellow with you in being made a perpetual slave to the insolent impositions of your burches ...' 28th November. Thomas Johnson, Mayor of Liverpool to Sir Gilbert Ireland, MP for Liverpool, acknowledging receipt of a letter, presumably the one mentioned above." From dealer's description: 28th November. Roger Bradshaigh. A letter to Sir Gilbert Ireland. 'Had I known your inclinations to stay longer among those infidel Liverpooltonians, and had not my preoblogations to wait upon my Lord Molineux tempted me, I had not so easily been robbed of your society the other day...' 5th December. Sir Gilbert Ireland. Retained copies of his letters to Lord Mollyneux, Sir Roger Bradshaigh & Sir Jeffery Shakerley, complaining of unfair deeds in the coming election. 6th December. Thomas Johnson, Mayor of Liverpool to Sir Gilbert Ireland, MP for Liverpool, regarding arrangements for a writ for the selection of a candidate for a second M.P. following the death of his fellow member. 6th December. Robert Bradshaigh, a letter to Sir Gilbert Ireland, refusing to back a candidate in the election. '... my hands were long since bound up from being against Bucknell...' 7th December. Sir Gilbert Ireland. Retained copy of his letter to the Mayor of Liverpool, acknowledging receipt of a writ for a second M.P. for the election. 'I pray Mr Mayor, give me leave to tell, that according to your promise I should have heard betwixt your receipt of the writ & your proclaiming it.' 20th December. G. Lane. A letter of thanks to Sir Gilbert Ireland. 22nd December. A letter from M. Anderton to Sir Gilbert Ireland. 'I am commanded by Sir George Lane to transmit the enclosed to you with all to request your advice whether any dispute should be made against the election as illegal...' 28th December. Richard Legh. Letter to Sir Gilbert Ireland. A frequent non-attender at Parliament, and eventually put into custody, Legh writes concerning a Bill to make the River Weaver navigable. December. A notice for an election to Parliament, votes at the house of Margery Forneby's, widow, or Elizabeth Ridings, widow. A note of some Freemen of Liverpool. 83 names recorded. Docket title on reverse." Ordered from Jarndyce, D 9279, 2019-02-01, Cat. Books & Pamphlets,1505-1833, item #56