SUMMARY
DOMESTIC.—A vigorous writer in the Daily News, on Saturday, under the signature of ‟RUNNYMEDE,” gave the first of a series of letters to LORD JOHN RUSSELL on the subject of the New Reform Bill. He reminds the PREMIER of his own statement in 1831, when he said that a Reform Bill was then wanted for the redress of two especial grievances :—1st, The nomination of members by individuals; and 2d, the undue expenses of elections; and then confining his attention to the first, shows that there are at least fifty-six boroughs in England which ought to be disfranchised, since there are fifty-six in which it is entirely in the power of certain patrons to nominate such representative as they, and not the electors, may choose. The list is curious :—
| BOROUGHS | PATRONS |
| Arundel | Duke of Norfolk |
| Ashburton | Sir J. Matheson, M.P. |
| Bewdley | Sir T. Wilmington |
| Bridgnorth | Mr. Whitmore, M.P. |
| Buckingham | Duke of Buckingham |
| Bury St. Edmonds | Marquis of Bristol |
| Calne | Marquis of Lansdowne |
| Chichester | Duke of Richmond |
| Chippenham | Mr. Jos. Neeld, M.P. |
| Christchurch | Earl of Malmesbury |
| Cirencester | Earl Bathurst |
| Cricklade | Mr. Gordon |
| Dorchester | Earl of Shaftsbury Mr. Williams |
| Dudley | Lord Ward |
| Droitwich | Sir J. Parkington, M.P. |
| Lye | Sir E. Kerrison, M.P. |
| Great Grimsby | Mr. Edw. Heneage, M.P. |
| Harwich | Mr. J. Attwood |
| Hertford | Earl Cowper |
| Helstone | Duke of Leeds |
| Huntingdon | Earl of Sandwich |
| Launceston | Duke of Northumberland |
| Lichfield | Earl of Lichfield |
| Ludlow | Earl Powis |
| Lymington | Sir H. Burrard Neale |
| Lyme Regis | Mr. J. Attwood |
| Malmesbury | Earl of Suffolk |
| Malton | Earl Fitzwilliam |
| Marlborough | Marquis of Aylesbury |
| Marlow | Mr. Williams, M.P. |
| Midhurst | Earl of Egmont |
| Morpeth | Earl of Carlisle |
| Newark | Duke of Newcastle |
| Northallerton | Miss Pierce |
| Peterborough | Earl Fitzwilliam |
| Petersfield | Sir William Jolliffe, M.P. |
| Reigate | Earl Somers |
| Richmond | Earl of Zetland |
| Ripon | Earl de Grey |
| Rye | Mr. Curteis, M.P. |
| Shaftesbury | Marquis of Westminster |
| Stamford | Marquis of Exeter |
| Tamworth | Sir R. Peel, M.P. |
| Tavistock | Duke of Bedford |
| Thetford | Duke of Grafton Lord Ashburton |
| Thirsk | Lady Frankland Russell |
| Totness | Duke of Somerset |
| Wallingford | Mr. Blackstone, M.P. |
| Wareham | Mr. Drax, M.P. |
| Warwick | Earl of Warwick |
| Westbury | Sir Ralph Lopez, M.P. |
| Whitehaven | Earl of Lonsdale |
| Wilton | Mr. Sydney Herbert, M.P. |
| Woodstock | Duke of Marlborough |
| Wycombe | Lord Carrington |
It is well known that many of these boroughs were included in the original Schedule A of the Reform Act of 1832, but rescued by interested parties, or by way of compromise, transferred Schedule B, and allowed to retain one member. Any new Reform Bill which does not disfranchise fifty out of these fifty-six sham constituencies will be grievously dissatisfactory.
(See also
24-Dec-1851
13-Dec-1851
13-Dec-1851
29-Nov-1851
14-Nov-1851)