Oxfordshire Election 1754

The Oxfordshire Election of 1754, part of the British general election of that year and involving the selection of two Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent the Oxfordshire constituency, was probably the most notorious English county election of the 18th century. It was depicted in Hogarth's famous series of paintings and engravings, The Humours of an Election.

Oxfordshire was a county constituency electing two MPs. The right to vote was held by all the Forty Shilling Freeholders of the county, amounting to about 4,000 in 1754, but because of the expense of a contested election the competing interests tried to reach a compromise without resorting to a poll if at all possible, and in 1754 Oxfordshire had not seen a contested election for 44 years. The expenses entailed not only the cost of campaigning across the county, but the need for the candidates to meet the expenses of their voters in travelling to Oxford (where the poll was held in the grounds of Exeter College) and in lavishly entertaining them while they were there; but outright bribery was also rife.

The candidates in 1754 were two Tories, Sir James Dashwood (who was standing for re-election) and The Viscount Wenman; and two Whigs, Viscount Parker (heir to the Earl of Macclesfield) and Sir Edward Turner. The other major local grandees, the Duke of Marlborough and Earl Harcourt, joined Macclesfield in backing the two Whigs, while the Earl of Abingdon and Earl of Lichfield supported the two Tories.

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