Partisan Politics

238 pages. Temps de lecture estimé 2h58min.
New understandings of the middle order and of the post-1688 English Parliament have shifted the focus from Westminster to the constituencies in the study of eighteenth-century politics. It was the towns, and especially the smaller parliamentary boroughs, that set much of the legislative agenda and which defined partisanship. This is also where religious tension was most intense and enduring. Yet there has never been a thoroughgoing comparative study of small-town economy, religion, government and politics. Deep in the archives, the history of a clutch of towns in south-west England in the early years of the eighteenth century offers revelatory insights. Their diverse economic structure and religious divisions made these towns extraordinarily difficult to govern, while late Augustan partisanship spread into the streets and taverns, threatening urban order. This precipitated heady local realignments, with three or even four factions in each place cutting across Whig and Tory lines in the pursuit of consensus. In this intensely urban politics, government patronage was peripheral; area gentry were drawn in but had little control. The impact of this many-sided partisanship on national politics was profound. Building a clearer picture of significant change around the time of the Hanoverian accession, this book proposes a fresh approach both to the study of early modern politics and of towns far beyond its immediate region. It will be an important asset to scholars and students of both.  Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations   Chapter 1: Introduction—a new understanding of towns and their politics The perspective of the middling sort Local government Resistance to interference Partisanship Religion and party In search of stability The research deficit in smaller towns   PART 1: THE URBAN COMMUNITY   Chapter 2: Economy and community— the key contexts The major industries: shipping The major industries: textiles Beyond the major industries The distribution of wealth Other solidarities The relationship between economy, society and politics   Chapter 3: The significance of the Church The structure of dissent Dissent and local government The Established Church The challenge to order   Chapter 4: Town government The structure of town government Who served? Was town government effective? The threat to good government   PART 2: THE POLITICAL PROCESS Chapter 5: Government patronage The Excise service The Customs service Land Tax, Post Office, Army The Admiralty The patronage process   Chapter 6: The politics of leading townsmen and the gentry Bridgwater: the humiliation of the Duke of Chandos Plymouth: consensus and the failure of Sir John Rogers Totnes: Amyites, Buckleyites and George Treby Dartmouth: Holdsworth and Treby—amicitia perpetua Tavistock: the third force Taunton: the feud between council and meeting houses Tiverton: the role of the Church party Partisan politics   Chapter 7: The politics of the wider society Taunton: mobs and voters Bridgwater: popular Jacobitism Totnes and Dartmouth: ‘Confidents and Intimados’ at the Hole in the Wall Tavistock: fringe voters Plymouth: the role of the freemen Tiverton: playing with popular feeling The broken cheese beam   Chapter 8: Wider contexts Regions The longer period Where next?   Bibliography Manuscript sources Printed sources Contemporary Modern works   Index