How Bedfordshire Voted, 1685–1735

How Bedfordshire Voted, 1685–1735: The Evidence of Local Poll Books. Volume 1 1685–1715 . By J. Collett-White . Bedfordshire Historical Record Society 85. Boydell & Brewer . 2006 . xxvii + 287 pp. £25.00 . Printed and manuscript poll books survive in some profusion, mainly for ‘county’ elections, and particularly for the frequent contests that marked the ‘first age of party’ between 1689 and 1715. While a number of these listings of votes and voters have been published, this edition of Bedford borough and Bedfordshire county polls makes accessible a range of information that will be useful for political, social, local and family historians. This carefully edited material provides the basis for a number of other studies. These might include an analysis of voter behaviour over time, electoral geography, the social profile of voters, the effects of different types of franchise, different forms of campaign. From this, it is possible to reflect on the impact of a range of influences. In the era covered by this study the primary issue is that of party, of partisan machinery and local loyalties, particularly to the Russell family. The effects of religious division, in John Bunyan's county, can also be distinguished. The raw material presented here provides a basis for such future research. The editor's scholarly introduction and his useful contextual discussions of county politics on the eve of the 1685, 1695, and 1698–1705 and 1708–15 elections provide an interpretative framework in which to analyse these listings. These chapter introductions illustrate how national events, such as the death of Charles II, the ousting of James or the partisan upheavals of the 1690s, translated into county and borough politics. The biggest shift was the resurgence and consolidation of the Russell interest, re-established firmly in the 1690s after the disaster of their implication in the Rye House Plot, not to be challenged until 1895. In terms of political history, this edition provides a useful local adjunct to the 2002 History of Parliament volume covering the period 1689–1715, showing how county politics actually functioned at the level of the individual voter. The detailed material on the behaviour of Bedford (a borough with over 700 voters) is also a considerable advantage. Such listings provide another point of cross-referencing for investigations into the social and familial roots of the electorate. These lists of 8,500 voters will assist studies of local power and office-holding, and provide an important countywide listing of property holders, in an era after the last hearth tax, and before the large-scale survival of the land tax. Those using these listings for family or local history will be grateful for the comprehensive and well-constructed indexes by person, place and subject. These make all such community or genealogical investigations much easier. Given the work involved in editing, checking and indexing these lists, the retail price offers good value, as is usually the case for county record society volumes. While this edition may have a limited interest for many, it will be absolutely essential for those with specific political, local or familial interests in late seventeenth-century Bedfordshire, as well as those seeking material for a comparative analysis

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