Description:Was the Poll Fair?
The image above shows an extract taken from a volume of notes produced by a man named Mr. Goodwin concerning the Lichfield Election of 1761. Mr. Goodwin's notes include comments about the behaviour of the voters and authorities at the General Election Poll in 1761. Goodwin remarks that the poll may have been unfair as ‘the Sheriff seemed to be partial to Mr. Levett’, one of the independent candidates who stood against Anson and Meynell.
The Sheriff was responsible for admitting voters to the poll and for listening to objections from the council concerning any candidates whose vote was not considered legitimate. In the case of James Wildman who voted for Mr. Levett, the council for Anson and Meynell objected to his vote alleging that he ‘received alms’. However, Goodwin notes that the Sheriff ‘wou’d not wait to hear the objections’ to Wildman’s vote ‘before he took the poll’.
Click on the images on the left to learn more about events at the Poll.