Description:The image above shows an extract from a volume of notes which was produced by a man named Mr. Goodiwn concerning events at the Lichfield Election in 1761.
Mr. Goodwin’s notes include a section describing events which took place at the scrutiny of votes cast in the General Election at Lichfield in 1761.
What was a Scrutiny?
After an election, if the defeated candidates felt that the voting process had been unfair they were entitled to appeal for a scrutiny of the votes where each vote was examined to ensure its legitimacy. When the poll for the General Election at Lichfield in 1761 ended it appeared that Anson and Meynell had won the election. However, independent candidate Mr. Levett called for a scrutiny of the votes to ensure that the victory had been a fair one.
A few extracts from Goodwin’s account of the scrutiny appear below:
Thomas Gilbert, agent for Anson and Meynell objected to the scrutiny stating to the sheriff ‘that the whole election was a Strict Scrutiny’. He appealed to the Sherriff that he had ‘after hearing the arguments of Councel on both sides’ allowed ‘all the votes’ so that he ‘ought not to disallow them now’.
Annoyed with proceedings, Gilbert asserted that ‘if Mr. Levett was aggrieved with the poll he ought to seek his redress in a proper place’. After the scrutiny it was revealed that Mr. Levett had beaten Mr. Meynell with ‘a Majority of 5 votes’. The Sheriff declared that Mr. Anson and Mr. Levett were ‘to be duly elected’.