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table of contents
Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- The 1832 reform legislation and boundary reform
- The consequences of the 1832 boundary reforms
- A note on method and structure…
- Notes
- Part I Envisioning England’s reformed electoral map
- 1. A balancing Act? Interests and parliamentary reform, 1780–1832
- The conservative defence of the unreformed electoral system
- The shifting parliamentary language of interests, 1774–1832
- Minor reform, interests and the moderate Whig case for reform
- The East Retford saga: turning the Canningites
- Conclusion: the ‘three years job settled’?
- Notes
- 2. ‘The most unpopular part of the bill throughout the country’: Reintegrating boundaries into the story of reform
- Developing the reform bill’s boundary clauses
- Anti-reform opposition to boundary reform
- The Times and the ‘county-mongering clause’
- Conclusion
- Notes
- 3. Towards a science of government: The ‘spirit of inquiry’ and the establishment of the 1831–2 boundary commission
- Commissions of inquiry and Russell’s initial cross-party proposals
- The march of Brougham, Drummond and the SDUK
- Science, statistics and cartography: Drummond’s inductive method for boundary reform
- ‘What in the world has science to do here?’
- Conclusion
- Notes
- 4. Whipped by the beadles? Data-gathering for the boundary commission
- The boundary commission and local opinion
- Collecting boundary data
- Collecting £10 householder data
- The £10 householder in the new boroughs
- Drummond’s list
- The response to Drummond’s list
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Part II Redrawing England’s electoral map
- Chronology and voting data
- Notes
- 5. ‘The work we are engaged in is intended to last for a century’: Redrawing England’s ancient electoral map
- Defining a borough’s modern town
- Proposing boundaries to last for a century?
- Rebellion and standardisation
- Parliamentary approval and political impact
- Notes
- 6. The Droitwich dilemma: Interests, grouping and the multiple parish borough
- Finding 300 £10 householders
- Droitwich, grouping and the subtleties of interest representation
- The sitting committee, the cabinet and the Waverers
- The cabinet agrees a way forward
- ‘Deference communities’ and political impact
- Notes
- 7. ‘All the kindred interests of the town and neighbourhood’: New borough limits
- The identification of preliminary boundaries
- Proposing boundaries for the new boroughs
- Political interference on the sitting committee
- The new boroughs and the boundary bill
- Electoral and political legacy
- Notes
- 8. Under the knife: Reconstructing the county map
- Establishing the county commission
- Equality in population, area and voters?
- County divisions and political influence
- Places of election and polling places
- Parliamentary, electoral and political outcomes
- Notes
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index