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Petition against the return of Robert Bourke
November 1868 year saw a general election. Lord Stanley triumphed yet again and
the Hon Robert Bourke defeated Sir Thomas Foxwell Burton, the Liberal, who had
represented the town for several years. William Armes and George Holditch
lodged a petitition against Bourke alleging that he and his agents had bribed,
'treated' and intimidated voters, calling for the election to be declared null
and void. The trial was held in the County Court in March 1869.
Two hundred witnesses were summoned by the petitioners (Lynn Advertiser 20
March 1869):
Persons alleged to have been bribed:
- John J. Blackburn; James Cobb (porter at Mr Platten's), John Norris (the
elder), John Norris (the younger), William Barned, George Anderson and his
wife, George Anderson (No. 2), John Chase, Matthew Chase, William Chase,
Charles Smith, Isaac Barrett, Ephraim Howard, Robert Oakes (carpenter), Francis
Maul, George William Eglington, Christopher Hall, John Jempson, Philip Platten,
John Woodhouse, John Hipkin, Samuel Jost, Jacob Price, James Wanford, Robert
Gurney, William Hart, John Mann, Lewis Baker, James Shaftoe, Robert Taylor,
William Smith, junior, John Fisher, William Earle, Charles Allcock and wife,
John Toll and wife, Joseph Judd, Robert Chilvers, Charles Fisk, Charles Dames
and wife, Henry Sayers and wife; divers persons bribed by J.C. Spurr; James
Gudson or Goodson, Isaac Barrett, Robert Curson, Thomas J. Jempson, George
Mason, James Pooley, Thomas Smith; divers Railway officials.
Persons alleged to have been treated
:- Robert Gurney, William Collinson, Samuel Bull, James Shaftoe, Charles
Davies, Henry Sayer, James Southgate, William Smith, John Mann, Lewis Baker,
Henry Barwick, Charles Allcock, John Toll, Joseph Southgate, James Cobb, Thomas
Smith, James Pooley, George Lubbock; divers persons at the following hotels and
public houses - Crown Hotel, the Earl of Richmond, Lattice, Three Tuns,
Richardson's (Market Place), The Mermaid, Crystal Palace, Green Dragon, Maid's
Head, Woolpack, Albion Hotel, Grampus, Fisherman's Arms, Three Pigeons,
Fiddaman's (Norfolk Street), The Spread Eagle, Sun, Bull, Black Joke, and Duke
of Wellington.
Persons alleged to have been unduly influenced
:- Robert Taylor, James Symons, George Chapman, John Merrell, William Chestney,
Thomas Harvey Arger, Thomas Smith, James Golding, Edward Arnold, William Moy,
Isaac Rudd.
Payment of travelling expenses incurred by the following voters
:- John James Blackburn, from Wisbech; John Fisher, from Harwich; George
William Eglington, from Wisbech; Charles Fisk, from Harwich; William Earl, from
Harwich; payments for the conveyance of voters to the poll in flies and
carriages hired from Marshall.'
The gentlemen who stood accused had published their support for Bourke and were all leading members of the
Conservative Association (Lynn Advertiser 20 March 1869):
'The persons who are principally involved in this inquiry are Mr Richard
Bagge, Mr T.E. Bagge, Messrs Wm. Burkitt, Jas. Bowker, Wm. Brown, Thos. Gunton,
L.W. Jarvis, Chas. Miller, Wm. Monement, Richard Medlock, J.B. Rix, J.O.
Smetham; J.G. Saunders, JP, Frederick Savage, Thomas Spurr, and Mr Thew, JP.'
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