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667
Poll Return for Clonmines, Co. Wexford, 1761 Co. Wexford: An
interesting original Manuscript Certificate, reporting that at a meeting
of Burgesses held on 9 May 1761, Henry Alcock of Wilton and Henry
Tottenham of Tottenham Green were returned as MPs of Clonmines.
Signed by James Boyd the portreeve, and six others. The election can
hardly have generated much excitement: Clonmines in South Wexford
had been a prosperous little town in the Middle Ages, but by 1761 it was
a cluster of uninhabited ruins. Nonetheless, it returned two members
to the Irish House of Commons down to 1800. The ‘’voters’’ were the
burgesses (townsmen), numbering thirteen, none of whom lived there
(there was no town). They were hand picked by the patron, Lord Loftus,
and allegedly included several of his own servants! Along with other
so-called rotten boroughs, the constituency was abolished at the Act
of Union in 1800. Single sheet, as a m/ss, w.a.f. (1) * Rare historical
document. ‘’Tottenham in his Boots.’’
Estimate €200 - €300
Large Image, More Info & Place Bid Lot 667