Petition of the Mayor and Burgesses of the town of Stafford against a proposed Act of Parliament to disenfranchise the Borough, c1835

SRO D3130/16
©Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service

Following a complaint of open bribery made by the losing candidate in the 1832 elections, there was a proposal to disenfranchise the borough of Stafford. A number of petitions were drawn up in protest. This example shows the names of all the cordwainers in the town. By then shoe making had become a major industry in the town.

Only the dissolution of Parliament saved the Borough from being disenfranchised and losing its Parliamentary representation. The new Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 reformed many of the worst abuses of electoral process.