Forty Shilling Freeholders
Encyclopedia
Forty shilling freeholders were a group of (mostly) landowners who had the Parliamentary franchise to vote in county constituencies in various parts of the British Isles
. In England
it was the only such qualification from 1430 until 1832. It remained one of the qualifications (after 1918 at a higher financial level) until the mid twentieth century, although with declining importance after Reform Acts gradually enfranchised voters who were not freeholders.
Some Borough constituencies, for example those that had the status of counties of themselves, included forty shilling freeholders in the pre-1832 electorate and this was preserved by the Reform Act 1832
. By 1885 this provision still applied to Bristol
, Exeter
, Norwich
and Nottingham
.
In Ireland
the forty shilling qualification (£2) was replaced in 1829 by a higher property qualification of £10 (in the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829).
to serve as the representatives of counties in the Parliament of England
was not restricted to forty shilling freeholders.
Seymour, discussing the original county franchise, suggested "it is probable that all free inhabitant householders voted and that the parliamentary qualification was, like that which compelled attendance in the county court
, merely a "resiance" or residence qualification".
Seymour goes on to explain why Parliament decided to legislate about the county franchise. "The Act of 1430, after declaring that elections had been crowded by many persons of low estate, and that confusion had thereby resulted, accordingly enacted that the suffrage should be limited to persons qualified by a freehold of 40s".
The Parliament of England
legislated the new uniform county franchise, in the statute 8 Hen. 6, c. 7. However the Chronological Table of the Statutes does not mention such a 1430 law, as it was included in the Consolidated Statutes as a recital in the Electors of Knights of the Shire Act 1432 (10 Hen. 6, c. 2), which amended and re-enacted the 1430 law to make clear that the resident of a county had to have a forty shilling freehold in that county to be a voter there.
Over the course of time a great number of different types of property were accepted as being forty shilling freeholds and the residence requirement disappeared.
According to Seymour, "this qualification was broader in practice than would appear at first glance, since the term freehold was applicable to many kinds of property. An explanatory act of parliament, it is true, confined it to lands of purely freehold tenure; but notwithstanding this purely formal declaration, the wider interpretation of the meaning of freeholder persisted, and we read of many freehold voters who were enfranchised by such qualifications as annuities
and rent charge
s issuing out of freehold lands, and even dower
s of wives and pews in churches. After the Restoration
the electoral rights of clergymen were recognised by statute and church offices were held to confer a county franchise; this interpretation widened commensurately with the financial possibilities and value of a vote. A chorister of Ely Cathedral
, the butler and brewer of Westminster Abbey
, the bell-ringer, the gardener, the cook and the organ-blower, all voted by virtue of their supposedly ecclesiastical offices. In 1835 the members of a vestry
in Marylebone
succeeeded in qualifying as electors from a burial ground attached to the parish".
Because of the above interpretations and as the qualifying figure was not adjusted to take account of inflation
(unlike in Scotland, where to be a shire elector required ownership of land worth forty shillings of old extent) the number of qualified voters gradually expanded.
There were some attempts to restrict what came to be seen, by people like King William IV of the United Kingdom
in 1832, as a dangerously democratic franchise.
"Taxpaying qualifications in connection with the freehold franchise were first required in 1712. In that year the exercise of the franchise became contingent upon the assessment of the land or tenements, in respect of which the vote was conferred, (10 Anne, c. 31). In 1781 the right to vote in counties was made dependent upon a charge, laid within six months of the election, "toward some aid granted or to be granted to His Majesty by a land-tax or an assessment, in the name of the person claiming to vote," (20 George III, c. 17).
When the question of voting rights came up in 1832 general sentiment in the House of Commons favoured retaining the freehold qualification in counties, notwithstanding the well known desire of the King who regarded this franchise as too democratic and would have liked to see it raised to £10 value, if it were not to be entirely abolished. Royal wishes did not however coincide with the interests of either party. The electoral strength of the Whigs
in many county constituencies depended upon the freeholder vote of large urban communities, whereas the Tories, on the other hand, looked to the support of the small freeholder in the country districts. Neither party favoured the abolition or the increase in value of the freeholder qualification; but, though the Commons voted a continuation of the 40s. franchise, they agreed to impose certain limitations upon it: freehold estates lesser than estates of inheritance were to confer the vote only under certain conditions; and when the estate was for life (or lives) only, there must be actual and bona fide occupation if it were to serve as a qualification. The wider interpretation of the meaning of freehold, which admitted as qualifications such holdings as pew rights, annuities and church offices, was not restricted by the Act of 1832".
A disputed point, on which the Whig majority in the Commons prevailed, was that freeholders in boroughs who did not occupy their property should vote in the counties in which the borough was situated. The Tories objected that urban interests would affect the representation of agricultural areas. The Whigs pointed out this had always been the case with urban areas not previously represented as borough constituencies (which had included major centres of wealth and population like Birmingham
, Leeds
and Manchester
as well as the rapidly growing suburbs of London
).
This provision proved to be very damaging to the Liberal
cause later in the century.
It was found that about 70% of the county electorate after passage of the Reform Act 1832
, still qualified to vote on the old freeholder qualification.
From 1885 the property owning franchise became less important than the occupancy one. Only about 20% of the county electorate were freeholders in 1886 and the proportion declined to about 16% in 1902.
In 1918, with the introduction of universal manhood suffrage, property qualifications only affected some of the new women voters (who were not occupiers of a dwelling or the wife of an occupier, in the constituency) and plural voting
business property owners. They needed respectively a £5 or a £10 qualification, so the old forty shilling qualification had finally disappeared. Universal adult suffrage was enacted in 1928 and the remaining plural votes were abolished by the Representation of the People Act 1948
so that by the United Kingdom general election, 1950
there were no remaining voters qualified on the basis of the ownership of land.
before 1829 the franchise for county constituencies was restricted to Forty Shilling Freeholders. This gave anyone who owned or rented land that was worth forty shillings (two pounds) or more, the right to vote. As a consequence they were given the nickname, the "Forty Shilling Freeholders". This included many Roman Catholics who obtained the vote under the 1793 Catholic Relief Bill, at first for the Parliament of Ireland
and then from 1801 for the Parliament of the United Kingdom
.
The Catholic Relief Act 1829
raised the franchise qualification to ten pounds, excluding many previous voters, Protestant and Catholic, and this remained the basis of the county franchise in Ireland until it was widened in 1885.
The forty shilling qualification continued after 1829 in Irish boroughs, which had the status of a Corporate county (a county of itself). An example was Cork City (UK Parliament constituency)
.
A Topographical Directory of Ireland, published in 1837, describes the area covered by the Cork borough constituency.
The Directory also has a passage on the representative history. Other, more modern, sources ascribe an earlier date to the start of the parliamentary representation of Cork; but the passage confirms the survival of the 40 shilling qualification..
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
. In England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
it was the only such qualification from 1430 until 1832. It remained one of the qualifications (after 1918 at a higher financial level) until the mid twentieth century, although with declining importance after Reform Acts gradually enfranchised voters who were not freeholders.
Some Borough constituencies, for example those that had the status of counties of themselves, included forty shilling freeholders in the pre-1832 electorate and this was preserved by the Reform Act 1832
Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...
. By 1885 this provision still applied to Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
and Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
.
In Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
the forty shilling qualification (£2) was replaced in 1829 by a higher property qualification of £10 (in the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829).
England and Wales
Until legislation in the fifteenth century the franchise for elections of knights of the shireKnights of the Shire
From the creation of the Parliament of England in mediaeval times until 1826 each county of England and Wales sent two Knights of the Shire as members of Parliament to represent the interests of the county, when the number of knights from Yorkshire was increased to four...
to serve as the representatives of counties in the Parliament of England
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
was not restricted to forty shilling freeholders.
Seymour, discussing the original county franchise, suggested "it is probable that all free inhabitant householders voted and that the parliamentary qualification was, like that which compelled attendance in the county court
County Court
A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of county courts held by the High Sheriff of each county.-England and Wales:County Court matters can be lodged...
, merely a "resiance" or residence qualification".
Seymour goes on to explain why Parliament decided to legislate about the county franchise. "The Act of 1430, after declaring that elections had been crowded by many persons of low estate, and that confusion had thereby resulted, accordingly enacted that the suffrage should be limited to persons qualified by a freehold of 40s".
The Parliament of England
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
legislated the new uniform county franchise, in the statute 8 Hen. 6, c. 7. However the Chronological Table of the Statutes does not mention such a 1430 law, as it was included in the Consolidated Statutes as a recital in the Electors of Knights of the Shire Act 1432 (10 Hen. 6, c. 2), which amended and re-enacted the 1430 law to make clear that the resident of a county had to have a forty shilling freehold in that county to be a voter there.
Over the course of time a great number of different types of property were accepted as being forty shilling freeholds and the residence requirement disappeared.
According to Seymour, "this qualification was broader in practice than would appear at first glance, since the term freehold was applicable to many kinds of property. An explanatory act of parliament, it is true, confined it to lands of purely freehold tenure; but notwithstanding this purely formal declaration, the wider interpretation of the meaning of freeholder persisted, and we read of many freehold voters who were enfranchised by such qualifications as annuities
Annuity (European financial arrangements)
An annuity can be defined as a financial contract which provides an income stream in return for an initial payment with specific parameters. It is the opposite of a settlement funding...
and rent charge
Rent charge
A rentcharge is an annual sum paid by the owner of freehold land to a person who has no other legal interest in the land. Rentcharges have been in existence since the Statute of Quia Emptores in 1290...
s issuing out of freehold lands, and even dower
Dower
Dower or morning gift was a provision accorded by law to a wife for her support in the event that she should survive her husband...
s of wives and pews in churches. After the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
the electoral rights of clergymen were recognised by statute and church offices were held to confer a county franchise; this interpretation widened commensurately with the financial possibilities and value of a vote. A chorister of Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon...
, the butler and brewer of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, the bell-ringer, the gardener, the cook and the organ-blower, all voted by virtue of their supposedly ecclesiastical offices. In 1835 the members of a vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
in Marylebone
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
succeeeded in qualifying as electors from a burial ground attached to the parish".
Because of the above interpretations and as the qualifying figure was not adjusted to take account of inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
(unlike in Scotland, where to be a shire elector required ownership of land worth forty shillings of old extent) the number of qualified voters gradually expanded.
There were some attempts to restrict what came to be seen, by people like King William IV of the United Kingdom
William IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
in 1832, as a dangerously democratic franchise.
"Taxpaying qualifications in connection with the freehold franchise were first required in 1712. In that year the exercise of the franchise became contingent upon the assessment of the land or tenements, in respect of which the vote was conferred, (10 Anne, c. 31). In 1781 the right to vote in counties was made dependent upon a charge, laid within six months of the election, "toward some aid granted or to be granted to His Majesty by a land-tax or an assessment, in the name of the person claiming to vote," (20 George III, c. 17).
When the question of voting rights came up in 1832 general sentiment in the House of Commons favoured retaining the freehold qualification in counties, notwithstanding the well known desire of the King who regarded this franchise as too democratic and would have liked to see it raised to £10 value, if it were not to be entirely abolished. Royal wishes did not however coincide with the interests of either party. The electoral strength of the Whigs
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
in many county constituencies depended upon the freeholder vote of large urban communities, whereas the Tories, on the other hand, looked to the support of the small freeholder in the country districts. Neither party favoured the abolition or the increase in value of the freeholder qualification; but, though the Commons voted a continuation of the 40s. franchise, they agreed to impose certain limitations upon it: freehold estates lesser than estates of inheritance were to confer the vote only under certain conditions; and when the estate was for life (or lives) only, there must be actual and bona fide occupation if it were to serve as a qualification. The wider interpretation of the meaning of freehold, which admitted as qualifications such holdings as pew rights, annuities and church offices, was not restricted by the Act of 1832".
A disputed point, on which the Whig majority in the Commons prevailed, was that freeholders in boroughs who did not occupy their property should vote in the counties in which the borough was situated. The Tories objected that urban interests would affect the representation of agricultural areas. The Whigs pointed out this had always been the case with urban areas not previously represented as borough constituencies (which had included major centres of wealth and population like Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
and Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
as well as the rapidly growing suburbs of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
).
This provision proved to be very damaging to the Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
cause later in the century.
It was found that about 70% of the county electorate after passage of the Reform Act 1832
Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...
, still qualified to vote on the old freeholder qualification.
From 1885 the property owning franchise became less important than the occupancy one. Only about 20% of the county electorate were freeholders in 1886 and the proportion declined to about 16% in 1902.
In 1918, with the introduction of universal manhood suffrage, property qualifications only affected some of the new women voters (who were not occupiers of a dwelling or the wife of an occupier, in the constituency) and plural voting
Plural voting
Plural voting is the practice whereby one person might be able to vote multiple times in an election. It is not to be confused with a plurality voting system which does not necessarily involve plural voting...
business property owners. They needed respectively a £5 or a £10 qualification, so the old forty shilling qualification had finally disappeared. Universal adult suffrage was enacted in 1928 and the remaining plural votes were abolished by the Representation of the People Act 1948
Representation of the People Act 1948
The Representation of the People Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections...
so that by the United Kingdom general election, 1950
United Kingdom general election, 1950
The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...
there were no remaining voters qualified on the basis of the ownership of land.
Ireland
Similarly in IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
before 1829 the franchise for county constituencies was restricted to Forty Shilling Freeholders. This gave anyone who owned or rented land that was worth forty shillings (two pounds) or more, the right to vote. As a consequence they were given the nickname, the "Forty Shilling Freeholders". This included many Roman Catholics who obtained the vote under the 1793 Catholic Relief Bill, at first for the Parliament of Ireland
Parliament of Ireland
The Parliament of Ireland was a legislature that existed in Dublin from 1297 until 1800. In its early mediaeval period during the Lordship of Ireland it consisted of either two or three chambers: the House of Commons, elected by a very restricted suffrage, the House of Lords in which the lords...
and then from 1801 for the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
.
The Catholic Relief Act 1829
Catholic Relief Act 1829
The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 24 March 1829, and received Royal Assent on 13 April. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic Emancipation throughout the nation...
raised the franchise qualification to ten pounds, excluding many previous voters, Protestant and Catholic, and this remained the basis of the county franchise in Ireland until it was widened in 1885.
The forty shilling qualification continued after 1829 in Irish boroughs, which had the status of a Corporate county (a county of itself). An example was Cork City (UK Parliament constituency)
Cork City (UK Parliament constituency)
Cork City was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1880 to 1922 it returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
.
A Topographical Directory of Ireland, published in 1837, describes the area covered by the Cork borough constituency.
The county of the city comprises a populous rural district of great beauty and fertility, watered by several small rivulets and intersected by the river Lee and its noble estuary: it is bounded on the north by the barony of Fermoy, on the east by that of Barrymore, on the south by Kerricurrihy, and on the west by Muskerry: it comprehends the parishes of St. Finbarr, Christ-Church or the Holy Trinity, St. Peter, St. Mary Shandon, St. Anne Shandon, St. Paul and St. Nicholas, all, except part of St. Finbarr's, within the city and suburbs, and those of Curricuppane, Carrigrohanemore, Kilcully, and Rathcoony, together with parts of the parishes of Killanully or Killingly, Carrigaline, Dunbullogue or Carrignavar, Ballinaboy, Inniskenny, Kilnaglory, White-church, and Templemichael, without those limits; and contains, according to the Ordnance survey, an area of 44,463 statute acres, of which, 2396 are occupied by the city and suburbs.
The Directory also has a passage on the representative history. Other, more modern, sources ascribe an earlier date to the start of the parliamentary representation of Cork; but the passage confirms the survival of the 40 shilling qualification..
The city first sent members to the Irish parliament in 1374, but representatives who appear to have served in London were chosen previously. The right of election was vested in the freemen of the city, and in the 40s. freeholders and £50 leaseholders of the county of the city, of whom the freemen, in 1831, amounted in number to 2331, and the freeholders to 1545, making a total of 3876; but by the act of the 2nd of Wm. IV., cap. 88 (under which the city, from its distinguished importance, retains its privilege of returning two representatives to the Imperial parliament, and the limits of the franchise, comprising the entire county of the city, remain unaltered), the non-resident freemen, except within seven miles, have been disfranchised, and the privilege of voting at elections has been extended to the £10 householders, and the £20 and £10 leaseholders for the respective terms of 14 and 20 years. The number of voters registered up to Jan. 2nd, 1836, amounted to 4791, of whom 1065 were freemen; 2727 £10 householders; 105 £50, 152 £20, and 608 forty-shilling freeholders; 3 £50, 7 £20, and 2 £10 rent-chargers; and 1 £50, 26 £20, and 95 £10 leaseholders: the sheriffs are the returning officers.
See also
- The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918 including a summary of the qualifications for the 40 shilling freehold franchise during the final years of its existence.