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Britain in the Age of Reform 1830–80

The case for and against parliamentary reform

  • 3 things to know
  • AS Unit 1

Overview

Rotten borough, pocket borough and open voting.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

What was a pocket borough?

Evaluation

Why did the growth of industrial towns strengthen the case for reform?

Key term

Why did borough franchises vary so widely?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was a rotten borough?

    Model answer

    A rotten borough was a constituency whose population had collapsed but which still returned two members, such as Old Sarum with a handful of voters.

  2. 2

    What was a pocket borough?

    Model answer

    A pocket borough was a seat where a single patron controlled enough of the electorate to nominate the members, so the constituency sat in his pocket.

  3. 3

    Why did the growth of industrial towns strengthen the case for reform?

    Model answer

    Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds had grown into great manufacturing towns without a single member of their own, while tiny southern boroughs returned two apiece.

  4. 4

    Describe the county franchise before 1832.

    Model answer

    In the counties the vote belonged to men holding freehold land worth forty shillings a year, a qualification unchanged since the fifteenth century.

  5. 5

    Why did borough franchises vary so widely?

    Model answer

    Each borough voted on the terms of its own charter, so qualifications ranged from every male householder in a few places to a closed corporation of a dozen men in others.

  6. 6

    What was open voting, and what were its consequences?

    Model answer

    Votes were cast publicly at the hustings, so landlords and employers could see how their tenants and workmen voted and punish them accordingly.

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