Forgotten Victorians

Carlow County – the election result 17th July 1841

July 27, 2018 Will GrayLeave a comment

This is from The Times on the 20th July 1841. The Times was fiercely pro-Tory, and very anti-Whig, anti-Catholic, and very anti-Daniel O’Connell. This has a definite slightly sinister tone to it, particularly regarding tenants.

Henry Bruen (1789-1852) was educated at Eton, and Oxford, in that fine Tory traditionAccording to www.historyofparliamentonline.org – ” At the election of 1812, Bruen, ‘young, resident, very wealthy … and lavish of his money’, contested the largely Catholic county as an opponent of Catholic relief and potential supporter of government, gaining the day with the help of a tactical blunder by Catholic voters. At Westminster he gave a steady support to government and expected due attention to his requests for patronage in return. Peel as chief secretary was usually able to comply with them and saw to it that he became a governor of the county and colonel of the militia in 1816.” The militia was disembodied in 1816, and performed no military duties between 1816 and 1854, largely existing solely to get paid. But given they also performed police duties, probably useful having a personal police force. Bruen was an M.P. for thirty three years between 1812 and 1852, but according to www.historyofparliamentonline.org ” No speech by him is known.”

I really don’t like this man, and it doesn’t help that his speech sounds in my head like it is being spoken by Jacob Rees-Mogg, and the bogus ‘Colonel’ is doubtless absolutely spot-on on the 100,000 men ready to invade the town, and the “smiths….busy for a month…..in manufacturing pikes”

CARLOW (COUNTY.) (FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.) CARLOW, SATURDAY NIGHT. (17th July).

In my first despatch, forwarded by express, I announced the termination of the hard fought contest in the triumphant return of the two Conservatives, and the complete downfall of the priestly dynasty of this county. Shortly after the official declaration of the poll,

Colonel BRUEN came forward to address the electors amid loud cheers. When silence had been procured, the hon. and gallant gentleman said, that he laboured under a severe cold, which would prevent his occupying their time at any great length, but he trusted what he did say would tend to promote the object they had in view-the restoration of peace, order, and good feeling in that county. (Cheers.) [At this stage of the proceedings one or two in the gallery, who refused to yield to the general demand and take off their hats, were turned out after considerable confusion.] He would have allowed those poor people to remain, for if they had done so they would have heard more truth than they were accustomed to. (” Hear, hear,” and a laugh.) But to come to the more immediate business before them, he assured them that it was with delight he stood there that day, after a short interval, again in the proud position of their representative. He was quite aware it was unnecessary for him to dilate on the triumph they had obtained upon the present occasion; they certainly had achieved a glorious victory, but it was that of peace and goodwill, and he hoped that would be the last contest in the county of Carlow carried on in the spirit lately exhibited by their adversaries. (Hear, hear.) They had had difficulties- great difficulties-to contend with in many quarters, but he rejoiced to say that in the county of which he had that day been elected a representative the fell spirit which had been for some time abroad had comparatively little effect (Cheers), and he gladly seized that opportunity to express his high opinion of the natural good qualities of his countrymen, whose only fault was an excess of good nature in placing entire confidence and implicit belief in their supposed friends, who they very generally found were not so sincere as they imagined The domestic agitators had been exceedingly busy for the last month in inflaming the minds of the people, and though he (Colonel Bruen) did not wish to say one word that could cause ill-feeling or give offence to the greatest enemy he had in the county, he could not, in justice to himself and the public – and he was fully aware that he was not speaking to them alone, but to the public of the British empire – refrain from expressing his surprise that a parcel of men should be allowed to come into that county, and be permitted to use for five weeks the most inflammatory language – travelling from fair to fair, from town to town, and attending at every gathering from one end of the county to the other, exciting to acts of outrage and bloodshed, and at the very doors of the resident gentlemen within this locality denouncing those who were in truth the people’s benefactors. (Cheers.) Surely, that was a state of affairs that ought not to be sanctioned or allowed in any country pretending to be civilized, and there was not in the entire of Europe another Government, even the most arbitrary, that would tolerate such conduct. (Hear, hear.) They boasted equal laws, they talked of virtuous qualities, and yet they set man against man, and, for a whole month, used their best endeavours to excite the poor people, who were naturally well-disposed, to violence. Well, passing from this topic to others more agreeable, he would remind his friends around him that they had been fighting an arduous battle for ten years past; their struggle was not for the mere elevation of any particular person to the honourable station of their representative, but it was emphatically a contest for equal laws, for liberty, civil and religious, to all, and he was happy to say that they had obtained them. (Cheers.) The result of that election would tend to increase the majority that had been obtained for Conservatives since the dissolution of Parliament. He had received a letter a few days ago from England which stated that their majority then amounted to 70. Now, considering that they were in a minority of 25 in the late House of Commons, the augmentation of their forces would prove, and he doubted not would convince the most unwilling ear of the great change that had taken place in the popular feeling. (Great cheering.) The inhabitants of three countries, so long misled by selfish agitators, who were eternally preaching liberty, though their acts proved them to be its enemies, had awakened from that delusion; they had seen the deception, and were prepared to shun it for the future, and nobly and well had their determination told, and how gloriously would it operate for their happiness, and the happiness of the empire! They might date this period as an era in history; they might look upon it as an era of bright hope for them all. (Cheers.) They had absolutely suffered a foreign invasion from no less a person than the great apostle of liberty himself (a laugh), aided by his most experienced captains, gentlemen whose very names breathed death and slaughter, who had been unceasing in their exertions, and certainly, if indefatigable industry were a subject of praise, they were well entitled to it; but they would all return from the county of Carlow with the hopelessness of ever again attempting its invasion. (Hear, hear.) On Monday last the town of Carlow was in imminent danger; upwards of 100,000 men were to have been poured in among its inhabitants, and he (Colonel Bruen) had good authority for saying that in the southern districts the smiths were busy for a month previous in manufacturing pikes. That was no invention of his; it was deposed to upon oath, and those unfortunate people were on the point of being poured into the town, an event which would have proved extremely disastrous. But thanks to the Government for its being averted, and he was happy to take that opportunity of giving the Government its just meed of praise for having responded to the call of the High Sheriff; and the officer who was sent down in command of the military was also entitled to praise for his admirable conduct throughout. (Hear, hear.) The magician who had conjured up the storm when seeing its effects began to tremble, and the fact of these masses moving in the direction of the town had such an effect upon the gentlemen who previously had been preaching war and. discord that they became exemplary pacificators (Laughter.) One word for himself. He had been described as a cruel and tyrannical landlord, exacting the last farthing from his tenantry, and therefore was it said that they should be absolved from the allegiance which they owed to their landlord. This charge could not at all events be urged against him in some instances which he would mention – A considerable number of the tenants, who owed him large sums of money – several thousand pounds – voted against him. They were individuals whom he had frequently befriended – in fact, if they were his brothers he could not have treated them with greater kindness. He had made many sacrifices to obtain their liberties, to procure which he would willingly give the last shilling he was worth in the world. Those tenants had deliberately and advisedly thrown him off and. chosen another master. He had not the least objection to this change – if the tenants were satisfied, so was he – till the previous day he could not be persuaded that they had so much folly and ingratitude – folly, because he should wonder amazingly if the promises made to them were performed, and ingratitude, because they had so shamefully deserted their friend; they had thrown off their old friends and adopted new ones, and, of course, they could not deny the same privilege to him. (Hear hear.) It was a matter of perfect indifference to him, whether they paid him the rent or not ; in all reason he was not to be put to expense without calling upon those who owed him the money to pay it. He should do so; if they paid him, well and good; he should then have the pleasure of receiving money he would never otherwise have got, and of knowing that it was paid by somebody else (Cheers); and if they embraced the other alternative, and would not pay him, nobody could blame him for getting back his land from them, and putting persons upon it who would support law and good order, and would not join any mischief makers, or the first persons who would come to them to steep the country in riot and disorder. (Cheers.) He considered it not only the duty of a landlord to support law and order himself, but to oblige those who were in any way subject to his influence to do so likewise. Those who supported the subverters of law and order he regarded as enemies to their country, and as such he was bound to deprive them of the power which they possessed to injure it. This he was now perfectly determined to do. He had been provoked many years. He had long preferred bearing this provocation to resorting to any harsh measures against his tenants, but the duty now devolved upon him of removing from his land, by all proper and lawful means, those persons who were the upholders of the disturbance, which was near ending in their destruction the other day. (Cheers.) No doubt the gentlemen who had induced those tenants to desert him had provided something better for them, otherwise they could not surely have been so heartless and cruel as to make them vote against him, when those tenants were so deeply in his debt, and when their votes were not sufficient to carry the election in their favour. If they had brought forward those poor men to sacrifice them, he left his audience to decide what they should be called. (Cheers.) The landlords of the country when they wished to obtain the votes of their tenantry used every legitimate means to effect the object, but how did their political opponents act! They entered the houses of the voters in the noon-day, and dragged them away by force. The gallant member here detailed two or three acts of violence committed upon freeholders by Mr. O’Connell’s party It had been here suggested to him (Colonel Bruen) that it was necessary for him to dwell for few moment on a topic which he considered important. It had been stated, that on a late occasion in that court, when addressing an assembly of his countrymen, he professed his determination to exterminate all Roman Catholics. Now, there were many Roman Catholics listening to him on the occasion to which he referred, and he would fearlessly appeal to them, whether or not he said any such thing; whether he did not state the precise reverse! (“Hear,” and loud cheers.) He did not keep an account of what he said; but he remembered distinctly having said this, that although he felt himself bound to take care of every Protestant elector, he felt doubly bound to take care of every loyal Roman Catholic. (Loud and continued cheering.) And he further said, that they ought not only take care of every Roman Catholic themselves, but leave it as a command to their children to take care of their children. (Great cheering.) He was neither ashamed nor afraid upon any occasion to express his opinions, and he hoped his Roman Catholic and Protestant fellow- subjects would do him the justice to discredit all the calumnies that had been written and spoken of him upon that head. (Cheers.) The hon. speaker next referred to the corn laws, and declared himself hostile to the Government proposition of a fixed duty. Nature had been so bountiful to Ireland, that she had more corn than was necessary for national use; they, therefore, exported it to England, and received a good price for it. The man who would come to him and tell him that he would be as comfortable and well off by receiving 12s. instead of 30s. per barrel for his corn, from an Englishman or any other purchaser, he should look upon as a fool, and he would deserve to be laughed at as much for his absurdity as the man who sold a pig at a fair for 5s. and thought himself as rich as if he had accepted the offer of a 30s. note. (Hear, hear.) The man, in fact, who would look forward to an amelioration of his condition by a repeal of the corn laws should be put into a lunatic asylum. The other propositions of the Government, with regard to the sugar and timber duties, were equally objectionable. (Hear, hear.) The plain fact was, if the Ministry were in their senses, they were determined to ruin the country; but, in charity, he proclaimed them to be -not wicked- but insane. In conclusion, the hon. gentleman alluded to the absence of his worthy colleague, Mr. Bunbury, which had been caused by his patriotic desire to assist the friends of the constitution in other counties. (Cheers.) If the constituency of Carlow had searched the united empire, they could not have selected a man more calculated to advance their interests in Parliament and support the good cause than his highly esteemed friend Mr. Bunbury. (Loud cheers.)

Kerry election – 14th July 1841

July 27, 2018 Will GrayLeave a comment

This is from The Times on the 20th July 1841. It was fiercely pro-Tory, and very anti-Whig, anti-Catholic, and very anti-Daniel O’Connell.

Again there’s a wodge of family in this one, all detailed at the end of the post.

KERRY. (FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.) TRALEE, WEDNESDAY NIGHT. (14th July)

The election for this county commenced yesterday, and the polling this day. The candidates are Mr. M.J. O’Connell and the Hon. Mr. Browne on the Liberal interest, and Messrs. Blennerhassett and Mahony on the Conservative side, the latter gentleman being nominated for the purpose of keeping even tallies with the Liberals.

How the election will go it is difficult to say at present, in consequence of the open and bloody intimidation that is being practised on the voters in Mr. Blennerhessett’s interest, the priestly denunciations against those who intend to support that gentleman, and above all, the powerful landed influence which is at work to oust him from the representation. Notwithstanding all this the contest will be a close one, and, were the kidnapping system not persevered in, there is not the least doubt but that the Liberals would be in a minority. To such an extent is this conduct carried that the cars are stopped on the public roads and the Conservative voters carried off in triumph and made prisoners of. Last night seven voters were thus forcibly taken off the coach at Abbeyfeale, while a Liberal voter, also a pas- senger, was permitted to remain, but sworn, it is said, to go to the poll; 18 of Mr. Eager’s tenantry were carried off on Monday, and placed in the committee-rooms of the Hon. Mr. Browne. On the same day a number of voters, under the protection of Mr. Herbert, of Muckross, Captain Fairfield, and Mr. M’Gillicuddy, were attacked at Kilorglin by a mob of several hundred persons; stones were thrown, the former gentleman was struck, and one man was killed. I have this moment returned from the inquest, and from the evidence adduced there is no doubt that the attack was premeditated. The inquest has been adjourned to tomorrow, for the purpose of obtaining additional evidence to identify some of the parties. This system has told well for the Radicals, in preventing those inclined to vote for Blennerhassett from coming to town, while others, more courageous, are kidnapped to prevent their coming in. Thus the timid are alarmed, and the determined are imprisoned. It is, therefore, impossible to state what the result of the election will be, until it is seen how many of Mr. Blennerhassett’s friends can be recovered, which it is hoped will be known tomorrow. I am credibly informed that there are now over 200 who are in this manner prevented from voting. A petition has already been threatened by Mr. Blennerhassett, a threat which has sensibly affected the nerves of the Liberals, for an attorney in their interest this day left town to bring in the seven voters who were taken from off the coach to enable them to vote for Mr. Blennerhassett.

The constituency of Kerry is 1,381.

The following is the state of the poll at 6 o’clock this evening.

Morgan J. O’Connell … 144

Hon. W. Brown… … … … 138

Mr. Blennerhassett … … … 127

Mr. Mahony … … … 12

P.S. The majority is caused by the Liberals winning the toss for the first tally, and having the last tally in the evening.

TRALEE, JULY 16.

The state of the gross poll at its close this (the third) day was as follows:-

O’Connell (R.) . .. … … 472

Browne (R.) . … … 451

Blennerhassett (C.) … … .. 370

And this is an addition from The Times, the following day, the 21st July 1841.

KERRY. TRALEE, JULY 17. As intimidation increases, so doth the majority of the Radical candidates. At the close of this day’s poll the gross numbers were:-

O’Connell . … … … … 652

Browne . … .. .. … 652

Blennerhassett … … … 428

Hickson … … 24

The following are a few of the cases of intimidation that have come to my knowledge:-

Coming to Tralee, were met by a mob, and obliged to return to Clare! Mr. Hickson and Mr. Sandes obliged to swear that they would not vote! Dr. Taylor sent back from Killarney, and Mr. R. J.T. Orpen obliged to return to Dublin without voting! Mr. Bland detained at Newcastle; while at Abbeyfeale the mob actually lit fires in the streets, the better to enable them to watch the detained voters during the night. Those are acts of intimidation committed without Tralee. I will now give you melancholy evidence that intimidation is attempted to be carried into effect in the Court-house, at the moment they are about to poll for Mr. Blennerhassett. Yesterday a voter came up in No. 2 booth, in the tally of Mr. Blennerhassett, and when the usual question was put, ” Whom do you vote for ?” a person from the gallery addressed the voter and told him to take care of himself when on his way home. The poor man, no way daunted at the threat, voted for Mr. Blennerhassett; when another patriot – more properly speaking a fiend – exclaimed in Irish, ” Death without the priest to you.” From what I have seen I fear that Mr. Blennerhassett has now no chance of success. To add to the likelihood of that, it is to be regretted that several friends of his, in various places, did not attend and poll, and support a body of Roman Catholic tenantry who, in the face of priestly power and local intimidation, boldly came forward, and, as far as in them lay, supported Mr. Blennerhassett.

Morgan John O’Connell and Arthur Blennerhassett were the sitting M.P.’s; Morgan John had been first elected for the seat in 1835 and continued to hold it until 1847. Blennerhassett had won his seat at the last election [1837 – triggered by the death of William IV].

Morgan John was Dan O’Connell’s nephew, and he replaced Charles O’Connell, Dan’s son-in-law. Charles is also yet another 1st cousin 1x removed of 5x great aunt Mary Grehan [neé Roche]. Morgan John O’Connell is related slightly differently, his great-uncle and aunt Thomas Coppinger and Dora Barry are also William Henry Barry’s great-uncle and aunt, and he WHB is married to [1st cousin 3x removed] Pauline Roche. And in that 1st cousin 1x removed thing, Bartholomew Verling who is helping to ensure Dan the man is being elected in Cork County is Pauline Roche’s 1st cousin 1x removed.

William Browne is also almost a relation. His wife is a 2nd cousin 4x removed because she is the grand-daughter of that familiar couple 5x great-uncle and aunt Peter and Mary Grehan [neé Roche].

County of Cork.—Mr. O’Connell a Candidate. 12th July 1841

July 27, 2018 Will GrayLeave a comment

This has been buried in a mass of information about the election in 1841 for a couple of years whilst I worked out how to best deal with it. This specific post caught my eye whilst I was trying to deal with which Bartholomew Verling was which. What it really did spark was the whole series of posts on the 1841 election.

The important thing to know is the election was stretched over almost a fortnight. So when Daniel O’Connell wasn’t elected in Dublin City, he was still able to stand in Cork County. He was also on the ballot, and elected in Meath.

What is quite so surprising is how many of the family are in this one, all detailed at the end of the post.

COUNTY OF CORK.—MR. O’CONNELL A CANDIDATE;—THE NOMINATION.—CORK,

Monday Night, July 12th .—Mr. O’Connell, the victim of foul play and Orange chicanery in Dublin, is now the leading candidate for the representation in Parliament of the Yorkshire of Ireland,—of the county of Cork,—with its million of inhabitants. Authorized by the two gentlemen—Messrs. Roche and Barry, the former members—the committee in the direction of the Liberal electoral interests despatched on Saturday night a gentleman, Bartholomew Verling, Esq., of Cove, with full power to announce to Mr. O’Connell the retirement of one, or, if necessary, of both the gentlemen by whom the county had been represented, in order that the interests of the country might be promoted, and the successful machinations of the Tories in other places met and counterbalanced. Mr. Verling arrived at Carlow yesterday, where he met Mr. O’Connell, and at full work for the independence of that proverbially Tory-Orange county. The liberator of his country received the communication with delight. Mr. Verling posted to Cork, and arrived at seven this morning. The committee sat at eight. Mr. O’Connell’s letter was then read, and before nine o’clock the city was all commotion. Placards were posted in every direction. In the mean time, the Tory arrivals were incessant and numerous; and when, at twelve o’clock, the county court was thrown open, and-the usual frightful crush and crash of the populace took place, the appearance of things rightfully indicated how, as it is said here, “the cat hopped.’ Mr. G. Standish Barry presented himself. Greatly did he regret that circumstances had arisen that placed him in the position of retiring from the high and distinguished honour of being a.candidate for the fourth time, for the representation of the county. But the temporary defeat of Ireland’s liberator required that some one, should make the sacrifice ; and in his person that sacrifice was now made. He had pleasure in retiring for Mr. O’Connell (tremendous cheering), not simply of retiring, but he had the great gratification of proposing as the representative of the county of Cork in Parliament, Daniel O’Connell, Esq. (Awful cheering.) In an excellent speech, well delivered and well received, the nomination was seconded by Francis Bernard Beamish, Esq., our late representative for the city .of Cork. Nothing could exceed the wild enthusiasm of the people at having before them as a candidate Mr. O’Connell. The scene was at times terrific. Proposed by Daniel Clanchy, Esq. J.P. of Charleville, and seconded by Eugene M’Carthy, Esq., Of Ruthroe, Mr. Burke Roche was introduced to the constituency. The reception was enthusiastic. The Conservative candidates Messrs. Leader and Longfield, met with a sorry reception. The high sheriff (Mr. Barry) appealed in their behalf in vain. The Tories will persevere to the last. But such a defeat as awaits them

The above text was found on p.6, 17th July 1841 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .

The text below is taken from the Spectator also on 17th July 1841. Both papers took a strongly anti-Tory stance

The Spectator 17 July 1841: CORK COUNTY has been a candidate for the honour of returning Mr. O’Connell. As soon as it was known that he was thrown out at Dublin, Mr. Standish Barry retired to make room for him. Mr. Burke Roche stood with him. The Tory candidates were Mr. Phillpotts Leader and Mr. Longfield.

In the letter accepting the invitation of the electors to stand, Mr. O’Connell says-

” We cannot disguise to ourselves the fact, that my defeat in Dublin will give an insolent confidence to our enemies—to the bigoted enemies of Ireland. They will gladly hail it as a proof of the declining strength of the popular power, a proof which would be annihilated by a victory in my name in such a county as Cork. It strikes me that we should thus counteract time Dublin loss. It is quite true that such loss was occasioned by means which betoken the depravity of our adversaries, and not any alteration in popular opinion or in popular determination. Still, it requires to be counteracted ; and such counteraction would be only the more powerful by my being unnecessarily returned for your county. But I do not think I could be personally present in Cork before Wednesday morning. Under these circumstances, I leave myself in sour hands. You command my services—you command my political action. If it is thought fit to elect me for Cork county, I will sit for that county, and none other, in this Parliament. The coming into operation of the Municipal Bill, however insufficient in other respects that bill may be, will enable me to regain Dublin.”

CORK CITY. The Liberals, Daniel Callaghan and Francis Murphy, triumphed here, over Colonel Chatterton and Mr. Morris. The Tories complain of intimidation and obstruction. On the 8th, an elector was killed. The Cork Constitution says-

” The organization was complete. Every ‘enemy ‘ was known and marked; and, as he quitted the booth, a chalk on his back commended him to ‘ justice.’ If the military were outside, execution was deferred ; but they ‘ dogged ‘ him till the danger was past, and then a shout or a wink pointed him for vengeance. The women were usually the first ; the courageous men came after, and the unfortunate fellow was beat, and cut, and trampled. Then is the triumph of diabolical enmity. A demoniac shout is raised, and even a woman dances in the blood! We write a literal fact : when Mr. Norwood’s skull was broken in the manner described on Thursday, one of the female followers of Murphy and Callaghan actually danced in the blood that lay red upon the ground.”

The family bits.

Just to recap, Bartholomew Verling of Cove has two grandsons also called Bartholomew Verling who are first cousins. The elder Bartholomew Verling (1786 – 1855) of Cove is John Roche of Aghada’s nephew twice over. His mother is John Roche’s sister, Ellen, and his father is Mary Roche’s (nee Verling) brother, John Verling. His brother is Dr James Roche Verling (1787 – 1858) was one of Napoléon’s doctors on St. Helena [making both of them 1st cousins 5x removed].

“Roche and Barry” are Edmond Burke Roche, and Garrett Standish Barry. Barry was the first Catholic MP elected to represent Cork County after the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, and was elected in 1832. Roche was elected in 1837.

Garrett Standish Barry (1788-1864) is the 1st cousin 1x removed of 5x great aunt Mary Grehan, and his great-nephew Henry Standish Barry was at Downside with 2x great uncle Frank Purssell, and a guest at his wedding.

Edmond Burke Roche is slightly more complicated. He is the 1st cousin 1x removed of General Edmund Roche whose wife Anna Austin was Charles Cooper Penrose-Fitzgerald’s aunt. Charles C P-F’s wife was Henrietta Hewson which made her a 2nd cousin of 3x great aunt Mary O’Bryen.

Edmond Burke Roche also has the distinction of being Prince Harry’s great, great, great grandfather.

Dan Callaghan was the M.P for Cork City for nineteen years from 1830 until his death in 1849 aged 63. His sister Catherine was married to James Joseph Roche another 1st cousin 5x removed, and a 1st cousin of the Verling boys.

And finally, Dan the man himself is the father-in-law of a 1st cousin 1x removed of 5x great aunt Mary Grehan.

Dublin election 10th July 1841

July 27, 2018 Will GrayLeave a comment

THE DUBLIN ELECTION.—On Saturday [10th July], a new project was started by the Tories to prevent their defeat. They brought to the poll a batch of freemen, or pretended freemen, not registered six months, and some who were not registered at all. The assessor decided upon admitting every man of them ! At the last election of this city, a similar attempt was made by the Tories, but the then assessor, Mr. George, although himself a Tory, at once decided against the proposition and the unregistered and unqualified freemen were rejected. At half-past three o’clock, Mr. Monahan, counsel for the Liberals, applied to the sheriff to open another booth for voters in the letter M, as 600 of them remained unpolled. The assessor peremptorily refused. It is by such means as these that the Tories will effect a temporary triumph in the city of Dublin. A new trick has just been discovered, which it is feared has had a considerable influence on the election. Some of the Tory agents were detected in Mr. O’Connell’s committee-rooms busily engaged in marking ” dead,” and ” gone away,” on the slips which were laid out for the agents, in order to bring up the Liberal voters, and this of course prevented the agents in seeking out the parties named on the slips.

RETURN OF THE TORIES. — OUTRAGEOUS PROCEEDINGS.— (July 11.) It was not until after five o’clock this (Sunday) morning that the sheriffs and their assessor completed the return of the votes polled at the election, which was announced as follows :—

Gross Poll.

West, (T), 3,860,
Grogan, (T), 3,839 ;
O’Connell, (R), 3,692 ;
Hutton, (R), 3,662.
Majority of West over O’Connell, 168 ;
Majority of Grogan over Hutton 177.

This majority has been obtained by the most reckless violation of law and decency, and by the monstrous decisions of the assessor, especially that regarding household voters, rejected because “house and premises” appeared in their certificates, signed by the registering barrister. They might just as reasonably have been rejected for having noses upon their faces. Every respectable barrister, whether Whig or Tory, openly exclaims against this most unwarrantable and shameless decision. But the decision of the assessor, yesterday, was, if possible, a more monstrous violation of law and common sense : he decided that freemen not six months registered, or freemen not registered at all, should be admitted to vote, although the law expressly declares that no man can vote whose name has not been at least six months on the register. When this decision was announced, a horde of unfledged freemen, or pretended freemen, manufactured for the purpose by the dying corporation, rushed into the booths and voted for the Tory candidates. At this moment the Liberals were fast breaking down the small Tory majority. “Well, then,” said the Liberal agents, ” if six months registry be not necessary for Tories, it surely is not necessary for Liberals, and we have an immense majority of voters registered within six months.” Accordingly, numbers of household voters of this class came up, but they were rejected, on the ground that they were not six months registered. The very same class of freemen voters were brought forward by the Tories on the last day of the Dublin election in 1837, when the assessor, Mr. George, although a decided Tory in politics, refused to allow their votes. But the climax of Tory injustice is yet to come. At three o’clock yesterday, the polling in booth M was altogether stopped, by order of the sheriffs. There are nearly twice as many voters in this letter as in any other, and more than two-thirds of them are Liberals. The sheriffs refused, although repeatedly applied to, to appropriate two booths; in order that time might be allowed for polling all. At three o’clock yesterday afternoon, when the Liberals were gaining considerably in the booth M, the sheriffs altogether stopped the polling, on the pretence that it was necessary to put on the disputed votes from the previous day. At this moment there were hundreds of Liberal voters waiting to be polled in booth M. An application was again made to the sheriff to open a second booth, but there was a peremptory refusal. All the other booths were kept open until five o’clock, although in most of them, especially the booths where the Tories had been strongest, there were none to poll. By this proceeding, hundreds of Liberal electors have been altogether excluded from recording their votes. At a later period of the day the corporate functionaries, having become frightened at the probable consequences of their own conduct, it was announced that booth M would be open for votes for a short time after five o’clock ; but the Liberal voters, after waiting in the open street all day, had of course gone to their homes, on hearing it announced that the poll had finally closed.

DUBLIN CITY. The scenes of anarchy and bad spirit with which the polling commenced on Tuesday week were continued till the close on Saturday, with augmented violence. Each side charges the other with unfair attempts to influence the votes, and with outrage; but the charge of violence is mostly preferred by the Tories, while the Liberals are the strongest in the accusation of partiality. To judge as well as one can at a distance, by means of grossly contradictory accounts, both parties seem supported in their allegations by facts. It is said that as soon as Mr. O’Connell heard who was to be the Assessor, a Mr. Waller, he exclaimed that, no matter what the numbers might be for him, he should not be returned. The charges on this head are very distinctly stated by an elector, who writes to the Morning Chronicle from Dublin, on Saturday night-

” In Ireland, for a voter to establish his right to vote, on coming to the poll he must produce the certificate of his registry; which is given to him by the Clerk of the Peace, under the authority of the Registering Barrister, and for which he is in no way responsible. On this occasion great numbers of these certificates describe the qualification as for “house and premises,” or “a Lease and concerns.” In all these cases the Assessor decided for the rejection of the votes; stating that it should have been for ‘a house’ alone, and that the insertion of the words ‘and premises’ in the certificate invalidated the vote; although the Act of Parliament distinctly states that the certificates shall be conclusive as to the right of voting; and notwithstanding that he thus assumed a power not given to the Judges, of overruling the decisions of the Registering Barrister, when favourable to the claimant. It may not, at first sight, be obvious how this decision injures the Liberal interest, as it would apparently tell equally against Tories and Liberals; but it is only necessary to point out that there are about 2,000 freemen in Dublin to whom it does not apply; five-sixths of whom, through bribery and gratitude to the Corporation who made them, invariably vote for the Tories. This happy invention for disenfranchising whole constituencies has, for the first time, been brought into play, as it were by concert, in all places where, by the existence of freemen and an unscrupulous Sheriff, the Tories could gain by it; and Athlone, Dublin, and Waterford, will, in consequence, return five Tories to the next Parliament, in the face of undoubted Liberal majorities of the bona fide electors in each of those places. Another decision of the Assessor made last night, when the success of the Liberals, with fair play, was pretty evident, was, that ‘ Freemen, though only freemen for one day, were entitled to vote’ ; a decision which, although they might have carried the last Dublin election by it, they had not then the courage to make, but which the near prospect of office and power has now given them heart to venture on.”

Englishmen, who since the Reform Bill [of 1832] have seen the City of London polled out in one day, will be surprised at hearing that the City of Dublin cannot be polled out in five. But so it is. At five o’clock this evening, the latest hour allowed by law for keeping open the poll, about 200 electors tendered their votes for O’Connell and Hutton, accompanied by a declaration that they had attended at letter M booth, to which they belonged, without having it in their power during the whole of the election to record their votes. The explanation is this. The names beginning with that letter are by far the most numerous in Dublin; and of them the vast majority are Liberals. It was therefore obviously the interest of the Tories that obstacles should be thrown in the way of their voting. The first step to this end was to allot but one booth, and that most inconveniently placed, for the letter; the second, to place in it to receive the votes a deputy physically incompetent for the duty; who, by putting the oaths to all voters occupied on the average five minutes in recording each vote. But will it be believed in England, that, not content with this, at about three o’clock this day, the Sheriff or his Assessor sent arbitrarily to stop the polling at that booth, about 70 votes having been given in it for the Liberals and 13 for the Tories by that hour ? He actually did so; and it was only on the indignant remonstrance of those present that he consented to open it again at about four, and continue it until five, when the tender of the 200 voters incapacitated from voting took place.

Further authentic evidence of this obstruction is given in a letter which Mr. Henry Grattan wrote to the Morning Register— ” I was stopped in the street today, by a number of electors, who complained to me that they could not poll in booth letter M. I went with them to the committee-rooms of Messrs. O’Connell and Hutton. I advised them to draw up a statement of their complaint, which they could, if required, verify by affidavit. They did so; and, having signed it, I accompanied them to the assessor’s room, and the paper was handed to the agent. I proceeded with a number of electors to booth M; and though upwards of 1,600 (as was stated to me) were to poll there, the booth was small, being in size not larger than any of the rest. There was no accommodation for the electors; and being in the open street, they were exposed to the torrents of rain that were then falling. I remained there for three quarters of an hour, and, with my watch in my hand, I minuted the poll ; and, from three minutes after three o’clock to twenty minutes to four o’clock, the electors were polled at the rate of five minutes each man. I saw some unable to get in — numbers complained they could not poll — one elector had been there two days — another, with only one leg, had been standing half the day unable to get polled — others stated they could not wait, as they were obliged to leave Dublin that evening. The agent of Messrs. O’Connell and Hutton had each upwards of twenty certificates in their hands, and the electors were unable to come up — many went away tired and disgusted, and I saw them afterwards unable to get polled.” These statements are made with so much confidence, and are so faintly disputed on the other side, that much doubt is thrown on the final result of the poll as it was declared by the Sheriff at five o’clock on Sunday morning, as follows—West, 3,860; Grogan, 3,839 ; O’Connell, 3,602; Hutton, 3,662.

It is difficult to say how much the violence of the O’Connell party is to be attributed to exasperation at such proceedings. The first day that the polling commenced, Mr. O’Connell bitterly complained in public of the conduct of the Assessor : his language, indeed, was peaceful ; but his complaints and evident forebodings of failure were calculated in the highest degree to inflame the passions of the irritated people. Large bodies of men, it is said, maintained a lawless patrol in the streets, impeding some voters and driving others to the poll. Among those, the coal-porters were conspicuous. The following sidelong explanation of the Dublin Pilot of Friday tends to substantiate the assertions of the opposite party-

“The multitude which surrounded the Court-house throughout the day was densely numerous ; but nothing could be more laudable than the peaceful and orderly manner in which they conducted themselves. A single votary of Bacchus was not to be seen in this immense concourse. The coal-porters left their work upon the Quays at an early hour; and in a body nearly three hundred strong marshalled themselves in the various avenues leading to the hustings: they were all of them provided with whips, shillelaghs, or thongs, with which they with gentle violence kept the crowd in good order, putting them off to either side of the road, and thus keeping a clear and unobstructed passage in the middle, through which the cars and other vehicles conveying the voters might pass. What a fine instance was there not here of disinterestedness and honest zeal in these poor fellows, sacrificing a day’s earnings that they might contribute their humble efforts to facilitate the advancement of the popular cause ! Ubiquitous jarveys were flying all day through the town. [ ie. people were rushing about town in hired coaches all day] “

It is easy to suppose that the city in which coal-porters, in bodies three hundred strong, were allowed to perform the office of police “with gentle violence,” was not kept in the best order. The military were called out on Thursday [8th July] to protect the voters as they proceeded to the poll ; and they were afterwards reinforced. But riots were of constant occurrence. The outrages upon individuals, however, most distinctly prove the uncontrolled state of the place. We copy a few instances from the accounts in the Times- ” A large party of coal-porters proceeded in regular battle array up to Meath Street, to the house of an aged gentleman named Cradock, an officer on half- pay : the ruffians forced an entrance, and proceeded to search the premises, in order to drag the owner to the hustings to record his vote for the Repealers. They found the poor old gentleman in bed, unwell; and on declaring his inability to comply with their behests, they fell upon him with bludgeons, and inflicted two extensive fractures on his skull. The unhappy man was conveyed to the Meath Hospital; where, on inspection by the resident doctors, the wounds were pronounced to be of a decidedly dangerous character.”

The correspondent of the Times gives another tale from the mouth of Mr. Nugent, a Roman Catholic butcher- ” He assured me that he has been obliged to quit his house and provide himself with a private lodging; that the forebodings of the mob who attacked his house on Wednesday, and declared to him that there was not a grazier in Smithfield who would venture to make a sale to him, have been verified to the letter; that he went to Smithfield on Thursday, and could not make a single purchase, and was seriously recommended by a grazier who was kindly disposed towards him, to hasten away from the market, lest he should meet with personal violence. He assured me that he has already sustained a loss of about 60/. [shillings modern day £3,580] in damage to his house and furniture, and that he fears he shall be obliged to close and forsake an establishment in which he has resided and carried on business for twenty-two years.”

Another-

” Mr. William Gorman, barrister-at-law, was wantonly and brutally assaulted in Capel Street, on Saturday last. He lies seriously indisposed at his residence in Harcourt Street. Notwithstanding the numerous wounds inflicted on his head, strong hopes are entertained of his recovery by Dr. Kirby, who is in attendance. The learned gentleman was with difficulty rescued from a ferocious mob, and escorted to his house in a great state of exhaustion by a body of mounted police.”

One more-

” An old man named Cox, upwards of seventy years old, residing in Usher Street, who registered as a Conservative, had been waited upon to vote for Messrs. West and Grogan ; but he said it would injure him severely if he voted, and he was not further pressed. A body of coal-porters was sent to bring him, but he refused to go, and barricaded his house. They went away disconcerted ; and a second time they came, he thought to get out by the back way, but the premises were surrounded. Seeing no chance of escape, he took with him his gun for protection and climbed to the top of a house in his yard to escape through a neighbour’s house. He was seen, and menaces uttered against him; and in raising his gun to his shoulder it went off, as we are informed, unintentionally on the part of Cox, and the discharge took effect, and shot off the finger of a coal-porter. He got into a neighbour’s premises; he let himself down out of a loft by a rope, and was, as he thought, secure from his pursuers; but he had no sooner alighted than he was secured and carried off to Green Street, put into a cellar, his life threatened, a knife displayed, and told that his throat would be cut if he did not vote for O’Connell and Hutton. His coat was torn, and he was otherwise ill-used ; and finally, seeing there was no escape, he consented to be brought to the booth, and there stated to the deputies that it was from fear and danger of his life he gave his vote for O’Connell and Hutton. This fact was entered on the poll-book, and informations of the facts were lodged by him at the Head-office of Police. Cox got 30s. in silver, to pay for his coat, from some of the agents for the Liberal candidates. He had to sleep at an hotel from apprehension ; and four policemen were put in charge of the house and premises.”

The subjoined version of this same story, given by the Dublin Pilot, is a sample of the contradictions to be met with- ” Mr. Cox, of Usher Street, was waited on by a parcel of men belonging to the Tory party, who thought to compel him to vote for them ; but he refused ; and after some time they went away, swearing they would kill him. In a short time after, a few of the Liberal party waited on him ; when he imagined that they were the same persons who first visited him, and, very unfortunately for all parties, Mr. Cox fired on the people, and shot a man named Campbell very severely in the hand. Mr. Cox subsequently voted for O’Connell and Hutton.”

The same paper supplies one or two charges of violence against the Tories-

” About one o’clock, a riot, which for some time assumed rather a serious appearance, occurred in Capel Street. The origin of it we could not correctly ascertain but of this fact we are cognizant, that a person named Scott, a friend of West and Grogan, drew a loaded pistol to fire on the people ; but the deadly weapon was at once rescued from him; and although this act was in itself quite sufficient to enrage the populace, yet they behaved with the most steady and cool forbearance.”

The next is headed ” Orange insult to a clergyman “

” In booth K, a Catholic clergyman came up to vote ; when West’s agent said to him, ‘Oh, here is one of the surpliced ruffians ‘ An affidavit to the fact was sworn, and laid before the Sheriff.”

The Liberals having expressed a doubt as to the legality of the declaration on Sunday morning, the Sheriff went to the Court-house on Monday, and repeated the declaration.

Tipperary and Mallow – 12th July 1841

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COUNTY OF TIPPERARY.—TERRIBLE EXCITEMENT—ORANGE OUTRAGES.—Monday (second day)[12th July].—Clonmel has been in a state of great excitement since Friday evening, when about one hundred of the Ormond Orangemen arrived, armed to the teeth, although guarded by police. One of these had a scuffle with a townsman in the evening, when he stabbed him at once ; the poor man’s life is despaired of. The polling has been, going on briskly at the side of the Liberals, notwithstanding the oath of allegiance is put to all the Catholics. On the Tories from Cahir coming in today, one of their cars broke down in the street, and they were greatly hooted ; one of them (a gentleman) ‘most valiantly’ wounded an unarmed poor man in the neck. The Liberals had 71 majority at five o’clock ; they will have 100, at least, at the close of the poll this evening.

The text below is taken from the Spectator also on 17th July 1841. Both papers took a strongly anti-Tory stance.

TIPPERARY. Fierce riot disturbed the election at Clonmel. As some dragoons were escorting a body of electors into the town, on Monday, a quantity of stones were thrown down upon them from an arch under which they passed, and three were knocked from their horses. The Chief Constable was struck from his horse with a stone. The Police were ordered to fire : they did so, and four people fell, badly if not mortally wounded. A Mr. Perry defended himself from an attack with a dagger, and he stabbed a man in the chest.

The disorders were not confined to the town. On Monday, there was a riot at Bansha, where one man was shot dead, while nine were badly wounded by the military or police ; and at New Birmingham, near Killenaule, three country-people were shot dead and others wounded in an affray. On Tuesday, when the Liberal Members, Maher and Cave, were returned, Clonmel had become quiet.

MALLOW. co. Cork: Mr. Longfield retired from the contest before the termination of the poll, on Friday (9th July); leaving Sir D. Norreys to be declared. The violences that led to that step began with the nomination in the Court-house; at which some priests took a prominent part. After a storm of personal abuse, a desperate affray occurred. A crowd of people rushed into the building and drove the Tories from their station in the gallery- ” This did not satisfy the blood-thirsty wretches,” says an account, which bears, however, marks of partisanship; “who, perceiving that Mr. Longfield, his proposer, seconder, agents, and friends, were beneath them, mounted the gallery, and leaped on the heads of those gentlemen, who had no means of escape, as they were pressed together by the mob surrounding them at all points. During this scene, the ruffians in the lower part of the court were yelling on the desperadoes above; amidst which was to be heard,’ Murder the Orangemen !’ the cries of the injured, the screams of those who saw nothing before them but death, (many of whom were Sir Denham’s own friends,) and the shouts of Dr. Linehane and Mr Braddle, both Justices of the Peace, to spare the lives of the Tories. Here Mr. Ware, Justice of the Peace, called upon the Stipendiary for assistance, to endeavour to protect the lives of those who were in jeopardy; but the Stipendiary was unable to stir; and the fright he appeared in seemed to make him regret that he had not taken the precautions he was bound to have taken; and there he was in the closely-packed crowd, looking up to Father Collins in the most piteous manner, imploring him to save their lives.”

Sir (Charles) Denham Orlando Jephson-Norreys, 1st Baronet (1 December 1799 – 11 July 1888), known as Denham Jephson until 1838. In July 1838 he was created a baronet, [of Mallow in the County of Cork]. Later that month he assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Norreys M.P. from Mallow in 1826,a seat he held until 1832. He was re-elected in 1833, when the incumbent, William Daunt, was unseated on petition.He continued to represent Mallow in Parliament until 1859.

Belfast election – July 10th 1841

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BOROUGH OF BELFAST.—JULY 10.—The following is the final close of the poll :—Tennent (T), 927; Johnson (T), 913 ; Lord Belfast (R), 623 ; Mr. Ross (R), 794. The Tories bribed to a tremendous amount, and committed enormous perjury. The Liberals will petition. On Tuesday a question arose as to the affidavits on which a great body of the voters polled. Mr. Whiteside took the objection that the certificate placed on those affidavits had not the signature of the clerk of the peace, as expressly required by the act of Parliament. The objection, if it had prevailed, would have struck off, at once, about seventy of the votes of the Reformers. The learned gentleman was heard in support of the objection at great length. Mr. O’Hagan replied in an argument which occupied several hours. The assessor took time to consider; and, on Wednesday morning, to the great disappointment of the Tories, who expected, as in the ” house and shop case,” to carry the election by a coup de main, overruled the objection, although his own opinion, in a book published by him some years ago, was cited and strongly urged by Mr. Whiteside. The next device of the Tories was to raise innumerable objections, for the purpose of creating delay to the voters in booth ‘M’, [ voters went to a booth allocated by the first letter of their surname] where the great strength of the Liberals lay. Mr. O’Hagan pressed the assessor in every way to remedy this grievance. He urged that the letter might be divided, and two booths erected, which would have enabled the Reformers to poll their men. The assessor would not consent to this, holding himself bound to keep all the voters whose names began with the same letter in the same booth. Mr. O’Hagan then contended for the placing of more than one deputy in booth M ; but the assessor would not consent to this, declaring that he had no power to do so under the act of Parliament. The result was, that an immense body of the stanchest electors in the borough remained unpolled.

The text below is taken from the Spectator also on 17th July 1841. Both papers took a strongly anti-Tory stance.

BELFAST. The poll finally stood thus on Saturday evening—Emerson Tennent, 927; Johnson, 913; Lord Belfast, 321 Ross, 792. Charges of obstruction, bribery, and personation abound- ” In the first place,” says the Northern Mail,” there was the system of delaying, for the purpose of preventing part of the electors from voting. In one booth, this system was carried so far, that, as we are informed, a whole hour, or even more, was occasionally spent in polling a single tally ! The consequence is, that it is impossible but that a large number of the electors (probably from 80 to 100) who belong to the particular booth will be unable to vote at all! Corruption and abomination have stalked abroad, almost without an attempt at disguise. One man, when on his oath in the booth, stated that the Tories had offered him a bribe of 30/.[shillings – modern day £1,790] Another elector mentioned elsewhere, that a leading person in the Tory party had tempted him with 100/.[shillings – modern day £5,967] to be applied in corrupting two or three voters.”

The same paper relates, among others, rather a striking story of perjury and personation- ” In booth No. 2 (B and D), when the Tory strength was nearly exhausted, a broken tally of two was brought up, for Mr. Johnson. The two names on the tally were John Gilmore Dunbar, and James Buchanan. Mr. Dunbar’s vote was admitted, of course, without hesitation. When the name of Buchanan (registered from a house in Verner Street) was called, the agent for Lord Belfast (Mr. Smith) at once suspected that all was not right. The unfortunate man—not Buchanan (who had been two years out of his house)— but a hired perjurer, who had been sent up to personate him—looked ghastly pale ; his lips quivered, and his whole frame seemed agitated. It was whispered to the agent, that the man was a personator. The wretch took the Bible in his hand, and, in a state of awful trepidation, proceeded to repeat the false oath. When he came to the solemn words, ‘So help me God,’ there was a cry of ‘Perjury, perjury !—that man is William M’Dowell the carpenter, and not Buchanan, the lawyer.’ This was too much for him. He had struggled hard with his conscience, in order to earn the wages of crime; but the better impulse, fortunately, prevailed, when he was thus confronted ; he dropped the sacred book, in dismay, and fled from the booth, a dreadful living testimony to Tory criminality. As he was going out of the booth, Mr. Smith said to him, ‘ You have saved your soul from perjury ; and you will bless me, and curse the party who tempted you, on your deathbed.'”

On petition Emerson Tennent and Johnson were unseated and new writ issued. At the by-election in 1842, James Emerson Tennent and David Ross were elected as ‘a compromise entered into by which one of each party was to be returned’.

Carlow 10th July 1841

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CARLOW.—Mr. O’Connell arrived here on Friday about two o’clock, accompanied by Mr. Barrett, of the Pilot, and very shortly after the following address was forwarded to the people of this and the adjoining counties :—

“Carlow Town, 10th July, 1841.

“MEN OF CARLOW COUNTY AND THE ADJACENT COUNTIES,

I have, my beloved friends, the pleasure to inform you that a decided majority of the electors of the county of Carlow have declared in favour of Yates and Daniel O’Connell, jun. [Daniel O’Connell, junior (1816 – 1897) was the youngest of the four sons of Daniel O’Connell. He was unsuccessful in this election, but became M.P. for Dundalk for a year, Waterford City for a year, and Tralee for ten years. All three of his brothers were also at one time M.P’s]

All we want for success is, that the people should NOT commit any kind of riot, assault, or violence.

Remember, my dear friends, that whoever commits a crime strengthens the enemy. There is a large force of police in the county; they will protect the people as long as the people are peaceable, quiet, and orderly. Respect the police, my friends, and aid them to keep the peace. There is a large force of her Majesty’s troops—of the troops of our beloved and revered Queen—in the county. These troops belong to the bravest army in the world.

The young and gallant gentleman who commands these troops, and the soldiers themselves’ are the friends of the people. They will protect the people from the Orangemen, so long as the people obey the law, and commit no violence on anybody.

Confide in the bravery, the good temper, and discipline of her Majesty’s soldiers. The military are your friends so long as you do not assault or injure any man. Depend on it that the military will protect you from the Orangemen, and will scatter the Orangemen if they commence any attack on the people. Do you not, my friends—do you not commence any attack on anybody. If you are attacked, the police and the military will give you instant assistance. No man is a friend of mine who commits any riot, or assault, or injury to any man. No man is a friend of mine who commits any crime, or breaks the law.

PEACE—ORDER—REGULARITY.

Keep the peace every one of you—stop any of the people who maybe disposed to break the peace. Keep the peace, and we shall certainly succeed at this election. Keep the peace, and we shall certainly beat Bruen and his colleague. “The Orangemen are anxious that the peace should be broken— the Orangemen are desirous of riot and tumult, that they may injure and spoil the election. Disappoint the Orangemen, and let there be no riot or tumult.

Be peaceable—be orderly—be regular ; give no offence to any one. Canvass peaceably but firmly, and the day of triumph is ours. ” Hurrah for the Queen and Old Ireland I “ I offer you the most friendly and anxious advice. Take my advice, and success is certain.

I am, my loved friends, your ever faithful servant,

DANIEL O’CONNELL.

The text below is taken from the Spectator also on 17th July 1841. Both papers took a strongly anti-Tory stance.

CARLOW COUNTY. The nomination of Colonel Bruen and Mr. Banbury, Tories, and Mr. Daniel O’Connell junior and Mr. Ashton Yates, Liberals, passed off more quietly than might have been expected. Mr. Yates was seconded by a “Father,” and Mr. Daniel O’Connell was proposed by another of the fraternity. Both parties agreed that there should be no speaking, in order to save the chance of a riot. Mr. O’Connell, the man himself, was present, and did his best to keep the people quiet. He issued an order that all sticks should be delivered up by the peasantry who crowded into the town : it ran thus—” No sticks. Daniel O’Connell.” In less than twenty minutes great numbers were deposited in Honton’s Hotel, where Mr. O’Connell was staying, or in the committee-room of the Liberals. One party of peasantry, some hundreds strong, flung theirs away into the fields the moment they heard the order ; and a shower of sticks flying through the air attested, by a strange phenomenon, the power of O’Connell. The town was lined with military ; artillery was stationed in the streets, and the place wore the air of a town in a state of civil war ; but the day passed without a disturbance of any moment. The Whig accounts complain that Mr. Doyne, Colonel Bruen’s agent, attended at the polling-booth, and ostentatiously took down the names of those who voted for the Liberals.

Meath election – 9th July 1841

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MEATH COUNTY ELECTION.—RETURN OF MR. O’CONNELL. —TRIM, FRIDAY [9th July], Four o’Clock P.M.—Daniel O’ConnelI, Esq., has just been returned for this county, in conjunction with Mr. Grattan. Mr. Corbally retired, in order to give the seat to Mr. O’Connell, in the event of Tory corruption defeating him in Dublin. [O’Connell was also returned for County Cork and chose to sit for Cork]. Both Grattan and O’Connell were Repealers. At the subsequent by-election Matthew Corbally was elected unopposed as a Whig. He had previously been the M.P. briefly after Morgan O’Connell’s retirement in 1840.

The text below is taken from the Spectator also on 17th July 1841. Both papers took a strongly anti-Tory stance.

MEATH. Mr. Corbally has retired, to make way for Mr. O’Connell ; who, with Mr. Henry Grattan, was returned without opposition on Friday ; being proposed by Mr. Corbally himself.

The Times on the 20th July reported things rather differently. It was fiercely pro-Tory, and very anti-Whig, anti-Catholic, and very anti-Daniel O’Connell.

DUBLIN, JULY 18, ELECTION INTELLIGENCE

MEATH

It is said that Mr. Corbaly, who was so unceremoniously kicked out of the representation of this county to make room for the great rejected of Dublin, actually had a large party engaged for dinner at Corbalton Hall to celebrate his re-election for Meath, and when the fatal tidings arrived that he was to be thrown overboard, he expressed his indignation against Mr. O’Connell in no very measured terms, personal chastisement being more than hinted at. Mr. Henry Grattan too, fumes and flusters at the insult put on the men of Meath by Mr. O’Connell in first accepting the seat merely as a warming-pan tiIl his election for Cork county was secured then scurvily giving the go-by to the sheep ticklers, and, said Mr. Henry Grattan, inflicting at the same time the additional blow of leaving the county but half represented at the opening of Parliament.

Morgan O’Connell (1804 – 1885) who was Daniel O’Connell’s second son had been M.P. for Meath between 1832 and 1840. Morgan purchased a commission in Simon Bolivar’s Irish Legion even though he was only 15 years old. He survived that, and during his return home in 1821 caught tropical fever, got shipwrecked twice. He was still only seventeen when he returned. On his return his father said ” His South American adventure had made a man of him. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to tame him down to the sobriety of business.”

Morgan fought a duel with Lord Alvanley, on his father’s behalf, on 4 May 1835 at Chalk Farm. Daniel O’Connell had vowed in 1816 never to fight a duel again. He had killed John D’Esterre in a duel in February 1815, which didn’t prevent him almost immediately trying to fight a duel with Sir Robert Peel. But by 1816 he had seen the error of his ways. Morgan was challenged to a duel by Benjamin Disraeli in December 1835 following astonishingly anti-semitic abuse of Disraeli by Dan, but refused.

Waterford election – 8th July 1841

July 25, 2018 Will GrayLeave a comment

OUTRAGE AT WATERFORD.—ELEVEN PERSONS SHOT.—On Thursday evening, [July 8] about nine o’clock, a crowd of children assembled in the Manor, and were shouting, “Down with the Tories !” “Wyse and Barron for ever !” with several exclamations of a like nature, when a monster, named Morgan, who resides in Henry-street, opened his door, and deliberately fired a pistol, loaded with balls or slugs, on the young and innocent creatures ; he then reloaded and fired again, then shut his door, and fired a third shot from his window. He succeeded in his deadly purpose. Will it be credited, he wounded eleven defenceless children, three of whom are not expected to recover ? Some boys, indignant at this horrid and brutal outrage, assailed the residence of this wretched and blood-stained man, and broke the windows in front of his house, but they were stopped by a few discreet neighbours. The police conducted the prisoner in perfect safety to the mayor’s office. The following named wounded persons (all being under the age of eighteen) sat at the side bar :—Johanna Heneberry, Alice Foley, Mary Doyle, Alice Keating, Michael Kelly, and Martin Magrath. Some of the other persons wounded were sent to the Leper Hospital, and others are in so dangerous a situation that they cannot be removed. Among the latter are a son of Mr. Thomas Torpey, a little girl named Mountain, and a boy named Quilty. About half past ten the prisoner Morgan was brought forward, when the mayor read the depositions of some of the wounded people, charging the prisoner with having fired two pistol shots. The mayor said he should commit the prisoner, and would not take bail. Since writing the above, we have heard that the child named Mountain has died of her wounds. Morgan is fully committed. – Abridged from the Waterford Chronicle.

WATERFORD (CITY).—SECOND DAY’S POLL, July 8.—The Conservatives started a fourth candidate this morning,—W. Morris Reade, Esq. The following is the close of the poll at five minutes past six o’clock p.m. :—Barron (R), 193; Wyse (R), 192; Christmas (T), 127; Reade (T), 111. Electors have been objected to on both sides as having registered out of house and premises, instead of house or premises; but the same objection having been raised at Dublin the assessor here has determined to be governed by the decision which shall be come to in the metropolis on the subject. —TEN O’CLOCK, P.M.—Four children have been severely wounded by a Conservative and his son, who fired pistol-shots and a blunderbuss laden with slugs on an unarmed mob. The perpetrators of this brutal act are in prison. Another man was stabbed by a man in the arm with a dagger, and two of the police wounded by the same instrument.

The text below is taken from the Spectator also on 17th July 1841. Both papers took a strongly anti-Tory stance.

WATERFORD CITY. Mr. [Thomas] Wyse and Mr. [Henry] Barron retired before the close of the poll, on Monday ; when Mr. [William] Christmas and Mr. [William Morris] Reade were declared duly elected. The contest was disgraced by savage riots. In the course of it, one Morgan fired a pistol, in self-defence, say the Tories ; but the persons he shot were boys and girls, eleven in number. One of them died, and Morgan was committed at the Police-office for trial. The Sheriff was thrown down and trampled on ; and four houses were “wrecked”; one of them being “literally torn down by the mob.”

Barron and Wyse having been defeated by the two Conservatives in 1841, were reseated on petition the following year.

Sir Thomas Wyse KCB (1791 – 1862), one of the ultimately successful M.P.’s probably bears more study. He was a Catholic and educated at Stonyhurst, and Trinity College, Dublin. The family were Anglo-Irish having arrived in the C12th during the reign of Henry II. He married Princess Letizia Bonaparte [Napoléon’s niece] in Italy in 1821, when he was 30 and she was 16. The marriage seemed to be fairly rocky. After an especially violent fight in 1824, she fled to a convent and asked for a separation. Eight months later, when Wyse threatened to leave Italy without her, she submitted to him, and travelled to Ireland with him. The arguments continued, and in May 1828 they agreed to a separation. Letizia threw herself into the Serpentine in Hyde Park in a suicide attempt and was rescued by Captain Studholme John Hodgson (1805–1890), who became her lover. They had three children who all used the surname Bonaparte-Wyse.

Daniel O’Connell to the Electors of the County of Cork 6th July 1841

July 24, 2018September 1, 2020 Will GrayLeave a comment

This is part of a series of posts about the 1841 election rather specifically from an Irish perspective. At the time the letter was written Daniel O’Connell was standing for election as an M.P. in Dublin City. Things changed six days later. “Roche and Barry” are Edmond Burke Roche, and Garrett Standish Barry. Barry was the first Catholic MP elected to represent Cork County after the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, and was elected in 1832. Roche was elected in 1837. Edmond Burke Roche also has the distinction of being Prince Harry’s great, great, great grandfather.

TO THE ELECTORS OF THE COUNTY OF CORK.

Dublin, 6th July, 1841.

” Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow ?”

Fellow-Countrymen,

We have arrived at the most important crisis in the affairs of Ireland. The liberty and the religion of the Irish people are at stake. The question is, whether the Orange miscreants, who have so long plundered our country, and persecuted our people, are to trample upon us again—to outrage our venerated clergy, and to inflict the virulent hostility of their blasphemous scurrility upon the most sacred rites of the Catholic religion.

I am convinced that not one liberal Protestant in the county of Cork will refuse to vote for Roche and Barry. I am convinced that not one Catholic will vote against Roche and Barry. In fact, the Catholic who does not vote for Roche and Barry is a traitor to his country, and a renegade to his religion.

Remember, my friends, that the exterminators have openly avowed themselves. And, although, as in this city, they have felt it prudent to qualify the bitterness of their hostility to the Catholics, yet their designs of destruction are sufficiently manifest, even from the equivocal language which they now choose to employ, instead of an open declaration of vengeance.

There is no scheme too vile — no misrepresentation too atrocious — no cunning trick too dirty or too false — for the Orange Tories of your county to make use of, in order to delude or deceive the people to their own destruction.

Amongst other dirty tricks, the Orange faction in your county have asserted that the ministerial plan on the subject of the cornlaws would be injurious to the farmers. I wish you to understand this subject as well as I do. The ministerial plan which Mr. Roche supports, and which I support, is a fixed duty of eight shillings per quarter upon wheat ; and so in proportion upon other grain.

Now, attend to me, I beg of you, my fellow-countrymen. You know me I never deceived you nor any of you : and I tell you distinctly and emphatically, that of all the plans respecting the cornlaws, the ministerial plan of a fixed duty, which both Roche and Barry will support, is the very best for the farmer ! It is so for this reason ; that at present, rents are charged upon the farmers according to the highest prices that corn can bring ; and a speculation takes place respecting rents, in which, as you well know, the landlords have always the best of it.

The fixed duty gives, on the contrary, a fixed and steady rule of price for corn, and therefore a fixed criterion for rent ; thus giving to the farmer the surplus profits when the corn produces a price higher than in ordinary years..

I am bound to add, that after having investigated this subject with all the care and attention due to it from me, whose great object is the good of all the people—the good of the farmers when it varies from that of the aristocracy or landlords, I am thoroughly and conscientiously convinced that the best plan for all the farmers would be the total abolition of the corn-laws.

But that is not the question at present. The present question lies altogether between the plan of a sliding scale of corn duties and the plan of a fixed duty. This latter is the plan which Lord John Russell and his friends—including Messrs. Barry and Roche—will support.

Remember, my dear friends, that I, who, by counselling the people right, extorted emancipation, and put down Protestant ascendancy, in despite of the Orange aristocrats and landlords, who would now deceive and delude you on the subject of the corn-laws—remember, I say, that I, whom you have honoured with the name of the Liberator,—remember, that I tell you that the plan of a fixed duty, which both Roche and Barry support, is infinitely preferable for the farmers, than the sliding and slippery scale with which Leader and the Orange landlords endeavour to gull and deceive you.

As to Leader [Nicholas Leader, one of the Tory candidates.] himself, he is by birth and fortune a gentleman. If he remained quiet, nobody would refuse to admit him to be such. But in politics he is a shabby and despicable fellow. I knew him when he commenced his political career, and he came out not only a Liberal but really as a Radical ; and he is now endeavouring to represent the county of Cork at the head of all the Orange enemies of the people. Say to him, honest men of the county of Cork, “Shame upon thee, Leader! Shame, where is thy blush?”

Whoever votes for Leader, or for any man of his principles, votes for the extermination of Catholicity ; for the Orange Tories—for the haters of Ireland and the Irish—for the revilers of our clergy—for the blasphemers of our religion Those who refuse to vote for Barry and Roche are equally despicable traitors. They are to be loathed and shunned by every honest man.

Those who vote for Barry and Roche vote for the Queen and her ministers ;—for old Ireland and freedom;—for religion and liberty.

Recollect that the faction to which Leader has now attached himself is that which, by the most atrocious treachery, enacted the penal laws against the Catholics ; which set the same price—that is, £5.—upon the head of a wolf and the head of a priest ; which proscribed Catholic education ; which would still employ education for the purposes of trickery and exclusive proselytism.

Leader’s faction is the faction that has proclaimed in the city of Dublin the uprooting of Catholicity ; which seeks the restoration of Protestant ascendancy and Orange domination.

Leader’s faction call your priests ” surpliced ruffians “ and ” anointed vagabonds.”

Leader’s faction call the holy sacrifice of the mass ” mummery.” They call the Catholic religion an “abject superstition” and a “vile idolatry.”

Liberal Protestants of the county of Cork—and you especially, Catholic electors—shall there be found amongst you any man so thoroughly a traitor and a renegade as to give a single vote to Leader, or to the faction to which he belongs ?

Will any of you refuse to vote against the Orange faction, and in favour of my excellent and beloved friend, Edmund Roche, and of his esteemed colleague, Standish Barry ?

Let every man, then, who confides in me, who is ready to take my honest advice—let every liberal Protestant, and let every conscientious Catholic, vote for the religious liberty of Old Ireland.

That is let him record his vote for Roche and Barry.

I am, beloved countrymen, your faithful and devoted servant,

DANIEL O’CONNELL