Widows, Wives and Witnesses: Women and their Involvement in the 1768 Northampton Borough Parliamentary Election

Abstract

This article analyses sources relating to the 1768 Northampton borough election to determine the ways in which women were involved in pre‐reform elections. Although there has been literature relating to the participation of women in pre‐reform elections, it has largely focused on elite women. Through a case study of the 1768 election this article will suggest that non‐elite women were involved in a variety of ways. In particular, it will show that these women acted as witnesses during the polling and provided evidence relating to men and their eligibility to vote, and suggest that female householders had an impact upon the election through their property ownership. Through their role as householders, women were able to participate in elections through the exchange of property and enabling men to vote. The activities in which Northampton women were involved had further implications concerning home and its use as a public space.

A Man’s Sphere? British Politics in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

“…At election time, these spatial questions had big implications for a male householder's access to electoral citizenship, or a female landlady's ability to influence proceedings (and to earn extra rent). 73 Various everyday domestic rituals could have a political character, such as the reading of news, writing letters on behalf of the family, or family prayers. 74 Shifting from the micro to the macro, the geography of political activity is also important.…”