Folio 123-137. From Charles Delafaye. (1) N [Nicholas] Lechmere.. To Sir Wm [William]...

Folio 123-137. From Charles Delafaye. (1) N [Nicholas] Lechmere.. To Sir Wm [William] Lowther. Place: Whitehall [London, Middlesex].

Copy of a letter congratulating the recipient on his success at the elections to the parliamentary Borough of Pontefract, which is being obstructed by the 'disaffected' [Jacobite] mayor and aldermen, enclosing the Solicitor-General's report and forms for prosecuting nonjuring meetings and recusants. (1) Solicitor-General's report concerning irregularities in the Pontefract poll; the inclusion of the votes of Roman Catholics and non-jurers; and disaffection in the borough, in which the thirteen inhabitants loyal to the 'interest of your majesty' cannot be found to fill the posts of mayor and aldermen. Mentions the suspected Jacobitism of George Skipton and Michael Waterhouse. Dated on 28 July 1718. (2) Sir W [William] Lowther's affidavit, mentioning his representation of the borough in parliament, the strong sentiment in favour of Doctor [Henry] Secheverell, and the roles of Sir Rowland Winn and Thomas Tayler. Sworn before Hasting [Hastine] Taylor. (3) Affidavit of Thomas Taylor, alderman; Samuel Moore' grocer; and Benjamin Earnshaw, inholder; in favour of Lowther. Dated on 9 December 1717. (4) Warrant to detain George Skipton, alderman of Pontefract, in York Castle [Yorkshire], signed by Lowther, William Ramsden, and J Bright, dated on 21 January 1716. (5) Affidavit of Benjamin Radcliffe and John Hutchinson, yeomen, concerning the disaffection of Skipton and Michael Waterhouse, dated on 19 January 1718. (6) Affidavit of Samuel Medley, inn-holder, and John Lee, gentleman, dated on 19 January 1718. (7) Affidavit of Edward Coleman of Swillington [Yorkshire], describing the arrest of Lowther's servant, Samuel Sykes on a suit by John Nell, mentioning attorney Ebenezer Hepworth, and Edmund Abbott the town clerk. Dated on 30 January 1718. (8) Affidavit of John Lee and William Shaw concerning Sykes' arrest by William Lambert, serjeant at the mace, dated on 30 June 1718. (9) Affidavit of Samuel Sykes, mason, of Swillington, dated on 30 June 1718. (10) Affidavit of Thomas Wightman, maltster, and Benjamin Earnshaw, Inn-holder, land-tax assessors, concerning biased assessments made by Robert Wright and John Hawkesworth, mentioning Mr Fothergill. Dated on 30 June 1718, and witnessed by John Stanhope. (11) Lowther's further affidavit, decribing sentiment in Pontefract, mentioning Lawrence Fox the present mayor, and the recorder Frank, dated on 7 July 1718.