Nov 18 1831 Cumberland County Meeting #1 - Cumberland and Westmorland Newspaper Transcriptions

Nov 18 1831 Cumberland County Meeting #1

The Times, Friday, Nov 18, 1831; pg. 1; Issue 14699; col C

                               CUMBERLAND COUNTY MEETING.
                                                ---------------------
                                                    (From the Sun.)

                                                  WIGTON, TUESDAY, NOV. 15.
A meeting of the freeholders, &c., of the county of Cumberland took place this
day at Wigton. The requisition to the High Sheriff was the most numerously
signed of any that had ever been presented in this county, and embraced the
names of nearly all the gentry of note or consideration. Nearly 400 names were
attached to the published requisition, and some hundreds more arrived after the
publication.

This was the Martinmas fair-day, and of course several persons were attracted
here on that account. By an early hour the town began to fill, and long before
the time of meeting the streets were completely crowded with strangers.

Hustings were erected at the foot of a rising eminence called the Market-hill,
and we have to acknowledge the kind attention shown by the sheriff in providing
accommodation to the gentlemen of the broad sheet.

A little before 2 o'clock the High Sheriff, John TAYLOR, Esq., arrived upon the
hustings, accompanied by a great number of gentlemen, amongst whom we observed
Sir Wilfred LAWSON, Bart., of Brayton-hall, Sir F. F. VANE, Bart., of
Armathwaite Castle; Henry HOWARD, Esq. M.P., F. B. DYKES, Esq. of Dovenby-hall;
William WYBERGH, Esq., of Isell Hall; Melham HARTLEY, Esq., of Rose Hill;
William MARSHALL, Esq., M.P., Major AGLIONBY, of Nunnery; Captain R. WALKER, R.
N. of Gilgarran; Isaac LITTLEDALE, Esq., of Whitehaven; W. CRACKENTHORPE, Esq.,
of Newbiggin Hall; Rev. John CURWEN, of Harrington; Rev. E. STANLEY, of
Plumbland; Rev. R. MATTHEWS, of Wigton; John DIXON, Esq., of Knells; Joseph
FERGUSSON, Esq., of Carlisle; Peter DIXON, Esq., of Warwick-bridge; Thomas
BACKHOUSE, Esq., of Caldbeck; Captain SALKELD, of Holm-hill, and a great number
of other gentlemen connected with the county.

The requisition having been read by the Under Sheriff,

The HIGH SHERIFF stepped forward and said it gave him great pleasure to convene
the present meeting in compliance with a requisition unexampled in this county
for numbers and respectability. The names which he received after the
publication would have greatly added to the array of signatures which the
requisition exhibited. The orderly, peaceable, and dignified conduct which the
people of this county had manifested during the late great contest, inspired him
with the certain hope that they would conduct themselves properly on the present
occasion. He trusted their conduct would be worthy of the character of
Englishmen, and that they would give to every gentleman a fair and impartial
hearing. Before proceeding further, he would read a letter which he had received
from their able and independent representative, Sir J. GRAHAM: -

                                                      Admiralty, Nov. 9, 1831.
"My dear Sir, - Observing that, in compliance with a requisition signed by a
large body of my constituents, you have called a meeting of the freeholders of
the county of Cumberland, to consider the expediency of supporting the measure
of Reform recently carried through the House of Commons by His Majesty's
Ministers, and rejected by the House of Lords, I hasten to express to you my
sincere regret that the indispensable duties of my office will prevent me from
attending at Wigton on Tuesday next.

"I am certain, however, that my absence will be readily pardoned, for no fresh
declaration of assurances can be required from me; since if by my past conduct I
have been so fortunate as to gain the confidence of the freeholders of the
county of Cumberland, I am persuaded that I shall never be induced to forget it
by any dereliction of my principles, or by the support of a measure of
Parliamentary Reform less efficacious than the bill, which the requisition with
truth observes, has been so inauspiciously rejected.

"I have the honour to be, with sincere esteem, my dear Sir, very truly yours.
                                                  "J. R. G. GRAHAM.
"John TAYLOR, Esq."

This letter was received with great applause, and the High Sheriff in conclusion
said he had merely to request that every gentleman who chose to address the
meeting would strictly confine himself to the terms of the requisition.