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Notes 125
FOLIO 46 (1753-54)
Chipping Norton Races, held on 15 September, 1753 was an occasion
for voters of each persuasion to pay their respects to their candidates,
and for the leaders of the "New Interest" to meet and plan their
Oxfordshire campaign. Seeker, even though not present at the races,
declared himself quite openly as favoring the "New Interest" party
(Robson, Oxfordshire Election of 1754, pp. 60, 80-81, 83). Echoes of the
tumultuous election of 1754 continued to be heard for years afterwards,
and it is depicted with sardonic humour in four magnificent paintings by
William Hogarth.
Mr Knollys: Francis Knollys (1697?-1754), who returned as a Tory in
the 1722 campaign and was M.R for Oxford 1722-34 [Sedgwick, H.C,
II, p. 193; CM., XXIV (1754), p. 292].
The Jew Bill (26 Geo. II c. 26) was a modest, and at first insignificant,
proposal to ease the future naturalization of Jews by removing the
sacramental test. Introduced into the Lords on 3 April, 1753 and passed
by the Commons on 22 May, it quickly became a matter of strong public
controversy and a major issue in the Oxfordshire election of 1754
(Robson, Oxfordshire Election of 1754, pp. 86-99). Seeker, like most
bishops, supported the 1753 bill, and even though he loyally supported
the ministry's bill to repeal, nonetheless spoke well of the original act.
For Seeker's part, see T.W. Perry, Public Opinion, Propaganda, and Politics
(Cambridge, Mass., 1962), especially pp. 47, 105n., 132-33, 141,
147-48, 152-53. The clause about church livings was the only proviso
added by Hardwicke [Sheila Lambert, Bills and Acts (Cambridge, 1971),
pp. 79-83].
Ld Westmorland: John Fane (1686-1762), who was seventh earl of
Westmorland from 1736. As M.R for Kent he had been an opposition
Whig 1715-22 and sat for Buckingham 1727-34. From 1743 he was
involved in the Jacobite cause, and was appointed high steward of the
university of Oxford 1754-59, then chancellor from 1759 (Sedgwick,
H.C3 II, pp. 25-26).
Lord Temple: Richard Temple Grenville (1711-1779), who succeeded
in 1752 as the second earl Temple. An anti-Walpole Whig, he sat as
M.P. for Buckingham 1734-41, for Buckinghamshire 1741-47, and
again for Buckingham 1747-52. He headed a formidable political force
that included his brother-in-law William Pitt (Horace Walpole testily
described Temple as the "absolute creature of Pitt"). Temple was
ambitious, somewhat erratic and regarded by some as factious and