Potwallopers - Pontefract's Secret Ballot
Pontefract, August 1872. It's election time but you wouldn't know it. There's no rioting, no fighting and hardly any drinking. The only person shouting is the Mayor, and that's because he has to organise the first ever British election by secret ballot. Pontefract's voters (a few men) will elect their MP by putting an 'X' next to their chosen candidates name instead of declaring it to everyone in the pub. No bribe. No corruption. It's a big deal and lots of people hop it will catch on. All eyes are on Pontefract. At least that's what radical feminist Josephine Butler hopes; she's brought the first female-led women's right campaign to town. How will the Mayor cope?
Pontefract, August 1872. It's election time but you wouldn't know it. There's no rioting, no fighting and hardly any drinking. The only person shouting is the Mayor, and that's because he has to organise the first ever British election by secret ballot.
Pontefract's voters (a few men) will elect their MP by putting an 'X' next to their chosen candidates name instead of declaring it to everyone in the pub. No bribe. No corruption. It's a big deal and lots of people hop it will catch on.
All eyes are on Pontefract. At least that's what radical feminist Josephine Butler hopes; she's brought the first female-led women's right campaign to town.
How will the Mayor cope?
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‘They obtained the use of a large loft in
which to hold a meeting, attended chiefly by
women; but the rude rabble of Pontefract
covered the floor with pepper and, having
partly filled the place below with straw
they set fire to it. At the same time they
shouted the filthiest abuse at Mrs Butler
and threatened all sorts of things.
Nevertheless she faced them calmly and, having encouraged Mrs
Wilson beside her to lean entirely on God’s help, she leapt through
a trapdoor and escaped into the street, followed by her friend.’
‘The means of exit was through a window
which had been stripped of its framework,
and in order to pass through this opening
the voter had first to ascend a gangway of
rough planks, at an angle of 45 o , and then
to descend a similar gangway; and there
were evidently many voters, especially amongst
those of advanced years, who were thankful when they had safely
accomplished their first effort at voting by ballot.’
‘the desks at which voters
are to mark their ballots are
of quarter inch rough stuff,
not even planed. They are
most ingeniously bestudded with heads and points of nails,
cleverly intended for testing the fibre of broadcloth. Similarly
improvised spikes surround each compartment on all sides’
‘the consumption of beer and spirits was evidently slow
enough to put the landlady in a very bad humour, while
scarcely one case of drunkenness has been noticeable.’
‘a little procession of policemen emerged from the building,
three of them bearing on their
shoulders the long dismal-looking
boxes. The affair resembled nothing
so much as a funeral, and so
apparently thought the onlookers, for
there was not a cheer or a shout.’
What happened next?
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