Patricians, plebeians and parishioners: parish elections and social conflict in eighteenth-century Chelsea

This article sheds new light on social relations in early eighteenth-century Britain through a case study of three parish elections held in Chelsea between 1708 and 1723. The results of these elections were disputed in the ecclesiastical courts, generating over 400 folio pages of witness depositions. These depositions reveal a sustained conflict between the local gentry and the middling sort over control of parish offices. At the heart of this conflict was a contest over who could be considered an independent voter. Independence was the central quality required for participation in parish politics and was thought to belong exclusively to heads of household who contributed to local taxes. In election disputes, each side claimed that their opponents' supporters failed to meet these criteria and that they had benefited from the votes of people who were too poor to make independent political choices. By arguing over voter independence, Chelsea residents contested the boundary between 'parishioners' with a right to participate in local government and the poor who were excluded by their dependence on others. Parish elections were both manifestations of social hierarchy and key sites of social conflict.