Baltimore (Parliament of Ireland constituency)

Baltimore was a potwalloper constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons from 1614 to 1801.

Baltimore
Former borough constituency for the Irish House of Commons
County	County Cork
Borough	Baltimore
1614 (1614) (1614 (1614))–1801 (1801)
Replaced by	Disfranchised

Borough

This constituency was a parliamentary borough based in the town of Baltimore in County Cork.

Potwalloper

A potwalloper (sometimes potwalloner or potwaller) is an archaic term referring to a borough constituency returning members to the British House of Commons before 1832 and the Reform Act created a uniform suffrage. Several potwalloper constituencies were also represented in the Irish House of Commons, prior to its abolition in 1801. A potwalloper borough was one in which a householder had the right to vote if he had, in his house, a hearth large enough to boil, or wallop, a cauldron, or pot. The electors for Baltimore were tenants at will of the Freke family.^[1]

History

In the Patriot Parliament of 1689 summoned by King James II, Baltimore was represented with two members.^[2]

Members of Parliament, 1613–1801

Baltimore, Incorporated 25 March 1613.

• 1613–1615
  • 1613 Sir Thomas Crooke, 1st Baronet
  • 1613 Henry Piers
• 1634–1635
  • 1634 Lott Peere, absent in England and replaced 1634 by James Travers
  • 1634 Edward Skipwith,
• 1639–1641
  • 1639 Bryan Jones
  • 1639 Henry Knyveton
• 1661–1666
  • 1661 Sir Nicholas Purdon
  • 1661 Richard Townsend

1689–1801

Election		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
1689 Patriot Parliament		Daniel O'Donovan			Jeremiah O'Donovan
1692		Thomas Beecher			Edward Richardson
1703					Percy Freke
1707					Edward Riggs
1709		Francis Langston
1713		Richard Barry			Michael Beecher
1715		William Southwell
1721		Sir Percy Freke, 2nd Bt
1727					Richard Tonson
1728		Sir John Freke, 3rd Bt^[note 1]
1761		William Clements
1768		Sir John Evans-Freke, 1st Bt
1771					Jocelyn Deane
1777		William Evans
1781					James Chatterton
1783		Viscount Sudley			Richard Longfield
1790		Sir John Evans-Freke, 2nd Bt			Richard Grace
1798					George Evans-Freke
1801		Disenfranchised

Notes

1. Also elected for Cork City in 1761, for which he chose to sit

References

1. "Baltimore". Ulster Historical Foundation. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
2. O'Hart 2007, p. 500.

Bibliography

• O'Hart, John (2007). The Irish and Anglo-Irish Landed Gentry: When Cromwell came to Ireland. Vol. II. Heritage Books. ISBN 978-0-7884-1927-0.
• Johnston-Liik, E. M. (2002). History of the Irish Parliament, 1692–1800, Publisher: Ulster Historical Foundation (28 February 2002), ISBN 1-903688-09-4
• T. W. Moody, F. X. Martin, F. J. Byrne, A New History of Ireland 1534-1691, Oxford University Press, 1978
• Tim Cadogan and Jeremiah Falvey, A Biographical Dictionary of Cork, 2006, Four Courts Press ISBN 1-84682-030-8
• Leigh Rayment's historical . Cites: Johnston-Liik, Edith Mary (2002). The History of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800 (6 volumes). Ulster Historical Foundation.