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Information from Rodney

When you or I exercise our democratic rights of citizenship by casting votes at election times I don't suppose we give that much thought as to how it used to be done. These days anyone over the age of 18 has the vote (with a few exceptions). At an election we are given a ballot paper and we mark it to show the candidates we prefer in the privacy of a voting booth. Then the paper is deposited in a box so that nobody knows for whom we have voted. Whilst the details of the operation varies from country to country the essential mechanics remain the same. However in the timespan of this book this is a modern phenomenon. In England women did not get the right to vote at all until 1928. For men the right to vote became harder to acquire the further back in time you go. The right to vote was property based and in 1833 was limited to men who were either freeholders or leaseholders renting land and buildings worth more than £10 per annum.

The right to a secret ballot was not given until the passing of the Secret Ballot Act of 1872. Prior to that act you cast your vote by making a public declaration of your choice. This was made on platforms erected in local towns especially for that purpose and called the "hustings". Clearly this public declaration method was open to considerable abuse and has rightly been abandoned. However, for the family historian the method has its uses since the votes were recorded in poll books, some of which have survived to this day.

Derbyshire as a whole was split into two constituencies for the Parliamentary elections of 1832 - North Derbyshire and South Derbyshire. Poll books survive for the 1832 elections for these two constituencies, and although they are six months apart do give a snapshot of all the property-qualified male Marples in the county, specially as those who did not vote were also recorded. The votes (they were allowed two in this particular election) that were cast are shown below by a letter corresponding to the chosen candidate, together with the property qualification, as follows:

North Derbyshire

Candidates standing at the election of 20th December 1832:

Lord Cavendish of Hardwick Hall (C)
Sir George Sitwell, baronet, of Renishaw Hall (S)
Thomas Gisborne, Esq of Harwick House (G)

Baslow and Bubnell:

Thomas Marples - rental did not vote
George Marples - freehold     C & G

Calver:

Anthony Marples - rental C & G

Chesterfield:

William Marples - freehold    C & S

Eckington:

John Marples - freehold C & S
Charles Marples of Renishaw - freehold C & S

Great Barlow:

John Marples of Moorhall - freehold     S
Staveley:

George Marples - rental C & S

Alfreton:

James Marples of Alfreton Outseats - rental S

South Wingfield:

Robert Marples - rental C & G
John Marples of Oakerthorpe - rental    C

South Derbyshire

Candidates standing at the election of 7th June 1832 were:

The Hon. George John Vernon (V)
Sir Roger Greisley, Baronet (G)
The Rt. Hon. Lord Waterpark (W)

Ashbourne:

John Marple of Butcher Row - freehold   V & G

Middleton by Wirksworth:

Henry Marple - freehold V & W

Melbourne:

Samuel Marples - freehold     W & G

Repton:

Matthew Marples - freehold    V & G


Once again we get a picture of how rare our name is. Only 15 Marples were qualified to vote out of a total electorate for the county of about 10,000. In Baslow and Bubnell, Thomas Marples was the tailor born in Stannington, Yorkshire and appears on the tree of Robert Marple's second marriage in Generation VIII. George Marples appears on the same tree in Generation VI. Samuel Marples of Melbourne appears on Esther Davis' tree heading his own line in generation VII. Matthew Marples of Repton also appears on the same tree and in the same generation.

The book from which I gleaned this information also gives the votes cast at the general election of 1837, but only for the North Derbyshire constituency, unfortunately. It also only gives the votes of those who actually voted, unlike the earlier election results which also listed those people who qualified, but did not vote. Nevertheless it is of sufficient interest to list below:

North Derbyshire

Candidates standing at the election of 7th August 1837:

The Honourable George Henry Cavendish (C)
George Arkwright, Esquire (A)
William Evans, Esquire (E)
    Baslow and Bubnell:

Thomas Marples - rental   C & E
George Marples - freehold   C & E
John Marples - freehold   C & E
Joseph Marples - freehold   C & E

Calver:

Anthony Marples - rental   C & E

Stoney Middleton:

Isaac Marples - freehold   C & E
Chesterfield:

William Marples - freehold    C & A

Eckington:

Jonas Marples - freehold C & E
Charles Marples of Renishaw - freehold E

Great Barlow:

John Marples of Moorhall - freehold   C & A
Matthew Marples of Repton near Derby - freehold   A
James Marples of Repton near Derby - freehold A

Staveley:

George Marples - rental   C & A
John Marples - rental   C & E

Alfreton:

James Marples of Alfreton Outseats - rental A

South Wingfield:

Robert Marples - rental C & E

Comparing those voting in 1837 with those voting in 1832 shows a few changes. In Baslow & Bubnell John & Joseph Marples appear. They inherited freehold property from their father, John Marple (1770-1835) when he died. the details of his will appear in the main biographical notes. However it is clear that John himself was qualified to vote in the 1832 election so I can only assume that he must have been absent or overlooked at that election