| AdminHistory | In December 1832 the long tenure by the Pagets of the county seat (originating in the election agreement of 1784 between the Plas Newydd and Baron Hill houses, whereby the former was to nominate the Anglesey, and the latter the Caernarfonshire member) terminated as the result of another agreement - again with Baron Hill. By this the Pagets yielded their interests in the county seat to Sir Richard Bulkeley Williams-Bulkeley, Bart., eldest son of Sir Robert Williams, the 9th Baronet, and transferred their political fortunes to Beaumaris, which they represented until 1857.
It is apparent from this correspondence that the Pagets enteresd into this agreement with some reluctance, and not without a careful weighing of the alternatives. The Marquess of Anglesey, controlling the family interests from Dublin Castle, is from the start apprehensive as to Bulkeley's intentions; "if (he) once gets in, there he will stay (44). And yet, now that Lord Uxbridge's elevation to the Peerage was imminent, who of the Pagets would be suitable for filling the county seat ? (45). John Sanderson, the astute, clear-headed and in many ways highly efficient, agent of Plas Newydd whose hand is everywhere apparent in the political dealings of the family, suggests an approach to Bulkeley (46); and in April 1832 the latter's inclinations and proposals are divulged in a letter to Uxbridge (64). He does not intend to stand for the county in the event of Uxbridge's going to the Lords, unless he is pressed to do so by his friends. As for Beaumaris, he will readily support a Paget in the forthcoming election, although making it clear that in the event of a reformed Parliament, he has his eye on another gentleman recently settled in the county.
Sanderson at once smells a rat (66); Bulkeley is obviously not willing that Uxbridge should undertake the "no treat" of two elections within a short time of each other, whilst his friends are preparing to bring him forward as an opponent in the second.
By November, however, these suspicions, if not altogether dispelled, are sufficiently allayed for Sanderson to be able to announce to Lord Uxbridge that Bulkeley is disposed to concur in the arrangement for offering himseld to the county (without assuming a priviledge of nomination) and to support Frederick Paget for the borough (89) . The rank and file of the county squires appear to have been totally unaware of these negotiations; Hampton Lewis of Henllys writes to Uxbridge on November 24th in some alarm, having heard that Bulkeley was busily convassing for the county (108). But by the 26th the agreement was no longer a secret. |