Manuscripts, in various hands, of a collection of witnesses' depositions, legal documents, printed broadsides, and newspaper accounts concerning the disputed Banbury election of 1831, in which the winning candidate, Sir John Easthope, bart. (1784-1865), had the support of the citizenry because of his own support of Reform, while the losing candidate, Lt. Col. Henry Hely-Hutchinson (1790-1874), had been against Reform. The collection includes newspaper articles in "The Morning Post" and "John Bull" which describe how Hely-Hutchinson was chased out of town by the supporters of the opposition on the election day; one broadside declares, "A resolution was adopted by the Members of the Corporation [of Banbury] present, calling on Colonel Hutchinson to withdraw himself, and to release those who had engaged to vote for him...The deputation stated distinctly, that no Candidate would be acceptable, who did not pledge himself to the unconditional support of the Ministerial Measure of Reform." The legal documents record Hutchinson's pursuit of ultimately discouraging legal advice about whether to bring suit "against the Mayor and the officiating Magistrates Mr Brayne," and "whether the Evidence as detailed in the accompanying Statements and to be collected from the correspondence & papers warrants the prospect of a successful application for setting aside the Election."
