§ A Petition of John Herbert Browne, of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, in the county of Dorset, esq.; Edward Balston, of Winterborne St. Martin, in the said county of Dorset, esq., and Robert Penny the younger, of Warwick Court, in the city of Westminster, gentleman, who claimed a right to vote, and did vote at the last election for the borough and town of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, was delivered in and read; setting forth,
§ "That, at the last election for members to serve for the said borough and town, sir John Murray, bart., the right hon. Thomas Wallace, John Broadhurst, Henry Trail, William Williams, and Richard Augustus Tucker Steward, esquires, were candidates, when the said sir J. Murray, T. Wallace, J. Broadhurst, and H. Trail, 147 were returned as members to serve in parliament for the borough and town; that the poll upon the said election commenced upon the 1Oth of October, 1812, and ended on the 27th of the said month; that William Weston esq., the mayor and returning officer for the same, received divers illegal votes in favour of the said T. Wallace, J. Broadhurst, and H. Trail, and refused divers legal votes tendered in favour of the said W. Williams and K. A. T. Steward; and that, at the said election, the said W. Weston did, during the first twelve days of the poll, indifferently receive the different voters for the several candidates as they presented themselves at the poll; that at the close of the poll, on the said twelfth day, there was an illegal majority of votes in favour of the members returned to serve in parliament; that many voters during the poll on the thirteenth day attended for the purpose of giving their votes in behalf of the said W. Williams and R. A. T. Steward; and the said W. Weston, contrary to his duty as returning officer, and in defiance of the rights of the electors of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis aforesaid, would not permit them to give their votes as they presented themselves to him for that purpose, but insisted that a voter should be permitted to vote for the said sir J. Murray, T. Wallace, J. Broadhurst, and H. Trail, and that a voter should be permitted to vote for the said W. Williams and R. A. T. Steward in regular order and successively, thereby preventing many persons, who had a right to vote, from giving their votes to the said W. Williams and R. A.T. Steward, which they would otherwise have done; that the said W. Weston did, on the said thirteenth and following days, refuse to receive several votes for the said W. Williams and R. A. T. Steward, the same being tendered after a former vote for them, and waited for long spaces of time until the agents for the said sir J. Murray, T. Wallace, J. Broadhurst, and H. Trail procured voles for them; that, in consequence of such conduct, large numbers of votes were wholly lost to the said W. Williams and R. A. T. Steward, and the voters were prevented from exercising their elective franchise; that the conduct of the returning officer was, in many other respects, partial and illegal; and that, before and at the last election, several peers of parliament illegally interfered in the said election, in order to procure the return of the said T. Wallace, J. Broadhurst, and 148 H. Trail, contrary to the resolution of this House, and in direct violation of the laws and constitution of the realm; and that, before and at the said election, divers persons, holding offices under the crown, did, by themselves and their agents, interfere in the said election, in order to procure the return of the said T. Wallace, J. Broadhurst, and H. Trail, contrary to the established law of the land, and in direct violation of the privileges of this House; and that the said T. Wallace, J. Broadhurst, and H. Trail, by themselves and himself, their and his agents, did, after the teste and issuing out of the writ of election, and before and at the said election, give to persons claiming a right to vote, and voting at the said election, meat and drink, and also make other presents, gifts and rewards to such persons, in order that the said T. Wallace, J. Broadhurst, and H. Trail, might be returned to serve in parliament for the said borough and town, contrary to and in defiance of the standing order of this House, and contrary to the statute in that case made and provided; and that the said T. Wallace, J. Broadhurst, and H. Trail, by themselves and himself, their and his agents, did, after the teste and issuing out of the said writ of election, give and advance to persons having vote in such election, divers sums of money, in order to be returned as aforesaid, contrary to law and the constitution of the realm; and that certain persons, not being qualified to vote at the said election, claimed to vote, and were permitted to vote at the said election by the said W. Weston, in prejudice of the legal voters of the said borough and town, and contrary to the rights of the said borough and town; and that, at the said election, the said W. Williams and R. A. T. Steward had a majority of legal votes on the poll, and ought to have been returned; and praying, that the House will take the premises into their consideration, and grant the petitioners such relief as to the House shall seem meet."
§ Ordered to be taken into consideration upon the 9th of February next.