COUNTY ELECTION ANECDOTE 63 



the hour, the poll closed. The roads were so 

 bad that a large body of voters belonging to 

 the Ashridge and Ivinghoe district had to 

 travel at such a snail's pace it was impossible 

 for them to arrive before eleven or twelve o'clock. 

 The Verney committee, therefore, flattered them- 

 selves that their man was quite safe, as there was 

 only another quarter of an hour to elapse before 

 the poll closed. Whilst they were congratulating 

 themselves on their certain success, a violent sup- 

 porter of their party, and their agent for the 

 Buckingham division of the county, galloped into 

 the town, rushed to the hustings, and recorded his 

 vote for Verney ! He hurried at once to the com- 

 mittee room, and exultingly informed his friends 

 that ' he had just given a plumper for my lord.' 

 The chairman shouted out, ' By God, sir, you've 

 lost our election ! ' And so he had, as his vote kept 

 the poll open for another hour, when the Ashridge 

 tenantry arrived, and Lord Verney was defeated by 

 twenty-four votes ! This election impoverished the 

 finances of the Verney family beyond recovery. The 

 following is the state of the poll, which I copy from 

 a printed document in my possession : — 



The Hon. T. Grenville .... 2264 



Sir John Aubrey 1740 



Lord Verney 1716 



The poll began on Wednesday, April 21, and 

 closed on May 6, lasting, with the nomination, 

 sixteen days. It was not only eating and drinking 



