Welsh Journals

1867 the electorate almost doubled to nearly 8,000. Not many of the industrial or agricultural workers possessed the property qualification necessary for the vote: Aberystruth parish, for example, contained four large ironworks and adjacent collieries but had only 110 electors on the 1852 register. There was considerable disparity between parishes: whereas the growing parish of Christchurch extending as far as Newport bridge had as many as 148 electors in 1852, the neighbouring parish of Uanwem had only 6. Much of the countryside was dominated by large estates, but there were still parishes at this time with a large majority of small freeholders, as in the Penallt, Trelech and Llanishen area.15 When an election was held, it seems that the personal acceptability of the candidate was a factor of some importance, probably more so than his political allegiance. This had been the case with William Addams-Williams in the County elections in the 1830s. He was put forward as the Reform candidate, but it was his personal popularity in the county that ensured his unopposed return. This factor was also present in the contested election of 1847,16 but on this occasion there was a challenge to the power of the Duke. Charles O.S. Morgan held the one seat, but the Duke put forward his cousin, Capt E.A. Somerset, to oppose Lord Granville Somerset, who had been a sitting member for 30 years. There was some personal animosity between the Duke and his brother, Lord Granville, and this had been fuelled by the latter's support for Peel in the Corn Laws controversy. Many voters no doubt resented the high-handed conduct of the Duke, who spent a huge sum in the support of his candidate, and respect for Lord Granville's long service seems to have mattered more than the issue of the Corn Laws or the disapproval of the Duke. On this occasion the Duke was unsuccessful, although Lord Granville Somerset only succeeded by a narrow margin 47 votes. Nevertheless it was 21 years before the Somerset and Morgan candidates were once more challenged, and even then unsuc- cessfully. There can be little doubt about the power and influence of these two families at this time; the Duke himself was patron of 25 livings,17 many of them in this county. The industrialisation of South Wales had itself added enormously to the wealth of both families. The main participation of the Duke of Beaufort had been in the Swansea area, but locally it was the work of Sir Charles Morgan (d. 1846), in realising the vast potential of the Tredegar estates, that so increased the wealth of the Morgan family. The elevation of Sir Charles's eldest son to the peerage in 1859 consolidated the traditional position of the family in local society. The Monmouthshire Merlin certainly gave regal coverage to the activities of the family: The marriage of the 3rd baronet's eldest daughter, Rosamond, in 1848, was an item of prime interest, with the mayor of Newport and leading citizens of the town paying homage to Sir Charles at Tredegar House. There were other families, too, that commanded traditional respect in the county. In particular, Kemeys-Tynte of Cefn Mably, Herbert (Jones) of Llanarth, Lewis of St.