A potwalloper is an archaic term referring to a borough constituency returning members to the House of Commons of England

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

 before 1707, the House of Commons of Great Britain

House of Commons of Great Britain

The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of the Parliament of Scotland, as one of the most significant...

 and the Irish House of Commons

Irish House of Commons

The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...

 before 1801, and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom until 1832, when the Reform Act

Reform Act 1832

The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...

 created more uniform forms of suffrage

Suffrage

Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...

.

A potwalloper borough was one in which a householder had the right to vote if he had in his house, a hearth

Hearth

In common historic and modern usage, a hearth is a brick- or stone-lined fireplace or oven often used for cooking and/or heating. For centuries, the hearth was considered an integral part of a home, often its central or most important feature...

 large enough to boil, or wallop, a cauldron, or pot.

The potwalloper was one of the widest variants of the borough franchise

Parliamentary borough

Parliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament...

, and the tendency over the centuries was for the franchise to be limited, reducing the number of electors.

English potwalloper boroughs

From the time of the Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

, the only English boroughs to elect on a potwalloper or inhabitant franchise were:

• Abingdon
  Abingdon (UK Parliament constituency)
  Abingdon was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , electing one Member of Parliament from 1558 until 1983...
  
   (1690-1708, and only if electors were not in receipt of alms
  Alms
  Alms or almsgiving is a religious rite which, in general, involves giving materially to another as an act of religious virtue.It exists in a number of religions. In Philippine Regions, alms are given as charity to benefit the poor. In Buddhism, alms are given by lay people to monks and nuns to...
  
  )
• Amersham
  Amersham (UK Parliament constituency)
  Amersham, often spelt as Agmondesham, was a constituency of the House of Commons of England until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832...
  
   (until 1705; electors in receipt of alms were disfranchised in 1690)
• Ashburton
  Ashburton (UK Parliament constituency)
  Ashburton was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament at Westminster, for one Parliament in 1298 and regularly from 1640 until it was abolished for the 1868 general election. It was one of three Devon borough constituencies newly enfranchised in the Long...
  
   (until 1708)
• Aylesbury
  Aylesbury (UK Parliament constituency)
  Aylesbury is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The Conservative Party has held the seat since 1924, and held it at the 2010 general election with a 52.2% share of the vote.-Boundaries:...
  
   (only if electors were not in receipt of alms; after 1804 freeholders living near the town were enfranchised also)
• Bedford
  Bedford (UK Parliament constituency)
  Bedford is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The seat was established in its current form in 1997, restoring a centuries old name. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election...
  
   (providing electors were not in receipt of alms)
• Callington
  Callington (UK Parliament constituency)
  Callington was a rotten borough in Cornwall which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the English and later British Parliament from 1585 to 1832, when it was abolished by the Reform Act 1832.-History:...
  
   (required one years' continuous residence. The franchise in this borough was in dispute but both definitions amounted to the same people in practice)
• Cirencester
  Cirencester (UK Parliament constituency)
  Cirencester was a parliamentary constituency in Gloucestershire. From 1571 until 1885, it was a parliamentary borough, which returned two Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1868, and one member between 1868 and 1885...
  
  
• Hertford
  Hertford (UK Parliament constituency)
  Hertford was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire, which elected Members of Parliament from 1298 until 1974. It was represented in the House of Commons of England from 1298 to 1707, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally in the House of...
  
   (providing electors were not in receipt of alms; freemen voted as well)
• Hindon
  Hindon (UK Parliament constituency)
  Hindon was a parliamentary borough consisting of the village of Hindon in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1448 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act...
  
   (providing electors were not in receipt of alms)
• Honiton
  Honiton (UK Parliament constituency)
  Honiton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Honiton in east Devon, formerly represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sent members intermittently from 1300, consistently from 1640. It elected two Members of Parliament until it was...
  
   (1690-1711 and from 1724, but only if electors were not in receipt of alms)
• Ilchester
  Ilchester (UK Parliament constituency)
  Ilchester was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until 1832...
  
   (from 1702, but only if electors were not in receipt of alms)
• Ludgershall
  Ludgershall (UK Parliament constituency)
  Ludgershall was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.- 1295–1640 :- 1640–1832 :- Sources :...
  
   (until 1698)
• Milborne Port
  Milborne Port (UK Parliament constituency)
  Milborne Port is a former parliamentary borough located in Somerset. It elected two members to the unreformed House of Commons between 1298 and 1307 and again from 1628, but was disenfranchised in the Reform Act 1832 as a rotten borough.- MPs 1640–1832 :...
  
   (until 1702)
• Minehead
  Minehead (UK Parliament constituency)
  Minehead was a parliamentary borough in Somerset, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1563 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.- MPs 1563–1629 :...
  
  
• Mitchell
  Mitchell (UK Parliament constituency)
  Mitchell, or St Michael was a rotten borough consisting of the town of Mitchell, Cornwall. From the first Parliament of Edward VI, in 1547, it elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons.-History:The borough encompassed parts of two parishes, Newlyn East and St Enoder...
  
   (until 1715, and only if electors were not in receipt of alms)
• Northampton
  Northampton (UK Parliament constituency)
  Northampton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Northampton which existed until 1974.It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until its representation was reduced to one member for the 1918 general election...
  
   (from 1715)
• Pontefract
  Pontefract (UK Parliament constituency)
  Pontefract was an English parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Pontefract in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons briefly in the 13th century and again from 1621 until 1885, and one member from 1885 to 1974.-In the unreformed...
  
   (from 1783)
• Portsmouth
  Portsmouth (UK Parliament constituency)
  Portsmouth was a borough constituency based upon the borough of Portsmouth in Hampshire. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.- History :...
  
   (until 1695)
• Preston
  Preston (UK Parliament constituency)
  Preston is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
  
   (from 1768)
• Reading
  Reading (UK Parliament constituency)
  Reading was a parliamentary borough, and later a borough constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It comprised the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire....
  
   (until 1708)
• St Germans
  St Germans (UK Parliament constituency)
  St Germans was a rotten borough in Cornwall which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the English and later British Parliament from 1562 to 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-History:...
  
   (one year residency)
• Southwark
  Southwark (UK Parliament constituency)
  Southwark was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Southwark district of South London. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the English Parliament from 1295 to 1707, to the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and to the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
  
   (until 1702, and only if electors were not in receipt of alms)
• Taunton
  Taunton (UK Parliament constituency)
  Taunton was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors from 1295 to 2010, taking its name from the town of Taunton in Somerset...
  
  
• Tregony
  Tregony (UK Parliament constituency)
  Tregony was a rotten borough in Cornwall which was represented in the Model Parliament of 1295, and returned two Members of Parliament to the English and later British Parliament continuously from 1562 to 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act....
  
  
• Wendover
  Wendover (UK Parliament constituency)
  Wendover was a borough constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832...
  
   (providing electors were not in receipt of alms)

Irish potwalloper boroughs

There were eleven such boroughs in Ireland until the Union with Great Britain

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

 in 1801. Ireland also had seven "manor boroughs", in which only freeholders voted. The potwallopers included Lisburn

Lisburn

DemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...

, Antrim

Antrim, County Antrim

Antrim is a town in County Antrim in the northeast of Northern Ireland, on the banks of the Six Mile Water, half a mile north-east of Lough Neagh. It had a population of 20,001 people in the 2001 Census. The town is the administrative centre of Antrim Borough Council...

, Swords

Swords

A sword is a cutting/thrusting weapon made of metal. Sword or swords may also refer to:* Swords, County Dublin, Ireland* Suit of swords, a suit in Latin-suited playing cards and Tarot decks* SWORDS, a ground-based military robot...

 and Downpatrick

Downpatrick

Downpatrick is a medium-sized town about 33 km south of Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the county town of Down with a rich history and strong connection to Saint Patrick. It had a population of 10,316 at the 2001 Census...

, and before Emancipation only non-Roman Catholics could vote.

Prison usage

The term 'potwalloper' was also used to refer to a trustee prisoner who made sure cell-buckets (for overnight use as latrines) were emptied and cleaned each morning. He did not do the cleaning himself, but he was responsible for making sure that other prisoners did.

Quotation

When Thomas Babington McAuley complained about the insufficiencies of the suffrage system in the early 19th century, he wrote :

« This is an aristocracy, the principle of which is to invest a hundred drunken potwallopers in one place, or the owner of a ruined hovel in another with powers which are withheld from cities renowned in the furthest ends of the earth. »