Description:The 1812 election shows that government affairs have not not always been dominated by today's party politics - but they were far from democratic.
"Strictly pure and independent..."
Local issues were most likely to hit home - even when the big issue was trade with the United States, as in 1812.
Lack of trade meant fewer jobs and slower business for the people of the Potteries.
And if local voters thought that an aspiring Member of Parliament was nothing more than a slave to his party, they would give him short shrift.
In his letter, candidate E.J. Walhouse assures voters that he is indeed "pure and independent."
However, only gentry, clergy, and men who owned 40 shillings' worth of freehold property could vote in Staffordshire.
Working men would have to wait until 1918 for their chance to vote.
Women would have to wait another 114 years (until 1928) for the same voting rights as men.
About this document
This document is now amongst the collections at Stoke-on-Trent Museums.