The story of the 1754 general election and the Red Cow Inn

The Representation of the People Act 1832, known as The Great Reform Act, corrected many abuses in the electoral system, most significantly bringing an end to the so called rotten boroughs: boroughs with very small populations and the right to return Members of Parliament. Haslemere was one such borough and returned two MPs.

Chris Harrison will tell the story of the infamous election of 1754, a tale of ingenious manipulation, lavish entertainment and high dudgeon to unseat the incumbent. Local resident Chris Harrison has run the Blue Plaque programme for The Haslemere Society for the last eight years, with his wife Shirley. One of the plaques commemorates the role of The Red Cow Inn in the 1754 election: ‘At one strange birth this cow cast forth eight calves in human shape’. Haslemere Museum, tickets £5

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