The 1765

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England on 23 December 1765 for the House of Commons constituency of Rochester in Kent. It was caused by the death of sitting MP Admiral

Isaac Townsend Isaac Townsend ( – 21 November 1765) was an admiral in the British Royal Navy and a Member of Parliament. A post-captain from 1720, Townsend commanded various ships. As captain of HMS Shrewsbury he took part in the expedition against Cartage ...

and won by the

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

candidate

Grey Cooper Grey Cooper (c. 1726 – 30 July 1801) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1765 and 1790 and was Secretary to the Treasury under various administrations. Life Cooper was the son of William Cooper MD of Newcastle u ...

John Calcraft John Calcraft the Elder (1726 – 23 August 1772), of Rempstone in Dorset and Ingress in Kent, was an English army agent and politician. Business career The son of an attorney who was Town Clerk of Grantham, Calcraft set out on a career as an ...

stood on the independent interest but was narrowly defeated by the government candidate

; Rochester was generally considered to be a safe government borough, and a less wealthy candidate would have had no chance. At the next General Election Calcraft secured government support for his second candidacy at

, where he was duly elected.

References

{{England-UK-Parl-by-election-stub By-elections in England By-elections to the Parliament of Great Britain Elections in Kent 1765 in England