In 1789 George III halted opposite the "Dolphin" to receive the loyal
greetings of the townspeople, and on August 3rd, 1833, the Princess
Victoria, afterwards Queen, stayed there to change horses; the inn was
also the leading rendezvous at the parliamentary elections when Honiton
returned two members to Parliament. In the eighteenth century the inn
was often the temporary home of Sir William Yonge and Sir George Yonge,
his equally famous son, and of Alderman Brass Crosby, Lord Mayor of
London, each of whom was M.P. for Honiton. The family of Yonge
predominated, for whom Honiton appeared to have been a pocket borough,
and a very expensive one to maintain, as Sir George Yonge, who was first
returned in 1754, said in his old age that he inherited L80,000 from
his father, that his wife brought him a similar amount, and Government
also paid him L80,000, but Honiton had swallowed it all! A rather
numerous class of voters there were the Potwallers or Potwallopers,
whose only qualification was that they had boiled their pots in the
parish for six months. Several attempts were made to resist their claim
to vote, but they were unsuccessful, and the matter was only terminated
by the Reform Bill of 1832; so possibly Sir George had to provide the
inducement whereby the Potwallopers gave the family their support during
the full term in which he served the free and independent electors of
Honiton in Parliament.
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