Knaresborough was a burgage borough, meaning that the right to vote was confined to the proprietors of certain specific properties (or "burgage tenements") in the borough; in Knaresborough there was no requirement for these proprietors to be resident, and normally the majority were not.
Knaresborough's burgage borough system meant that only landowners of specific properties had the right to vote, but it did not necessitate their presence in the town. As a result, most of these landowners were not local residents.