Recorder of Barnstaple Recorder of Barnstaple The Recorder of Barnstaple was a recorder, a form of senior judicial officer, usually an experienced barrister, within the jurisdiction of the Borough of Barnstaple in Devon. He was usually a member of the local North Devonshire gentry. The position of recorder of any borough carried a great deal of prestige and power of patronage. The recorder of a borough was often entrusted by the mayor and corporation to nominate its Members of Parliament, as was the case with Sir Hugh I Pollard (fl. 1536, 1545), Recorder of Barnstaple, who in 1545 nominated the two MP's to
1911 Barnstaple by-election 1911 Barnstaple by-election The Barnstaple by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. The Liberal candidate was Sir Godfrey Baring, a 40-year-old Eton educated former Liberal MP from the Isle of Wight. He had sat for the Isle of Wight from 1906 until his defeat in January 1910. At the December 1910 General Election he had contested Devonport . He was the chairman of the Isle of Wight County Council. The Unionist candidate was Charles Sandbach